Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Cycle News 1996 07 17

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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IN 'THE WIND· Frenchman Sebastien Tortelli (Kaw) recorded his eighth consecutive win at the Belgian 125cc MX GP in Nismes, on July 8. Tortelli won both motos, while Englishman Paul Malin (Yam) posted a pair of 2s for second overall. Third overall went to Italian Luigi Seguy (TM) with a 4-5, while French riders Stephane Roncada (Hon) and Frederic Vialle (Yam) rounded out the top five. Defending 250cc World Champion Stefan Everts (Hon) competed as a wild card and finished third in the first moto and DNFed the second. Tortelli holds a commanding lead in the series with 315 points, over Malin's 242. Vialle is third with 222 points. Scott Summers (Hon) scored the overall win at round eight of the Grand National Cross Country Series in Brownsville, Pennsylvania, on July 8. Summers was followed across the finish line by former GNCC champ Fred Andrews (Yam), while defending champ Scott Plessinger (KTM) finished third. Duane Conner (Yam) and Steve Hatch (Suz) took fourth and fifth, respectively. Geoff Aaron (Bet) won both rounds (four and five) of the AMA ational Championship Observed Trials Series over the July 6-7 weekend in Jasper, Tennessee. The runner-up both days was Ryan Young (G-G), while both Raymond Peters (Sco) and Lonny Hallsted held down third and fourth, respectively, each day (Bet). Mark Manniko (G-G) finished fifth on Saturday as did Ryon Bell (G-G) on Sunday. 'Randy McCann (Kaw) recorded the overall win at the NETRA Connecticut State Hare Scrambles in Union, Connecticut, on July 7. The runner-up was Tom Norton (Yam), followed by Josh Mclevy (Hon), P.J. Peculis (Yam) and Wes Clarke (Hon). Brock Sellards (Kaw) was the big winner at the Team Green Youth National MX at Perris Raceway, in Perris, Cali- . fomia, on July 7. Sellards topped the Pro division, while Nic Wey (Kaw) aced the IntermedIates, Justin Buck. elew (Yam) was the number-one Minicycle rider. Davey Durelle (Rtx) won the Open Motorcycle class in the 74th running of the Chevrolet Pikes Peak Invitational Hill Climb on July 4. Durelle completed the run to the 14,100-foot summit in 12 minutes and 33.73 seconds to win by some 17 seconds. Brian Anderson (Rtx) was second with Randy Triplett (Rtx) finishing third, Former Suzuki factory rider Scott Burnworth (Hon) took first-place honors in the Motocross Legends race held at the AHRMA National Vintage Motocross held at Carlsbad Raceway in Carlsbad, California, July 7. Former AMA National Champion Marty Smith (Hon) finished sec.ond and Tommy Croft (Hon) finished third. Among those past legends in attendance were Dave Aldana, Steve Stackable, and Gunnar Lindstrom. The AMA and the NATC have selected a four-member team to represent the United States in the 12th Annual Trial des Nations, which is scheduled to run August 31-September 1 in Kinna, Sweden. The team will be led by two-time U.S. National Champion Geoff Aaron, who will be joined by Lonny Hallsted, Jess Kempkes and Raymond Peters, with Matt Moore named as team alternate. Although we speculated last week that lap records would fall at Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, California, during the World Superbike Championship round on July 20-21 because the race track has been completely resurfaced, it may not be that easy. "It's good and bad," Doug Chandler said after testing at the track last week. "It's bad in that it still has some bumps in some spots. And it's good in that a couple of turns - five and six - are really good. I did a 1:28.7 and a bunch of 28s with race tires, so it should be okay." Miguel DuHamel and his Smokin' Joe's Honda also tested at the track, Former AMA Superbike National Champion Thomas Stevens has been contacted by Serge Rosset to see if the Floridian would be interested in riding the Elf 500cc Grand Prix bike in the German Speedway GP to Nielsen R eigning World Speedway Champion Hans Nielsen of Denmark defeated a trio of Swedes to claim the German Grand Prix, round three of the World Individual Championship Series at Pocking, Germany, on July 6. ielsen topped Henka Gustafsson, Peter Karlsson and 1994 World Champion Tony Rickardsson in the A main to claim his second Grand Prix victory in as many rounds and extend his points lead over Rickardsson in the overall series standings to a mere four, 58-54. Greg Hancock was the top finishing American with a sixth-place finish after running second to England's Chris Louis in the B main while Germany's Gerd Riss ran third ahead of England's Joe Screen. Hancock now sits fifth in the series with 38 points. Billy Hamill, who had enjoyed A-main berths in the previous two rounds, won the C main, finishing ahead of Australians Leigh Adams and Jason Crump and England's Mark Loram to earn ninth overall and retain third place in the series standings with 46 points while 1993 World Champion Sam Ermolenko did take part in the meeting, desp.ite earlier reports that he would not, and won the D main ahead of England's Andy Smith, Australia'9 Craig Boyce, and England's MarvynCox. G e ~ 0'\ ..... r--,.' ..... >. E. ~ 2 Yamaha Blade Sus ension H ere's a close-up look at the new Blade Suspension system being tested on the Yamaha YZ250 in Europe. The "blade" - very similiar to a leaf spring - is located inside the huge aluminum swingarm and the oil damping system is located where the linkages are normally found. The weight of the Yamaha/Ohlins/Dirt Wheel Racing (DWR) Blade Suspension system is said to be about the same as that of a conventional system but is lower to the ground, which improves tractability. The bike also features a larger, 2.9-gallon aluminum gas tank, a straight air intake system, and a carbonium airbox. The motorcycle shown here is being raced by Joakim Eliasson in the Swedish Nationals and 250cc GPs. remalmng World Championship rounds that don't conflict with Stevens' AMA schedule. Kinko's Kawasaki's Stevens, who is currently second behind Miguel DuHamel in the 600cc Supersport Championship point standings, had to decline the offer when Kawasaki voiced their concerns about potential injuries that could prevent Stevens from his attempt at winning the 600cc Supersport title. Fled, a movie scheduled for release this·summer, will feature Ducati motorcycles. The movie, starring Laurence Fishburne and Stephen Baldwin, sees the movie's heroes using Ducati 916s as they attempt to outrun police, the mob and federal agents. Willow Springs Motorcycle Club manager Kenny Kopecky will again compete in the ORBA ational Championship Series mountain bike races at Snow Summit and Mammoth Mountain in California, on July 10-14 and August 25-September 1, thus the WSMC office at Willow Springs Raceway in Rosamond, California, will be closed on those dates. AHRMA has added three more events to its 1996 Classic Bike Magazine Dirt Track Series - August 17 (Schenectady, New York), September 21 (Hartwell, Georgia) and September 22 (Lavonia, Georgia). For more information, call 715/842-9699. Current AMA Superbike National Championship points leader Doug Chandler will be the featured guest at Sport Bike Night at Bleachers in Sacra- mento, California, on July 16. Chandler will be on hand from 7 to 10 p.m. According to the Viewfinders M.e., the Viewfinder GP will not be held at Castaic Lake in 1996. The event, which is scheduled for October 5-6, will be held at a still-to-be-named location. For more information, call 714/739-8633. The 11th Annual California Grand Prix will be the first GP event to use the new and upgraded Quail Canyon MX facility at the Hungry Valley facility in Gorman, California. The November 10 event will be run on a revised 10-mile course. For more information, call 310/-421-0128. A new public motocross facility in Piru, California, is scheduled to open in early October, offering the first legal off-road riding in Ventura County, California, in almost 10 years, according to Cycle News correspondent Rob Weisberg. The Ventura Board of Supervisors voted unaminously on Tuesday, July 2, for a zoning change that paves the way for a family-oriented park in a pleasant seting that will "bring affordability back to motocross," said park developer Craig Lynch. "We will have some of the finest tracks in California, including a Pee-Wee track," said Lynch, a 20-year motocross racer and Piru Lions club director. The facility was made possible after a two-and-ahalf-year effort by Lynch, the unamimous vote of incumbent supervisors John K. Flynn, Maggie Kildee, Susan K. Lacey, Judy Mikels, and Frank Schillo, and the consulting of former Ventura County superv.isor Ed Jones, who

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