Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Throttle:' which is syndicated by Tribune Merna Services. A motorcyclist for 20 years and a journalist for 15, Mangen addresses a variety of motorcyclists' issues in the column, including vehicle reviews, travel and touring destinations, riding trends and interviews with professional and celebrity motorcyclists. Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, CaIjfornia, will be closed in May and June of 1996 while it undergoes resurfacing work. In adilition to the new surface, the track will be lengthened and reconfigured in turns nine, 10 and 11, making the elrcujt 2.138 miles in length. The paddock area will also be enlarged. The track will play host to an AMA Superbike National on April 26-28 and the World Superbike Series on July 19-21. The date given to us by the AMA last week for the AMA Superbike National at the new Metro-Dade Homestead facility was incorrect. The race will be held on May 17-19 - not May 10-12 as reponed in a previous issue. The racing organization formerly known as the Mid-Atlantic Miru Road Racing Association (MAMRRA) has incorporated and will now be known as the Eastern American Roadracing Association Inc. (EARA). After two seasons of racing at both Langley Speedway in Virginia and New Bloomfield Cart Track in Pennsylvanja, EARA is in negotiation for two additional race tracks - one in Western Pennsylvarua and one in Central Maryland. For more information, call 301/7912046. A three-hour motorcycle endurance ice race will be held on January 6 on Lake Koshkonong near Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin, to benefit long-time dirt tracker BLa and ice racer Steve Champine. Champine was recently paralyzed in a fall from a tree while preparing tree stands for a deer hunt. Champine is married and has two young children. The AMA-sanctioned race will be held on a road-course style track and AMA ice screw and fonder rules will be in effect. For more information, call Gordon Lunde Sr. at 414/871-5682. Television coverage of the SCORE Baja 1000 will be aired by ESP and ESP 2, beginning on December 16 with a onehour show on ESPN. The show will air from 10 to 11 p.m. (Pacific Standard Time) on ESP and again on December 18 from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. on (Pacific Standard Time) on ESPN2. The FIM has released some changes to its championship calendar. Notable changes include the Motocross des Nations, which will be held in Jerez, Spain, on September 22 and not September 15. The 500cc World MX Championship also gets a schedule change with the Irish Grand Prix scheduled for July 21 at Mount Vernon, Cork, rather than the original site of Ballykelly. Chesterfield Aprilia team manager Carlo Pernat revealed the team's budget to Cycle News correspondent Daryl Flack during recent tests in Australia. The budget, including R&D, preseason testing and contesting three classes of the World Championship soaks up $20 million per season, Pernat said. "Sure, it's a big investment, but we wouldn't do it unless we were sure of the benefits it provides," Pemat said. "Aprilia has been succes fuI over the last two years, thanks to Max Biaggi's two World Championships, and that has coincided with Aprilia's success in the showroom. In i tests in Oz espite unofficially smashing the 250cc lap record at Eastern Creek in Australia on November 28-30, defending World Champion Max Biaggi is still not 100-percent happy with the brand-new 1996 Aprilia 250. While testing the bike for the first time, Biaggi ran a stunning 1:31.7 and a string of fiat 1:32s aboard the bike, which now features an integrated carbon-fiber swingarm/ rear fender, a revised chaSsis and substantial changes to the engine. "The times were okay, but I think pole for the Grand Prix at Ea tern Creek will be a 1:31.0," Biaggi said. "The Aprilia ha never been good here, so that is why I pushed for our first test session here. The bike is more stable through the fast comers and i easier to change direction, but we still have much work to do. We believe Yamaha is building a brandnew machine, a much better machine than before, so it's important that we work even harder to win our third consecutive title." Eastern Creek was resurfaced following this year's season-<>pening Grand Prix in March, and Biaggi credits the work, rather than the updated Aprilia, for producing a time that would have placed him sixth on the 1995 500cc GP grid. Biaggi said that the engine location on the new bike has been altered to bring muchneeded stability to the bike, particularly under braking. Biaggi achieved his best times while using an experimental Dunlop 165/55-17 tire featuring a more rounded profile. "We've tried the 170 tire used on the 400 (Aprilia), but it just didn't work on the 250," a Dunlop tire technician said. "With this rounder 165, we believe we have the best of both worlds - a bigger, more consistent contact patch at any lean-angle rotation, but it's still narrow enough for a 250." Biaggi will be the only rider in the Chesterfield Aprilia team, following the departure of Jean-Michel Bayle. It is believe that the former motocross and supercross star is endeavoring to organize a ride with Yamaha Motor France aboard a YZR500 with backing .from Marlboro. . The 24-year-old Biaggi admitted in Australia that he had been approached to test drive a Formula One car, but declined the offer. "Yes, I was asked to test two Formula One cars from different teams a few months ago, but I thanked them for the opportunity and said no," Biaggi said.. One of the teams was believed to have been the ItaIjan Minarili team, though Biaggi wasn't telling. Daryl Flack D Mr. Daytona and the GSXR750 T he Yoshimura Suzuki team was joined at Daytona International Speedway by Suzuki's World Superbike team for a test session on December 3-4 - and the test included Lucky Strike Suzuki's Scott Russell, winner of three Daytona 2oos. Russell was enlisted by Suzuki's World Superbike effort to help in the testing of their new GSXR750 for its competition debut in the Daytona 200 on March 10. "I'm just here to help the World Supeibike team with their test," Russell said. "Sure, I'd like to win another Daytona 200 and be the only rider In the history of the race with four wins. I'd also like to add another Rolex to the other two I received for twice being fastest qualifier for the 200. I guess I'd like to do a lot of things." The World Superbike squad, which is based in England, arrived with three still-inthe-crate models fresh from Japan. "This is a totally new team and machine," said Lester Harris, team manager for World Superbike Team Suzuki. "This is the first time the guys have worked on the bike; it's really the first time our rider John Reynolds has seen the bike and, really, it's the first time we've all worked together. Suzuki told us we could utilize Scott Russell to help us set up the bike for Daytona and to help with the Michelin tire test because Michelin respect his judgment. Scott will help us when we come back to Daytona on December 12-13 for the second Michelin test. I feel it's a big help because of what Russell has done at Daytona in the past. He knows the track and he know what it takes to win here." Reynolds competed in the 1992 Daytona 200, but his time at the test was cut short by early-lap engine problems. The Brit and Russell will be joined in the December 12-13 test by AustraIjan Kirk McCarthy, Reynolds' teammate for the 1996 World Superbike Series. 1993, we produced 80,000 motorcycles and scooters. The factory forecast for 1996 is 200,000. That is a huge increase by anybody's measure." Aprilia is a privately owned company, headed by Ivan Beggio. Pernat said that Aprilia puts in $8-9 million of the $20 million budget, with the balance picked up by sponsors. Co-sponsor LP recently released a new two-stroke motor oil branded "Max," through its 1500 outlets. Biaggi was paid a reported $2 million to sign for the 1996 season. Biaggi was joined at the Aprilia test in Australia by counttyman Doriano Romboni, who recently signed a two-year contract with Aprilia to ride its 400cc Vtwin in the 500cc World Championship. Romboni takes over for veteran Loris Reggiaru. "We offered Loris half of his '95 contract amount, and although that might sound like a rough deal, it was still a lot 'of money," team manager Carlo Pemat said. "It would have been perfect for Reggiaru to be involved for just one more year for me, but he said no. Still, the offer was there for him." There's a chance that Romboni may end up as the team's number-one 250cc rider. "We'll assess how the 400 project is going. how Romboni is going and Max Biaggi's contract situation," Pernat said. "He has only signed for one year, so if he is not with Aprilia for 1997, maybe we put Romboni on the 250. There are many things to consider before we reach that decision, though." AustraIjan Garry McCoy is one of seven riders who will be supplied with factory Aprilia 125s for next year's 125cc World Championship Road Race Series, according to Carlo Pemat. McCoy, who has had two stormy years of GP racing that nearly ended his GP future, will race for an Italian-based team. "Barry Sheene spoke to me about Garry's career, and after assessing the situation, we decided to supply him a bike," Pernat told Cycle News correspondent Darryl Flack. "Gary has had some bad luck, but now it's up to him. This will be his last chance." After exiting the ATTAC-AGV Aprilia team halfway through 1994 in a sea of turmoil, McCoy again fell victim to team politics when he was involved in a tugof-war between 1995 crew chief Mario Rubatto and the team's physiotherapist, resulting in a fight between the two in a motorhome. Bob Abel, 56, died November 29 in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, after he was diagnosed with cancer just a few months ago. He was heavily involved in the sport of off-road MX, hare scrambles and enduro. He and his brother, Bill, brought the National MX Series to Castle Point, Kentucky back in 1975 and '76. A former president of the Woodsman Motorcycle Club in Louisville, he most recently kick started the Saddleback East Motorcycle Club in Bedford, Kentucky. Abel is survived by his wife, two children, Rob and Kelly, and brother Bill. Jason Milloy was crowned the inaugural Formula RD "World Champion" by virtue of his victory in the Formula RD "World Finals" on the Streets of Willow Springs in Rosamond, California, on ovember 26. Milloy, 25, of orth Hollywood, Califorrua, posted first- and second-place finishes in the two-leg fonnat to take the overall win. The reason that the Suzuki GSXR750 ridden by Scott Russell during testing at Daytona International Speedway on If) December 3 (see Wind box) wasn't paint- ~ ed is because the team is still unsure as to """' whether or not Russell will race in the Daytona 200. The bike will either be painted in Suzuki's World Superbike team colors or, if Russell races, in Lucky Strike colors. Since the Lucky Strike paint job runs $800, the team felt it was better to leave them unpainted until a decision has been made. "When we test, we always test with plain fairings," Russell's crew chief Stuart Shenton said. "Unless there's a photo shoot." (N

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