Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Carl Fogarty: World Su~erbike Cham ion B r it ain ' s Carl Fogarty (right) won the 1994 World Champ ionship Superbike Series wit h a win and a second -place finish in the final two legs of the season at Phillip Island in Australia on October 30. The Duca ti Corse rider withstood the constant pressure of Muzzy Kawasaki's Scott Russell and Anthony Gobert to earn the title, with Russell running into tire problems in the second race. The first race saw Fogarty take control early, with Gobert and Russell trying to match the Brit's recordsetting pace . At the finish it was Fogarty by 14 seconds over Russell as Gobert slowed to let his teammate past. Castrol Ho nda 's Aaron Slight finished fourth with Australian Troy Corser fifth on the Fast By Ferracci Ducati. Gobert and Russell got flying starts in the second leg, with Gobert pulling away in the lead while Fogarty closed in from third place. Six laps from t he end of the race, Russell was forced to pit with wi th a worn rear tire, ending his title hopes. With Russell out of contention, Fogarty cruised home to finish second behind Gobert. Corse r finished third with Slight fourth. Texan Dou g Polen finished 11th in both races on his Castrol Honda RC45. With his 10 race wins, Fogarty ended the season with 305 points, 25 points clear of Russell's 280. Slight finished third wi th 277 points. Polen ended the year fourth wit h 158 poin ts and Simon Crafar was fifth with 153. Morris, PA; June 18 - Budds Creek, MD; Jun e 25 - Southwic k, MA ; Jul y 2 Buchanan, MI; July 16 - Troy, OH; July 23 - New Berlin, NY; July 30 - Millville, MN; Augu st 6 - Wa shougal, W A; August 27 - Binghamton, NY; September 3 - Delmont, PA. Will the San Jose Mile return to the AMA Grand National Dirt Track schedule in 1995? H.E. Murrell Enterprises is currently pursuing th e. return of the event to the Santa Clara County Fair- .grounds. The 1994 San Jose Mile was cancelled when the Santa Clara County Fa ir Board announced that it would pave over a section of the famous race track to host an area flea marke t, killing th e event permanently. But the work wa s never begun and ma y not happen after all. "Th e AMA has slotted us for our trad itional Ma y and September dates, and the Santa Clara County Fair Board is in the process of putting their schedule together with those two dates in mind," Murrell said. " I am acti vely see ki n g proper sponsorship so that these two events can continue as they have in the past." Australians had won eig h t of th e 10 races held in the hist or y of the Austra lian round of the W orl d Superbike Series, heading into the October 30 running of the event at Phillip Island. The first year of the event , 1988, saw Michael Doohan wi n both legs on a Yamaha. Since th en, Peter Goddard, M ichael Dowson, Rob Phillis and Kevin Magee have w on races. The race was held at Gran Park in 1988 and 1989, with Phillip Island taking over as the host race track . in 1990. With Anthony Gobert taking a win in th e ra ce on October 30, A ustralia.'s total jumped to nine of 11. The 10th running of the Team Ha re Scrambles Championship of the World will be held on N ovember 12-13 in Athens, Ohio. The Pro cla ss will pay $1000 . Drew Wolfe of Action Sports . Promotions, Inc. ha s also announced that his Arenacross Series will begin at the Fairgrounds Coliseum in Columbus, Ohio, on December 2-4 and that his ice racing series gets underway on December 17 at the same venue. For more information call 614/594-6686. The Malcolm Smith Motorsports Dual Sport Ride which will begin in Riverside, California, on No vember 13 has already reached the loa-rider entry limit and the waiting list for alternates is also filling up. The folks at 0-37 Dual Sport re mi nd us that pre-entries for the Los Angeles-Barstow-Las Vegas Dual Spo rt ride have also been com ing in rap idl y and pre-entry for that event closes on November 8. For more information call 818/249-2141. A Motorsports Display Day w ill be held at Hansen Dam Park in Sylmar , Californi a, on November 5. Persona lities su ch as Eddie Mulder, Dave Arnold, Pete Coleman, Eddie Wirth and Gene Romero a re sched uled to a ttend . For mor e informa tion call 818/896-2200 or 818/443-9630. Initial rep o rts that road racer Loris Enduro'Series to Hatch fter a season-lo ng duel, Team Suzu ki's Steve Hatch (right) came out on top of rival Kevin Hines in the National Championship End uro Seri es. Ha tch was vic torious at the final round in New Castl e, Delaware , Octob er 30, with CREmoun ted Hines finishin g three points back. The top five wer e filled out by Kawasa ki pilot Mike Lafferty, defending champion Randy Hawkin s and KTM rider Matt Stavish. Hatch, who finished the series second last year, won four races to former champ Hines' three. It was Hatch's first National title. A Quarterley takes WERA 'F-USA finale T eam Mirag e's Dale Qu arterley (right) took the overall win in the final Motop ort Formu la USA race a t th e sod d e n Road Atlanta Me tzeler Grand National Finals with 2-1 finishes in the two, 12-lap races, on October 30. But it was second-place fin isher Michael Ma rtin of th e Valvolin e Suzu ki team who was the big winne r. Martin, who carded 1-2 finishes for second overall, and Team Hammer, Inc. teammate Chuck Graves, thi rd ove rall with a pair of thirds, split the $20,000 top prize in the EBC Brakes Triple Crown Cha llenge, a team award for the best finishes in three of the four WERA F-USA races. Quarterley and teammate Scott Gray had led the challenge series coming into Road Atlan ta, but Gray high-sided coming out of turn seven in Saturday'S heat race and was hospitalized over the weekend with a broken pelvis and ruptured bladder (after landing on the track Gray had been unavo idably hit by Perform ance South Racing's Rich Oliver, who also crashe d, sus taining a concussion.) Gray was taken to Northeast Regional Hospita l, as was Oliver, but Oliver released himself from the hospital, though doc tors prohibited him from racing on Sunday. Gray was scheduled to have surgery to repair the ruptured bladder. Team Mirage's Qu arterley was forced off the track and the incident brought out a red flag on the four th lap of the race. Because Gray was Qu arterley's teammate on "The Farm Team," Quarterley had to find a replacement and chose New Zealander Andrew Stroud . Stroud chos e to ride the Fastline / MCM Suzuki, which was availa ble after Michael Barnes crashed, re-breaking his right wrist, but because he hadn't competed in the heat race, he had to start from the back of the field and finished sixth and seventh on a wet track. On the strength of their finishes in the two Motoport Formu la USA heat races, "The Farm Team " placed second in the championship, earning $7500. Team Hammer, Inc. II's David Stanton and Tray Batey, who finished fourth and fifth, respecti vely, on the day, moved from sixth to third in the final challenge standings, pocketing $5000. Performance South Racing's Rich Oliver clinched his second consecu tive Good ridge Formula II title, despite riding only two laps of the race. Because he'd suffered a concussion in the F-USA heat race, Oliver was not cleared by doctors to race and had checked himself out of the hospital after they had asked to keep him for observation for 48 hours. In the race he needed only complete the first and final laps, because WERA scoring dictates that you are not cred ited with a result unless you cross the finish line. Starting from the back of the pack, he rode slowl y for one lap, pitted, then went back out for the final lap. Because there were only nine 250s Oliver got six points and won the title over teammate Chuck Sorensen, 66-63. Sorensen completely dominated the race, building up a 1D-second lead by the third lap and cru ising to his first WERA Formul a II race win ever. Second place in the race would decide third in the championship since William Himmelsbach and Greg Esser came into the final round tied on points. Himmelsbach used a gutsy last-lap move down the hill to the final comer to take the spot narrowly from Esser and, with it, third in the championship with 38 points, two better than Esser. ' The RK Chain Form ula III race and title were won by Roadracing World 's Chris Rogers . The Yamaha -mounted rider rode to victory on a wet track with Jim Struke second and Toby Jorgensen third. MCE Racing's Kevin Murra y was challenging for second when he crashed, unhurt, on the final lap coming out from under the Goodyear Bridge. Murray took second in the championship with Roadracing World editor John Ulrich third in the championship. Ulrich crashed while running in fourth place in the middle of the race. Henny Ray Abrams Capirossi had su ffe red serious h ead injuries in a testing crash in Jerez, Spain, were untrue. Though the Italian d id crash his Honda NSR500, Capirossi wa s d ischarged from the hospital without injury. The 3rd Annual Scotty Adams Benefit Bash will be held November 12 at the Down town Airp ark at 1701 South Western in Ok lahoma City, O kl ah oma . Adams is a form er dirt tracker who suffered paralyzing injuries in a 1991 crash, and all proceeds form the bash will go towards Ada ms' extensive rehab ilitation costs. Food, d rink, live entertainment an d door prizes highligh t the event, which runs from noon to midnight. For more information ca ll 405 / 720-7544, 415/799-4566 or 405/495-4915. The Motorsports of AMerica Indoor Series will get underway November 12 in Evansville, Ind iana, and the Open Pro class winner will take home $500 . Interested flat trackers should call 800/5448714. The Dirt Diggers M.e. and the Pra irie City SVRA will host a grand openin g of their new Hangtown practice MX track on November 5, near Rancho Cordova, Californ ia. Park admission will be free from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m., and there w ill be a free raffle. The Vic Wilsondesigned track will include most of the features from the National track, with the exception of the steeper uphills and downhills. An irrigation system is being ins talled to control dust. The track will be o p en durin g norma l park hours . Spark arrestors and gr ee n sticke rs are require d. Fo r more info rma ti on ca ll 916/985-7376. " dis play, raffles and giveaways, secured o bik e p arking and a free Carmichael Hond a hat to the first 50 guests. For more information, call 916/373-1557. Of "E z 3

• Cover