Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

I" O ff-road rac er Charles Halcomb wa s air-lifted to Sharps Memorial Hospital in San Diego, Ca liforn ia, after he crashed during th e Baja 1000 off-road rac e that started and finis hed in Mexicali, B.C., Mexico, November 11. Halcomb, who was a member on one of the two ma jor Honda teams, crashed at high speed 78 miles in to th e race and s us ta in ed head injuries and broken rib s. According to former Baja 1000 winner Scot Harden, who visited Halcomb in the hospital OIl Monday, November 14, he is cu rre n tly in a coma but regain s co nsci o u s ness from time to time. " C h a rle s recognizes people and can speak," said Harden . HHe has two bruises on the top of his head, has cracked . ribs but everything else is fine. As far as a prognosis, the doctors are tight-lipped, it's a day-to-da y situ ation. They didn't have to give him medicine to induce the coma or have to operate on his skull to reduce the pressure on his brain." Italian Davide Tralli was the first person to arrive on the scene and send for help. "Some people have been saying it was a boob y trap that caused th e crash, but that is purely speculation at this point," said Harden. H is a little suspicious, but it it was a high-speed whoop section (tha t Ha lcomb crashed in). He could've hit a rock. As this issue went to press, Halcomb was still in intensive care. H Defending Supercross Champion Jeremy McGrath and Am erican Honda have come to terms, and the popular rider has finally re-signed to compete on the factory Honda/l -800-COLLECT squadron. Reports have McGrath signing on for two more years . Although nothing could be confirmed at press time, sources close to the team have reported that World Superbike Champion Carl Fogarty has left Ducati and will join the Castrol Honda squad for the 1995 World Superbike Series, joining Doug Polen and Aaron Slight in what apparently will be a three-man team. Other World Superbike reports say that Scott Russell is trying to get out of his contract with Rob Muzzy so that he can join the Austrian Promotor Ducati team for the 1995 World Superbike Series. The Promotor team has refused to comment, other than to say that the team will be a n nou nced on November 15. Ru sse ll was not availabl e for comment. The AMA has announced that the 1995 Su pe rTea ms Series (fo rmerly Hea vyweig ht Team Cha llenge) will feature Le Mans-style starts in 1995. SuperTeams riders w ill be given one warm -up lap prior to the start of the race, with their machines then lined up at a 45-degree an gle on one side of the grid. The bikes will remain running, wi th th e second rider hold ing the machine. The riders s ta rti ng the ra ce w ill line up on the op posite side of the grid and will run to th eir motorcycles at the drop of the green flag . H ur AMA Superbike praO moters hav e asked for more activity on Saturday, " sa id Tom Mueller, th e AMA' s vice president of sports marketing. HALe Mans-style start for SuperTeams, in the tradition of Suzuka and other major end uran ce events, will add pageantry and excitement for both spectators and TV viewers." The AMA has announced the hiring of Rob Dingman as the associ ati on ' s Washington, D.C., representative in the government relations department. Dingman, who will wo rk out of the AMA's sa tellite o ffice in th e nation's capit al , most recently se rved as a government relations specialist w ith the Motorcycle Industry Council (MIC). Dingman takes over from Jim Bensberg. who had been with the AMA since 1987. "While we are sorry to see Jim leave, we are pleased to have someone of Rob's experience in Capitol Hill politics to assume this very im portant position," said Robert Rasor, vice presid ent of government relations for the AMA. American Honda and Fox Racing have re portedly reached an agreement, and the three-man team of twa-time Supercross Champion Jeremy McGrath, twotime 125cc National Champion Doug Henry and Barcelona Supercross winner Steve Lamson will be outfitted in matching Fox Racing gear throughout the 1995 season. Because of a pre-existing contract, McGrath will wear Alpinestars boots. This makes it two out of five factory teams that will be decked out in Fox Racing apparel, as the factory Yamaha squad of John Dowd and Team Green's seventhstrai ht in Ba-a 1000 D I '.IN T EW ,I H IND, DuHamel si ns with Honda M I I i' igu el Du H amel (rig ht) has sign ed a letter of int ent wit h Smokin ' Joe's Racing to rid e the team's Honda RC45 and CBR600 F-3 in the AMA U.S. Superbike National Championship Series and 600cc Supersport Serie s, en d in g th e French Canadian's on e-year stin t with the factory Harley- . David son VRl 000. The move caugh t man y by su rp rise as DuHamel was expected to re-sign wi th Harley-Da vid son for the 1995 season. DuHamel and the new VRl000 were impressive in 'the fir st ye ar of Harley's return to superbike racing, but the switch to Honda leaves the Milwa ukee marque without a number-one rider. Former Grand National Champion Chris Carr will ride the VRl000, but 1995 will mark his rooki e season on the road racing circuit. The signing of DuHamel also ended specu lation ' that 1990 AMA Superbike Champion Doug Chandler would ride the Smokin' Joe's Honda in the superbike class with Jimmy Filice set to ride the team's CBR600 in superspo rt . Chandler and Filice are now out of the picture as DuHamel will ride both the RC45 and the CBR600. . "I'm very happy that Honda has signed Miguel," team owner Martin Adams said. "Unfortunately, I had to give bad news to a lot of nice people. I was heavily involved w ith trying to sign Doug (Chandler); that was my task. We were really just waiting on a quote from them and I was confid en t that we'd have that tied up. The offer to Miguel was on the table for ages - it was dormant. Senior management at Honda stayed involved and I don't know what set it over the top. Nevertheless, they agreed and it's a done deal. We're obviously very happy - we got the guy that everybody put at the top of the board. You look at that and it's a posi tive. Miguel is a man of great talents and we're happy to have him. After all, he's the last man to win a race for us. It's a terrific opportunity. It was very hard for me because I had to call Doug (Chandler) and Jimmy (Filice). The call to Jimm y was really difficult, but we've hired a man to do both jobs (superbike and 6OO).H The signing reunites DuHamel with Adams and the Honda team . DuHamel won th e 1991 Daytona 200 in his debut w ith the squad (which was at the time Camel Honda) before going on to post four second-place finishes and a third in the Superbike National Championship. In 1992, DuHamel raced for the Sonauto Yama ha team in the World Championship Road Race Series before returning to AMA racing with Muzzy Kawasaki in 1993 and Harley-Davidson in 1994. ' "Honda's proposition was very interesting," said Alan Labrosse, DuHamel's manager. "There were several factors in coming to this decision. Mechanically, though they had some problems last year, they have a good record of finishing races. They've also ad ded Merlyn Plumlee, and they are qu ite committed to a testing program. They' ve also given Miguel the opportunity to do the Suzuka 8-Hour. Miguel's first objective is to win races and it's been a little over a year since he's done that - he doesn't like the feeling. We came very close to re-signing with Harley-Davidson. We just d idn't come to terms. It was always understood that we requested a pa y increase, What I requested is what we wanted and we were at a difference. Maybe they didn't think he'd departbut we weren't bluffing We have nothing negative to say about Harley. They treated Miguel very well and he got along well with everyone on the team . We left on good tenns." Labrosse added that the one-year contract with Honda may see DuHamel as a Wild Card rider in the United States 500cc Grand Prix in 1995. Kevin Windham will' al so wear the gear . Former 12Sec National Champion Jeff Emig, however, will fulfill his contractual obligations to Thor Racewear in 1995. Frank Thomason of Racing Enterprises Motocross announced that a ll racer s who bring at least two items of nonperishable food to the November 19 Saturday MX races at Car lsb ad Raceway in Ca rlsbad, ,California, will be allowed to race in a seco nd class, free o f cha rge. The food is being collec ted for the San Diego No rth County Foo d Drive. For more information call 619/484-1 441. an n y H am el (right), Larry Roeseler and Ty Davis earned Kawasaki Team Green its seve nth consecutive vic tory at the Baja 1000, w hic h began in Mexicali, Baja California , Me xico, o n November 11. The same trio tea m ed up fo r last year's win, and it was no surprise when they stood on the top step of the pod ium at race's end. Still, it wasn't a typica l ru n-away-and -hide routine, as the The AMA has released a revised ESPN team of Pau l Krau se, Ted Hunnicut and Craig Smith television sche d ule for motorcycle racing b roa dcasts tha t incl udes earlier air put up a tough fight on anoth er KX5OO. Each squad .su ffered through a series of mechanical grem lins, tim es for the next six Grand Na tion al and the final margin of victory was just 21 minutes. Dirt Track races, a nd the rem a in in g The KX250 team of Jason Kaw ell, John Braasch AMA Su percross and 125cc Outdoor and Steve Hengeveld was third overall and first in Nationals. Th e ne xt few easte rn s ta nClass 21, followed in fourth by the Honda CR250 of dard broadcast times are as follows: Tim Morton, Brian Schrnuckleand Brent Blount. 11/21 5:00 p.m. - Parkersburg Half Mile; , Kawasaki riders Davide Trolli, Alain Olivier, Scott I 11/ 22 6:30 p.m. - Syracuse Mile; 11/23 orris and Danny,laPorte completed the top five, and the Class 40 win 'went to the I 6:30 p.m . - Oklahoma City Half Mile; sixth -overall Kawasaki KLX650 of Chris Haines, Scott Forward and Jack Johnson. Sev- I 11/17 6:30 p.m. - Delmont 12Sec Nationenth overall went to thetop-placing Honda factory team, consisting of Jeff Capt, John- I al ; 12/4 2:00 p .m. - 125cc National revie w . F or more in format ion call ny Campbell and Bob Rutten. Class 30 was topped by Honda XR riders Victor Lujan, Dave Donatoni and Mike ' I 614/ 891-2425. McDonald, while the Class 50 victory went to Jim Moore and Bill Nichols, on another . According to TravelCraft, hotel space is XR. Jason Tuck and Mark Green rode their Honda CR125 to the Class 20 win. already running low for the 1995 Daytona Bike Week, which will take place March 3-12 in Daytona Beach, Florida. Due to recent growth of the even t, along wi th the fact that som e of the larger hotels have converted to cond omi niums, space will be shorter than ever. Call Tra velCraft at 800/241-1223. Jus t months after pos ti ng a National eve nt .w in on their mai den voya ge, the Ocean Sp ray Offshore Racing Team of Bruce Penhall and Dennis Sigalos st ood the boa t racing wo rld on its ear ag ain by winning the Pierre Card in 1994 Key West World Championships in Key West, Florid a, on September 13. The tw o former world speedway champio ns finis hed second in the standings after the first leg on September 8, b u t ca me back to dominate in th e rough ~ wa ter br ought about by tropical storm 0' Gordon during th e final leg. Though ~ Penh all a n d Siga lo s m anag ed the unthinkable - w inning a world title in their rookie season - they are taking it in l-< ClJ stride. "Competition is the sa me everywhere," sa id Penhall, the onl y American ever to w in back-to-back World ClJ Speedway Finals in 1981-82. "You need to be foc used and you need to work hard to be the best. " Sigalos helped cap ture two consecutive World Best Pairs titles for Team USA in 1982-83. ~ S 6 z 1

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