Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

I.INTHEWIN.D . v '. .. \ very similar to the Supersport rules, . I Ken Maely, the steel shoe man, has allowing also 750cc twins to take part in I asked that dirt track racers get their the series. However, the first two years I orders in early for the '95 season. Maely will be regarded as a trial period. The ! . says it takes four hours to build just one technical rules can change in that perishoe and is currently filling out an order od, and for instance include the use of of 100 shoes for Kenny Roberts, who will use the shoes for his new racing prototypes. Most worrying about the whole story is the fact that the decisionschool in Spain. For more informa tion makers in Grand Prix have betrayed the call Maely at 909/ 277-8989. basic concept of their race series. Until now, the GP was reserved for protoHillbilly Hills MX near Macon, Geortypes only; at the Grand Prix you could gia, will host an open practice on Februsee the bikes with the most advanced ary 26 for those headed down 1-75 to technology. The 'new standard class will Gatorback and Daytona to brush up on only bring about confusion with th e their riding. For more information call 912/788-0413. . spectators. And in that case, it is the sport in genera l that will suffer from thi s . We h ave promoted the World Accord ing to a press release from WERA, the 1995 WERA 125cc Grand Superbike Championship the last six years, and we have never deviated from Prix Series will be backed by Moto liberty and will be called the Moto Liberty the pri ncip le that the bikes in our racing 125cc Grand Prix Series . "Sam categories had to be homologated street bik es. We are not aga inst a four-stroke Yamashita's Moto Liberty sponsored the ca te gory .In .Grand Prix , but then it WERA 125cc GP class in 1992," WERA's shou ld be restricted to prototypes only." Brenda Taylor said. "That was the first year the 125cc GP bikes gained status as Fla mmini also announced at the press a National Championship cla ss. It is co nfere n ce that his World Superbike doubtful that the 125s would have the prominence they d o to day wi t hout Cha m pions h ip will by sp ons ored by Ford and Sarema as well as by newcomMoto Liberty's involvement in 1992." ers Agip and Foxhound. Flammini also Sport Rider magazi ne's Lanc e Holst set said that pri ze money will be increased for his series in the next three years: In a new motorcycle lap record at Willow . Springs Raceway in Rosam ond, Califor. 1995, $3 million will be spent (39 percent nia, on January 15, ridin g the Dutchm an of which is p rize money, 21 percent is Racing Yamaha YZFI 000 a ro u n d the s ta r t m on ey , and 40 percent is travel m o n e y ). In 1996, Flamm ini sa ys th e recen tly repaved cir cu it in 1:24.41. " It money will go up to $3.5 million w ith was effortless," H olst said . "The bike was so good." the amo unt reaching $4 million in 1997. LuckyStrike Suzuki's D'aryl Beattie and the Marlb oro Yamaha team of Luca Cadalora and Norifumi Abe recently completed testing at the Eastern Creek circuit near Sydney in Australia, reports Cycle News contributor Bernie McGuire. "The testing progressed well and I feel comfortable now on the bike," said Beattie , who did the testing on the new Suzuki by himself after Kevin Schwantz suffered a hand injury during a crash on January 5 at Phillip Island. "My foot is a bit sore but it's getting better. I have some bruising from being on the bike and using the footpeg, but I have been able to keep going and overall it's getting better." Beattie lapped the 2.41-mile race track in an unofficial best time of 1:32.6; the Aussie qualified seventh for last year's Australian GP with a 1:31.603 on the Marlboro Yamaha. I' I I I Dan Murphy, president of FAST and th e promoter of th e World Su perbike Championship round sched uled to run at Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, California, on July 21-23 , sto p p ed by the Cycle News offices recently to fill u s in on some of his plans for the event. Murphy said he has re sponded to many of the complaints from spectators who have attended past editions I of the Grand Pri x at Laguna Seca and . I has made plans to reduce camping i costs up to 50 percent; give unlimited I pit access to those purch asing the I proper tickets; and will offer more rae- i ing via 600cc Supersp o r t, Harley- I Davidson SuperTwins and 125cc Grand Prix exhibition races. "O ur goal . is to give the fans a lot more value than they are used to." Luca Cadalora seemed more relaxed than last year during the test session, reports McGuire. "I am a lot happier now than I was .las t year, for sure," Cadalora said. We have the new bikes, with new chassis, new swingarm and various improvements to the engine. Everything went well and I'm looking forward to the season which I think will be my best chance of winning the championship." Cadalora was the quickest of the three testers at Eastern Creek, completing the best of his some 250 laps in 1:32.1 - Well off Michael Doohan's lap record of 1:31.41. Randy Mamola, the full-time test rider for the Marlboro Yamaha team, was also present at the test. The team is scheduled to test next in Malaysia in early February. 2 Harley-Davidson, and the bikes will be prepped by Harley guru Don Tilley. The state of California has gained a twoyear reprieve from having drastic air quality controls, governing virtually all emissions sources, imposed on it, according to the Motorcycle Industry Council (MIC). MIC reports that the Ll.S, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Californian environmental groups have agreed to a settlement of the clean air dispute . Under the agreement, signed on January 13, the effective date of the stringent Federal air quality plan would be postponed for two years. EPA drafted the Federal -Implementation Plan, or FIP, when the courts, two years ago, ruled that state and local efforts did not bring California into compliance with Clean Air Act standards. That plan would have gone into effect on February 14. Actor Tom Arnold, who is best known mostly for being the ex-husband of Roseanne Barr, hosted a kick-off party for the "Planet Hollywood Ride For Children" January 22 at Planet Hollywood in Costa Mesa, California. The actual ride will be held on February 11 and will take participants from Planet Hollywood in Costa Mesa to the new Planet Hollywood in San Diego, California. Road racer Scott Zampach will race a Harley-Davidson VRI000 in the 1995 Superbike National Championship, in addition to racing in the SuperTwins class on an 883. "I'm pretty excited," Zampach said. "I've been training really hard and racing in some motocross." Zampach will be backed by the Carolina Harley-Davidson Dealers' Association along with longtime sponsor Tilley'S Robert Feamall of Donington Park, the ' promoter of the British Grand Prix and World Superb ike rounds, has been installed as the President uf the reformed Race Organizers and 'Promot. ers Association (ROPA), a body that faded away when Dorna /TWP took control of Grand Prix road racing. And, according to contributor Julian Ryder, he 's not overly impressed with the proposed new Thunderbike class that will run in conjunction with several GPs in 1996. According to Feamall, tracks must now open on the Thursday of each GP instead of Fridays to accommodate the Thunderbikes. In addition, the Thunderbikes will run after the 125s and before the Sidecar GP and no other support races will be allowed . Last ye a r the ina ugu ra l Triumph Speed Triple rac e was held at the British GP along wi th a Na tional Superbike event, and those tw o eve n ts were largely credited with bringing fans ba ck in respectable numbers. Fearnell also says the Thursday star t poses a problem in regard to vo lunteer ma rshals, medics' and others, as well as adding an extra $35,000 to the cos t of an ev en t which already lose s m oney. Fearnell h as informed Dorna that the ne w schedu le is unacceptable. Fea rnell has als o ann ounced that th e day after the World Superb ike round at Doni ngton (May 27) , there w ill be a Superbike Shootout with a purs e of $40,000. Accord ing to Bill "Big Time" Spencer, neg otiati ons between H .E. Murrell and the Santa Clara County Fair Board have halted and it appears that there is little chance for a San Jose Mile in 1995. Chuck Goodwin, 86, d ied on January 15 in Stone Mountain, Georgia. Goodwin is best known for his association with twotime Da ytona 200 winner Billy Mathews, whom Goodwin sponsored on a N orton T-500 short tracker in 1949. Goodwin was also a Norton, Triumph, BSA and Vincent dealer in Gary, Indiana in the late 194Os. Dunlop Tire Corporation has announced that its manufacturing facility in Kobe, Japan , suffered severe damage in the January 16 earthquake. "The damage varies from department to department," said Dunlop vice president of marketing, Pat Logue. "An assessment of the damage is presently underway.i.Since tire manufacturing is a continuous process, part of the damage assessment process is to determine if tire production capabilities are still possible." Products sourced by Dunlop USA out of Kobe are select motorcycle tires, industrial tires and go-kart tires. Damage assessment will include future manufacturing capabilities in those areas. In addition to the manufacturing facility, the Kobe production complex includes a technical center and a headquarters building. At this point, there is no indication of any loss of life at any of the three sites. Logue said the headquarters building was not severely damaged. However, the technical center suffered heavy damages; the total extent of which is not known. "We are currently reviewing all production alternatives including Kobe and the rest of the worldwide organization," added Logue . Dunlop operates two plants in the U.S. The Huntsville, Alabama, plant manufactures passeI).ger radial tires and the Tonawanda, New York, plant produces a variety of tires, including motorcycle, passenger, light .truck and medium truck tires. "There will be no immediate impact on the majority of operations in the U.S. As stated previously, alternative sourcing avenues are currently being explored," said Logu..e. Kawasaki's motocross team has picked .up another team sponsor for the1995 season. Mike Kiedrowski, Mike LaRocco and Robbie Reynard are all running Wiseco pistons in their . factory Kawasakis. Team Yamaha also uses . the pistons, as do several shop teams. Jeff Glass, the pioneer of outside sponsorships in motocross and supercross, is "semi-retiring" from racing. He will continue to lie backed by Surf detergent and Dos Equis beer for the '95 season, but will only participate in selected National and Supercross races. He will defend his 30+ National Championship at Loretta Lynn'S. Glass is currently in production on a sports show with ESPN and Motoworld. He will be in Anaheim. California, in February, filming the premiere show with extreme snowboarde r / m o tocr osse r Shawn Palmer and mountain b iker/former National MX and Supercross Champ ion Johnny O'Mara. Gla ss has also been using h is talent for sp onsorship procurement in the capacity of sponsorship mediator for the Barracuda /Des Equis mountain bik e team. He has also been acting in a few movies , scheduled for release in late fall of '95. Dirt tracker Rich King and sponsor George Garvis will team up to compete in the entire 1995 AMA Grand National Dirt Track Series, riding Garvis Honda RS600s and 750s. King rode the Garvis bikes in only.13 events last year, and fin ished 11th in the point standings. Southern California local pro MXer Chris Murphy recently took a hard practice crash, in which he suffered a compound fracture to his femur, a broken wrist, tom ligaments in his shoulder, a broken rib and a punctured lung. Murphy was hospitalized for eight days and is now recovering at home, but hopes to be racing by summer. Australian road racer Scott Doohan has announced his retirement. The 31-yearold Queenslander initially agreed to terms in December to ride with the team, but he has since changed his mind. "After talking it through with my wife, and taking into consideration my crash in the U.S. last September, I've decided to call it a day," Doohan told Australian Motorcycle News. "I've had a great time racing, and I think I've achieved a lot. But the time has corne for me to concentrate on my family and my job as a builder." Doohan crashed in the final round of the AMA Superbike National Championship at Road Atlanta, sustained a compound fracture to his left arm and head injuries which required him to be placed in a medically induced coma. "The crash really brought home how dangerous racing can be," Doohan said. "Although my injures are coming along fine, at 31, I think it's not a bad time to be getting out." Two-time World Champion Barry Sheene has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of the organizing committee for the March running of the Australian Grand Prix. Sheene will also be featured in advertising for the event and will advise the International Management Group (IMG) on all aspects of race detail. - -- - - - - Continued on page 45

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