Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

co m m u nicatio n with th e It alians is no p robl em . I' ve jus t got to go ou t th ere a n d m a ke su re th at I fi ni s h . I know that I can do well and can go bet ter in th e r a ce th an I d o in practi ce. I a m looking for a top 10 finis h, and I thi nk it ca n ha p p e n ." Yoshikawa' s rig ht w rist has not ye t fully recovered from his c ras h at Ho cke n h e irn , b u t t h e Japanese rid er m ay re tu rn at the Brno ro u nd on Ju ne 30. Anth o ny G ob e rt speak s - pa rt one: World Su perbike contender Anthon y Go bert resp ond ed to suggestions th at he was th e one wh o was res p on s ibl e for the 130 m ph collision wi th Muzzy Kawasak i t e amm a te Simon Craf a r which sen t th e 21-year-old Au stralian ca reening into th e g ravel trap during t he secon d leg of t he H o c kenh e im World Superb ike ro und . Gobe rt and Crafar h ad w ords af ter th e inc iden t. "He (Cra far ) did say a few th in gs, but h e w as on ly m aking excuses," Go bert sa id . " 1 w as quite angry because I feel it was a stupid move on hi s 'part, and I kno w why he did it. In practice, I was cruising through th at corner when h e carne scr eamin g around th e ou ts ide, a nd when w e go t back to the p its, he 'said how fas t he went past me, th in king that 1 wa s o n a fa st lap w h en I wasn ' t. I th ink he got thi n g s a li tt le m istaken in hi s h ea d. Co me th e race, he wen t up the insid e of me, thinking abou t what hap pened in p ractice, and he go t in way too hot. He told me later th at he h ad to shut his eyes becau se he knew he w asn 't goi ng to sto p, which is w he n he hit m y leg. I h ad to sta nd the b ike up, and I ·knew I co ul dn' t m ake th e corner. I'm surprised I d idn't br eak anyth ing." Gobert sustaine d damaged ligamen ts in the crash, w hich have preve nted him fro m tr ain in g for the next round at Monza, Italy. Anth o ny Gob ert speak s - part two: Anthony Gobert also recently said that Duca ti r id ers who w in the Worl d Superbike Championship have not h ing to be proud of. "1 honestly believe that if I ro de a Ducati, I would be a lo ng wa y a head of t hese g uys at every race, " Gob ert sa id. "Bu t I also believe tha t if I ro de a Du cati an d won every race by half a lap, whi ch I'm con fiden t I could do, then everyon e woul d say it was th e bike and n ot m e . What I'm doing now by staying with Kawasaki is go ing through the p ro cess of proving I'm the best rider in th e world . I mean it all depends on what world yo u want to live in , fantasy o r fa ct . The wa y I look a t it is th at an yb od y who wi ns the title on a Ducati and ca l1s themselves World Champion is liv in g in Fan tasyl an d . Fogarty proved that. " Gobert went on to say that he felt John Kocinski was th e onl y Ducati pil ot actually riding the ma chines an ywher e near their capability. P hill ip S . Zan ghi , wh o claimed t o own the rig hts to the Ind ian Motocycle name an d promised to reviv e the marque, was arrested in New York Cit y on June 7 a nd now faces 23 counts of fra u d. Zanghi, of Miss io n Viejo, California, is cha rged w ith selli ng $800,000 in b ogu s Indian Motocycle stock from Augus t of 1990 to August of '9 2 while p ro m ising i nves to rs th at h e w ou ld so on be trad ing the sha res on a public sto ck exc ha nge w ith preferred shares re g ist er ed w i th t h e Securi ties and Exchan ge Co m mission. They we re not. T h e in dict ment a lso cha rges tha t Z an ghi cha n ne le d th e cash in to his ow n acco u n ts and furthe r accu ses hi m of fa il in g t o report t h e e m bezzled fund s as income, th us depriving th e In t erna l Re ve nu e Service o f an estim at ed $165 ,000 . If co nvicted, Za nghi faces up to 200 years in pri son and $15 m illi on i n fi nes. Th e defra uded i nves to rs file d a civil la w su it last Decem be r and have petitioned the U.S. Bankruptcy Cou rt for rep a y m en t of th e capi tal. T he AFM h a s an nounced th a t it is add ing a fourth road race sch oo l to its 1996 schedu le in order to mee t the demand of a high numb er of new rac ers. The class will take place at Sears Point Int ern at ion a l Racew ay in Sonoma, Californi a, on August 3. For licensing and e n t ry information, call 510 / 796-7005. AFM also announced that there will be an e nduran ce ra ce at Th und erh ill u.s. ISDE teams finalized hile the riders to represe n t the us. on the 1996 In ternational Six-Day Enduro World Trophy team had alrea dy been determined and annou nced earlier in the yea r, th e remain in g p ositi ons were selected th rough th e th ree- ro u nd AM A Na tional Championsh ip Reliability Enduro (Qualifier) Series, including the four-ri der Ju nior World team. Now that the Qu alifier Series ha s just ended, the AMA ha s released a list of all the riders who qu alified to represent the Ll.S, at the ISDE in Ham eenlinna, Finland , Au gu st 12-17. This year, 40 American rid ers will make the trip to Finland, including p reselected rid ers Rodney Smi th, Chris Smi th, Randy Hawkins, Steve Hatch, Scott Summers and Ty Davis, who w ill make up thi s year's Ll.S, team in the p remi er World Trophy di vision . . Those selected to represent the U.S. on the Junio r World Trophy team (for riders 23 years of age and younger) are Michael Lafferty, Daryl Conner, Brian Storrie and Don Kna p p. In all, 10 Ll.S, Club teams wi ll compete: Missouri Mudders - Randy Mastin, Tom Eberso le and Richar d Cros land; Lobos M.e. - Curt Wilcox, Kevin Yarnell and Ron Lawson; Daytona Dirt Riders - Guy Cooper, John Nielsen and Fred Hoess; Boise Ridge Riders - Matthew Spigelmyer, Jer ald Brownell and Kelly Crenshaw ; Cycle Gear Racing Jeff Kirchn er, Eric Koeller and Kerry Clark; Trail Riders of Houston - Lynn Bailey, Rip Woodar d and Manny Gar za; Appalach ian Dirt Riders - Vince nt Davis, Ray Sim pso n an d Mike McCa rren; Dirt Rider M.e. - Robert Johnson, Brian Bennett and Dan Hart; Trail Rider M.e. - Ken Tom eo, Tom Parfitt and Carol Williams, and Cycle New s Riders - Travis Bamford, Tommy Ad y and William Hamilton. Hatch, Hawkin s and Rodney Sm ith will also make u p a m an u facturer team for American Suzu ki. The AMA' s H ugh Fleming will serve as the team's CER Vice Presid ent and Rick . "Gun ny" Claypoole will act as the Ll.S, Jury Representative. Dave Bertram will be the team ma nager for the U.s. World Tro p hy squa d, while Alan Randt w ill man age the Ll.S. Junior World team.i-» W Overseas Final (?) embroiled in controversv Pa r k in Willows, Ca lifornia, on September 21. The for ma t has yet to be d e ci d ed . Fo r more in forma tion, ca ll 510/537-8208. Bob Wa ld ock Jr. of Lyons, Illino is, was the winner of th e 1996 Cycle News/ Yam aha / Thor Supercro s s Sweepstakes. Th e 29-year-old Waldock filled ou t his entry blank at the Indianapolis Supercross on March 30. Not having ridden motorcycles for five years, Waldock said he is look ing forward to receiving h is 1996 Yama ha YZ250 and Thor riding gear so that he can practice and then cherry-pick the Vet' s cla ss when he tu rn s 30. Off-road legen d Malcolm Smith was inducted in to the M ot orsports Hall of Fam e in Det ro it, Mich igan , on June 5. Smi th was one of nine new induc tees, which included th e lik e s o f forme r two-ti me Ind ian ap oli s 500 w i nn e r Jo h nn y Ruthe rf ord a nd au to mobi le m a nufa ctu re r Henry Ford. H e joins previous motorcycle ind uc tees Cannon Ball Ba k e r, Ken n y Rob e rt s, Jo e Leonard, Joe Pe trali, Dick M ann a nd Roger DeCoster. Josep h F. Dowd, 58, fa ther of Team Yamaha m ot ocro ss ra cer John Dowd, d ied at Holyoke Hospital in Ch icopee, M a s s a chu s etts, on Friday , M a y 31. D o w d w a s a life long r e sident o f Ch ic o pee . H e is s urv ive d b y wife Jo y ce , moth e r Ste lla , thr ee s o n s Mic hael, John and Th omas, a daughter, Sh aron; a b rother, Ja mes; a n d a sis te r, Pa tricia . Memoria l contributi o n s m a y be m a d e to the Shr in ers H o spit al for Cr ippled Ch il d ren, 516 Carew St., Sp ringfield, Massachusetts, 01104. Georgia mot ocross racer Rick Lin dell is now recoveri ng fr om m ajor b ack surgery to repair tw o bro ken verteb rae suffered in a ba d crash at the Calhoun Supercross on May 18. Cards and letters may be sent to Rick Lin dell; 5047 Rose meade Ct., Powder Springs, Ceorgia ,30073. To da te , 22 p ro fe s si o n a ll y licensed AMA racers have applied for the 1996 AMA Pro Racing Scho larship Award , whic h grant s th e recipient a $1000 scho lars hip for coll eg ia te or trade school continuing ed u cation. Application s have been received from students preparing to major in engineering, marketing, math and other areas of study. The aw a rd was in troduced in 1995 to enc ourage 16- to 18-yearCold pro racers to continue th eir education. In au gu ral recipi ent Justin .Bl ake is curren tl y studying computer scie n ce and en g ineering at Michigan State University. Russ Wageman's Pit Pro Cycle w ill be on hand at Mammoth M otocross Ju ne 15-30, 1996, to provide service, su pport and accessories. For more info rmation call (805) 255-5101. AUTOGRAPH SIGNIN G: At Ram ad a Inn , in new H ar tford , New Yo rk, Thu rsd a y, Ju ly 18, fro m 5:30 to 7:30 p .m. Te am Ya maha 's Do u g H e n r y, Ke v in W ind ham, John Dowd and Dam on Br adshaw a r e scheduled to appear. In addition to th e team appearan ce, the Ramada In n will Iso h ost a liv e WOUR ra d io re m o te Br o a dca st (96.9), sim u ltane ous ly with d oor prizes a n d h appy h o u r s peci als. Fo r m o re info rm ation, call 315 / 735-3392. MO V ED : M ike Kidd Pr o m oti on s, p omoter of t he AM A Na t io n a l Are n a cross Series, to 799 Weste rn H ill s Blvd ., Ft. Worth , Texas, 76108 . Th eir new phone number is 817/ 246-7424. AUTOGRAP H SIG N I NG : At Di ck ' s Hon d a and Kaw asaki in Sedalia, Mis sou ri, on the mo rmi ng of Saturday, Jun e 22. Th ree- time AM A Grand N a tional Champion and USC Racing m em be r Ricky Graha m is scheduled to appear . For m o re information, ca ll 81 6/8261553. t~ 3

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