Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

,IN' H IN T E'W D France's Sebast ien Tortelli (Kaw) put together a perfect sweep to win round five of the World 125cc Mo tocr oss Champio nship Series in Kapsovar, Hu ngary, on May 19. Great Britain's Paul Ma lin (Ya m) pu t together 2-3 mo to scores for the runner-up spot. Frenchman Frederick Vialle (Yam) was third overall. Tortelli now leads Vialle in the overall standings by 36 points, 158-122, as the series approaches the ha lfway mark. . T y Davi s (Kaw) won th e o pening ro und of the AMA Nation al Cha mpio nship Reliab ili ty En d uro Seri es in Ne w Wav erly, Texas, on May 18-19. Davis edged out Rodney Smith (Suz) with Guy Cooper (Suz) finished third. Roun di ng out the top five overall were Kevin Hines (CRE) and Jason Dahners (KTM). Jordi Arcarons (KTM) w on the Casablanca-to-El Ksib, Mor occo, stage of th e 14th annua l Atlas Rall y . The Spani ard negotiated the 100-mile stage and set fast time for the 95-entry motorcy cle class ahea d of Ita lian s Flavio Agradi (Hus) and Fabrizio Caracano (Hus) . Former 250cc World Motocross Champion Hei nz Kinigad ner (KTM) was leading the stage before taking a wrong tu rn and reco ver in g to finish eighth. Kinigad ner rebounded to win stage three, th e 138-m ile leg th at ran fro m El Ksiba to Rissan i, on May 20. The win moved the Au str ian in to the overall lead as well. Th ree overseas-based rid ers - tw o of them form er U.S. National Champions - and o ne fo rme r World Cham p ion earne d spots in the next of the World Speedway qu alifyin g rounds that go toward th e 1996 Wo rld Ind iv idu al Ch ampion sh ip Series as Ch ris Manchester defeated Mike Faria in a runoff to occupy the top spot in the American Final at Fas t Friday s Speedw ay in Auburn, Cali forn ia, on May 18. Faria finish ed se con d ahead of British Premier League roo kie Charlie Venegas. Vete ra n racer and forme r World Best Pairs Cha mpion Bobby Schwartz. The four riders will take their place in the Overseas Final at Coventry, England, on Ju ne 9, which moves the top eight qualifiers to the Intercontinental Final at Hoisted, Denmark, on July 28. Spea king of Bobby Schw artz, the twotime U.S. National Champion and 1995 U .S National runner-up de feated Shawn McCo nn e ll , S te ve Luc ero, Andy Northrup and Mike Faria in a five-man Scratch main event to capture the victory in the Bruce Penhall Cla ssic at the Oran ge County In te rn at io nal Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa, California, on May 17. Th e event m a r ked Sch w artz' firs t ride si nce re t urning from his annua l trek to the Indianapolis Mo tor Speedway to wa tch time trials for the Indianap olis 500. \0 ~ rl Peter Melton (Kaw) clinched the 1996 Australian Supercross Championship in a d ra ma-filled fina l at Parramatta City Raceway near Sydney on May 11 according to Cycle News Australian correspondent Dar ryl Flack. Melton need ed on ly to finish eighth or better to bag the title after cha mpions hip rival Lee Hogan (Yam) did no t com pete. But Melton collided with a hay bale while leading an d dropped to the rear of the field, giving Cra ig Anderson (KTM) a clear shot at the tit le. Anderson went on to win, but Me lton threaded back through the field to finish in seventh place and scrape by Anderson in the final standings by two points, 70-68. Mike Pu lver (Hon) bagged the 540cc win d uring the opening round of the 1996 AMA National Hillclimb Championship Series, the second annual Zeke Wenge r Mem orial Hillclimb, which was hosted by the Iron Horsemen M.e. in Midd lebur y, In d iana, on May 19. Scott McNeely (Hon) fin ished in second place while three -time and defending Na tional Champion Paul Pin so nnault (Hon) was third . In the 840cc class, twice National Cha mpion Lou Gerencer Jr. (H -D) too k to p honors over Glendal Petty Jr. (H-D) and Rodney Smith (Yam). D ave Camli n (H-D) w o n th e 750cc Expert class during round two of the Mot orcycle Asph alt Racin g Series at Myrtl e Beach Sp eed w ay, i n My rtl e Be ach , So u th Caro li na, o n May 18. Kevin Varnes (H-D) finis hed second, and reignin g series champio n Will D avis (H -D) finishe d th ird, marking the first time that the N orth Caroli nian had been beaten in a MARS race since 1994. Davis (ATK) gained a measu re of rede m ptio n in the 600cc Expert class, topp in g Camlin (Rtx) and Lonnie Pauley (Rtx) for the win. In the 883cc class, Mik e Hacker (H- D) beat Lance Jones (H- D) and Ran dy Tex ter (H- D) to the line for the win . Dave Schu ltz (Su z ) d e feat ed J oh n Myers (Suz) to claim th e Pro Stoc k Moto rcycl e-class victo ry during the NHRA Mopar Parts Nationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway in English town, New Jersey, on May 18. Schultz now lead s Myer s in th e NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle points standings, 546526. Tom Norton (Yam) was the overall winner a t th e N ew Hoot Owl Hare Scrambles in Uxbirdge, Massachusetts, on May 19. The event was the fourth round of the NETRA Hare Scrambles Series. Finishing second to Norton was Jo sh Mc1evy (Hon), followed by P.J. Deculis (Yam), Todd Leves que (Yam) and Jerry Madore (Suz). After Chuck So r en so n ' s deal with Erion Racing was terminated by injury and the arrival of Andrew Stroud, Sorenson was left looking for a ride to finish the year on. Initially, the California resident had ho ped to finish the AMA season but the options were limited. "I had exhausted every possible deal in the States," Sorenson said in a pho ne interview May 14. "I talked to Zero Gravity and Mot o Liberty on a Honda and even thought of getting my own thing going in the 25Os." Eventually he struck a dea l with Clive Padgetts to race a 1996 Yamaha TZ250 in the English Supercup Championship and will possibly also be riding a 600cc supersport bike for the team. "I'd been talking to Padgetts before and kept the relationsh ip up, so whe n the deal with Erion ended we talked aga in," Sorenson continued . "We (he and Pagetts) ,NASS· s ec tires for '97? t Brainerd on May 19, NASB and Formu la USA officials released a statement explaini ng that they are considering a plan which would require the use of a single tire man ufacturer's tires in all NASB, Formula USA, and CCS racing starting in 1997. NASB and CCS founder Roger Edmonson stated, "We are trying to accomplish several things with this idea. First, by guaranteeing 100-percent fitment to a single tire sponsor, we would expect a favorable pricing structure that would allow our racers to get tires for less than the current pricing level. We also feel that we can put a stop to any controversy about whether one rider has access to better tires than others. In this situation, every rider would be using standard production tires . Choices in tire compounds would be the same for everyone. Finally, we will offer name-in-title sponsorship to the tire company we eventually choose to do business with and we wou ld look for that company to have an aggressive pro motion campaign backing their sponsorship." Edmonson and Form ula USA di rector Doug Gonda are modeling their proposal after "spec" tire programs in auto racing. One major difference, however, is the breadth of this proposal: It covers a large segment of the motorcycle road race tire market rather than just a single series of events. CCS now has over 3500 licensed racers and runs over 70 events per year. It will be interesting to see whether such a program (if it is put into place) can be enforced at the local level and whether it meets with legal challenges from either tire manufacturers or racers. Ed mo nson em phasized that the re is no definite plan at this stage, and that explo ratory discussions will be held with interested tire manu factu rers to get their reactions and suggestions before proceed in g. The tw o manu factu rers with the strongest presence in F-USA/ NASB are Michelin and Metzeler / Pirelli, but Dunlop's percentage of the CCS market is probably greater than its share of the NASB/F-USA fitment. A o rigi na lly m et at a b a rbe cu e la s t Augus t an d talked in November and Decem ber. But then I struck a deal with Kevin (Erio n) and stayed her e. I had orginally talked to Pad getts in November about riding a 500 but I wo uld have had to come up with some money. We struck the deal last week, I bought a ticket and I' m on my way tom orrow (May 15)." Harry M orse, 51, of A rlingt on, Virginia, d ied on M ay 17. Morse h ad served as a Race Director for WERA in the Northeast Region and also acted 'as Chi ef Tech n ical Adv isor for th e past seve n years. Morse had also work ed for the AMA, F-USA and CCS sanctioning bodi es . He w as a Road Rep fo r th e AMA as we ll as th e fifth fo u n di ng Board Memb er of the Mid -A tla ntic Road Racing Club (MARRC). He is su rvived by h is wife Jud y and two daughter s, Kelly and Christi na . The family has asked that in lieu of flowers, donations can be made to either the American Diabetes Association or the MARRC Downed Rider's fund at P.O. Box 2292, Wheaton, Maryland 20915. Cards and letters may be sent to th e family at 412 S. Adams St., Arlington, Virginia 22204. The AMA has introduced a n ew road racin g progr am, which will provide a complimentary professional license and up to three free event entries for up-and-coming road racers intent upon competing in the 1997 AMA Superbike Series . "This program will encourage racers to participate with AMA -sanctioned road racing organiza tions as th ey direct their careers toward th e AMA Superbike Series," AMA Pro Racing Road Racing Manager Ron Barrick said. "We want the top competitors to aspire to ride in the premier AMA pro program, and there's none more promine nt than AMA Superbikes." Current organizations affiliated with the new program include New Hampshire In ternational Raceway (Loudon/GP Pro); the Motorcycle Racing Association (MRA); Boulder, Colorado; and the Great Lakes Road Racing Associat ion (GLRRA) in Michigan . Under the new program, the AMA will recognize the top three series finalists in each organization in a pre-determined Superbikestyle class as well as in th e 600 and 750cc Supersport, and 250cc GP classes. First pl ace will receive a pro license and th ree free en tries, seco nd wi ll be worth a licen se and tw o free entries, and third place will receive the license and one free en try. "We want to plan now to see d th e sta rs of tomorr ow," Barrick said. "In the futu re, many of th ese racers w ill b e h ead ed fo r th e AMA Superbike winner's circle." For more information, contact Hugh Fleming at the AMA Member Activiti es Department at 614/891-2425. Team Ha rley-Davidson's Scott Parker will apparently d efend h is ch am pion ship title at th e eigh th annua l Old Time Newsies Half Mile Regio nal in Dayto n, Ohi o. Parker, w ho rarely makes an appearance outside of AMA G rand Na tional and A MA 600cc Nationa l even ts, will be competing against the likes of Grand National contenders Ste ve Morehead, Will Da vis, Geo Roeder II, Kevi n Ath erton, Kevin Varn es, Kenn y Coolb eth and Steve Beatt ie fo r the lion's sh a re of the $30,000 purse. Motorcycle stuntman "S uper" Joe Reed will be one of the featured attractions during the California Racing Club's 1996 Dunestown Series finale at Los Angeles County Raceway, in Palmdale, Ca lifornia, on May 26. Reed will attempt to jump his Honda over the sp inning rotor blades of a running helicopter with one arm tie d be hind his back. For m o re i nforma tion, call 805/272-8889 . The American Trials Association has set up a 24-hour information hotline, which gives a recorded message with up-to-date information on upcoming ATA Ch ampionship events, fun trials, special exhibi tions , membership and other rela ted activities . "Observed trials is such a specia lty sport that sometimes the average motorcyclist finds it difficult to get plugged in to the Southern Californ ia trials scene," ATA Presi-

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