Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Benelli 350cc four-cylinder - are owned by Team Obsolete, who will sponsor the three entries in the anniversary celebratiors which will be held on Saturday, June 24. D on G riewe has left his position as parts and service manager and research and development rider at ATK America to become general manager of Heritage Honda in Centerville, Utah. American Roadracing editor Brian Dtterson has announced that the inaugural Form ul a RD World Finals will be held in conjunction with the California Mini Road Race Association's third annual International Challenge Championship on the Streets of Willow Springs road course in Rosamond, California, on November 25-26. Formula RD is a new class tha t will pi t rid er s of equal skill levels against one another on 1973-1979 Yamaha RD3SOs and 400s. According to Catterson, class rules will parallel those of fou r-stroke Supersport raci ng, w ith lightly modified engines and essentially stock chassis. A $2500 claiming rule will be used in the class. For a complete set of rules and an entry form, write to American Roadracing, Formula RD Rules, P .O. Box 3320, Carefree, AZ 85377-3320. According to the AMA, competitor license application and event spectator attendance for the first four months of 1995 have increased substantially over the same period last year. At the end of March, AMA Pro Racing had processed a total of 1614 professional license applications - up from 1217 in 1994, a 32.5 percent increase. The majority of those applications, according to th e AMA, ha ve b een issued to road racers and motocrossers. The AMA also says the spectator count for this year's Daytona 200 was up by 10 percent and the second round of the series in Pomona, California, had an increase of 16 percent. T h e San Dieg o SX had a spec tator increase of 30 percen t; the An aheim SX jum ped 27 percen t; the Gainesville Na tional MX exper ien ced an increase of 22.5 percen t; the Minneapolis SX had a gain o f 22 .5 percent; the Sea ttle SX jumped up 18 percent; and the Atlanta SX experienced a "modest" gain of 10 percent. According to AFAM, the sprocket which broke on Thomas Stevens' Yoshimura Suzuki GSXR750 superbike at the Pomona Fairp lex round of the AMA Superbike National Championship was not an AFAM sp ro cke t. "The sprocket Polen and HRC split, Polen to race La9una Seca on a Ducatl I that failed was a special Suzuki steel sprocket," AFAM's Steve Whitelock explained in a p ress release. " AFAM does in fact supply Yoshimura with front and rear sprockets. It is not known why the Yoshimura Suzuki team chose not to fit an AFAM rear sprocket on Stevens' machine at Pomona. AFAM stands behind their product and has many race and championship winners using their sprockets, including Fred Merkel, the Daytona 750cc Supersport winner, and Mick Dooh a n , the Australian and Malaysian GP w inner and 1994 500cc World Champion." n a stunning announcement that confirmed rumors of a week ago, two-time World Superbike Champion Doug Polen (right) and the Honda Racing Corporation (HRC) have announced that they have mutually agreed to dissolve their relationship for the 1995 World Championship Superbike Series. On Monday, April 24, Polen finalized p lans which will see him compete on April 29-30 in round three of the AMA Superbike National Championship Series at Laguna Seca Raceway on a privateer Ducati 955. ~ Although neither party would comment on the split, Polen seemed p leased with the prospect of riding a Ducati again. The Texan won two World Superbike crowns an d one AMA National Championship on the Italian V-twin, and will make his return to the brand on still-injured Jason Pridmore's ex-Pascal Picotte 955 at Laguna. ~ I've .got ~ smile on my face," Pol~n said on Monday, April 24. "We're heading' to Cahforrua. I Just got off the phone WIth Mike Velasco and he's going to do the deal with me. I'll be riding Jason's (Pridmore) 955 - the .same bike that won at Laguna Seca last year with Pascal (Picotte)." Polen said that he will use Michelin tires on the V-twin at Laguna Seca, and added that he would like to make a return to the World Superbike Series on a Ducati. "There are n? concrete plans beyond Laguna," Polen said. "The basic idea is to do Laguna and the first World Superbike round at Hockenheim. That should put me in position, ~ints-wise, in either.championship. I don't know if I'll be freelance or end up signing WIth someone, but this way 111 have a choice. Right now I'm in a freelance position and well take a look at it after the first two races." _ Rumors of the Honda/Polen split spread like wildfire late last week, with John Kocinski's name thrown into the mix as a replacement for the Texan. Polen refused to comment on the situation at the time, and his only comments on Monday, April 24 were in fel?ard to his future and .not .to the situation with Honda. Polen issued a press release which announced the split WIth HRC, but no reasons were given in the release and none are forthcoming. . HRC also. iss,;,ed a press release at the Japanese ~rand Prix on April 22 saying that they had spht WIth Polen by mutual agreement, addmg: "As a result, Aaron Slight will be the only rider for the Castrol Ho nda team this season." . Polen finished fourth in the World Superbike Championship in 1994 in what was hIS debut on the new Honda RC45. He also teamed with Slight to win the prestigious Suzuka 8-Ho ur on the ne w Honda. According to the AMA, comb in e d en tri es for the AMA Supe rbike National Championship rounds at the Mid-Ohio Spo rts Car Course (June 2-4), Road America (Ju ne 9-11) and New Hampshire International Sp eed way (June 1618) have b een mailed, and only one maili ng is being made for these events. Additional entries will be available at the Laguna Seca round of the series on April 28-30. The cut-offs for pre-entries for those events are as follows : MidOhio (May 5), Road America (May 12), Loudon (May 19). To request an entry, call AMA Pro Racing at 614/891-2425. Road Am erica in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, will host the spring opener in the Championship Cup Series Midwest Region 011 May 13-14. Early registration will be held on May 12 from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p .m. in the ba r at Siebken in Elkhart Lake, the hotel which will serve as the host inn for the event. For more information call 704/684-4297. Yam a h a M o tor Corporatio n, U.S. A., will join forces with the international relief organization, Feed The Children, to fig h t hu nger in the United Sta tes, ac co rding to Yamaha President Mike ' Shibuya. Feed The Children is a nonprofit organization w h ic h provides food , clothing, med ical equipme nt and other necessities to people in need. BMW Motorcycles has added a second pro d uctio n s h ift at thi er facto ry in Berlin, Germa ny , marking the first time in the 71-yea r his tory of BMW motorcycle production that a second shift has been necessary. An a g r ee m en t was reached with the employees' council to being a second shift on April 3 and that shift will continue until the factory closes on July 13 for vacation. By deploying about ISO additional employees on the second shift, the daily production rate will climb from 180 motorcycles to 235, according to BMW. BMW has also been named as an official _ sponso r of the 1996 Olympic Game s and the U.S. Olympic team . BMW motorcycles will be used as marshal vehicles for Olympic competitions and events held on public streets and roads in and around Atlanta, Georgia; the site the '96 Olympics. Fred Bramblett is making the switch from mechanic to rider - at least for one event. Bramblett, tuner for Scott S um - m ers, has turned in his entry for the Nevada Rally, which w ill take place in Las Vegas, Nevada, on August 13-20. As you might have guessed, Bramblett will ride a Honda XR600. Frenchman Alain Oli vier - who won the first two editions - is planning to make a return, though he now rides for KTM in stead of Kawasaki. Acerbis Adventure is rapidly approaching their self-imposed rider limit of 125 (40 to 50 of which will be - - - - - - - - Continued on page59 I--------------------------------- ~--------------- ---- - - - - - - - - - - - , ([!ill ~ SUBSCRIPTION ORDER FORM Name _ Address City _ __ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ State _ _ Zip Order Date _ _ On e year (SO issues), 2nd c1assCanada or Mexico and all other foreign coun tries $78.00 (U.S. fun ds). 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