Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Cycle News 1996 08 21

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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I. IN 'THE WIND 1 Richard Lafferty (KTM) won the Bear Valley Hare Scrable in Goodspring, Pennsylvania, August 11, round six of the ECEA series. Craig Shenigo (Yam) was second and Mark Hummel (Hon) was third. Glen Petty Jr. (H-D) took the 800ec-class victory at round six of the AMA National Championship Hillclimb series at Greasy Ridge in Haydenville, Ohio, August 10. Willie Price (H-D) was just a few ticks slower over the top to land the second spot, while points leader Lou Gerencer (H-D) was third. In the 540cc class, Paul Lowe (Kaw) blasted to the win over Ted Wilkins (Rtx) and Michael Templeton (Hon). Peter Johansson (Hus) took the Luxembourg World Championship 500cc Motocross Grand Prix victory in Reil, Germany, August 11. Bernd Eckenbach (Kaw) was second overall, followed by points leader Shayne King (KTM). King's third-place finish streched his points lead over his main championship challenger, Joel Smets (Hbg), who finished sixth overalL King now leads Smets in the championship 295-263, with two of 12 rounds remaining in the series. Johansson sits in third with 219 points. Team Suzuki Endurance rode to the WERA National Endurance victory at Putnam Park Road Course, Mt. Meridian, Indiana, August 10. TSE's roundseven win puts its total to 116 wins. Second place five laps down was TKO Rayce Team Suzuki Too and Arclight Racing was third with 272 laps. Yamaha and participating Yamaha dealers in Washington, Oregon and Idaho, in cooperation with Washougal Motocross Park, are presenting "Win a day at the races with Team Yamaha." One winner and a guest per dealership will spend. August 18 as guests of Team Yamaha at the Washougal round of the AMA National Motocross Series. Winners will receive complimentary admission, a tour of the team semi, trackside lunch and the opportunity to meet Team Yamaha riders and mechanics. The contest ends on August 12. Millie Horky, wife of the late Jules Horky.of the AMA, has moved. Her new address is 36889 North Darlington, P.O. Box 2800-165, Carefree, Arizona 85377. Her new telephone number is 602/595-0881. Mrs. Horky will be attending the Del Mar Mile October 13, and would very much like to meet some of her old racing fri~nds there. Australian contributor Darryl Flack reports that Peter Goddard (Suz) took the overall win at the third round of the Shell Australian Superbike Championship at Lakeside, Queensland, August 11, after recovering from a 14O-mph practice crash. Miraculously, Goddard walked away after losing control through a fast sweeper, but the frame on his bike was destroyed. After a 6OD-mile dash to Sydney, his team was able to rebuild the Suzuki using the orginal forks. In the first 25-lap leg, pole-sitter Troy Bayliss (Kaw) fell without injury while trying to break away from the pack, leaving Damon Buckmater (Suz), Craig ConneD (Duc) and Goddard to argue over the top placings. Buckmaster took his first national superbike win from Connell with Goddard in third and Bayliss' teammate Martin Craggill fourth. Bayliss returned for the second race and went on to win in front of Goddard, Connell, Craggill and Buckmaster. The point standings after three of five rounds are: Goddard, Sea.rs Point gets more runoff. T wo of the more daunting comers in AMA road racing shOuld prove less so based on recent work done to Sears Point Raceway in Sonoma, California. With tne changes to Tum 10 completed in May, additional runoff is currently being created betweens Tum 8 and 8A and will be finished by the time the AMA Superbike National Championship Series visits the Northern California racing facility August 23-25. . In early May, a new 600-foot concrete safety wall with a 12-foot-high catch fence was constructed on the outside of Tum 10, quadrupling the runoff area in one of the track's fastest sections. Now work has begun on Turns 8 and 8A with a total of 7000 cubic yards of dirt being trucked into the area to enhance the runoff space on the outside of the two corners. According to Sears Point, the runoff area will now measure some 100 feet and the Armco barrier (which was only some 10 feet from the track's edge) has been removed; it will be replaced with a new tire-protected wall on the outside of the new runoff area. "I think this will give all the racers who compete on our track more confidence," said Sears Point Director of Facilities Jere Starks, the general contractor in charge of the . $30,000 project in Tum 8. J:he changes to Turn 10 came at a cost of $9.0,000, according to Sears Point. 108; Baylis, 87; Craggill, 84; Buckmaster, 63; Conne1J, 60. now dropped from seventh to 10th in the series standings. A tentative date for the fifth annual lOOcc dirt track national has been set for October 19 at th.e San Jose Fairgrounds. For more information, call Engines Only at 408/374-4298. The third annual Police Motorcycles Skills Championship will be held at Daytona International Speedway October 10-13. The event tests motorcycle officers' ability to negotiate the tight turns of a specifically designed course. Participants are categorized into three primary motorcycle classifications (Kawasaki, Harley-Davidson FXRP and Harley-Davidson FLH. All are timed through the marked course with judges adding time to the officers' score for penalties such as touching or knocking over cones. Last year's event drew 155 Road racer Todd Harrington has been disqualified from the Brainerd and Laguna Seca. (~orld Superike) rounds of the AMAIPro Honda Oils 600cc SuperSport Series for illegal cylinder head modifications. The Illinois rider has been stripped of his third and 10thplace finishes at the two rounds and has 91997KTMs eK ~ 0\ rl ~ ~ ... :g be .3 "" 2 Carmichael takes ninth title at Loretta L nn's . l1 TM Sportmotorcycles has finalized the details and revisions on its 1997 two-stroke motorcycle lineup that will be available at your local KTM dealer soon. The first and most striking aspect of the '97 bikes is the color scheme. KTM has stuck with the distinctly different orange plastic and spiced it up with the addition of gray, black and anthracite radiator shroud graphics which blend into seat graphics, as well. KTM's major chassis changes include a new wider cross section swingarm design to provide more rigidity and strength, and a new 50mm Marzocchi Magnum fork that features a KTM exclusive axle clamp system, which further reduces underhang by 15mm, providing increased clearance and improved handling in rutted, rocky or deep mud conditions. In the engine department, the bikes now come standard with Kokusan ignitions and new porting specifications on the 250 Z300 1360 models that are said to increase power throughout the range. The 360s get a longer connecting rod that offer, less pre-compresssion, which produces a broader power delivery and easier jetting and setup procedures, and come with a modified exhaust to compliment the new porting, smoothing out the power and making the motor less sensitive to altitude changes. Keep reading Cycle News for more details on the rest of two-strokes and the four-strokes in KTM's '9ZJineu . e 15th annual AMA Amateur National Championships took place August 5-11 at Loretta Lynn's Ranch in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee, and Team Green's Ricky Carmichael \yas the featured attraction in the 1,300-rider field. The 16-year-old Floridian rode into amateur racing history when he won his hinth career AMA Amateur National title, breaking the old record of eight held by Kevin Windham and himself. Carmichael won the 250cc A Stock class - his first motorcycle title (as opposed to mini) - but came up short in the 125cc A Stock class to Robbie Horton. The 250cc A Modified class winner was Robbie Skaggs while Casey Johnson won the 125cc a Modified title. (AIl four A class winners were on Kawasakis). In minicycle racing, Suzuki-rider Brandon Jesseman was the only two-class winner, scoring wins in the 85cc (12-13) Stock and 85cc (9-13) Modified classes. Yamaha-mounted Justin Buckelew won the 85cc (14--15) Modified class while Honda's Bryan McGavern won the 85cc (14-15) Stock class. The Super-Mini class champ was Billy Payne. Edgardo Rojos and Emesto Fonseca took two of the 30 class titles back to Costa Rica with them, with Rojas winning 85cc (7-11) Stock class while Fonseca split 125cc Schoolboy wins with Kawasaki-mounted Nicholas Wey. The big winner in the Vet classes was KTM's Keith Bo~en, who came back to Loretta Lynn's for the first time since 1983 to win the Junior (25+) and Vet A (30+) titles.

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