Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Cycle News 1996 03 27

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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I·IN .THE·WINP Casey Johnson (Kaw) was the t op Expert at th e GNC Grand National MX Championships, held at Lake Whitney Cy cle Ranch in Lak e Whitney, Texas. on March 14-17. Johnson won the 125 a n d 250 cc Exp e rt cla sses a b o a rd h is Sp litFire 1Pro Circui t 1Ka w a sa ki m a ch ines . R icky Carmichael (Ka w) wa s the d ominant ama teur, winning all eig h t m otos en rou te to th e 125 and 250cc Stock and Modifi ed Int ermediate classes. Accor d ing to Cycle N ews contributor Tony Alessi. Carmichael' s lap time s we re on average fou r seco nds per lap faste r th an Ioh nso ns. Br yan M cG avran (Hon) was th e wi n ni nges t mini rider, topping th e 85cc 12- to 13year-old and Super Mini classes. Defending Na tio na l Enduro Champion Ty Da vi s (Kaw) scored the overall win at the Cajun Classic Nati onal End u ro in Fo rest Hill, Loui sia na , on Ma rch 17 . De s p it e burning a ch e ck , D a vi s dropped a tot al of 12 poi nts, one less point th an those posted by hi s nearest co m pe ti to rs Mike Lafferty (KTM), Georg e Waller Jr. (Kaw) a nd fo rme r champ Kevin Hines (CRE). Those three rid ers fin ished 2-3-4, res p ective ly, v ia tie-b rea ker p oints. Ro u nd ing ou t th e top five was five -time cha mp Randy Hawkins (Suz ). Davis has wo n the first tw o rounds of th e se ries and enjoys a 22-p o in t le a d ove r Lafferty , 60-38 . Hines and Hawk in s a re tied for th ird with 34. In ro und t w o o f th e AMA N ationa l H are a n d H ou n d Seri es in Murph y, Id ah o, on March 17, Greg Zitterkopf (Ka w ) took the overall wi n . Second place went to Paul Krause (Kaw), wh o to ok th e che cke rs ap proxima tel y on e m inu te a fte r Zitt erk opf. Destry Abott (KTM) finished third followed by Brian Ga rrahan (Ka w) a n d Don n ie Boo k (Kaw ). Krau se n ow lea ds th e ser ies points chase wi th 50, followed by Zitterkop f w ith 44. Davis won the ope ning round of th e se ries last month but did not rid e thi s eve n t, choo sing instead to de fend his National Enduro numberone plate in' the Louisiana round of the N at ion a l Endu ro Seri es, h eld o n the same d ay. David Schultz (Suz) won the opening ro und of the NHRA Pro Stock Championship, topping John Myers (Suz) in th e fin al in Ga i ne sville, Flori d a, on Ma rch 17. Th e race a lso marke d th e d ebut in th e se ries of Matt Hines, the son of Va nce & Hin e s By ron Hines . Hines mad e it to th e se mi final ro u nd befor e getting beaten by Myers. " Flyin'" Mi k e Fari a (GM) to p pe d the Scratch main to collect his third strai ght Coor s Light Spring Classic titl e at the O ra nge Cou n ty Fairgrounds in Cost a Mesa, California, on Ma rch 16. Faria led fellow forme r U.S. Na tiona l Cham pi on s Br a d O xl e y (Wes) a n d St e v e Lucero (Gdn) across the line in a close finish. Oxley and Lu cero came off the 50-yard line to finis h 1-2 in the Handica p main wit h Sh a w n Mc Conne ll (Gd n) netting third. Geo rge Fox (jaw) won th e Suppo rt-class main. The team o f Bo b Br a yt o n a n d P arke We a ver (H on ) clai med th e Sidecar victory. Roy Sch ell enberger, th e motoc rosser w h o su ffe re d p ara ly zing spi na l co rd in juries in a qual ifyi ng- race crash for th e Day ton a Su percross on Mar ch 9, was flow n fro m Dayton a Beach to th e Baylor Medical Center in Dalla s. Texas, on Ma rch 13. On March 14, Sche lle nberger underw ent suc cess ful sur gery to re p air th e fractured vertebra e in hi s sp ine and he is expec ted to be hospita lized for tw o months. Letters can be em a il ed t o Sche ll enb e r g e r a t: rd sschell@m sn.com, or se nt via the p ost al service to 810 N . Lucas, Gra pevi ne, TX 76051 an d 1or Kawasaki of Carrollton, 2655 E. Beltline, Carr ollton. TX 75006. A tru st fund at a local bank has been set up in Schellenberger' s nam e and contribu tions can be made to the Roy Schellenberger Benefit Fund , First Nationa l Ba n k of Grap e vine, P .O . Bo x 1000, Grap evine, TX 76099-10DO. Severa l d iffer ent raff les were hel d at th e Lak e Wh it ney, Texas, GNC motocross for Roy Sch ell enberger with roug h ly $4000 being raised with prod ucts d onat ed by the following compan ies : Kawa sa k i Te a m Green , FMF, Tucker-Roc ky, N orth Texas Yam aha, Sup e r Fu e ls, Tim D r e y e r, Tex M X, Grap evin e Kaw asaki, Therapeu tic Massage, Shoei, Boyesen, Scott, Oakley and Helmet House. In ad dition, a cus tompaint ed helm et by Jeff Long Graphics, w h ich was d on a ted by fell ow Texan s DeeAnn Wood an d h e r b rothe r D .L. Wood, both of who m are profession al racers was raffled off for $820. Accor ding to a p ress release fro m the prom ote rs o f the World S up e rb ike Championship, wo rldwide televisio n coverage of th e 1996 series h as been expa nded, foll owing ag ree me nts wi th n ew sa telli te ch a n nels in Ge rma ny, Spa in and Au stralia. Husaberg USA has announced it w ill field a tw o-man tea m in the upcoming 4-Strok e National Sou n d o f Thund er MX Serie s, w h ich ge ts und er w a y Ma r ch 24 a t Ca n yon Ra ce w a y in Ph oen ix. Arizona . Mike Young will be th e te am' s primary ri der, while tw o tim e 125cc Natio na l MX Champi on Micky D y m o n d w ill b e the te am ' s " s u p po r t rid e r. " Both Yo ung a n d Dym ond will ride Husab er g FC SOls. Husab erg will a lso pa y co nti ng e ncy mon ey to any Husaberg rid er finish ing in th e top fiv e overall a t all AMA 4Stroke N ationals Western an d Eastern Series even ts. First place will pay $500, secon d $30 0, third $200, fou rth $100 an d fifth $500. Husaberg is also of fer ing a $1500 championship bonus. San Diego' s H ouse o f Mot o rcycles in San Diego. Californi a will host a Street Bike Clinic on March 30 from 9 a.rn, to 5 p .m . Factory re pres entati ve s fro m Honda, Suzuki. Kaw asaki and Yamaha will be on hand. along wi th many reps from aftermarket companies. Seminars will b e hel d o n a variety of top ics, includi ng oils, h e lm et s, chains and le at h e rs . For m or e in fo rm a ti on. call 619 1229-77DO. Th e Ride Fo r Kid s - by Kid s youth motorcycling eve nt will be he ld on May 25- 26 a t the Ho nda Rider Education Facili ty in Alpharetta, Georgia. The event wi ll bring yo ung off-road riders together with young cancer patients for a day of "s hari ng, caring, and a la rge dose of healin g fu n." All proceeds will go to The Pedi atric Brain Tumor Found at ion of th e Un ited States . Th e progra m will host a maximum of 18 yout hs wi th one entrant per state pa rticip ating . For mo re in fo rm ation, ca ll 70 4 /6656891. Just wha t di d the factory stars do during the one-week d e lay be tw ee n the sched uled running of the Daytona 200 b y Arai o n March 10 and th e actua l running of the race on March 16? Sho pp ing wa s hi gh on th e list, and it was Corser's new watch P romotor Du cati's Troy Corser receives a special-editio n Rolex Daytona chronogra ph from Daytona In ternation al Speedway Pr esident Joh n Graham. on Saturday, March 16, for his record-setti ng performance during qu alifyin g for the Daytona 200 by Arai on Ma rch 7. Rain forced the p ostponem ent of the Dayton a 200 to March 16, wi th Migu el DuHamel beating Scott Russell by a scant 0.010 second. Corser led the most laps, but failed to finish when his Ducati overheated . Scott Ru ssell h and il y w inn in g th e aw ard for m ost mon ey spe n t. Russell went ou t a nd p urch ased a 1996 400horsepower, midnight-blu e Porsch e 911 tw in-tu rbo . "I've go t to w in thi s ra ce today," Russell said prior to th e Dayton a 200. "To pay for tha t ca r." After the race, Russell w as scheduled to h ave th ree d ay s at ho m e b e fore flying to Malaysia to test his Lucky Strike Suzu ki GPbike. Wh ile Russell was bu sy shop ping during th e wee k. his Luck y Strike Su zuki crew w as busy tra veling. Rather than stay in Florida, crew chief Stuart Shenton an d he ad mechanic Colin Davie s. along with team manager Ga rry Taylor elected to return to England. The th reesome left Flori da on Monday aft ern oon and re tu rned on Fri day nigh t. Th en th ey turned a ro u nd and left again on Saturday night. Eventual Day tona 200 wi nn er Miguel DuHamel s pen t th e m ajo r it y o f the week d o ing w ha t h e like s to d o th e mos t : playing g olf an d ga m b li ng . Du Ha me l estima tes th at he pl ayed six rounds of golf in the .d ays betw een the rai n-o u t and the resch eduled race. He also visited the loca l d og tr ack a few times. The always wisecracki ng Garry Taylor had th e followi ng to say as the cro wd cou n t du ring p racti ce for th e 200 on Satu rd ay morn ing was virtually no nexistent : "Are th ey goi ng to b ring th e pace car ou t when the spectator has to use the bathroom?" Ru ssell a lso reasoned that the low crowd count could p oss ibl y end u p m aking h is Suzu ki GSXR750 ru n a littl e stro nger: "There's less speca tors to suck the oxygen out of the air." Seve ra l t e am s los t v al u ab l e c re w me mbers due to othe r ra cing commitments prior to the resch edu led Daytona 200. Many of the facto ry teams rely on the factory mot ocro ss crews, who also ha p pe n to be in Dayt on a for the supercross, to he lp with pit s to ps a nd pit signals - bu t th ose crew mem bers we re off to Houston for a su pe r- cro ss on Mar ch 16. At least tw o of the te ams - Va n ce & H in e s a n d Mu z zy Ka wasa ki - ended u p usi ng students fr o m t h e th e lo ca l m o t o r cy cl e m e ch a n ic s sch o o l, AMI , a s crew m emb ers . M a n y AM I s tu d e n ts al so m ad e u p a makeshift corner-w orking crew w hi ch w as t ra in ed o n Fri day afternoon by AMA offi cia ls. Despite the si x-day d elay in ru nning the race, the Dayt on a 200 by Arai still attracted 62 entrants . The 55th D ayto n a 200 by Ar ai wiIl air on T h e N ash v ille Network a t 1 p .m . (Eastern) on Saturday, Marc h 23. Jim Da v i s, o ne o f th e p ion e e r s o f motor cycle racing, turns 100 on March 23. Davis will celeb rate his birthday at h is h ome in Dayt ona Bea ch , Flori d a, a n d s pe cia l fes t ivitie s h a v e b ee n pl an n ed for the ce n te n a ri a n who se career spanned some 21 seasons - fro m 1916 to 1937. Davis, as he ha s been for many years, w as in atte nda nce at Dayton a In te rn a tion a l Speed w ay during Camel Motor cycle Week. The 1996 AMAlSuzuki National Dual Sport Trail Ride Series kicks off this month and will enco mpass 21 events in 15 s ta tes . N ow in its n inth year, the series is open t o a ny AMA m embe r with a s t ree t- lega l m ot or cy cl e. Th e even ts are n on competitive in natu re and take place on high ways, d irt roa ds a n d o ff- roa d t r a il s. Su zu ki is also putti n g up a g ra nd p r ize of a 1996' Suzu ki DR350SE for a year-end d rawing . For m o r e info rmation, ca ll 614/891-2425. In ad d itio n to the lur e of looking at vin ta ge motor cycl es, th e AM A' s Vintage Motorcycle D ays '96, sche d u le d fo r July 19-21 at th e Mid -Ohi o Sp orts Car Co u rse in Le xin gton. Oh io, w ill also offer th ose in attend ance the chance to p ar take in d em o rides w hich will be o ffe re d b y seve ral m ajor m ot o rcy cle m anufacturers . Th e d emo rides will begin an d end at Mid-Ohio. For mor e in fo rm ati on o n Vintage Mot o r cy cle Days, call Bru ce Truxall at 800 1AMAJOIN.

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