Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Cycle News 1995 09 20

Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles

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j· .. IN·THEWINQ.· Team Suzuki Endurance's Michael Martin and Dave Stanton (Suz) combined to win round eight of the 10round WERA National Endurance Championship at Memphis Motorsports Park in Memphis, Tennessee, on September 9, giving the team its lIth National Endurance Championship. Martin and Stanton finished 22 seconds ahead of a second Team Suzuki Endurance entry, ridden by Steve Patterson and Grant Lopez, in the fourhour race. Northwest Honda Racing's Greg Abbott and Gordon Miller (Hon) finished third. Team Suzuki Endurance now holds an insurmountable In-point lead with two events remaining in the series. Rick Soter (BSA) was the 540cc class winner at round 9 of the AMA National Hillclimb Championship Series, held September 10 in Freemansburg, PA. Paul Pinsonnault (Hon) was second ahead of Ted Wilkins (Rtx). Lou Gerencer (H-D) topped Steve Dresser (HD) and Rodney Williams (H-D) in the 800cc class. Guilherme de Oliveira (Hus) won the 13th edition of the Enduro Internacional de Independencia, which started in Rio de Janiero, Brazil on September 7 and finished in Belo Horizonte on September 10. Bernardo Magalhues (Suz) was second with Hugo Morato (Suz) third. All three were Brazilians. The event utilized a unique system in which a road book is used for both timekeeping and navigation. Larry Pegram (H-D) was declared the winner in the 750cc Expert class in the AMA Regional dirt track at Hagerstown Speedway in Hagerstown, Maryland, on September 8. The 750cc Expert main event was rained out, and Pegram was awarded the victory by virtue of his win in the fastest heat race of the night. Will Davis (H-D) was awarded second place and Kevin Varnes (Hon) third. Roger Durkee (Rtx) won the 600cc Expert class while Rick Winsett (Rtx) topped the 600cc Pro-Am class. The 250cc Pro-Am division was won by Scott Shinn (Hon). Dave Schultz (Suz) won the Pro Stock class at the AMA/ProStar Orient Express U.S. Motorcycle Nationals at Atco Raceway in New Jersey on September 10. Schultz topped John Myers (Suz) in the finals with a 7.566-second, 178.21 mph run. In the face of his international commitments, reigning U.s. National Champion "Sudden" Sam Ermolenko will not be on hand to defend his crown in the upcoming U.S. National Speedway Championship at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa, California, on September 16. In his stead, the promoters have elected to invite Ermolenko's brother Charles Ermolenko to take the '93 World Speedway Champion's place in the event. Sam Ermolenko thus prematurely joins Steve Bast, Kelly Moran Bobby Schwartz and Mike Faria as a two-time National Champion while Mike Bast remains as the only rider to win the title more than two times, having racked up seven U.S. National victories. David Pingree (Kaw) and James Dobb (Hon) each took home a Pro class victory during the opening round of the GFI Fall MX Series at Perris Raceway in Perris, California, on September 10. Pingree rode his Team Pro-Circuit/SplitFire entry to the 125cc Pro class win over Greg Schnell (Suz) and Travis Preston (Suz) while Honda of Troy's Dobb outran Preston and Larry Linkogle (Hon) to score a perfect sweep in the 250cc Pro division. Japan's Yasutomo Nagai, 29, died on Monday, September II from head injuries sustained in the World Superbike Championship round in Assen, Holland, on September 10. Nagai crashed his factory Yamaha YZF750 in oil on lap 15 of the 16-lap second race at Assen and was struck by his high-flying motorcycle. Nagai, who currently holds down fourth in the World Superbike point standings, was transported to a hospital in Amsterdam where he was joined on Monday by his mother and girlfriend. Nagai was the teammate of Texan Colin Edwards II. Nielsen takes Denmark Speedway Grand.Prix ormer three-time World Speedway Champion Hans Nielsen (right) of Denmark appears on the verge of capturing speedway's first-ever Grand Prix title after corning from well back to score the win during round five of the World Championship Individual Speedway Series at Vojens Speedway in Vojens, Denmark, on September 9. Nielsen, the Vojens track record holder, got off to a poor start by his own standards with two thirdplace finishes, but he dropped only one more point to take his place in the A Final at his home GP. And when it mattered most, Nielsen made a perfect start to secure victory and 20 more GP points, which means that he looks certain to be crowned champion ~ in the final round at Hackney Stadium in London, 0\ England. Nielsen has accumulated 89 points to pull ...... nine ahead of reigning World Champion Tony . Rickardsson of Sweden going into Hackney. England's Chris Louis is third with 70. American Sam Ermolenko appeared to be the best rider at Vojens, having dropped only one point to Polish GP winner Tomasz Gollob. But in the A Final, Ermolenko was forced to play second fiddle to Nielsen while strengthening his own position in the series standings with a runner-up finish. Rickardsson and Gollob were third and fourth in the A Final. Young Americans Greg Hancock and Billy Hamill continued their solid runs in the Grands Prix with a second- and third-place finish, respectively, in the B Final. Hamill now sits tied with Ermolenko and Gollob for fourth place in the series standings; each has 65 points. Hancock is currently fifth with 64 points. John Hipkiss F 2 Bel9ium wins MX des Nations . or the second year in a row, the team from the United States narrowly lost the Motocross des Nations. This time, the team from Belgium, consisting of two current World Champions and one vice-champion, topped the USA's three-man team of Steve Lamson, Ryan Hughes and Jeff Emig to win the overall championship by one point. The Belgians, led by Husaberg four-stroke rider Joel Smets' 1-] score in the 500cc division, scored nine points to the 10 totaled by the Americans. Yamaha's Emig led the Americans with a 2-1 score and' the overall win in the 250cc class. Kawasaki's Hughes, who got the 500cc assignment, ran a very impressive 2-2 in his two heats. Honda's lamson had the lowest score on the squad, as his was third overall in the 125cc division with 3-3 finishes. In the first moto of the three-moto event - held in front of about 30,000 people in Svrepec, Slovakia, September 10 - Smets won the.500cc class ahead of Hughes and New Zealand's Darryl King. That came as no real surprise, as Smets is the new 500cc World Champion, while Hughes was making his majorleague open-bike debut. The real shocker came behind the trio, in the form of 17-yearold Frenchman Sebastian Tortelli. The Kawasaki-mounted Tortelli - third in this year's 125cc World Championships, dominated the 125cc division. Tortelli bettered current 250cc World Champion Stefan Everts (above), who piloted a 125 for Belgium, and newly crowned 125cc National Champion Lamson. In the process, Tortelli finished fourth in the combined field of 125s and 500s. In the second moto, which combined the 125 and 250cc classes, Tortelli caught and passed both Everts and Lamson and pulled away for another convincing win. Everts was again second ahead of Lamson. The 250cc class winner was another surprise as German Honda rider Pit Beirer came through the pack from fifth to take the win ahead of Ernig and Belgium's Marnicq Bervoets. The US team needed a pair of wins in the final 250 and 500cc moto in order to regain the championship. Emig gave the team one win after early leader Beirer drilled himself into the ground. Hughes, however, needed to beat Smets in the open class. While Ernig led everyone, Hughes moved into fourth right behind Smets and English 250cc rider Kurt Nicoll. With four laps to go, Hughes ran into the back of an out-of-control Nicoll and both riders went down, ending the USA's hopes for the team championship. Hughes remounted before Nicoll, but did not have enough time to catch back up to Smets. Belgium took the win with nine points over the United States' 10. France was third overall with 16, ahead of England's 22 and Holland's 28. Davey Coombs F As Cycle News was going to press on Monday, September 11, we learned from sources in Europe that Mike Hale was set to sign a lucrative contract with Promotor Ducati to contest the 1995 World Superbike Championship. Hale, who currently lies second in the AMA Superbike National Championship point standings on a Smokin' Joe's Racing Honda, is expected to join the squad as a teammate to Australian Troy Co~s er. The young Texan was unavailable for comment. Hale and his Honda teammate Miguel DuHamel recently concluded a two-day Dunlop tire test at Daytona International Speedway on the team's Honda RC45s. Sources in Europe also say that Australian Anthony Gobert has inked a contract with Pileri Honda that will see the current Muzzy Kawasaki World Superbike rider aboard a Honda NSR500 for the 1996 500cc World Championship. Gobert will team with Italian Loris Capirossi on the Marlboro-backed team. Gobert tested the team's NSRSOO at Misano in Italy last week. Colin Edwards Sr., the father of road racer Colin Edwards II, is recuperating at the Baylor Medical Center in Dallas, Texas, following a successful liver transplant. The Australian who now makes his home in Conroe, Texas, underwent surgery on September 3 and is up and walking with his new liver. "I've had a bad liver all my life," Edwards said. "Colin and my oth~r son prompted me to go ahead and do this. I got the call from the hospital and four days later I had a new liver. I was really lucky. The tests following the surgery say tha t . everything is nearly normal already. I'm a new man and I'm loving life." Edwards, who will celebrate his 50th birthday on September 12, will remain at the Baylor Medical Center for another 20-30 days before being transferred to hospital housing. He can be reached via mail at the Baylor Medical Center, 14th Floor, Roberts Bldg, Room 1334, or by phone at 214/818-7434. Yoshimura Suzuki's Fred Merkel has had his 750cc Supersport victory from Sears Point reinstated. Merkel, who was disqualified after winning the race for running an illegal air cleaner on his Suzuki GSXR750, was reinstated after American Suzuki provided the AMA with documentation that showed the air filter was in fact an OEM item. Merkel's win at Sears Point on August 27 was his sixth in a row and seventh of the year. With one round remaining at Firebird International Raceway in Chandler, Arizona, on September 24, Merkel trails series points leader Tom Kipp by eight points. Race fans will have the opportunity to enter the Pit Crew Contest for the upcoming round of the AMA Grand National Championship at the Pomona Fairplex in Pomona, California, on October 7. Winners will have the opportunity to join the pit crews of riders such as Scott Parker, Chris Carr, Will Davis, Steve Morehead and others. To enter, pick up an entry from your local HarleyDavidson dealer and mail it to Race

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