Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

IN 'THE WIND· Frenchman Yves Demaria (Yam), of the Rinaldi Yamaha team, scored the overall win at the motocross 250cc GP in San Marino, July 28. Demaria went 2-1, while teammate Andrea Bartolini went 1-2 for runner-up honors. Finishing third was the defending champion Steve Everts (Hon) of Belgium. Everts finished one position behind Brit Rob Herring for fourth in the first moto and took third in the second for third overalL Rounding out the top five overall were Tallon Vohland (Kaw) and Herring. Vohland went 6-4 and Herring 3-11. Series points leader Marnicq Bervoets (Suz) crashed twice in the first moto, finishing 18th, and could place no higher than sixth in the second. Everts and Frederic Bolley recently had their points taken away from the Foxhills GP in England for failing a fuel-satnple test. Everts' disqualification from Foxhills, which he won, means that Bervoets won the GP overall there, thus making him the new outright record holder in the class for consecutive GP wins with six, one more than Torsten Hallman in 1963. It also means that Bervoets can breathe a little easier as far as his series points lead over Everts in concerned. The Bel' gian was second in points, but after being stripped of his winning points, he has dropped to third in the standings behind Vohland. Bervoets currently has 317 points; Vohland 279 and Everts 242. Sebastien Tortelli (Kaw) recorded his 10th straight 125cc GP victory in Jinin, Czech Republic, July 28. The Frenchman finished second to Great Britain's Paul Malin (Yam) in the first moto but came back to win the second for the overall. Malin finished fourth in the final but still went home second overalL Third overall went to Frederic Vialle (Yam) of France. In Ireland, July 21, New Zealand's Shayne King (KTM) posted the overall win at the motocross 500cc GP in Cork. King did not win a moto but consistent 3-2 finishes were just enough to edge out runner-up Jacky Martens (Hus), who won the first moto and took sixth in the second. Third overall went to Gert Jan Van Doorn (Hon), followed by Darryll King (Hon) and Ronny Weustenraed (Hon). The win put Shayne King back on top of the leaderboard, taking full advantage 01 former series leader Joel Smets (Hbg). Smets crashed early in the first moto and got a bad start in the second, which led to 12-9 moto finishes. Todd Levesque (Yam) won the Belltown NETRA Hare Scrambles in East Hampton, Connecticut, on July 28. Tom Norton (Yam) was second and P.J. PecuIis (Yam) was third. Patrick Timothy (Hon) and Kenneth Law (Yam) filled the top five. Race West Productions have announced that they have decided to cancel the October running of the Pomona Half Mile, scheduled for October 5 at the Pomona Fairplex in Pomona, California. "We want to put all of our energy into the continued growth of the LA, Motorcycle Weekend," Race West Production's Bill Marcel said. "Therefore, we have decided not to hold a fall event. Southern California race fans demand and deserve the very best racing entertainment package possible and that is what we want to provide. Canceling the fall event will give us more time to devote to making the LA Motorcycle Weekend better than ever." The LA Motorcycle Weekend will be held on April 46, 1997. British road racer Terry Rymer will continue to substitute for the injured Daryl BeaUie on the Lucky Strike' Suzuki 500cc Grand Prix team when the series resumes on August 4 with the Austrian Grand Prix. Rymer, who also rode with Scott Russell in the SuzUka 8-Hour on July 28, crashed out .of the British Grand Prix on the factory Suzuki, but hasn't fallen out of favor with the team. "Terry is a matt¥e rider, and also very fast as he showed in Assen and in practice in Germany," team manager Garry Taylor said. "He's had a couple of setbacks, but we still have every confidence in him." Beattie, meanwhile, is about to begin phase two 01 his recovery program after a hairline skull fracture exacerbated earlier injuries. Beattie also suffered a broken arm at the French GP in June. "When I come back is up to the doctors," Beattie said. "It may be a few weeks yet. But I'll definitely be back. I want to be sure of a good race for my home GPin Australia. AMA Pro Racing has announced that Pro-Action Suspension and Karcher Pressure Washers by Klean Edge will join Dirt Shirts as presenting sponsors for the 1996 Fall Classic Motocross Series. The 'AMA will present a $10,000 rider championship bonus for the 1996 series, which begins on September 15 in Danville, Virginia, and wraps up on October 20 in Blountville, Tennessee. The series will also feature an Eastern Four-Stroke MX National Series in the six-round Fall Classic Series. British weekly Motor Cycle News recently reported on Triumph's new superb ike contender, the T509. Designed to re-establish the Triumph name on the world racing stage, the machine will feature Triumph's trademark 900cc triple at its heart. The engine is a hopped-up and lightened version of the powerplant used in the Super III, features fuel injection and prod uces a reported 127 hp in streetgoing form. The frame is an oval-section, aluminum twin-spar unit which uses the engine as a ?tressed member. Showa suspension will be used front (conventional) and rear. Wheelbase is a short 55.1 inches and the overall size of the bike is very small - smaller, even than the 91.6. The weight of the new machin.e should be around 440 lbs. British brake specialists Alcon will supply the brake system for the T509 and the four-piston calipers used on the front will feature the Triumph name in the casting. No doubt designed with the Ducati 916 as its target, several design features are reminiscent of the Italian bike. Foremost is the single-sided swingarm, but the styling of the British bike owes much to the 916, too. The twin headlights are quite similar, though more rounded like the Trophy'S, an.d the fairing itself features a rounded, organic shape. If the standard T509 is found to be uncompetetive in racing, a lighter SP version with a close-ratio gearbox and other race-oriented changes is reportedly'in the wings. According to a press release issued by North American Sport Bike (NASB), Michael Martin will come out of Edwards/Haga and Yamaha win- Suzuka a-Hour exan Colin Edwards n (right) and his Japanese teammate Noriyuki Haga gave Yamaha its first win in the prestigious Suzuka 8-Hour in six years when the pair rode their YZF750 to a oneminute, 10-second victory over the Kawasaki pairing of Anthony Gobert and Simon Crafar at the Suzuka Circuit in Suzuka City, Japan, on July 28. The last Yamaha victory in the endurance race was when Eddie Lawson and Tadahiko Taira combined for victory in 1990. Alter qualifying sixth, Edwards and Haga never lost sight of the leaders and finally took over the top spot during the fourth hour, a lead they never relinquished. "I am as happy as could be," Edwards said. "We gave 100 percent and it all paid off. It has been a long week and we knew today was going to be tough. The luck was on our side as I certainly didn't expect the others to fall, but it has worked out for the best. We are a great pairing and that's the reason we won. I was biting my nails as Noriyuki was coming through the backmarkers at the end but I was confident - I knew he would finish." Edwards and Haga finished the first hour in fourth place, moved to the lead after the second hour, held second after hour three, and then took the lead again for good during the fourth hour when leader Carl Fogarty crashed his Castrol Honda. The Brit, who was teamed with Takuma Aoki, ended up finishing third, one lap behind Edwards/ Haga. Fourth place went to Kawasaki's Shoichi Tsukamoto and Akira Ryo with Akira Yanagawa and Shinya Takeishi, on another Kawasaki, finishing fifth. The first Suzuki to cross the finish line was ridden by Katsuaki Fujiwara and Keiichi Kitigawa, the Japanese pairing finlshing sixth, three laps behind the leaders. AMA Superbike National Championship points leader Miguel DuHamel teamed with Tohru Ukawa to finish eighth on the team's Honda RC45 with Texan Doug Polen taking ninth with Eric Gomez on a Suzuki GSXR750, ahead 01 the World Superbike Suzuki pairing of Kirk McCarthy and John Reynolds, who finished 10th. The pole-sitting Honda team of Aaron Slight and Tadayuki Okada retired on the 71st lap when Slight couldn't continue after an early crash left him with two broken toes. Lucky Strike Suzuki's Scott Russell and Terry Ryrn.er were also forced out of the race on the 93rd lap when their Suzuki suffered clotch failure. T retirement after less than a year on the sidelines to race in the Formula USA race at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, on August 2-4. Martin will ride a Suzuki GSXR750 built by Team Suzuki Endurance crew chief Keith Perry. ers Association's 56th Annual Fall Rally and Races will return to New Asheville Speedway on September 20 for round three of the AMA / MARS Series. The event will pay a $20,000 Pro purse. For more information, call 803/626-7959. According to NASB, the factory Harley-Davidson team of Chris Carr and Thomas Wilson will also make its Formula USA debut at the Road America round on August 4. The pair will ride the same VR1000s that they've been campaigning in the AMA Superbike National Championship. Speedvision Network, the new TV entity telecasting AMA Superbike racing live this sea!lon, has posted a $5000 award for the 1996 Athlete of the Year, which will be presented at the AMA Pro Awards Banquet in Las Vegas, Nevada, on November 16. Recently -retired road racer Keith_ Pinkstaff, the 1995 NASB Superbike Champion, will lead a pack of riders on a spirited trip to the NASB round at Portland International Raceway in Portland, Oregon, on August 9-11, from Portland Sport/Touring Center on Sunday, August 11. For more information, ca11503/257-7047. Forrest "Diz" Dizotell, former dirt tracker, road racer and longtime dirt track referee in the Midwest, died on July 26 of injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident. Ridin~ his recently purchased new motorcycle Dizotell, 66, was involved "in a traffic accident on July 7, suffering a broken wrist and an upper-thigh injury as well as other minor injuries. Dizotell died three weeks later from a blood clot in his lung. The Carolina Harley-Davidson Deal- The Glen Helen Yamaha Dealers Series was recently completed at Glen Helen Raceway Park in San Bernardino, California, with John Burr Cycles of Fontana, California, coming away with the Dealers Championship, for the third time in four years. Legislation that would have established a self-funded motorcycle safety program in New York state died when legislators in Albany couldn't agree on the final terms of Governor George E. Pataki's proposed budget, according to the AMA. The language that would have put the motorcycle safety program in place was included in the Senate version of the governor's budget, but no similar language was included in the Assembly version. The Senate language, incorporated into the budget bill by longtime motorcycle safety proponent Senator Owen Johnson (R-Suffolk), would have created a special fund to support rider-education cours-

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