Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

, IN 'THE WIND· "I Belgian Jacky Martens (Hus) scored the overall win at the World Championship 500cc MX round in Landskrona, Sweden, August 25, despite not winning a moto. Martens, instead, used seemingly unwinnable 4-2 moto finishes to nab the overall victory: New Zealand's Shayne King (KTM) won the second moto but a first-moto eighth ruined his chance for. the day's top honors He ended up second. Third went to defending champ JoelSmets (Hbg) who won the first moto but drqpped to ninth in the second. Fourth overall was taken by Belgian Danny Theybers (Hon), and rounding out the top five was Netherlands' Gert-Jan Van Dom (Hon). With just one round left in·the series to be held in Germany, September 8, King enjoys a 23-point lead over Smets and' could clinch the title in the first moto there. A distant third in the series is Sweden's Peter Johansson with 236 points and German Dietmar Lacher is fourth with 219. Fred And:rews (Yam) scored the overall wih at round eight of the Grand National Cross Country Series in Millville, Ohio, August 25. Andrews took the checkered flag less than 10 seconds ahead of defending champ Scott Plessinger (KTM). Third place went to Doug Blackwell (Yam), while Steve Hatch (Suz) and Rodney Smith (Suz) rounded out the top five. Tom Norton (Yam) motored to another victory in the NETRA Hare Scrambles series with his win at the Mohawks Hare Scrambles in New AshfOrd, Massachusetts, August 25, round 12 of the series. Josh Mclevy (Hon) finished second, followed by Scott Phelps (yam), P.]. Peculis (Yam) and Randy McCann (Kaw). Ducati Corse team manager Virginio Ferrari no longer has anything to do with John Kocinski, according to Kocinski. "1 had a meeting with Claudio Castiglioni (the owner of the Ducatil Ca'giva Group)," Kocinski said during a layovE!r in Hawaii, Monday, August 26. "He's brought in an engineer from the factory who is now in charge. Virginio (Ferrari) has nothing to do With me any more.. And ever since he's been removed, my results have been incredible. Now he's helping my teammate Neil (Hodgson) and his results have gone down the drain. Everything's working fine in my team now. I have five good people - I don't need an army. I don't even want that guy (Ferrari) in my garage - there's nothing like having a guy around who knows everything but knows nothing, if you know what I mean." Kocinski also was a little miffed at being protested by fellow Ducati rider Troy Corser in the World Superbike round in Sugo, Japan, August 25. Corser protested Kocinski for passing under a yellow flag, but the FlM Jury disallowed the protest and Kocinski ended the day with a 5-2 score and now trails championship leader Aaron Slight by 29 points and Corser by 16. "No way," Kocinski said. "Can you believe a Ducati protesting a Ducati in Japan... I think it's a cheap shot, but it shows the pressure is getting to him now. He knows he can't beat me on the race track." The next round of the World Superbike Championship is scheduled for September 8 in Assen, Holland. A health reform act signed into law by President Bill Clinton on August 21 could help end discrimina tion against motorcyclists in the workplace, according to the AMA. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, passed by Con~ess in the waning hours of its summer session, could prohibit employers from denying healthinsurance benefits tO'employees who are injured while riding motorcycles. Language specifically protecting motorcycling has been included in the legislative intent of the bill through the efforts of the AMA and the Motorcycle Riders Foundation. The movement to safeguard health benefits for motorcyclists began earlier this year when Congress started shaping a plan to ensure that employees woulcfu't lose health benefits when they change jobs. Recognizing an opportunity to combat the growing tendency among employers to restrict or deny health insurance to motorcyclists, Arenacross scheduled 'announced 'Mike Kidd Promotions has released the schedule for the 26-round AMA PJ1 National Arenacross Series, with the indoor championship to kick off at Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Des Moines, Iowa, on November 1-3 and conclude in Denver Coliseum in Denver, Colorado, on February 21-23. In addition to the series, schedule, Mike Kidd Promotions also has announced that the series will pay a $100,000 noer point fund with $20,000 going to th,e 1997 Arenacross National Champion. "To broaden the appeal of Arenacross racing, we're increasing our marketing and publicity efforts, point fund and purse payout," said Mike Kidd, president of Mike Kidd Promotions 111c. "This aggressive format has been developed to benefit oot only the racing and the riders, but also imprpves our abiJjty to showcase Arenacross racing as a major motorsports series. The end result... for the spectator, it's an afford~bJe and entertaining night out. For the racer, it's an opportunity for big paydays. For th. sponsors, it's an addro value." Twenty-five perc.nt of th. rider point fund will.be paid out at the halfway mark with the rest b.ing paid at the conclusion of the series in Denver. 1997 PJ1 National Arenacross Series 2 Nov. 1-3 Nov. 8-10 Nov. 15-17 Nov. 22-24 Dec. 6-8 Jan. 3-5 Jan. 10-12 Jan. )7-19 Jan. 24-26 Jan. 31-Feb. 2 Feb. 7-9 Feb. 14-16 Feb. 21-23 Veterans Memorial Coliseum Knickerbocker Arena Spectrum Show Place Arena MetroCimtre Will Rogers Coliseum LazyEArena Niagara Falls Convention Center New Haven Coliseum IJVM Coliseum MECCA Riverfront Coliseum Denver Coliseum Des Moines, Iowa Albany, New York Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Memphis, Tennessee Rockford, lilinois Ft. Worth, Texas Guthrie, Oklahoma Niagara Falls, New York New Haven, Connecticut Winston-Salem, North Carolina Milwaukee, Wisconsin Cincinnati, Ohio Denver, Colorado AMA, Dirt Track owners come to ether T he AMA and the Professional Motorcycle Racing Owners Group (PMROG) have formed a strategic planning team to identify ways to improve the popularity, marketability, entertainment quality and profitability of professional dirt track racing. The multi-facetro planning team will consist of PMRcx:;"President Jim Landes, Butch Donahue of Donahue Harley-Davidson, AMA Pro Racing board of directors member Dave Despain, AMA Dirt Track Manager Bruce Bober and AMA President Ed Youngblood, who has directed the development of a number of the AMA's strategic plans. "We will be starting with a clean slate," Youngblood said. "There is no previous plan that we will be working from." "We're going to look at ~es. program formats and every other aspect of professional dirt track racing in an effort to identify new ideas that can take it to a higher level," Landes said. "Nothing will be off limits for discussion, and we will be actively seeking the advice of the riders, promoters, fans, sponsors,. the mroia and any other party interested in improving dirt track racing. Our goal is to create a plan for dirt track racing that will yield positive results." "Dirt track racing is a great traditional form of motorcycle racing in America," Youngblood added. "In the last decade, however, it has not kept up with the growth, popularity, commercial support and media exposure enjoyed by motocross, supercross and road racing. Clearly, it is time to identify the causes and seek ways to reverse this trend, This can't be done by the AMA alone. Working with the dirt track team owners, we'll be calling upon all of our constituents to help uS find solutions." the AMA entered into discussions with key House and Senate members. AMA Washington representative Rob Dingman, with assistance from Wayne Curtin, vice president of tfie Motorcycle Riders Foundation, wrote proposed language guaranteeing that protections for motorcyclists would be included in the final legislation. A congressional report on the final version of the bill demonstrates the success of that effort. NASB President Roger Edmondson has announced that the Harley-Davidson Twin Sport World Final"scheduled for October 18-20 at Daytona International' Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida, will run under a new set of rules' based on a 65-horsepower maxin1um as tested on the official NASB Dynojet Dynamometer. "With the great results we've gotten this year from the Buell and EBC Brakes Sport Bike classes, we couldn't wait to put an end to the endless teardowns in Twin Sports racing," Edmondson said. NASB also announced that the Twin Sports World Final will offer its biggest championship award since its inception in 1994. The total purse will be $25,000 with up to $10,000 going to the champion. Two seven-lap races will be held with a $10,000 purse being paid in each leg. The overall winner and "World Champion" will receive an additional $5000 bonus along with the title. "If a rider can win both legs he'll get a cool $10,000 for his efforts," Edmondson said. According to a press release from the Motorcycle Riders Foundation (MRF), MRF president Mark Buckner resigned as the MRF liaison to the National Coalition of Motorcyclists (NCOM) Board of Advisors, and vice president of government relations Wayne Curtin resigned from the NCOM Legislative Task Force on July 27. Buckner and Curtin resigned over issues' regarding product liability lawsuits filed by Aid to Injured Motorcyclists (AIM) attorneys. The product liability lawsuits in question were filed by sev.eral AIM attorneys against Harley-Davidson Motor Company for, among othE;r things, not putting leg protection devices on their motorcycles. The litigation al~o claims- that the motorcycles sold without leg protection were negligently designed, inherently dangerous and not of merchantable quality . when sold, which made them dangerous to the users and the general public. Buckner and Curtin felt that this approach ignored the rider's personal responsibility. "I am especially con- cerned with product liability litigation that seeks to eliminate an individual's need to accept personal resporrsibili ty when they enter into the sport of motorcycling, as acknowledging and accepting risk and assuming responsibility is the base philosophy of the motorcyclists' rights movement's efforts to prevent safety advocates and the government from imposing 'safety' mandates on motorcyclists." The lawsuits in question were filed by AIM attorneys without the knowledge of the NCOM Board of Advisors or members of th.e Legislative Task Force, according to Ed Netterberg, chairman of the NCOM Board of Advisors. After three rounds of the 1996 Bears World Series, Cycle News contributor Alan Cathcart leads the championship point standings by 11 points over England's Geoff Baines. Cathcart is riding a Bimota DB2R in the series. The AMA Pro Award's Banquet will be held for the second straight year in Las Vegas, Nevada, Saturday, November 16. This year's banq1Jet, which honors the top motorcycle racers in the country, will be held at the Imperial Palace Hotel & Casino. Awards will be presented to all of the champions in 1996 as well as the AMA Speedvision Pro Athlete of the Year A'Vard. A reception will be held at 6:30 p.m., followed by the awards dinner at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $50 and seating is limited. Fcrr more information, call Connie Fleming at the A¥A at 614/891-2425, ext. 258. Special room rates are available by calling the Imperial Palace at 800/634-6441 and asking for Ms. Blue. Off again: Dirt track promoter Chris Agajanian said that the AMA 883cc National class has been canceled from the program at the upcoming U.S. Motorcycle Nationals in Knoxville, Iowa, due to a lack of financial support. . "I'm sorry to anno~c\" that attempts in securing sponsorship for the 883 purse were unsuccessful," Agajanian said. "Unfortunately, this means that the 883s will not be a part of this year's U.5. Motorcycle Nationals. The 883s will, however, be running at the Sacramento Mile as well as the season finale at the Del Mar Mile during Bike Week West (October 10th through the 14th). We were very happy with the way the 883s and 600s performed at our Lincoln, Nebraska r National last week, and we look forward to both classes joining the 750s at the final two races of the season here in California."

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