Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

I" Danny Hamel (Kaw) came from behind to score the overall win at the AMA National Hare & Hound in Minden, Nevada, on October 2. Finishing second overall was D a n Ric hardso n (Hon) , while Greg ZilterJ(opf (KTM), Johnny Campbell (Hon) and Rex Staten (Kaw) rounded out the top five. " S u d d e n" Sa m Er m o l e nko (GM) scored 14 points on the way to winning h is second consecutive U.S. National Speedway Championship at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa, California, on October 1. Josh Larsen (GM) finished second with 13, and Gary Hicks was third with 12. Ermolenko becam e the fifth rider to earn back-toback National titles, joining Mike Bast, Bruce Penhall, Kelly Moran and Mike Faria. Lou Gerencer Jr. (H-D) and Richard So ter III (BSA) were the big winners in ro und 10 of th e AMA N ati onal Hillclim b Series in Asheville, North Car olina, on October 1. Gerencer topped the BOCcc class ove r Steve Dresser (Suz) and G r e g W illiams (Hon), while So te r topped th e 540cc division over Scott Ev er e tt (Tri) and Paul Pinsonnault (Hon). With just one round left in the series, Gerencer leads Williams by just four p o in ts, w hile Pi n sonnault still enjoys a 28-point lead over Soter. Ti m Ferry (Su z) used co nsis ten t 2-2 moto finishes to win the 250/Open class at round two of the AMA Fall Classic MX Series at Raceway Park, Englishtown, New Jersey, on October 2. Finishing second, via 3-3 motos finishes , was Mi k e Brown (Hon), while Ba rr y Carsten (Suz) took third. The defending champ Todd DeHoop (Hon) grabbed fourth, while Jim Neese (Kaw) completed the top five. John Dowd (Yam), won the second moto, but transmission problems forced him to drop out of the first molo while he was leading. Brown still holds a healthy 16-point lead in the series over DeHoop. In the 125cc Support class, Dowd scored th e wi n over Ferry and Ty Wallace (Ho n). The top A ma te ur rid er was Brock Sellards (Kaw) who won five of six motos. Sellards topped the 250cc and Schoolboy classes; a fall in the 125cc Amateu r class relegated him to second overall.' Scott Plessinger (KTM) top ped round 10 of the AM A Grand National Cro ss Country Championship Series in Bonner Ridge, West Virginia, on October 2. Duane Conner (Yam) was the runnerup ahead of Tom No rton (Kaw) and H azen, Doohan suspended indefinitely bythe AMA R oad racers Brad Hazen and Scott Doohan, who were involved in an on-track altercation and subsequent accident at the final round of the u .S. Superbike Na tional Championship at Road Atlan ta on September 18, have been suspended indefmitely from AMA professional com pe tition. "The AMA has taken an ample am oun t of time to review eyewitness reports of the accident, and of over-aggressive riding tactics leading up to the accid ent," said Merri ll Vanderslice, the AMA's d irector of professional comp etition. "The AMA will not tolerate this kind of behavior, which we believe indicates a tota l d isregard for other riders' personal safety." Doohan and Hazen were judged to be in violation of Rule B,20 of the 1994 AMA Rules for Professional Compe tition, which forbids "ri d ing at any time in such a manner as to endanger the life or limb of other rid ers, officials or the p ublic." Hazen, who races under an AMA license, wiIl have all privileges revoked immediately. Doohan, an Australian competing under an international FlM license, loses his eligibility to compete in future AMA pro events. The stro ngest eyewitness report, according to the AMA, came from Dale Quarterley w ho was behind the Hazen/Doohan battle when the incident occurred on the final lap . Quarterley told Cycle News immediately following the race that he saw Hazen reach out and gra b Doohan's neck as the two entered a high-speed right-hand comer, causing both riders to crash. Doohan's most serious injury ended up being a badly broken left arm, but the 31year-old Australian was originally thought to be badly injured after being placed in a medically induced coma. Dooha n has been released from the Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville, Georgia, and was scheduled to undergo surgery on his arm in San Francisco, California. Hazen, meanwhile, underwent surgery in Laramie, Wyoming, on Monday, September 26 to repair ligament damage to his knees and was released on Saturday, October 1. In addition to fracturing one knee and tearing ligaments in the other, Hazen suffered d amage to two vertebrae and cracked two ribs. The Californian claims to have no recollection of the incident. M wish I remembered ," Hazen said on Friday, Septe mbe r 30, prior to learning that I he'd been suspended. "I have no memory of the accident itself. I've heard stories, bu t none of tha t happened ." When given Quarterley' s account of the crash, Hazen said: "It's preposterous. It mak es no sense to me. Maybe it would look like that if he came underneath me and I was falling toward him." . Doohan's agent John MacGilliva ry is trying to find someone with a video tape of the incident, but says that Doohan also has no memory of the crash. "He doesn't remember anything right now , but that doesn't mean he won't at some point." Vanderslice said Doohan's suspension was based on eyewitness reports of incidents .that occurred earlier in the race "specifically to the comer before" the accident, an are a where the two reportedly came together. "I believe there was involvement from both parties," Vanderslice said on Monday, October 3. When asked if an "indefinite suspension" meant forever in this case, Vanderslice said: "It could be forever. We will continue to gather information and we will review it as it becomes available. We're not going to take this lightly." Both suspensions may be appealed, Vanderslice said . '. ·IN· H . .T EWIND ··I AMA and SX promoters set to meet T he AMA and the three supercross promoter groups were scheduled to meet on Tuesday, October 4, at the AMA offices in Westerville, Ohio, in an effort to reach an agreement that would keep the two together for the 1995 Supercross Series. "We're meeting here tomorrow to work out a possible reconciliation," Tom Mueller, the AMA's vice-president Of sports marketing said on Monday, October 3. "There will be three representatives from the promoters, along with myself, Ed Youngblood (the president of the AMA) and Paul Dean (chairman of the board). "We have total authority to cut a deal. We can put the deal together tomo rrow, and hopefully we can stop the fragmenting." The supercross p romoters group recently sta rted a sanctioning body dubbed AIR (American International Racing) and were planning on running their own supercross series in 1995, witho ut AMA sanction. defending champion Fred Andrew s (Yam). Kawasaki's Mike Kiedrowski was a spectator at the Englishto wn Fall Classic MX and, according to our sou rces there, Kiedrowski will have a new tu ner for the upcoming National MX and Supercross Series. Brian Lunniss, who had been Mike Craig's mechanic this year at Team Yamaha, will move over to the Kawasaki camp and tum wrenches on Kiedrowski's machine, replacing Shan e Nalley. Between them, Kiedrowski and Nalley have racked up four AMA National Championship MX titles - two in the 125cc class, and one each in the 250 and 500cc classes. Lunniss has tuned for the likes of Bob Hannah, Rick Johnson and Dam on Bradshaw. Yamaha' s Keith McCarty confirmed that Lunniss had indeed left Yamaha. "That's true, he doesn't wo rk here anymore," McCarty said. Unconfirmed reports have New Englander John Dowd signing a letter of intent with Team Yamaha for 1995. If that is true, Dowd will join Jeff Emig and Kevin Windham on the factory team. It was also rumored that Pedro Gonzalez had signed a deal with Team Yamaha, but this was denied by Yamaha's Keith McCarty: "He (Gonzales) has not signed for our team," McCarty said. "We will have three riders and he's not one of them ." Just as we were set to go to p ress, Jack McGrath, Jeremy's father, put an end to the rumors about which team his son will ride for next year . "He's going to re-sign with Team Honda," said Jack. 'The name hasn't bee n p ut on the dotted line yet, but they've worked everything out, and it's going to happen. I wouldn't tell you if I didn't think so." No word yet as to how much money McGrath will get, or for how many years the contract will be. Did-you-know department: Eight-time National En d u r o Champion Dick Bu rl es o n , who finished 18th in the Lightweight (35Occ) Four-Stroke class at the Tulsa Six Days, is the only rider to have co ntes te d both this year's ISDE and the only other !SDE event held on American soil in Massachusetts in 1973. Merrill Vandersli ce, 41, forme rly th e AMA ' s N ational Technical Manage r, has been promot ed to th e pos ition of AMA Director of Professional Competition, effective immediately. "Merrill was initially na m ed acting com pe tition director while the AMA went through an interview process with other can didates," AMA Vice-President of Sports Marketing To m Mueller said. "Other individuals were conside red , bu t Merrill's background and knowledge of professional racing had an immediate effect on the dynamics of the d epartment. I'm really excited that Merrill has accepted the position." In other AMA Pro Racing activity, Don Abbott has accepted the position of national statistics manager. Abbo tt, a long-time scoring coordinator and software expert for the AMA, will expand his role from road racing into other pro racing disciplines, overseeing timing, scorekeeping and official results. The AMA will make an effort to improve and revise the functions of the AMA Road Race Advisory Committee for 1995, according to the AMA. The committee was established in 1994 as a ve hicle' to e nhance co mm unic a tions with A MA Sup e rb ike Series r iders, teams an d factory rep resentatives, an d also to "keep the se ries in a cons ta n t im provement mode." Members of the committee include champions from each cla ss, and d esign at ed representatives from the man ufactu rers involved in the series . Ron Barrick, the AMA's road race manager, is secretary. "We've received constructive input from Kawasaki's Mark Johnson, Malcolm Hill of American Mot orcycle Racing Teams (AMRT), Martin Ad ams of Smokin' Joe's Racing, Terry Vance of Vance & Hines Racing, among o thers, " To m Mueller, the AMA's vice-president of sports marketing said. "We have combined what the AMA learned through the insight of these individuals to make the committee even stronger for 1995." As in 1994, the advisory com m itt ee meetings will be scheduled on Mondays following AMA Superbike Series events, but the mee tings will be expanded to a fu Il day . Meetings will remain open to vis itors, but only committee members will be allowed to discuss agenda items. Agend a topi cs w ill be iden tified as discussion only" or "discussion and decision." ~ An open forum w ill be provided for 0\ other iss ues and time will a lso be se t 0\ aside to discuss AMRT concerns. ..... W During the closing ceremonies followin g th e Tu lsa Six Day s, overall individ ual winner Slephane Peterhansel and "Top Ame rican" at the even t Ty Davis both d onated their motorcycles to John Zink's personal museum, w h ic h the locals call the Rendezvous. The event was held on Zink's 33,OOO-acre ranch near Sand Springs, Oklahoma. Peterhansel' s and Davis' bikes will be d isplayed alongsid e a couple of Zink-sponsor ed Indy cars, as w e Il as an Ind y 500-winning car of the early '50s. ESPN's Dave Despain has di spelled rumors that he will be replaced as the host of MotoWorld, the weekly motor, cycle television show. " I expect to be hosting MotoWorld for as long as MotoWorld is on ESPN," Despain said. According to AMA Vice-President of

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