Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

.INTHEWIND Jim my Gaddis (Kaw ) ea rned h is se cond consecutive AMA Na tiona l Arenacross title at the series finale in Denver, Colorado, o n Ma rch 2-3, a t th e Denver Colise um. Gaddis took the PP Super Are nacross Na tional Cha mpionship by th r ee p oints over Jeromy Bueh l (Ka w ) . T h e titl e ch as e ca m e d ow n to the fina l race, won by Bu eh l, but a fourth-place finish by Gaddis wa s good en ough fo r hi m to reclai m the n u m be r-on e p la te . O n Frida y, Todd DeHoop (H on ) sco red the 125cc-class win, wh ile Bue hl topped both the 250cc final and th e Dash For Cash race. On Saturday n ight, Grayson Goodman (Ho n) won the 125cc main; Buehl wo n the 250cc main , and Ga d dis the Dash For Cash. Inclement weather forced postpone ment or cancellation of three of the first four rou nds of the Florida Flat Track Series, wh ich takes place du ring Camel Motorcycle Week. Rain forced a premature h a lt in g of th e o pe n ing r oun d at Og le thorpe Speedway in Savan nah , Georgia, on March 1, and left the racing su rfaces at St. Augustine Speed way and Barbervill e Speed wa y in Florida (rou nds tw o a nd fo u r, re spectiv ely ) unfit for com petiti on . Officials have tentatively rescheduled the St. Au gustine round for Mar ch 6 while the Oglethorpe round has been reset for March 11, th e d a y a fte r th e Dayt on a 200. Round fou r a t Barbervill e Speed wa y co ul d n ot b e rescheduled. Mark Brelsford (BMW) narrowly defeated G ary N ixon (BMW) and Reg Prid more (BMW) d uring ro und on e of the BMW Battle of the Legends series at Daytona International Speedway on March 4. The 1972 AMA Gra nd National Champion inched ahead of some eight riders to win it at the line. Tony Smith (Mai) topped David Fabian (Mail and Bob Barker (H-D) in the 200cc GP class during race one of the AHRMA Classic s Days road races a t Da yt ona Internatio na l Speedway on March 4. Stew art Rogers (Nor ) won the Pre- 1940 class, finis hi ng a head of Ralph Auer (BMW) a nd Butch Baer (lnd). Rogers lat er claimed th e w in in th e Class C event, defeating Auer and Norm an Ne lson (Nor). Alan Cathcart (Yam) scored a runaway victo ry in th e AHRMA BoT Fo rmu la On e by BMW even t at Daytona International Speedway. Pete Johnso n (M-G) wa s second, followed by Russ Matson (Due) , Th e F-3 portion of the BoT race wa s w o n by M ark Re ynold s (Han ). Johnson came back later in the day to b ag the BoT F-2 win over John Lon g (Duc) and Bob Robbins. Todd Henn ing (Yam) won the BoT Tw o-St ro ke class ahead of Rick Newman (Ya m) and Doug St addon (Yam). Jay Rich ardson (Due) won the 250cc GP class during Monday's AHRMA action at Daytona Inlern ational Speedway. He w as followed by Ch arl es Sexto n (Bu D an d Kemp Arch ib al d (Due) . Rich ard Merhar (Ya m) beat G e o rg e Tay lor (Yam) and Bra d Pal mer (Yam) in the Form u la 250 eve n t. David Roper (AjS) scored a last-lap victory over Dr. Thomas Marquardt (Hon ) in the AHRMA 350cc GP event at Daytona Interna tiona l Speedway on March 4. Ch uck Huneycutt (Han) was third. Todd Henning (Hon) scored an equa lly conv incing win over Stephen Mathews (Nor) an d Gianfranco Bon era (MV) in the Prem ier 500cc class . Greg Schn ell (Suz) and Doug Dubach (Yam) we re th e bi g w in ne rs a t ro u nd five of the GFi Winter MX Series at Perri s Race way in Perris, California, on Mar ch 3. Schnell topped the 250cc Pro class, followed by Don Upton (Ha n) and Dubach. Dubach came back to win the 125cc Pro class over Schn ell and Upto n. Robert Patterson (Suz) edged out Doug Blackw ell (Yam) for the overall win at the Sugar Hill Hare Scrambles in Bollivar, Tennessee, on Ma rch 3 - round nine of th e AMA M id -Sou th Winter Hare Scrambles Series. Finishing third overall was Mike Sampson (Kaw ), whil e Mi ke Cornett (KTM) and Jack Bailey (Ho n) completed the top five ove rall. G r eg Z ill e rk o p f (Kaw ) a n d Johnny Campbe ll we re th e big win ners at th e fourth ann u a l Ma lcol m Smith Motorsports/ Prairie Dog GP on March 2-3 at Glen Helen Raceway in San Bernardi no, Ca lifo rnia . Zitterkop f won th e overa ll honors in the Unclassified and Vet races while Campbell top ped th e combined 80 /1 25/4-Stroke / Dual Spo rt a nd th e 250/ 500cc classes . Darryl King (Kaw ), the de fend ing New Zealand MX Champion, started his title d efense with a victory in Ha rrisville, New Zealand, on March 2-3. King won four races and finished thir d in ano ther in the openin g round of the series. H ond a Canad a ' s Jeff Will i a m s, th e ninth-place finisher in the EBC Brakes Sport Bike race at Daytona International Speedway on Mar ch 3, was pena lized five champion ship points for having an und erw e igh t mo torcycl e. Wi lliams' Honda CBR6 00 w as w ei ghed at 392 pounds , th ree pounds below th e minimum of 395. Instead of leaving Daytona fift h in po int s with 26, he' s tied with Brett Ray for ninth with 21. Another rider wh o wa s penalized from the opening weekend of road racin g at Daytona wa s MCC /Motorcycle Cen ter' s Will iam Wh ite. After finishing sixth in th e Mobil 1 Triumph Speed Tripl e Cha llenge, White' s Triumph 900 wa s pu t on the dynamometer and measured to have 102.1 horsepow er, o ne -te n th above the lega l ma ximum of 102. H e was fined $50. Formula USA Ltd /s Doug Go nda and Mu zzy Kawa sak i' s Rob Muzzy spent four hours trying to de term ine a claiming pric e for the 1995 ZX-7R that Do ug Chand le r won both NASB /Formula USA races on (see full race cove rage on page 12). Since the re was no 1995 ZX-7R for sale in the U.S. last year, Gonda sugges ted th e p rice be th e cos t of a 1994 machine, $10,700. Muzzy had contacted Robert Moffitt, Kawasaki' s vice presi d ent for sales, who d etermined that if the ZX-7R had been sold in the U'S. it would ha ve sold for $11,500, a difference of $800. But since the claiming rul e is the cost times four, it became a $3000 discrepancy. At one poi n t Mu zzy sugges ted takin g the 1995 pric e from anywhere in th e w orld , b u t Go nd a w ou ld n't a gre e to it. A ccordin g to Mu z z y, Go nda s ugg e s te d th at t h ey revert to the next lower mode l, the standard ZX-7, w hic h ret ails for less tha n $10,000. That offer was summarily dismissed . What shou ld have been a fiveminu te conversation turned into a four hour or deal that left Muzzy cold. "I'm not particu larly hap py abou t it, and I made it clear that I wasn 't ," Muzzy said . "I conceded just to get it over and d one 'Yith:' Mu zzy sai d he had consi d ere d consulting a lawyer , but the cost and Elsinore Grand Prix revisited? emember the Elsinore Grand Prix, the race that was highlighted in the movie "On Any Sunday "? How can anyone wh o has ever seen the movie, forget the scenes of Malcolm Smit h and Steve McQu een racing through the stree ts of Lake Elsinore on their red and silver Husq varnas, or riders using dow nt own concrete cu rb s for berms, or the hu ge mud hole and the openings in the fence Smith used to go arou nd the mud hole, or the spectacular aerial footage of Smi th racing down the Ridge Trail as the cours e headed back into town ? Well, if GFi promoter Goat Breker has his way, the infamous Elsino re Grand Prix will no longer be just mem ories from a movie, as he _ plans to resurrect the race over the Veterans Day Weekend in No vember. The race, which used to draw thousand s of rid ers every year and was so popular that Hon da used to name its CR "Elsinore" motocross bikes after the GP, was last held in the early 70s. After a recent city council meeting that wa s attended by representatives from all four of the major japan ese mot orcycle manufacturers, inclu di ng Kawasaki race team man ager Roy Tu rne r and off-road manager Kenn y Parry, Yamaha's Mike Guerra, Suzuki's Cole Gress and Honda's Keith Dowdier, the city gave Breker a preliminary ap proval to bri ng the race back to life. Other ind ustry representati ves in attendance inclu ded former National MX and Supercro ss Champion David Bailey, who is now a com me ntato r for ESPN, "Wheelie King" Dou g Dornokos, three- time perso nal wa tercraft IjSBA Pro Na tional Champion Victor Sheldo n and "MX Mom" Gale Webb, all of whom gua rantee their su pport of the race. If ap proved, the even t w ill b e ca lled the "Lake Elsin or e Extreme Extravaganza Weeke nd ," and, besides the Grand Prix race, w ill feature wat ercraft and wa ter ski races on nearb y Lake Elsinore , and a mountain bike eve nt, plus booth s, displays and demonst ra tio ns, suc h as hang-glid ing , parachuting, and in-li ne skating . Also planned is a Musicfest Concert at Lake Elsinore Stadium and a special showing of "On An y Sunday" at the city Meeting Hall. "I want to make this event the Daytona Motorcycle Week of the West Coast," said Breker . "I've been working on this project for over two years:' He added that he'll limit the nu mber of en tries for the annual Grand Prix to 1500 (at least for the first year) with hopes of drawing up to 20,000 spec tators. The city council is on the verge of giving its approval, but before they can, several sectio ns of the cou rse's routing and oth er details still need to be ironed out. As of now, thou gh, the proposed five-mile- a-lap course consists of both paved an d di rt road s, runnin g throu gh neighborhoods and the hills behind the old rod eo grounds, including the Ridge Trail featured in the movi e. Mayo r Kevin Pape said he likes the idea of bringing back the Elsinore Grand Prix, an eve nt tha t brought added revenue to the city. The Lake Elsinore Extreme Extravaganza Weeke nd is scheduled for November 8-11. R time commitment convinced him otherwi se. What mo st disappointed Mu zzy was tha t he felt that he pl ayed by the rules, full y aware that the motorcycle could be claimed, and mad e no attempt to wi thhold it. "He did not fulfill his end of the deal," Muzzy said . How va luable the motorcycle w as is a point of mu ch discussion. The bike is one of Scott Russell's 1995 World Superbike machin es that Doug Chandl er was going to use as a spare for the Dayton a 200. Chandler ha s one 1996 ma ch in e. Mu zzy says that he sold a similar bik e on Friday for $25,000 and has advertised t hese for th e sa m e pr ic e . Wh at is th ou ght to drive the value up on thi s was that it had a gear-driven engi ne. "If somebo dy's going to race it, it's the stup id e st thing they could d o," Muz z y sa id, ad d ing tha t, as id e from trouble ge tting parts, the engi ne does no t provide a sig nificant advantage. "The difference is that wh en An thony Gobe rt set th e n e w la p record a t Lagun a Seca (World Superbike race ) on Satu rday he was using a chai n-d rive n engine. When he upped it the next day by one-ten th it was with a gear-d riven engine: ' because I wa nted to be available to Yamaha in case the y needed me . I did it on my own. I thought it wis e to make myself available as far as licensing. I paid my mon ey a n d got my number 97," Oliver said. So far, Oliver has not been asked to rid e the 200, but is excited abou t his chances in th e 250cc Grand Pr ix race. "I'm working toward the Frid ay program," Oliver said of the lOOK race. "I'm a full second faster than I was last year on my second d ay he re. I'm jus t over the moon." A round of the AMA National En duro Series has been adde d as a result of the cancellation of the February 11 Wickenburg Nationa l in Arizona. The new round will be held in Bellingham, Washingt on, on October 13, bringing the total number of events back u p to nine. The Mount Baker Motorcycle Club wil l host the end uro. For mo re information, call 360/ 734-0492. W ha t w ill ultimatel y b ecom e of the claimed motorcycle hasn 't been d ecided . Go nda said : "Qu ite frankly, it' s the first motor cycle to wi n the firs t F-USA race ever at Daytona. I'd like to stick it in a muse u m . Th er e a re a number of people inte res ted. Rob told me it was Scott 's last year's World Superbike, It's as good a Kawasaki as has been built in the wo rld in '95:' Motorcycle-racers-turned-open-wh eel car-race rs update dept: Four-time 500cc Worl d Champion Eddie Lawson had a highly successful Ind y car debut at the Homestead Motorsports Complex in Hom estead , Florida, on March 3, finishing 15th in his Delco-back ed Galles Racing Lol a-M ercedes . Th e Californian sta yed clear of tr ouble, finish in g tw o laps behind race winn er Jimm y Vasser. Form er m ulti -tim e A MA moto cross cha mp ion Jeff Ward , mean while, finished fifth in the Indy Ligh ts race, held earlier in the day at Ho mestead. Ward's ra ce was w on b y Ca na d ia n Da vid Empringham. Team Oliver Yama ha's Rich Oli ver said tha t he wa s surprise d by the a tte ntion gene ra ted w hen w ord go t out that he had en tered the Day tona 200. "I en tered Motorcycle-racers-tu rned -stock-car-racers upda te d ep t.: For mer 500cc Wo rld Champion Kevin Schwantz has signed a d ea l w ith Roeh rig Motorsport s that

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