Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Rickardsson triumphs, Ermolenko falters at World S~eedwa Final T ony Rickardsson of Swed en scored the upset victory in an extremely wi de open . 1994 World Ind iv idual Speedway Fin al at Vojens, Denmark, on August 20. Rickardsson scored 12 points in the meeting to earn his w ay into a ru n-off wi th former World Ch amp ion Hans Nielsen of Denmark and Australia's Cra ig Boyce . Nielsen gated first in the run-off, but Rickardsson wa s able to d rive around him and secure the championship . Boyce finished third. Fin ishing one spot off the podium in fourth place was American Greg Hancock, who shared the lead with Boyce on 10 points going into the second-to-last heat. Ther e, Hancock met Boyce and Rickardsson, and a win by Hancock or Boyce wou ld ha ve made eithe r the outrig ht World Champ ion. But Rickardsson pulled off the win to bring his score to 12, whil e Boyce was second, also with 12. Hancock was third, finishing one point shy of a ru n-off position. Nielsen had nine po ints, bu t won the last heat to tie for the lead and eliminate Han cock's chance at a podium finish. It was a d isappoin ting day for defending Worl d Speedway Champion "Sud den" Sam Errnolenko, who lost his cha nce to become the second American to win back-toback World Fina ls since Bru ce Penhall accomp lished the deed in 1981-82. Ermolenko scored just six points to tie Jason Crump of Australia and Chris Louis of England for 11th place. Am er ican Josh Lars en faired a lit tle bet ter in his Wo rld Final debut at Vojens, scorin g seven poin ts to finis h in a nin th-p lace tie wi th Denmark's Jan Staechmann. Reports that Larsen broke his wrist at some point in the meeting are uncon firmed . . In a complete reversal of fort une, Poland's Tomasz Collob, the winner of the Prague Worl d Ch ampionship Semifinal, failed to sco re any points and finished 16th. dea ling with falsification of information · provided by com pe titors," AMA 's director of co m petitio n Merrill Vanderslice said . "Particu larly when it involves age requiremen ts . The ris k and li abili ty exposure cre ated by such an action for the AMA, ra ce p ro moters an d o ther competitors is en ormou s. We ha ve historically viewed offenses of this na tu re as very serious, and this ins tance is no excep tion ." Hayden, who turned 16 in July, will be eligi ble to re-apply for an AMA profession al license on March 14, 1995. Merrill Vanderslice, the AMA 's national technical manager, has been named acting director of professional competition, replaci n g Ro y Janson, who res igned from the position on August 15. Vanderslice, 41, joined the AMA 's professional co m p etiti on s ta ff in 1990 as assista n t specia l proj ects m anager a nd w a s na med na tional tec h ni cal manager in 1991. H e is also an elected member of the te ch nical co mmission of the FIM. Vander s lice h a s a n ex tensive b a ckgrou nd in th e m oto rcycl e ind u s try, including a s ti nt as a Gra nd Prix mech anic for Tea m Roberts Yamaha. "The AMA profession al raci ng departmen t has achieved positive mom entu m over the past year, and Merrill will assure that we keep mo ving forward," sa id Tom Mueller, the AMA 's vice pr esident for sports marketing. "We are currently conducting an active search for a permanent d irector of competition. We plan to go through a thorough process so that we can find the right individual for the future need s of our sports marke ting org anization." On e of the manufactu rer tea ms that has b e en fo r m e d for th is Fall ' s ISD E in T u ls a , Oklah oma , is Team Wo rks Enduro Rider/CRE Imports. The threeride r team will be made up of ISDE veterans Drew Smith, who has ridden the eve n t 15 times , Kev in Hines , a nd Dr ew's youn ger brother, Chris Smith, who was a member of the winnlng U.S. Junior World Trophy team in Czechoslovakia in 1991. Hines will pilot a CRE 260, while bo th Smiths will compete aboard CRE 125s. Chris Smith is all but confirmed to represent the U.S. on this year's four-rider Junior World tea m, as well . Speaking of the S ix Days, if you are wo ndering what it will cost to spectate the eve nt, here's the scoop. There will be a $25 event pa ss tha t inclu des all six-day admission , parking, shuttle se rvice to the special test ar eas, as w ell as the fina l motocross on Su nday. A $15 weekend pass - which provides the same services - will also be available for Satu rday and Sunday only. Daily tickets can be purchased for $10, exce p t for Sun day. Sunday's fee will still be $15. Tickets can be p urch ased a t local Git-n -Go stores or throug h the Tu lsa Trailriders. For mo re ticke t information , call 918/599-8282. Becky Eakin, the 14-yea r Cold spectator who was critically inju red by a motorcycle th at crashed in to the crowd a t the amateur motocross even t at Was hougal, August 13, is improving, accordin g to he r mother, Janet. "She (Becky) h asn 't co me ou t of it (a co ma) yet, bu t last nigh t (August 21) she opened her eyes for three hou rs," sai d Mrs. Eakin. "She doesn't recognize us yet, but she is starting to move around slightly. It's a waitand-see situatio n righ t now. A doctor d id say that they expect her to recover, but it will be a long process - six months to a yea r." The day following the accident, at the AMA National motocro ss, a fu nd ra iser and auction took place to help offset the medical expenses. "They handed me real clos e to $13,000," said Mr s. Eakin. "The way people hel ped out was just unreal. I had goose bumps and the tea rs came instantly. It just shows ho w many people really do care about our family (and) our sport." Cards and letters can be sent to Becky Eakin, 15415 No rthwest Ferry Rd., Portland, Or egon, 97231. Forme r National 500cc MX Cha m p ion Chuck Sun said he will compe te in the fina l two rounds of the AMA National Cham pio nship 250cc MX Series at Binghamton, New York and Delmont, Pennsy lvan ia, aboard a 501 Husaber g fours t r o k e. "I 'm not planning a bi g comeback or anything," said Sun. "You see, next year I want to p ut together a H usaberg team together for the 250cc Hansson ·sews uR title arcus Ha nsson (right) bounced back fro m a first-moto crash at the final ro und in Holzgerlingen, Germany, August 21, to become the sixth Swedish rider to win a 500cc World Motocross Championship in the 38-year history of the competition. Hansson, 24, joins the ranks of Bill Nilsson (1957, '60), Sten Lundin (1959), Rolf Tibblin (1962, '63 ), Bengt Ab erg (1969, '70) an d Hakan Carlqvist (1983). . Aft er h is d isastrous first moto, Hanss on and defending champ Jacky Martens went into the final mot o of the season eve n on points. Martens broke a wheel on his factory four -stroke Husqvama, however, and was held to 10th in the moto. The Hondamounted Ha nsson finished sixth overall on the day. The overall win went to Belg ian Joel Smets, who posted 2-1 s cores on his four-s troke Vertemati. American Billy Liles took h is Honda to second overall, followed by the Be lgian Martens. Bri t Mervyn Anstie and Belgian Peter Dirkx were fou rth and fifth overall, respectively. M Alex Hodgkinson Nationals. By racing these fina l ro unds, it will give us m ore in pu t for n e xt year." Accordi ng to the Bri tis h T r ia ls & Motoc ross News Dave Thorpe has chosen two of the three riders for Eng land 's MX des Nations squad, and the former Worl d cha mp is alrea dy catching flack. Thorpe u se d a tra in in g session as his basis for putting Kurt Nicoll on his own former factory Honda CR500 fo r th e event, despite the fact that Nicoll has contested the 250cc d ivision this ye ar, and that Br itish H o nd a p ri v ate e r Mervyn Anstie has performed well in the 500cc d ivision this year. Paul Malin has been selected to ri d e a Ya maha YZl25 in the event. Fast By Ferr acci Ducati's Pascal Picotte raced a Ha rley-Davidson XR750 to a 10th p lace finish in a half mile round of the Ca na dian Nati on a l Di rt T ra ck Championship, held at Tro is-Riveries in Canada on Au gu st 13. "The last time I di d this was seven years ago as an amateur," Picott e said. "I started 17th and I exited tum four in sixth. I was out in the loose stuff and the riders in front of me sp rayed me with dirt . I couldn't see an d I though t I w a s going rig h t in the sta nds." Pico tte said there is a chance that he and Eraldo Ferracci will team up to run the 1995 AMA Grand Na tio nal Champ ions hip using a Ducati-powered di rt trac ker. MARRIED: ISDE veteran Davi d Rho des, to Michelle Koehn, in Enumclow, Was hingto n, Au gu st 2'l . Rhodes was a m emb er of the winni ng U .S. Ju nior Worl d Tr o ph y te a m at the Czechoslovakian Six-Days in 1991. AUTOGRAPH SIGNING : At Ce rnic Suzuki in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, on Friday, Septem ber 2, from 6:DO-8:00 p.m. Team Su zu ki motocross riders Jim my Button, Brian Swink and Da mon Huffman are scheduled to appea r. For more information, call 814/539-4114. C'i Steady Slight takes Indonesian World Su erbike N ew Zealander Aaron Slight (right) rode his Castrol-backed Ho nda to two second place finishes a t the Indonesian round of the World Cham p ionshi p Superbike Series in Sentul, Indonesia, on August 21, to emerge as the top points earn er. Slight finished behind the factory Duca ti of Brit Jam ie Wh itham in the first le g and b e h ind Wh ith am's tea mm ate Carl Fogarty in the second. Mu zz y Kawasaki's Scott Russ ell fin ish ed th ird in both races and Castrol Honda's Doug Polen turned in a 4-6 tally. Slight's 173-point tally leads the Worl d Cha m pions hip stand ings by 27 points ov er Russell and Fogarty, who are tied with 146. Polen is fourth wi th 118 points and An dreas Mek lau, who finished sixth and fifth in Indon esia, is fifth with 103 points. The race ma rked the first World Champ ionship motorcycle race at the new facility -in Indonesia, an d some 30,000 fans wi tnessed the action. Fogarty was leading first race by a ha ndy ma rgin when the Ducati broke a valve, leaving Whitham and Slight to fight for the victory. In the end it was Wh itham by jus t .33D-of-a-second. Russell was third an d Polen was fourth, despite an oil leak that caused his foot to keep slip ping off the shift leve r. . The second race was all Fogarty. The Brit went to the fron t at the start and was never headed as he held off Slight and Russell. This time Polen was sixth after suffering with an ill-running engine.

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