Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

I ·INTHE WIND Former Grand Nati onal Champion Ga ry Nixon came out the best of a five-rider ph ot o fini sh to tak e the victory in the first of three BMW Battle of the Legends races at Dayt ona International Speedway on Mar ch 6. Nixon topped Da vi d A l da na, Ja y Sp rin g steen and a ti e betw een Yvon DuHamel and Ro ge r Reim an . The o th e r tw o r ound s are sched uled for March 7 and March 10. Germany's Thomas Komer (Rtx) passed Brit Alan Cathcart (Du e) late in the race to win the Sound of Singles final at Daytona Int ernati onal Speedway on Mon d ay, March 6. Germ an Herb ert Enzi nger (BMW) finished third. Former Wo rld Cha mp ion Jim Redman rod e a 1967 350cc MY Agusta to victory in the 350cc GP class durin g AH RMA Vintage Day at Dayt on a In terna tio na l Speedway on Ma rch 6. Redman took the le ad w he n Dave Roper crashed th e Tea m Obsolete 1972 MY Agusta on the fina l lap. Stewart Rogers was the big winner during AHRMA Vintage racing at Daytona Intern ational Speedway on March 6. The Brit won three classes on the day - Pre1940, Class C and 250cc GP. Rogers rode a 1937 Norton 499 to victory in Pre-1940 and Class C before riding a 1966 Ducati 250 to victory in the 250cc GP class. After two round s of racing, Carles Checa (Hon) is the points leader in the 250cc clas s of the Open Ducados road race series in Spa in . Checa lead s Marlboro Yamaha 's Sete Gibernau by 13 points after the two rounds which were held in Albacete and [ararna, Spain, on February 26 and March 5. According to a press re lease from American Honda Motor Co. Inc ., th e com pa ny" ...is repo rting a product recall to the Consu me r Prod ucts Safety Commissio n (CPSC) for all 1995 Honda CR125RS, CR250RS and CR500RS models, involving a possibl e failure of th e fro n t fo r k pip e s (l o w e r tu b e s ). Ins pect ion an d re pair procedu res ar e being co mp leted and will be inclu ded in a serv ice bu lletin to all Ho nda mot or cycl e dealers once they are finalized . Effect ive immed ia tely, n o 1995 CRI25RS, CR250RS or CRSOORS models will be sold by Ho nda dealers until the uni ts can be properly inspected and the necessa ry repairs performed . American Honda Motor Company is preparing a letter to notify Honda owners to stop riding these models u ntil they are inspected, and if necessary , repaired. More information and details concerning the in spection and repair pro cedures will be provided to Honda dealers on Thursd ay, March 9." Former Grand Prix road racer Gregg Hans ford, 42, was tragically kill ed in the o pe n in g round of the Australi an Super To uring Car Championship a t Phillip Island in Melbourne on March 5. The Australi an, w ho won 10 Grand s Prix for Kawasaki during his mo torcycle racing career and was two times a runner-up in th e 250cc World Champi onship, died when h is Ford Mondeo spun at 150 mp h, h it a tire wall, bounced back on to the track an d wa s hit by ano ther car . Hansford was regarded as one of Australia' s grea test motor racing sportsmen, a h a rd -cha rging racer who succeeded on bot h tw o and four wheels. Hansford won seven Au stralian National Championships b efore go ing to Europe in 1978 to com pete in the 250 and 350cc World Cha m pionships. The highlight of his car racing career came in 1993 wh en he won th e Bath u rs t 1000 Kil om et er ra ce - Australia' s pre m ie r tou ring ca r race. Han sford is su rvived by his three sons. Former Mo tocross Nationa l Cham pion Jeff Ward finished seco nd in the openin g ro u nd of th e PPG -Fi reston e Ind y Lights Ch ampi on sh ip in Miami, Florida, on March 5. Ward was beaten by Ca nadian Greg Moore. With just a few det ails left to be finaliz ed , the total contin g en cy a wa rds which hav e been posted for major AMA professional champion sh ip eve n ts in 1995 has exceeded $9 million, acco rd ing to the AMA . A total of 51 compan ies have sign ed up for the awa rds program wi th total pos tings of $5,633,855 . An additional $3.4 million has been posted for the u .S. Supercross Series, bringing the total postings to over $9 million. Progre ssive Ins u r a nce , o ne of th e nation ' s la rgest writers of mot orcycl e insurance, will be the event sponsor of the 1995 AMA SuperTwins Ser ies, Th e Progressive Insurance Harley-Davidson Su pe rTw in s Seri es will consi st o f 11 rounds run as a suppo rt class to th e AMA Superbike Series. The series fea tures only 883cc Harley-Davidsons. The 24th An n u al World Mi n i Grand Pri x, sched u led for April 21-23 in Las Vegas, Nevada, will mark the return of the Kawa saki Race of Champions, accord ing to NMA President Ron Henricksen. "N MA is proud to present the return of the Kawasaki RoC" Henricksen said. "The best youth Mini racers in th e world will race id e n t ica l 1995 Kawasaki KX100 machines in a special two-mote format." The RoC wa s originated in 1972 as part of the World Mini Gra nd Prix, wit h Jeff Ward the first win ner. The RoC hasn't ru n since 1990. Once aga in, the Hond a Rider 's Club of America and AMA Dist rict 37 wi ll be h osting the Ride for Kids Dual Sport fund- ra is ing even t. Th is event ra ise s fund s for pedia tric brai n tum or resear ch and th e opera tio n of a na tiona l b rain tumor registry. The rid e s tarts a t th e Honda Rider Educat ion Center in Colton, California, on Sunday, March 19 with a new 90-mile ro u te havin g been mapped out through the San Bernardino Mountains. For more information call Paul Slav ik at American H onda a t 310/783-3786 or 909/ 824-7080. Team KTM ' s Matt Sta v ish says he ' s going to sit out the next tw o rou nds of the AMA Nati onal Enduro Series to give h is injured wrist more ti me to h e a l. Sta vish, who severed a tendon and an artery in his left hand in a wo rk-related accident, rode the opening two rounds of the series in California and Arizona without much su ccess. "The hand just isn 't read y yet," sai d Stavish . " It is real weak. The doctors said I'd be rea dy to ride, bu t I don't think they rea lly under stoo d what it (riding en d uros) rea lly takes." What ' s up with " Fac to ry" Ph i l Lawrence? Th e form er factory Suzu ki r id e r is now being sp on sored b y Kawasaki de Mexico, with th e help of Pro Ci rc uit, according to opera tio ns manager and raci ng coordina tor Javier Ma rti ne z -Abreg o Jr . N ot o n ly will Law r ence continue racin g th e U .S. Supercross and ou td oo r Nati on al MX Series but will also part icipate in select ed Me xican Nation al s as we ll a s an international supercross series in Mexi_ co at the end of the year. Wayne Cornelius, 1947·1995· W ay ne Corne liu s, v ice president of product development a t th e LeMa ns Co rpo ra tio n, an aftermarke t d istributor o f sn owmo bile, m ot o rcycl e an d p ersonnel wa ter cra ft accessori es in Janesville, Wiscon sin, was killed in a sno wmobile accident in the Michi gan Upper Peninsu la on March 1. Accord ing to a press release from LeMa ns, Cornelius, 47, was participat ing in an in d ustry ride att ended by d eal er s, ind us try su p plie rs and Parts Unli mited pe rsonnel. On the fin al da y of the rid e the g ro u p enjoyed breakfast together and were leav i ng in groups of nine or 10 m ac hines for the tr ai ls . Th e lead group, which was led by a guide, had s topped alo ng the trail to a llow an approachi ng s nowmobile to p ass, and to possibl y lend assis ta nce to some other machines that were stuck on the trail. The re was 18 inches of new powder and winds were periodically blowing additional snow off the pine trees down on the riders. Visibility was difficult. The second group of riders, incl uding Cornelius, all cras hed into a group of parked snowmobiles. Cornelius was kn ocked unconsciou s and appeared to have died instantly. A fireman on the ride attempted CPR without su ccess. Although there were eight ot her riders involved in the accident the only other injuries were a bloody nose and a sp rained wrist. Cornelius joined the LeMans Corporation in 1992, and before that he was a marketing representative at Malcolm Smith Pro ducts in Riverside, California. He was an avid motorcycle en th usiast and competed in the SCORE Baja 1000 many times, winning Class 40 a few years ago . He is survived by his wife Terry, daughter Megan, and sons Brian and Tyler. A memorial service was held at the Henning Fune ral Homes in Milton, Wisconsin, Monday, March 6. A West Coast memorial service will also be held around March 25 in the San Diego, California , area. An exact location has not yet been finalized. A mem orial fund ha s been established for the con tin uing education of Megan and Tyler. Con trib utions can be made to The Corneli us Ch ildren Education Fun d and forwarded in care of the LeMans Corporation . Cards and letters can be sent to The Cornelius Family, 3901 Mustang Court, Milto n, Wisconsin 53563. The folks at Wiseco Pistons wa nt it to be kno wn th a t GNC h as joine d AMA and the NMA by allow ing af ter market pi stons to be used in a ll stoc k racin g classes. This new rulin g goes int o effect Ma rc h 17-1 9 a t th e 19th ann ua l GNC Internationa l MX Fina ls at Lake Wh itney Cy cle Ra n ch in Lake W hitney, Texas. Apache Motorworks will displ ay the American-made V-twi n Apach e Warrior at Daytona beginning March 9. The bike w ill be loca te d at th e Int ernati ona l Motor cycle Show at the Speedway. On M onday , March 13, Apa che Motor wo rks plans to dem onstrate the Warrior "in acti on ." The exact tim e and venue hav e yet to be finalized, "...but we anticipa te a n ap p ro p ria te acco m mod a tion with track officials," said Scoll Con wa y, ma rketing d irector of Apa ch e Motorwo rks Inc. As men tioned last week in ou r rep ort of th e Atlan ta Supercr oss, Tea m 1 / 800Collect / Ho nda 's Je remy McG ra th wo re a sma ll camera on his helmet while he raced . Seals Co m mun ica tions Co rpo ration has been testin g the helmet came ra throug ho ut the season. "We'v e gone as small and ligh t as we can without sacrificing production qua lity," said Sealsco Vice Pre sid e n t of Progra mmin g a nd Production Stephen Grah am, who init iated development of the nine-ounce helmet camera. "Peo ple are going to be su rpri sed a t w hat you can see from the rid er s perspective." McGrath's second lap mish ap with Honda of Troy's Mike Cra ig, his slide in the dirt, an d a stunnin g run at the checke red flag are cu rrently sched uled to be telecast on April 4 at 12:30 a.m. (Eastern time) on ESPN. Michael Martin, Chuck Graves, Dave Stanton, Steve Patterson, Tray Batey an d Grant Lopez h ave been officially sig ned by Tea m Hammer, ln c., as the ir Tea m Su zuk i En d ura nce a n d Tea m Val voline Su zuki team ri ders fo r the 1995 season. Kelly Dolphin, 34, president of the Fairbanks Mo to rcycle Club, was killed on February 25, while practicing for th e Fairba nk s-to-Nenana snowmob ile race in Alaska. Do lphin collided head on wit h another snowmobiler and both riders were killed in the accident. Dolphin is survived by two sons and his w ife. Cards and letters can be sen t to 2406 Western Ave., Fairbanks, AK 99709. The American Trial s A ssoci ation (ATA) says that both Mon tesa and Gas Gas will each donate a brand-new 1995 model trials bike for an indust ry fund raising event to be held April 30, at the McC ain Vall ey Recreation Area /Lark Can yon OHV Park, 50 miles eas t of San Diego, California. The two bikes, a Montesa Cota 413R and a Gas Gas JT250, will be given awa y as grand prizes after the El Tria l de Espana' s world class aft er noo n exhibiti on sectio ns ar e ridden. The $1 tickets for th e fund raiser can be obtained by writing to: American Tria ls Association, P.O. Box 20570, El Cajo n, California 92021. Centerstand, th e listener-sponsored, commercial -free, motorcycle talk radio show on KPFK 90.7 FM in Sout hern Californi a, has moved to a new time slot on Saturdays and can now be heard from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m . The show, whi ch is now in its 14th year, is hosted by Margaret Fowler, Dick Miller and Len Vucci.

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