Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

DATS Racin g ha s announced the signingof Da x Snow and Dale Kieffer to r a ce for th e team in th e 1996 AMA National Ch ampion sh ip Ro ad Rac e Se ries . The tea m will use Su zuk i GSXR750s in the 750cc Supersport class and will ride a highl y modi fied Suzuki GSXR1100 in th e Sup erTeams championsh ip. The San Diego Off-Road Coalition, a group of some 300 off-hig hway vehicle enthusiasts from throug hout the greater San Diego, California, ar ea, recently presented the A.B. an d Jessie Polinsky Child ren 's Center in San Diego w ith new tote ba gs an d backpac ks fo r children , leavin g the hospital. The Polinsky Center, ope r a ted b y the Cou n ty of Sa n Diego Department of Soci al Se rvices, provides eme rge ncy temporary shelter fo r ap p rox im ate ly 500 ch ild re n every month. Ke it h Cod e ' s California Supe rbike Scho ol heads Down Under in the month of February, where Cod e will teach five schoo ls at Ph illip Island and the Win ton Circuit. Glen Helen Raceway h as annou nced that it has secu red Shoei Helmets as the ma jor spo nsor of th e upcoming AMA 125/ 250cc Nati onal MX Ch ampions hip rou n d sch ed u le d fo r M a y 12 in San Bernardino, California. For more information, call 909 I 880-3090. AMA Gran d Na tiona l rider Andy Tresser, the sole Duca ti dirt track rider on the Gran d Natio na l Cha mpionship trail, w ill be parking his machin e and joining forces with Fred and Bart Schmulbach to campaign a pai r o f Harley-Davidson XR750s for the 1996 season. The C&J Raci ng-frame d equ ipment w ill house engines buil t by Virgini a tuner Ed die Adkins. It's officia:I: Scott "Z-Man" Zampach h as signed a contract w ith Triumph to race th e Tri u m ph Saxon in th e North American Su per Bike Series and Form ula USA, as well as racing in th e n ew Mob il One Tri um p h Speed Cha lle nge series aboard a p air of Triu m p hs prepared by Hansen Motorcycles of Manitowoc, Wisconsin. Za mpach w ill a lso defend h is AMA Sup erTwins Na tional Cha mp ionsh ip on a Subu rban Mot or s H arley-Davidson 883 Spo rtster. Za mp ac h will al so race the Saxon in th e BEARS World Champ ionship round, sch ed u le d for Daytona International Speedw ay. AMA and World Supercross Champion Je remy McG rath was rece ntly presented with a set of Dunlop graphite golf clubs and an emb ro id ered golf bag by Dunlop, in recognition of his three consecutive supercross titles. The "Win a da y at th e races with Team Yamaha Sweepstakes" will continue for the up com ing San Diego Supercross on February 10. Winners will be trea ted to a cate red lunch with Team Yamaha, a tour of the Yamaha big rig, complimentary tickets and more. Those wishing to register can do so by stop p ing by one of the following Sou thern California dealers : EI Cajon Yamaha, Mission Yamaha (Laguna N igu el), Murrieta Motorspo rts, North County Yamaha (Escond ido), San Diego's House of Motorcycles, Smi tty's Cycle (Imperial Beach) and South Bay Moto rsports (Na tional City). Former World Superb ike Ch am p io n Sco tt Ru s se ll has p icked Pr om otor Ducati rider Troy Corser to win the 1996 World Su perbik e Championship, according to Cycle News contributor Daryl Flack. "I pick Troy to win it on the Ducati," Russell sa id during a bre ak from hi s Australian te st with Lu cky Strike Su zuki. " I think it ' s the b est motorcycle ou t th ere a nd he' s go t the experience of last year to bu ild on." On Corser's teammate Mike Hale, w ho led the Mi ch elin t ire test a t Da y tona in December, Russell said: "He's got a lot to pro v e. It ' s a w ho le n e w dea l in Europe and he ' s u p agai nst the best in the w or ld. I think H a le ' s got w ha t it takes to be World Cham pio n, but I don't think he can pu t it together in his first year ." Spe aki ng abo u t Carl Fogarty an d his sw it ch to H ond a, Russe ll said: " It's great. He finally got off the Du cati and on to the H ond a. He reckon s h e's th e best ride r in the w orld and if he is he'll w in it (the championshi p). And if he' s not, whi ch I don 't thi nk he is, he won' t. if I had to pick a gu y I'd like to win it, thou gh, it' d be Aaron (Sligh t). With Fogarty on his team, if anyth ing's going to light his fire, th at w ill an d that mi ght work in h is favor more than it will for Carl. " As for the other hopefuls, Russell said: "Gobert's real good. He's definitely a grea t ride r, bu t I do n 't know if h is bike will b e co ns is te n t e nough. And don 't forget (john ) Kocinski. He' s a special guy, an d he won 500cc GPs wh ich takes a lot of doin g. A lot of superbike ride rs think they can jump straight on a 500 and be on the pace, bu t take it from me - it's not that easy. Koci nski on the Du cati will be the real dark horse this year." Daryl Flack reports that Suz uki's new Wor ld Superbike hope John Reynolds a nd hi s team mate Kirk McCarth y rece nt ly complete d a successful th reed ay test at Philli p Island in Aus tralia on Janu a ry 23-25. " We did re all y goo d tim es at Ph illip Island, whic h are very co m peti tive an d right o n th e pace," team coo rd ina to r Simon Bu ckm a ster sai d . "I' rn ve ry p leased w ith how the development of th e b ike is go ing. Yes, we' ve still got a lot of wo rk to d o, but we h ave a sou nd nucl eus with the bike, the tw o r iders, a n d th e tea m ." On e so u rce confirmed th a t Mc Carth v was half a seco n d off Ca rl Fogar tys lap record with a 1:36.1, while no tim es for Reynolds were available. The team will use Michelin tir es in its assau lt on the World Superbike Championship. KTM S portmo t o rcy cl e USA will b e offering pit support for all KTM entries at the th ree permanent remote pits in the up coming Best in the Desert Vega s to Ren o Off-Road race. The service is being provided by KTM in conjunction with the Southern California-based Sunset Off-Road . For more information, call 909 I 676-6366. The FIM has announced two changes to th e 1996 World Superbik e Cham p ionship schedule . The last two races will take place in Sen tul, Indonesia, on November 10 and in Phillip Island, Au stralia on November 17. The sche du le is as fo llo ws : Ap r il 14 - Misano, It al y; April 28 - Donington Park, England; May 12 - Hockenh eim, Germany; May 19 - Le Mans.France: June 16 - Monz a, Ital y; June 30 - Brn o, Czech Republic; July 21 - Monterey, California; August 8 - Brands Hatch, England; August 18 Sentul, Indonesia; August 25 - Sugo, Jap an ; Sep tem ber 8 - Assen, H oll and ; October 6 - Albacete, Spain; November 10 - Sentu l, Indonesia; Novem ber 17 Phillip Island, Aus tralia. Cycle News Rider of the Month: ·Jerem McGrath W e know, we know - Jeremy McGrath was just the Cycle News Rider of the Year, how cou ld he be january's Rider of the Mon th as well? Th in k ab ou t it . In three sta rts, th e three-time Supe rcross Cham p ion has rem ained unbeaten and literally - un challenged. As a matter of fact, McGrath h as also won every heat race that he's competed in thus far into the 1996 AMA Supercross Series. With th ree races down and 15 to go, McGrath boa sts a perfect 75 points and ha s already won on e-fifth of the races. Ask anyone who's been to one of the first three ro u n ds, a n d they'll agree that McGrath is showing no signs of letting up . lt looks as if the competition - an d the record books - ar e in for a beating in '96 . McGrath is the all-tim e winningest rid er in su pe rcross hi stor y with 32 career vict ories, and is tied with the legendary Bob Hannah at the top of the "mos t cha mpionsh ips" category. With any luck, he'll stand atop that category as well in a few m onths. Th e just-a nno u nce d 1996 Op en European Road Racing Series sched u le is as fo llows: Feb ru ary 24 - Jerez, Sp ain; Ma rch 10 - Cartagen a, Sp ain; Ma y 5 Albacete, Spain; Jun e 16 - Braga, Portugal; July 28 - Misano, Italy; August 25 M ost , Czech Repub li c; Octob er 13 Magny- Co u rs, Fran ce; O ct ob e r 27 Catalunya, Spain . The series will feature 125, 250cc an d Supe rbike classes. According to a press release from th e North American Super Bike Series, the 1996 N ASB/ F-USA Series will be wo rth over $1 million to racers. The new series p reviously announce d an ev ent purse and series poi nt fund of ove r $640,000 but NA SB m ar keting di rector Pat Murphy says that number is ove r $1 milli on . The ser ies kicks off on February 17-18 at Willow Sprin gs Racew ay in Rosamond, California. F-USA ha s decided to ap prove th e use of 250cc Gra nd Prix bikes in its seri es in 1996 wi th motor cycles manufactu red by Ap rilia, Yamaha and Hond a all meeti ng elig ibility requirem ents for F-USA competi tion. Colin Edwards II recently comp lete d his first test o f th e off-sea son, riding a 1995 Yam aha YZF750 with updated rear sus pens ion an d the latest Dunlop tires, at th e Sh ah Alam circuit in Malaysia. "The bike, fee ls mu ch better th an last yea r," Edwards said. "The rear suspensi on w ork s ve rv well and we ' ve' im proved the traction. The tires are also better and Dunlop is still working very hard on dev elopment. Even if we 're not go ing to be racing here, th e te st was very important for me and the team and everything' s worked well ." Yoshikawa lapped at 1:27.73, w ith Edwards just a tick slower a t 1:27.99 . The Yamaha World Superbike team will begin testing in Aus tra lia on Jan uary 31. Eighteen-year-old South African off-road racer Gayton Enslin will make his American racing debut in the upcoming Vegas to Reno Rally in Nevad a. Enslin will ride a Kawasak i KX250 w ith sponsorship from FMF Racing, Kawasaki Team Green. Maxima Oil and Michelin tires. Harley-Davidson Inc. h as an nounced tha t it has agreed to sell most of its Holiday Ramb ler Recreational Vehicle Divison to Monaco Coa ch Corporation. The parties h ave sig ne d an asset-p urchase agreement for the sale of the m anufactu ring operations o f Holid ay Ramblers Recreati onal Vehicle Division an d a letter of int ent for the sa le of 10 of the division's 14 Holida y Wor ld RV dealerships. The purchase price for the division w ill be app roxima tely $50 million . AMA G rand N a tional ra ce r Georgie Price IV will ride a DPC Racing HarleyD a v id son in the 883 se r ies in 1996, acco rdi ng to a p ress release issue d by Price. Daytona International Speedway is offering a "Form ula USA Special" threeday ticket for the March 1-3 CCS/North American Su per Bike/ F-USA weekend which kicks off Camel Motorcycle Week in Flori da. Th e $35 ticket in cl u des infi eld a d mission a n d ga rage -a re a acce ss. You must purchase th e specia l ticket by 5 p.m. on Friday, March 1. For more information, call 904/252-BIKE. Veteran road racer Randy Renfrow will be back for a full season of AMA 250cc Grand Prix racing in 1996, in addition to his one-time rid e on Dale Quarterl ey' s Ducati in the Daytona 200. Renfrow will race a Hond a RS250 with backing from Mo to Liberty, Dun lop an d AGV as he makes a run for the AMA 250cc Grand Prix Nati onal Championshi p. "Ho pefully, w e w on 't ha ve to g o throu gh th e development work we had to go thr ough last year. I'm looking forward to another season and I think the bike will be good." According to a release from Honda, the H on d a Rid er's Club of America will sponsor Reg Pridmore and his CLASS Motorcycle Riding Schools in 1996. The VFR750F will be used as the o fficia l motorcycle of the CLASS school, which is offered at race tracks across the country. The first school of 1996 will take place at Willo w Springs Raceway in Rosamond, California, on March 18. Pridmore an d h is staff w ill ride new Honda VFR750Fs. RENEWED: Dunlop's road race agreements wi th Spo rt Tire Services 'of Torrance, California, and Race Tire Service ~ of Antio ch; Tenne ssee fo r 1996. Th e 0\ aforeme ntioned companies are Dunl op' s ,.....; onl y agents for the distribution of slick roa d racing tires in the Ll.S, AUTOGRAPH SIGNING: At the Cycle Madness Mo torcycle Sho w and Sale at t he Eastwood Expo Ce nter in Niles, Ohio, on February 9-11 from 4 to 6 p.m. AMA 750cc Supersport Cha mpion Tom - - -- - - -- Continued on page 51 3

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