Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Amesbury, Massachuset ts, on May 23, 45 days befo re h is 100t h birt h d a y . McConney was an in tegra l pa rt of early road racing in the New England area and was a member of the original committee tha t first brought the Laconia r aces to Belknap Pa r k in 1938 . McCon ney, w ho p a r ticip ated in the sport of motorcycle racing on many levels including dirt track, race promotion, as well as sponsoring and tuning for racers through h is successful Triumph d ealership in Everett, Massachusetts , was to sponsor 66-year-old Canadian Jack Canfield at the U.S. Vintage Grand Prix a t New Hampshire In ternational Speedway on June 10. Two-time Wo rld Su perbike Champion Doug Polen ha d finalized a deal wi th Suzuki Fra nce that teams hi m with British rider Terry Rymer on a GSXR750 for the th ree remaini ng munds of th e Worl d Endurance Cha mpions hip. Polen leaves fo r France mid -June for t w o weeks of testing. Also, according to Team Po len Suzuki man ager Danny Walker, Polen may also participate in selected AMA Su perbike races later this season. Cycle News co nt ri b u to r Paolo Gozzi rep or ts that former 125cc Grand Pri x Wo rld Champ ion Alessandro Gram ig ni , 27, will be racin g a Fast By Ferracci Du cati in the rem ainin g AMA Superbike rounds, making his debut at Mid -Ohio on June 2. Gramigni tested a Ducati for the first tim e last Sep tember at Mugello. In his first-ever four-stroke test sessio n, th e Italian co m p le ted 30 laps on a Team Gattolone '95-mod el 916 (the same bike used by Gianmaria Liv erani during the '95 WSB season) with a besttime of 1:59.9, some three seco nds off the current lap record of 1:56.305 set by Scott Russell in 1994 . Lat er in the day, Gramigni had th e opportunity to ru n six laps using Carl Fogarty's former bike w ith a best time of 1:59.4. Gramigni firs t spoke with Eraldo Fer racci about r id i n g in the AMA championship at Daytona in March, alth ough there wasn't a machine available for him at the time with Larry Peg ram and Shawn Higbee alrea dy riding fo r th e team. Despite fairly good results from his pair of relatively inexperienced rid ers, Ferracci hopes tha t Gramigni's exp erie nce can put the Ducati on the top step of the podium . "T h is yea r w e h ave a very co m petit ive bike (in th e) '96 955 and superfast Michelin tires," Ferracci said . "I think our rid ers have all the things for win s, bu t Pegram and Higbee are too yo ung to catch (Miguel) Du Hamel and (Doug) Chandl er . For this reason I have decided to test Gramigni, a very good rider that can get important results wi th our bikes. In Europe many people talk very well concerning him and I' m interested to see Gramigni with our team." (lMMA), focusing on the impo rtan ce of coopera tive efforts among motorcyclists a n d m ot orcycle in d u s try lea ders on issues affecti ng motorcycli sts' rights, during th e group's May 20-24 annual meeting in Boston. "Much of the AMA's success can be att ribu ted to our stru cture and ind ustry/user dialogue, which is based on the concept that motorcycle u sers and motor cycl e ind us try lead ers have com mon objectives toward which th ey need to s ha re re sponsibility and resources," Youngblood said . "That concept isn't always understood by other national organizations that might benefit from a similar perspective." Racers pa rtici pating in the Commo tion by the Ocean race at Carlsbad Raceway in Carlsbad, California, on June 8-9 are e li g ib le fo r s p ecia l rates at th e Best Western Andersens Inn in Ca rlsbad. For reservations, call 619/ 938-3812. Australian road racer Shawn Gile s has flown to Misa no to test for an unnamed Ducati World Superbike team, acco rding to Cycle News corr espondent Darryl Flack. The exact nature of the test remains unclear, but Giles did indicate that if all we nt well he may end up cutting short his Aus tralia n racing commitments wi th the Ducati Dealer Team and co ntest th e remainder of the World Superbike Series. Throwing some light on w ho is cond ucting the test, Giles was as ked if he'd been to Misano before, replying, "No, but I shouldn't hav e too much tr~,uble following Troy (Corser) around ... acciden t las t week. Tho ugh the severity of the br eak wasn' t kno wn as Cycle News went to press on Tuesday, May 28, the in ju ry is to the same leg that knocked . Pri dmore out of action fo r the entire 1995 racing season. Pridmore is currently sixt h in the AMA 750cc Supersport Series and nint h in the 600cc Su pe rsport Series point stand ings. AUTOGRAPH SIGN ING: At C ole man Powersports Cycles in Falls Ch urch, Virginia, on Jun e 14 from 6 to 7 p.m . Membe rs o f Team Suzuki's MX team a re sched u led to a ppear. For more information, call 703/237-3400.' POSTPONED: The Gary Bailey MX School, originall y sched u le d fo r Jun e 10-12 a t th e Bu ll Run MotocrossTrack in Lewis ton, Maine, to Sep tembe r Kurt Taylor, gen eral manager of United Artists Cable of Van Nuys, California, recently won a 1996 Harley -Davidson XL 883 Sportster from the Speedvision Ne two rk , at th e Na tional Cable TV Association convention in Los Angeles, California. OPENE D: Corbin Saddles' home page on the World Wide Web . The site can be found at the following ad dress: http:/ /www.corbin.com. Malcolm Smith Mo torsports wi ll hos t its first BM W GS-only dua l sport ri d e in the San Bernardino National Forest in Southern California, on June 8-9 . The ride will be led by Malco lm Smith. For more information, call 909/687-1300. COR RECTION: First-p lace finis her Kenny Henry sults of of the 50cc (4-6) class was left ou t of the re "Lutz takes Mead owl a rks MX" (Issu e #20,.page 45). Acco rd ing to the FIM, Mu zzy Kawasa ki' s Anthony Gobert ha s lost his appeal to regain the championship points lost wh en he was disqualified af ter winning the second leg of the Italian round of the World Superbike Championship in Misano on April 14. Gobert was disqualified for illegal carbu reto r modifications and ' his team promptly ap pealed the decision. Giles finished second behind Peter God dard (Suz ) in a round of the Shell Oils Australian Superbike Championship at Phillip Island in Australia on May 26. Tro y Bayliss (Kaw) and Martin Cra ggill (K aw ) finished and fourth, respectivel y. Castrol H ond a ' s Carl Fogarty and Aaron Slight tested at Don in gton Park in England on May 17 with Slight clocking a 1:34. 03 and Fo garty turning a 1:35.20. Promotor Ducati 's Troy Corser lapped Donington a t 1:33.00 in April. The top World Superbike te ams a re scheduled to test at Monza in Ital y on June 4-5. The phot ography by Gold & Goose as see n in o u r cov era g e o f the World Superbik e Champion sh ip and the Grands Pri x is now a vailable through RSL Picture Library in London, England. RSL has the entire Gold & Goose library which dates back to 1985 with pri ces s ta r ti n g at $15 for prints. For m ore information, con tact RSL at 342 Old Yo rk Road , London SW18 ISS , 181/ 265-6656, 181/333-2255 (fax ). The New England Trail Rid er Association 's Recrea ti on Committ ee is trying to ob tain input and ideas which could possibly op en up more riding opportunities for New England's non-ra cing recreation rid ers . For more information , call NETRA at 203/875-5757. Moto crosser a n d form er road racer Adam Smith is looking for a matched bone-marrow donor to help him in his fight against leukemi a. In May of 1995, Smith was given tw o years to live wi thou t a transplant. For more information, ca1l800/ MARROW-2. According to the AMA, chartered clubs and promo tors rai sed mo re than $2.2 million for charitabl e organizations in 1995. AMA President Ed Youngblood w a s sch eduled to address the International Mo torcycle Manufacturers Association Kinko' s Kaw asaki's Jaso n Pri dmore suffered a broken leg in a mounta in bike ~. NAMED: John Clifford, as mid western states representative for UFO MX apparel. For more information , call 970 /484-5942. O PENED: AH RMA 's hom e pa ge o n th e Wo rld Wid e Web. The site can be fou nd at the following address: http :/ /www .ahrma .org . AUTOGRAPH SIGN ING: At Spo rtla nd 2 Inc. in Milwaukee. Wisconsin. on June 6 from 5 to 9 p.m. Member s of Yoshimura Suzuki , Kinko's Kawasaki, Erion Racing, Moto Liberty and Zero Gravity ar e scheduled to a ppea r. For. more information, ca ll 414 /764-2800. BORN : Eriksson " Kody" Shanur, to EAS Racing Team 's Erik Shanur and his wife Alisia on May 3 in Yuma , Arizona . CO RRECTION: The Utah ro und of the MIA Four Stroke MX Championship will be held on July 8 an d not Jun e 8 as reported in an earlie r issue . BORN: Andrew Cla rk Ebelha r, to former Exp ert dirt tracker Terry Ebelhar a nd his wi fe Sabri na on May 17 in Owensboro, Kentuck y. NAMED: Primo P. Marotto, as regional sales ma nager for Dunl op Tire Corporation's motorcycle tire division . NAMED: A Board of Advisors by the Excels io rHend erso n Motorcycle Man ufactur ing Compa ny of Minn eapoli s, Minn eso ta. The board mem bers a re: Jo hn " Bu tch " Donahue, Wayn e M. Fortun , Ca rl Haas, Ga lc R. Mcllu m, [ames L. Morrell, and Ron Sackett. AUTOG RAPH SIGNING: At Don & Roy's Cycle Sho t, in Brookfield, Wisconsin, on Thursday, June 6, from 6 p .m. to a p .m. Team Yama ha / Vance &: Hines and Team Oliver Yamaha rid ers Jamie James, Tom Kipp and Rich Oliver are scheduled to appear . For more info rmation, call 414/ 786-3220. 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