Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127674
Defending 500cc World MX Champion Jacky Martens (Hus) kept his title hopes alive with a 1-2 overall win at the July 3 round in Arganil, PortugaL The Belgian was trailed by countrymen Joel Sm ets (Ve r ), Marcus Hanss on (Hon) and Danny Theybers (Hon), with Dutchman Gert Jan Van Doom (Hon) completing the top five . Hansson now leads Martens by four points in the series standings, 239-235. Dave Strijbos (Suz) used 3- 1 mo to sco re s to win hi s home 125cc World Championship GP in Halle, Holland, on July 3. Countryman Pedro Tragter (Suz) was second, with Italian Allessio Chicdi (Hon) third. The top-five ove rall spots were filled out by American Bob Moore (Yam ) and Italian Massimo Bartolini (TM). Moore leads Chiodi in the point stand ings, 210-203. Clint Vahsholtz (W-R) w on the Open Pro class at the 1994 Pikes Peak Hillclimb in Colorado on July 4, completing the 12.4-milecourse in 12 minutes, 21.19 seconds. Davey Du relle (W-R) finished second, with Brian Anderson (Rtx) finishing third . The 250cc Pro class was wo n by Ch uck Hopper (Suz). Although he is one of the few Americans who is getting the opportunity to race in the Suzuka 8-Ho ur on July 30-31, Team Suzuki Yoshimura's Th omas S teve n s isn 't overjoyed with the prospect of missing th e AMA U.S. Superbike National Championship round which will be held on the same weekend at Brainerd International Raceway. "The thing that most d isappoints me is that the fans deserve to have all - the factory riders at the show," Stevens said. "1 think it's terrible that the AMA scheduled the Brainerd race on the same weekend as the 8-Ho ur . It's not fair to the fans or to the riders. I'm very excited to be going to Suzuka because it's the most important race in the world to the Japanese factories, but I'm d isappointed for the American fans and for the other rid ers. A lot of the guys can 't go, and that's a lot of money taken out of their pockets . And look wh at the race did for Mike Smith last yea r. H e had a go od race at Suzuka and finish ed thi rd , and th en was gi ven th e chance to rac e a Honda 500 over there." Ste ven s will team wit h Japan's Akira Yanagawa. Accord ing to two-time World Champion Doug Polen, things are going to be a lot d ifferent fo r him a nd hi s Cas tr ol Honda RC45 be ginning with th e next round of the World Champ io n s h ip Superbike Serie s in Austria on July 17. "Things will be a lot different, both with m y physical cond it ion and w ith th e motorcycle," Polen said from his home on Wednesday, June 29. "A few changes need to be made and this will be a turning point. For me, now is a good time to make the changes and make the situation more correct. I think Austria should be good. We've tested there and we'll have some updated parts. We 'll be go ing into the home stretch after the Suzuka 8-Hour and we should have loads of stuff (parts) after that." Polen is the only rider to have scored points in each of the eight races held in the first ยทยท four rounds of the series, and he lies fourth in the championship. According to PM Communications' Pat Doohan a ain in Italian GP N Ot since Giacomo Agostini d id the deed in 1972 ha s a rider won five s tr ai g h t 500cc Grands Prix. En ter Michael Doohan (righ t). The Australian rode his HRC-backed Honda NSR500 to his fifth-straight victory as th e World Championship Road Race Seri es visited Mugello, Italy, on July 3 for its eighth round. After starting slowly, Doohan ended up beating Luca Cadalora and the Marlboro Yamaha by 5.787 seconds after battling the Italian for most of the race. Th ird place went to Lucky Strike Suzuki's Kevin Schwantz, the .World Champion still suffering from an injury to his left wrist and un able to keep pace w ith Doohan and Cadalora. The Texan finished 17.336 seconds behind Doohan after inheriting third place went Spaniard Alex Criville crashed his HRC Honda on the final lap. . Fourth place went to Ducados Honda's Alberto Puig, with the Spaniard out d ueling Japan's Shinichi Itoh on the final lap , Marlboro Yamaha's Daryl Beattie, Lucky Strike Suzuki' s Alex Barros, Roc Yamaha's Bernard Garcia , Slick 50's Niall Mackenzie and Lopez Mella Racing's Juan Lopez Mella rounded out the top-10 finishers. It was a bad day for Americans Doug Chandler and John Kocinski and the factory Cagiva team. After qualifying a career-best second, Chandler had mo led past Kocinski to take over fourth place and was closing on Schwantz when the Cagiva d eveloped a water leak seven laps from the finish. It was also seven laps from the finish that Kocinski crashed while battling with Itoh and Cri ville. Fortunately, Kocinski was not injured. Doohan's sixth win in eight rounds gives him a 51-po int lead over Schwantz in the SOOcc World Championship point standings, 186-135. Barros and Puig are tied for third with 90 points, and Kocinski drops to fifth with 87. While Doohan was abl e to further extend h is po ints lead, 250cc ch ampionsh ip leader Max Biaggi threw most of his points lead away. The Italian crashed his Chesterfield Aprilia while leading the 250cc Grand Prix, .handing victory to class rookie Rail Waldmann on the HB Honda. Waldmann beat defending World Champion Tetsu ya Harada by 2.060 seconds, with Marlboro Pileri Honda's Loris Capirossi finishing third . Biaggi now leads the championship by just three points over Tadayuki Okada, seven th in Italy, 128-125. Capirossi is third with 118 points. Doriano Romboni, a non-finisher in Mugello, and J.P. Ruggia, fourth in Italy, round ou t the top-five point scorers with 93 and 91 points, respectively. , The 125cc Grand Prix was won by Noburo Ueda on the Givi Racing Honda RSI25. Ueda beat fellow Japa nese racers Kazuto Sakata and Takeshi Tsujimura to win his second GP of th e season. Sakata and his Tea m Semprucci-Krona Aprilia still lead the World Championship by 52 points over Ueda, 154-102. Peter Oetll, fourth inItaly, is third with 92 points. ArK releases'Nevada Rail bike I n honor of the Acerb is Ad venture Nevada Rally that will take place this A .ugust, ATK is offering a limited-edition four -stroke rally bike. The motorcycle is based on the 1994 605 CC but, according to ATK, it also includes several featu res from the '95 modeL Among the update s are: "special rally graphics"; a lower seat with special seat cover; a speedometer1odometer; Acerbis Rally han dguards with spoilers; a rollchart holder; a high-performance exhaust system; an aluminum skid pla te; a "see-through " plastic fuel tank ; a choice of a 675 "torque" cam or an 860 "rev" cam; and taller gearing. Suggested retail price on the rally bike is $6795. The motorcycle is available both to those who will compete in the Nevada Rally, and to those who simply want to "look the part." ATK has 15 units available, though more may be built. The bikes will be sold on a first-come, first-served basis . For more information, call 801/298-8288. The Nevada Rally will take place from August 13-20, and will start and finish in Las Vegas, Nevada. For information on the event, call 6191562-1440. Murphy, the AMA has made the Buell Thunderbolt legal and eligible for the AMA/CCS 750cc Supersport Series, and there is a chance that Scott Zam pach will be aboard a Don Tilley-prepared Buell at the Mid-Ohio round of the series on July 17. Buzz Ferral, 51, d ied on Tuesday, June 23 in Vancouver, Washington. Ferral, an avid enduro rider and a supporter of the IS DE teams, suffe red a heart attack while windsurfing near hi s h ome in Vancou ver. The form er Hu sqvarna motorcycle dealer had competed in the Trask Enduro the weekend before his d eath, a longside ISDE team manager Gunny Cla ypoole. "We started on the same minute and he wh ipped me terrible," Claypoole sa id. "He w ent out doing what he wanted to do.",. The FlM has moved the official practice for the 250cc MX U.S . GP at Budds Creek in Leonardtown, Maryland, to Friday , July 29, which will allow pro moters to run an Amateur day on Saturday, July 30. Th e a ma teur program o n t he motocross track will feature free sign-up for both motocross an d hare scra mbles riders. "It's our way of showing ap preciati on to ou r ama te ur rid ers who have shown us such trem endou s support over the year s," a press release fro m Budds Creek said. In addition, a supercross will be held on Friday and Saturday nights at the Budds Creek night track. For more information call 3011475-2000. Former 500cc Na tional MX Ch ampion Da rrell Schultz recently competed in the Far West Motorcycle Club's Big Foot End uro in Eureka, California - and he won. The eve nt was Schultz' first-ever enduro, and he beat D-36's best enduro riders. Road racer Mark Foster had his gear bag - complete with leathers, boots, gloves, helmet and stopwatch - stolen from Desert Cycle in Phoenix, Arizona, recently. The incident occured as Foster was loading his truck to transport his racing equipment to the Road America round of the AMA 250ccGrand Prix Series. If anyone has any information, please contact Patti Galvin at 714/364-7259. Dr. Bob Meister and Harley-Davidson, In c. were presented with the Hazel Kolb Brig h ter Image Award by the AMA at the recent Road America round of the AMA U.S. Superbike National Championship Series. Meister was honored for being featured on a national poster with oth er professional athletes, depicting the use of safe rid ing gear and helmets. Harley-Da vidson rece ived the award for its exc ellent p romotion of motorcycling during its 90th anniver sary. Th e Hazel Ko lb a ward is the AMA' s highest public relations achievementaward. Bert Shepard's Silver Shutter has produ ced a 28-page all-photo book celebrat ing the 20th racing ann iversary of Grand Na tional Champ ion ship competitor Steve Morehead. The black and white book features phot os sho t by Shepard throughout Morehead' s illustriou s career, and some even feature the Findlay Flyer w ith a full head of ha ir! To get your hands on one of the se collector's items , send $10 to Bert Shepard's Silver Shutter, 6470 Cotton Run Rd., Middletown, OH 45042. National Ride to Work Day is Wednesday, July 20. Introduced in 1992, National Ride to Work Day promotes motorcycling as a responsible, safe and popular pastime favored by millions of enthusiasts across the country. The day is being endorsed by the Dunlop Tire Corporation's Motorcycle Tire Division.