Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

i.·IN 'TH IN EW D In the ope ning rou nd of the GFl Winter Series-South at Perris Raceway, in Perris, California, on January 7, David Pingree (Kaw) a nd Donald Up ton (Hon ) emerged as th e big winners . In th e 125cc Pro class, Pingree scored the win ahead of Chad Pederson (Kaw ) and Greg Schnell (Suz) while Upton d id likewise in the 250cc Pro class, topping Mi chael Brandes (Suz) and former 125cc Nationa l MX Champion M ick y Dymond (Kaw). Ronnie Tichenor (Su z) and Brian Swink (Hon) w er e th e Pro-class winners in round two of the Florida Winter AMA Series in Ocala, Florida, on Janu a ry 7. Tichenor to ppe d A n t ho ny Po co robba (Suz) a n d Ba rry Cars ten (Su z) t o win th e 125 cc cla ss , wh il e Swink bea t Robbie Horton (Kaw) an d Cars en to take the 250cc class honors. Th e se con d 250cc Pro m oto a t Oc al a w as ca n ce ll e d wh en race officials receiv ed news of the death of 18-yearold J.D . Collins. Collins was racin g in the first 250cc Pro moto when he left the ra ce track and s tr u ck a tree. H e w as tran sported to a local hospital where he later su ccumbed to his injuries. Collins is su rvived by his parents, Ed and Peg Collins. Card s and letters can be sen t to th e famil y at 514 H ard ing H ighw ay West, Marion, OH 43302. The open ing round of the AMA Nationa l Enduro s Serie s sc hed u le d t o get under wa y on February 11 in Wickenb erg, Ari zona, has been can ce led . Accord ing to th e AMA, the land use permit needed to cond uct the event wa s denied b y the Arizon a State Land Department. The AMA is w orking on establishing a replacement event in the same region la ter in th e season. The Qu icksilver Enduro in Coalinga, California, February 18, will now serve as the series opener. Harley-Davidson ha s annou nce d th at its 1995 motor cycle production exceeded 104,000 units, the largest single-year to t a l in Har ley-Davidson's h isto r y . Since 1988, Harley says they've m ore than doubled the production of motorcycles and p lan to build manufacturing cap acity to enable a similar increase by the year 2003, th e company' s 100th anniversary. MotoWorld, m o to r cy cl in g ' s wee kly tel evision news magazin e, w ill move from ESPN to ESPN 2 in 1996, with the sh ow getting a "prime time" slot on its new network. In additi on, race coverag e o f the AMA Supe r cross, AMA National Motocross and World Championship Road Racin g Series w ill also be shown on ESPN2 this yea r. According to Seals Communication, m otorcycle event programming will receive bet ter tim e slots a nd th e wait for flag-to-flag coverage will dec rease from several weeks to several da ys with the sw itch to ESPN2 . ESPN will continue to offer one hour of condensed race coverage whil e ESP N2 w ill increase pro g ramming t o two st raig ht h ou rs pe r eve n t. Programming sche du les wi ll be available shor tly. Am eri ca n S uz u ki ha s a nnounce d its 1996 Suzuki Off-Road Contingency Prog r am w ith a re co rd $750,000 up for grabs . The 1996 p rogram includes 1994 throu gh 1996 RMX250 an d DR350 mod els with an inc re ase of $235,000 over last year. According to a press release issued by World Sp orts, th e amat eur port ion of th e Houston Supercro ss on March 16 has been canceled . The Dallas Amateur SX w ill be held on Mar ch 23 in Texas Stadi um. For mo re info rm ation, contact World Sports at 8131578-1776. D u n lop has an no u n ce d th a t it s ne w Sportmax II D204 rad ials will be produced at its Buffalo, New York, manufacturing facility, m ak ing it th e fir st motorcycle radial to be produced in the United States. Moto Liberty will offer a contingen cy aw ard program for 125cc GP road racers co mpe ting in t he Internat ional Grand -Prix Series which will run with the No rth American Super Bike Series . To b e eligib le fo r th e award s, rid ers mu st be the origi nal purchaser of a new 1995 or 1996 Honda RS125 from Moto Liberty or American Honda. First p lace will pa y $300 and con tingencies will be p aid d own to 10th pl a ce . The series Orioli assumes Dakar lead Y \0 0\ ~ amaha-mounted Italian Edi Orioli (right) capitalized on the m isfor tune of his r iv al s to assume the lead of the Total Granada-Dakar rally on January 4, and he held his advantage with the event just over halfway completed on January 8. Early leader Step ha ne Peterhansel suffe red fuel problems and eve ntua lly d rop ped out, as did KTM's Heinz Kinigadn er. Peterh anse l had appealed to the steward, claim ing tha t the organization had accidentally sup plied him with diesel fuel, but the four-ti me Dakar winn er was d enied . As we went to press, Orioli - a former winn er of the rally - was trailed by Spaniard [ordi Arca rons, who rides a KTM and was jus t under 42 mi n u tes d o wn . Nex t was Ita lian Davide Trolli, followe d by Frenchmen Thierry Magnaldi and Cyril Esquirol. Am eri can Jimmy Lew is, O ff-R o ad Ed ito r for Cycle Wor ld ma gazine, had take n his KTM as high as nin th ove rall before retiring on January 7 wit h a stomach disord er and dehy dratio n. "I'm really disappointed," said Lewi s. "I wa s going really well and the bike was perfect. I was su re I w as going to get to Dak ar, but once I started feeling bad , it was imp ossible to contin- Laguna Seca undergoes extensive chan es he track modifications an d expansion to Monterey, Californi a's Laguna Seca Raceway - the site of an AMA Superbike National on Ap ril 26-28 an d the World Superbike Series on July 19-21 - is in the final stages of comple tion. The changes to the track are in the turn nin e (Rainey Corn er) area to turn 11 (the hairpin that leads onto Lagu na's front straight) and were do ne to meet1ndyCar safety requirem ents. With tum 11 now pushed back, pit lane ha s been expanded to provide a total of 32 pit stalls, each 35 feet in leng th - an incre ase of 280 feet. The pit lane expa nsion also provides an addi tonal three acres of paddock space and new spectator viewing terr aces which are bein g bu ilt 25 feet above the track. In addition, 5000 permanent grands tan d seats will be constructed in tu rns 11 and four. "The IndyCar organization wa nted a larger pit lane and the FIM wanted proper runoff areas at tu rns 10 an d 11," general man ager Scott Ath ert on said: "As a result of the mod ifications we 've mad e, I believe both issues have been ad d ressed." The entire track is sched uled to be resurfaced following the AMA Superb ike Na tional in April. T b e g i n s o n Febru ary 17 a t Will ow Spri ngs Raceway in Rosamond, Californ ia. For more inf orma ti on, ca ll Mot o Liberty at 214 /242-6440. M ot ocro ss legend Da ve Bic kers will h el p op en the AHRMA bik e w eek sc hed u le b y co m p e t in g in the fir st ro und of th e 1996 AH RMA /Vin tage Iron Na tiona l MX Series on March 2 at th e Flori da Motorspo rt s Complex in Ocala, Florida. The 57-year-old Brit will r id e a la te -1960s s in g le- p ipe CZ . In ad di tion to compet ing, Bickers w ill also be a guest speaker at the AHRMA OffRoad Awards Banquet on th e evening of March 2. Six-time World Cha mpion Geoff Duke will act as G rand Marsha l for the AHRMA Classic Days at Daytona International Speedway in March. Duke, who earned his world titles in the 1960s riding fi rs t for Norton and then for Gilera, will serve as starter for the BMW Battle of the Legends races, and ch ief judge for th e concours d'elegance for Norton competition motorcycles. Duke will also speak at the AHRMA awards banquet. Former fac tory m o to cr o sse r Peter l amppu, 52, succumbed to cancer on December 18. Lamppu , originally from Finland, was an integral pa rt of professiona l mo tocross during the late 1960s and into the 1970s. A frequent visitor to the winner's circle, Lamppu raced factory Kawasa kis in 1972-'73 and th en for Montessa in 1975. One of hi s last race ou tings w as at th e 1990 Vin tag e Iron Invitational held between 500cc U'S, GP motos a t Glen Helen Raceway, in San Bernardino, California. ue." 2 In the past week, the rally has go ne from EI Ha ssan , Morocco, throu gh Smara to Zouret, Mauritan ia, where compe titors got a one-d ay rest. Next were two stages to Atar and back, w ith riders finishing January 8 in EI Mreiti. Six days and nearly 2000 miles rem ain ed. Long a fixture in the personal wa te rcraft ind ustry, apparel manufactu rer Jet Pilot has expa nded beyond its wetsu it line and will inclu de an array of casual wear. Motocrossers Damon H u ffm an o f th e fact or y Kaw a saki team and H ond a o f T r oy ' s C a sey Lytl e have s ig n e d with th e com p a ny, a n d will s por t th e co m p a ny's cloth ing while the y're off the track. N ew Zealand er Andrew Stroud has signed a contract with Ha mmerhea d, th e sponsorship and sports m anagem ent co mpany h e aded b y for mer Camel cigaret te spons orsh ip director Duncan Lee. Hammerhead is currentl y trying to secure a World Superbike rid e for Stroud, thou gh the compa ny is not ruling out a run for the AMA Superbike Na tio na l Cha mpionship . Th e lat est word on Stroud, h owev er, is th at he may have secured a Yoshim ura Suzuki ride for the All-Japan Superbike Cha mpions hip. For more informa tion, call H ammerh ea d in England at 44 /1489895-532. Durelle Racing Promotions will be taking a group of dirt track racers down under for some racing action during the months of February and March as part of the Ivan Mauger Motorsport Club Speedway Series. The six-m an squad which will include Ja y Springsteen, Kevin Atherton, Lance Jones, Bill Herndon and Du relle - is scheduled to run 750s in exhibition races on the va rious half-m ile facilities that Mau ger uses to host long-track speedway events. "Ivan h ad contacted Butch Do na hue a bo ut doing th is last year, but Butch was real b usy w ith o th er th ings, so h e kin d of hand ed it over to me to su pp ly Ivan with infor mation," Durelle said . "Ivan seems real interested in having us over the re - he 's been trying to do th is for a couple of years. No w it's fina lly goi ng to h appen." Durelle said th at the gro up will be putting on exhibit ions in both Australia and New Zealand. Carl Struthe rs, 53, of Eagle, Idah o, was

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