Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Cycle News 1995 01 18

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/127711

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 2 of 55

Na tional and Ap ri130 ETd E will be held in the McC a in Va lley Recrea ti on Area/Lark Canyon OHV Park, 50 mil es east of San Diego, Californi a. For more info rmation call 310/693-7578. Acco rdin g to a p ress release from the FlM, the Thunderbike class that is slated to ma ke its debut as a sup port class in the World Champ ionship Road Race Series s till has to be ap p ro ve d by th e FIM. A meeting betw een the FlM and Dorna /TWP will take place in Geneva on January 17 in order to d iscuss th e new clas s. "Following this meeting, a final decision will be made by the FlM, " the press release states. "Ho wever, this race would not count toward any World or Continental Championship or FIM Prize. In an y ca se, the FIM w ill not accept a situation of conflict with an y other World or Continental Championship which could lead to di fficulties with other partners." Two-time AMA 250cc Gran d Prix Champion Jimmy Filice ha s s igned a contract with Erion Racirig to contest the 199 5 AMA 600cc Supersp ort a n d SuperTeams Series. "We are thrilled to have Jimmy join our team this season," team owner Kevin Erion said. "He is an extremely talente d racer and one of the most liked guys on the National circuit. We reall y feel lucky to have him under the Erion Racing banner. His ability and that of Larry Pegra m are su re to be a winning combination." Filice will ride a Honda CBR600 in the Supersport class a n d will join Pegram on the team's CBR900 for the endurance series . " Riding the 600cc Supersport is an exciting chall en g e for m e, " Filice said. "l ' rn read y to try a new class and it should be a grea t season. It will be fu n being teame d w it h Larry (Pegra m) . He's a really good guy and we ha ve a lo t in common since we both started in d irt track." Thanks in part to the FIM Grand Prix speedway sys t em, British League Speedway ma y undergo a major facelift in 1995. After the near collapse of sev eral British League teams - including the Crad ely Heath Heathens, which wo u ld have left Am erican rid ers Billy Hamill and Greg Hancock scrambli ng to s ign on with a new team prior to the '95 sea son - league p romoters are loo king to fill the void that cou ld be crea ted by the loss of their top riders to the FlM Gran d Prix Series. "It was a big-tim e scare for us, " Hamill sa id. "In our case, the promoters h ad a lease p ro blem with th e tra ck owner and they were ready to pull the p lu g . It looks like it will b e okay now, but Newcastle has collapsed, and Belle Vue (home to American Chris Manchester) m igh t a lso go und e r . There are a lot of things colliding with th is Grand Pri x' th ing. The British League is ba sically a weekend league, but the Grands Prix would take most of the top ride rs away from the league for seven or eight wee kends ." According to Hamill, moves are b e ing m ade to restructure th e league, in corp ora ting th e British and lo w er lev e l Na tiona l leagues in to one premier league. In addition, a sys tem sim ilar to NFL football's salary cap would be instituted to keep the teams at even strength. But instead of money , the new sys te m would be ba sed upon the riders' point averages , with no one team being allowed to start with a combined rid er point average gIeater than 40. "It comes down to the British League promoters looking at the Gr and Prix schedule and saying, 'We've been doing this league for 40 yea rs, no way are we going to bend for the Grand Prix sched ule:" Hamill said . "But the y know tha t every (qu alified) rider is going to ride in the World Championship and they needed to bend somew hat to accommodate the new system. On the whol e, the changes sh ould he lp everything. The Grand Prix system is going to be very lucrative for the riders because we will have six differen t rounds in six d ifferen t countries an d it will all be televised." Cycle News con tri b utor Alan Cathcart was awarded his fifth Root es Gold Cup in recognition of his 1994 racing vic tori es o n a v a r ie ty o f mo torcycles in Europe, the U.S., Au stralia an d Japan. The Guild of Motoring Writers in England awards the Rootes Gold Cup annuall y to the car or motorc yde journalist jud ged to have made the most outstanding achievement in motorsports during the previous 12 months. Cathcart ha s previously won the award in 1986, 1987, 1992 and 1993. Tw o-time Camel Supercross Champion Jeremy McGrath ha s hi red motocro ss school instruc tor Ga ry Sem ics to train him for th e fa s t-app ro a chin g 1995 mo tocross and supercross seasons. Semics is currently staying in McGrath's Murietta, California , home and is over,seeing McGrath 's physic al conditioning and nu tritional routines. In the meantime, the Gary Semics MX School, Inc., is looking for qu alified riders to become fran chise instructors for th e sch ool. Pot en tial instructors m ust sen d a r esum e a n d go th rough an instructor's school taught by Semics in order to acquire certi fica tion . T hey would then be abl e to teach as subcontractors of the Gary Semi cs MX School in the ir assigned terri tories . In terested p arti es can conta ct th e sc hool a t 216/726-0147 or w rite to GSMXS, 9250 Woodworth Rd ., North Lima , OH 44452. Orange County Suzuki was the domin ant winn er of t h e GFI Dealer MX Series. OCS won by over 500 p oin ts. According to Keith Code, the California Superbike School will no longer be runn ing sc hoo ls in conjunction with Fastrack Riders. "We kn ew we wo uld outgr ow each o the r, it w as just a qu estion of wh en: we needed more track time for ou r s tu dents and so d id they," Cod e said . The first n ew Superbike School format will be run on Saturday, January 21 a t Will ow Sprin gs Racew a y in Rosa mond, Ca lifornia. The track wil l be for Supe rbike School students only with a combined school of both !.evel 1 (new students) and Level 2 stude nts. Supercross is celebratin g 20 ye ars of racing at Anaheim Stadium in Sou thern Californi a on January 28 and the Mickey Thom pso n Ente r tai n ment Gro u p (MTEG) will p resent "Legends of Supercross." The presentation will take p lace durin g in te rmission o f wha t will b e r o und thr e e o f the U.S. Super cro ss Series, and w ill fea ture severa l of th e sp ort 's past ch ampions and ot he r top competitors. Many will ride th e very b ik e s they rod e in th eir e ra . Ride rs in cl u d e Gary Jon e s, Marty Sm ith, Tommy Croft, Chuck Sun, Mike Bell, G oat Breker, Donn ie H ansen, Broc Glover, Johnny O'Mara, Jeff Ward, Guy Cooper and Erik Kehoe. David Bailey will pres id e a s t he Ma ster o f Cere monies. Dirt tracker/road racer Joe Winston III will compete in the AMA Ha r le y - Davidson 883 Nationa l Championship dirt track an d roa d racing series aboard Ski p Fordyce-backed Harleys in 1995. Winston, the 1993 Harle y-Davidson 883 Twin Sports Rookie of the Yea r, has also acquired sponsorship fro m the Rick L. Eby law firm, the Mike Felder . motorcycle insurance company and the Dr. Greg Bates chiropractic practice. Winston will also compete in the AMA 600cc Supers port class d uring the upcoming season. The AMA's Pro Licensing Department is now processing 1995 license applications . Racers p lanning to p ar ticip at e in 199 5 AMA -sa n ct io n e d pro fessional eve nts should remember the following: there won't be anyon -site licensing; there won' t be any one-day licensing at Supercross or N at ional MX events; all p arti cipants at AMA National road race events w ill h a v e to hold a n AMA license; there is a new 250cc equipme nt re qui re m ent fo r new Pro-Am license hol ders; 16- and 17-yea r-old applicants a re re qu ir e d to submit a n age and schooling certifica te; a $1000 scholarship will be aw arded to the person in the age group, including seniors who ma y be 18 or older. To requ est a 1995 license appli cation or additional information, contact the Pro Racin g License Dep art men t at P.O. Box 6114, Westerville, OH 43081 or call 614/891-2425. Repor ts of p romote rs aba ndoning Roger Edmondson's North American Superbike Series seem to be unfounded. Bra in erd International Race w ay ' s Dick Row e says th at he plans on running a NAS B event - with or without the m aj o r m an u fa c t ure rs a nd their teams . "Probably the righ t political move would have bee n to go with the AMA," Rowe said on Monday, Jan uary 9. "But in the best interest of the sport and to reach the next plateau , we really fee l m o re co n fiden t wi t h Roger Edmonds on. I can only speak for Brainerd International Racew ay, but since the elim ination of Wo rld Superbike here we h a v e seen our AMA race grow. We attribute that to the guidance an such of Roger Edmondson. Prior to that the AMA to us was Bill Boyce an d I felt the world was ending wh en he reti red. But Bill assured us th a t it w as falling into capable ha nds and that was Roger. He 's been a delight to work with. I really had nothin g at th e AM A w ith Roger n ot being a part of the equation." What if the manufacturers deci ded to not comp~e in th e NA SB series? " I will face tha t when the tim e com es," Rowe said. "I do n't believe that they will go to just four or five races at substandard race facilities. I can't see th e man u factures going along with them (the AMA). I also don't know that the manufacturers h a v e made that decision yet. I can't believe th a t they woul dn't want to come b ack to Brain erd , Mid-Ohio and tp e others . I can' t accept that. At the very least, we wo ul d go with Roger's series anyhow. Th e people will come. They wo n't b e able to see them (the teams) in our vicinity anyway. We think the fans will still come to our event, but I th ink it would be sad if the}' (the teams) did n 't come. I would hope they would suppo rt our event beca use we 've always supported them." Mu lti-ti me Wom en' s M X National C h a m pio n Mercedes Gonzalez ha s resigned from her sales position at Axo Sp ort America, in order to assume a similar position at GT Bicycles. Having recently signed a contract to contest the 1995 NORBA National Downhill Mountain Bike Series for the GT factory team, Gonzalez' new pos ition will allow her to ta ke the time off needed to follo w th e series: "It's a good tie in with my bicycle racing," said Gonzalez. "It was a tough d ecis ion to ma ke, b ut it wa s a lso to o good to pass up . I've been with Axo for eigh t years now, and I just had to consider the fact that bicycle racing is what I'll be doing for the next few years, and the new job will make things a lot easier. This is a good opportunity for m e." Gonza lez will rema in with Axo Sport through January 25. BORN: A baby girl, Kassidy K.D. Johnson, to multi-t im e Supe rcr oss a n d National MX Champion Rick Johns on and his wife Stephanie on January 6 in San Die go, California. Kass id y is th e third Joh n son baby, joining brothers Luk e and Jake. HIRED: Brian Cornelius, by Thor Racing . Cornelius was formerly employed by Regina USA. Both co mpa nies are own ed by Parts Unlimited. MOVED: Carbon Tech, Inc ., manufacturers of carbon-fiber ree d petals and exhaust systems, to 5711 Floren Perkins Road #K, Sacramento, CA 95828 ; the new phone number is 916/387-5480 or 916/387-5482 (fax). ANNOUNC ED: The national management team for Triumph Motorcycles in the U.S. The foll owing five regional ma nagers will help develop the dealer netwo rk : Mark Allison (Northeast); Ma rk O'Neill. (Southeast); Jeff Myers (Midwest); Clay Ca rson (Southwest); Tom Hicks.(West Coast). MOVED: Brightstar Professional Motorsports to 324 Wells Street, #103, De la fi e ld , WI 53018; Brightstar's endeavors include a r id in g school taught by Dave Rosno and Shane Clarke at Heartland Park in Topeka, Kansas. REOPENED: Canyon Raceway in Peoria, Arizona. The 160-acre facili ty has cha nged owne rs hip and will feature a red esigned motocross track in ad dition to a 3/8-mile di rt track . The first mo tocross race is scheduled for January 28. CORRECTION: Delray Enterprises of Rock Ta vern , New Yo rk, have announced corrections to their advertisement which ran in Issue #50 (ja nuary 4, 1995) fo r the New Hope Arenacross. The following AMA classes which will run on Sunday, February 5 and Sunday, February 12 were omitted: 125 B, Collegeboy 16-24 and Schoolboy 12-15. HIRED: Co rey Eastman by White Brothers Performance Prod ucts to oversee advertising and p ress relations duties. For more information call 714/692-3404. MOVED: Powersport Video to 18226 Ventura Blvd ., Suite 102, Tarzana, CA 913 56 . The new phone number is 818/708-9995 or 818/708-0598 (fax). MOVED: Video Man ua ls to 1980 Ori zab a Av e., Signal Hill, CA 908 04 . Th e If) phone number is unchanged at 310/433- ~ 87M . ~ AUTOG RAPH SIGNING: At Caswell 00 Cycle, in Mora , Minnesota, on Janua ry 20, from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. Team Suz uki· Cl:l riders Greg Alb ertyn, Damon Huffman, Craig Decke r, Tim Ferry, Ezra Lusk and Cl:l . race tea m man ager Roger DeC~ter are ..-.. scheduled to ap pe ar. For more information call Les Caswell at 612/679-1383. ~ £::' g 3

Articles in this issue

Archives of this issue

view archives of Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's - Cycle News 1995 01 18