Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127806
·IN 'THE WIND"I Randy Hawkins (Suz) topped reigning champ Ty Davis (Kaw) at the AMA National Enduro in Bellingham, Washington, October 13, as their season-long battle for the 1996 crown heads down to the wire. Going into the final round in Delaware City, Delaware, October 27, Davis finds himself in a must-win situation. A victory will give him the title; anything less will all but assure the title goes to Hawkins. Third in Washington went to former champ Kevin Hines (CRE), followed by Mike Lafferty (KTM) and Donnie Book (Kaw). Californians Mark Miller and David Stanton were the big winners in Suzuki Cup racing action at the WERA Grand National Final, held at Road Atlanta ill Braselton, Georgia, October 13. Miller topped Mark McDaniel and Grant Lopez to win the 750cc final while Stanton held off Jamie' Hacking and Tripp Nobles to win the 1100cc fillal. Team Suzuki Endurance (Suz) won the final round of the WERA National Endurance Series at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia, October 12. Team Suzuki Endurance completed 112 laps in the four-hour event to best DATS Racing (Suz) and Arciight Racing (Suz), with those two teams completing 111 and 110 laps, respectively. Mike Brown (Hon) won both motos at the second-to-last round of the AMA Fall Classic MX Series at Lincoln Trails Motorsports in Casey, Illinois, October 13. Finishing second with a 4-2 showing was Brock Sellards (Kaw), while third place, with a 2-4 tally, went to Missouri's Doug Stone (Kaw). Rounding out the top five overall were Nicholas Wey (Kaw) and Keith Bowen (KTM). Brown leads the series points charts with 200 points (and four wins) followed by Bowen with 178. Keith Bowen (KTM) starred in the AMA/FMF Eastern Region Four-Stroke MX National Series round held in conjunction with the Fall Classic event at Lincoln Trails Motorsports, October 13. Bowen won both motos, topping series leader'Mike Young (Hbg), who went 22 on the day. Third went to Todd DeHoop (Hbg), followed by Mark Musselman (Hbg) and Jeremy Shoning (Hbg). Young maintains a 14-point lead in the series over Bowen, 235-221, with one round to go. Road racer Scott Zampach remains in critical condition in the Dartmouth - Medica.1 Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire, following his crash in last weekend's NASB Formula USA race at New Hampshire International Speedway. Zampach has head injuries in addition to fractures of his C-1 and C-2 vertebrae, broken ribs and hand, and a punctured lung. The Zampach family has set up a family trust and donations can be sent to: The Scott Zampach Family Trust, c/o M&I Firs! National Bank, 321 North Main Street, West Bend, WI ~ 53095, attn: Chris Ohm. T,he Wegman 0\ Benefit Fund is also accepting dona,..-l tions on Zampach's behalf and donarr) tions can be made payable to the WegN man Benefit. Fund (3212· N. 92 Street, l-< Milwaukee, WI 53222) earmarked for Zampach. The Wegman Fund has o already made a donation to the ZamtJ pach family to help defray the cost of his hospitalization. 15 o 2 World Speedway Champion Billy Hamill is the second rider nominated for the 1996 AMA/Speedvision Pro Athlete of the Year Award. Hamill joins Jeremy McGrath on this year's list of nominees, the winner of which will be named at the AMA Pro Awards Banquet in Las Vegas on November 16. Cycle News contributor Alan Cathcart won the 1997 BEARS World Series with a third-place finish in the Dutch round in September and now holds an -unassailable points lead going into the final roun.d in Australia on October 27. Cathcart competed all season on the Vee Two Australian-backed Bimota DB2R. French rider Stephane Chambon (Hus) claimed victory at the Supermotard _ Mettet Cup race held in Mettet, Belgium, October 13. Chambon was easily the fastest rider on the track, c;iisposing of brother Boris Chambon (Hus) and Rubin Williams (Hus). The motocross and off-road riders in attendance showed little resistance to the French stars, with ISDE gold medalist Laurent Pidoux claiming fourth place, 1994 World 500cc MX Champions Jacky Martens (Hus) finishing ninth, just ahead of Kurt Nicoll (KTM) and former MX World Champion Joel Smets (Hbg). . Former World MX Champion Georges Jobe (KTM) failed to finish the final after bike troubles did him in. W~r1d 250cc MX Champion Stefan Everts (Kaw) broke his hand while competing at the Supermotard Mettet Cup and, as a result, will most likely miss the opening two rounds of the World Supercross Championships. The injury actually occurred during Saturday'S practice session. "I thought it was broken," Everts said. "It did not feel good, and the doctors assured me it will take a few weeks to mend." The injury will also rule out a road racing test Everts had planned for next week. Belgian Joel 'Smets also stands a chance of missing a few off-season racing events. "All year I had trouble with my knee," said Smets, who finished second in the 1996 500cc World MX Championship Series. "I went to the doctor and he gave me an ultrasound and an X-ray; I'll get the results this week. 1£ I need surgery it will happen as soon as possible, then I'll hope to be riding again in January. Smets would otherwise compete in the Bologna 4-Stroke Supercross and other selected events. The ink on the contract signed by Stefan Everts for his own Honda factorybacked race team in 1997 has just dried, and the team will be using the same base in Belgium as the road racing team run by HRe. As of now, more news on the team is very sketchy, with no major sponsor lined up. If a major sponsor is found, Everts will recruit another rider for the team. The new team came as a huge surprise as Everts had said all along he would not leave Honda, causing many to think that he. would stay with his 1996 team run by Colin Reid. 1997 Grand Prix schedule TI e FIM releas.ed its 1997 World Championship Road Race Series schedule October 14 - the first day of the 117th FIM Congress m Bangkok, Thailand - a senes that wi 11 consist of 15 rounds and will include 125, 250 and 500cc Grand Prix classes. The schedule is as follows: April13 April 20 May 4 May 18 June 1 June 15 June 28 July 6 July 20 Aug. 3 Aug. 17 Aug. 31 Sept. 14 Sept. 28 Oct. 12 Malaysian Grand Prix Japanese Grand Prix Spanish Grand Prix Italian Grand Prix Austrian Grand Prix French Grand Prix Dutch Grand Prix !mola Grand Prix German Grand Prix Chinese, Argentinian or Brazilian Grand Prix British Grand Prix Czech Republic Grand Prix Catalunyan Grand Prix Indonesian Grand Prix Australian Grand Prix ing ceremony hel.d in the presence of the Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand, Air Chief Marshall Somboon Rahong. Road racer Mike Edwards, the winner of last year's event, heads the entry list for this year's Macau Grand Prix. Edwards will ride a ROC Yamaha 500 again in the 30th running of the event which will be held on November 16. The only Americans entered are David Stanton, Glenn Szarek and Shane Prieto. Blue Marl~n Marketing & Promotions and Moto Halia will present Polini Dream Bike Mini Moto racing and demonstration rides at the Speed Zone Motorsports Park, located directly behit;td Hooter's Restaurant across from Daytona International Speedway on October 17-19. The rides will take place from 6 to 10 p.m. In its final race of the year on October 30 at Seattle International Raceway in Kent, Washington, the Washington Motorcycle Road Racing Association (WMRRA) will attempt to collect food for N orthwest Harvest. WMRRA's goal is to gather over 2,000 pounds of non-perishable food and spectators are encouraged to bring a food donation to receive $2 off the price of admission to the Halloween Harvest Sprints. For more information, call 206/ 338-4686. The AMAIMARS Series will end with a doubleheader on October 25-26 with the first of the two races scheduled to be run at Southern National Speedway in Kenly, North Carolina. The following night the series moves to Summerville Speedway in Summerville, South Carolina, for the final round of the series. New Zealander Darryll King, the brother Of 500cc World MX Champion KTM's Shayne King, signed a factory contract with Husqvarna for the 1997 season. Darryll King rode a Honda in '96. Moto Liberty team owner Sam Yamashita will award $500 to the winner of his intra-team battle in the 125cc Grand Prix class at the series finale at Daytona Beach International Speedway, October 20. Moto Liberty racers Gerald Rothman Jr. and Ken Melville will take on team mechanics Danny Coe and Robert Zerbecias on identical 1994 Honda RS125s fitted with Bridgestone tires. The 117th FlM Congress opened in Bangkok, Thailand, October 14 with delegates and representatives of 61 National Federations in attendance at an. open- Former Grand Prix rider Niall Mackenzie (Yam) won the British Superbike Championship October 13 after winning the first leg and finishing second in the Shah Alam, Malaysia (Shah Alam) Suzuka Oty, Japan (Suzuka) Jerez, Spain (Jerez) Mugeno, Haly (Mugello) Zeltweg, Austria (A-I Ring) Le·Castellet, France (Paul Ricard) Assen, Holland (Circuit van Drenthe) !mola, Italy (!mola) Nurburg, Germany (Nurburgring) TBA Donington, England (Donington Park) Bmo, Czech Republic (Brno) Barcelona, Spain (Catalunya) Sentul, Indonesia (SentuJ) Phillip Island, Australia (Phillip Island) second at Donington Park. Mackenzie beat Sean EmtItett (DUG) and Jamie Whitham (Yam) in the first race and finished second 'behind Whitham in race two to earn the title over Whitham by just four points. "It was always going to be difficult to beat Jamie (Whitham) today," Mackenzie said. "But if there was one circuit I'd have chosen to decide the title it would have been Donington Park, I love the circuit and I've probably done more laps around here than at any other track." The Lake Elsinore Grand Prix DualSport Ride will be held on Friday, November 8 and will be hosted by the Honda Riders Club of America. The ride will start at 10 a.m. at Murrieta Motorsports in Murrieta, California, and is open to all licensed dual-sport riders. The ride will finish at the HRCA display area in Lake Elsinore. For more information, call 909/698-4123. According to Cycle News contributor Darryl Flack, Australian road racer Damon Buckmaster is currently negotiating with, Suzuki France to join its team in 1997 after his solid showing in the Bol d'Or September 21-22. Buckmaster teamed with Eric Gomez and Frederic P~otat to finish third. ''I'm still working out details with team officials, but it looks good for next year," Buckmaster said. "If all goes to plan, I'll be doing the series in 1997." Buckmaster had a mixed 1996 after an agreement with Er'aldo Ferracci to race Fast By Ferracci Ducatis in the AMA Superbike National Championship fell through. He picked up a Suzuki Superbike ride in Australia and won a race in August. He was later knocked unconscious in a serious car accident but returned a week later to finish sixth and second at Mallala in South Australia. Australian road racer Shawn Giles will ride.a De Cecco-Pirelli Team Ducati in the final round of the World Superbike Championship at Phillip Island, Australia, October 27. Giles has been testing the bike at Phillip Island and is negotiating with the team for a possible World Superbike ride in 1997. An advance Super Ticket for the NASB and CCCS Finals at Daytona International Speedway is available for $35. The ticket provides four days of admission to the garage, paddock and infield