Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Cycle News 1996 11 06

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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an increase of 12.5 percent over 1995. The largest single-day crowd for 1996 was for the Anah~ Supercross, which hosted 65,264 fans. Of the other disciplines, the AMA National Motocross Series showed the biggest growth with the 13-race series growing by nearly 30 percent, with 178,588 fans attending the outdoor events in 1996. Second in terms of total overall attendance was the AMA Superbike Series which drew 381,124 fans - a 15.6 percent increase over 1995. The AMA Grand National Championship experienced a slight attendance increase of 1.4 percent, attributed mainly to an unusually rainy spring in the Midwest. Despite five rainouts during the season, 199,507 fans attended the dirt track series in '96. Rounding out the Pro Racing program was the AMA National Hi II climb Series, which drew 30,228 fans to its events. And the winner is... Greg Becker came the closest to giving us the answer we were looking for in our photo trivia question a few weeks ago. Becker accurately named the four riders pictured: Anthony Gobert, Miguel DuHamel, Yvon DuHamel and Scott Russell and also gave us the "common derlOminator" - all four have ridden factory Kawasakis with the #17. Becker has earned himself a Cycle News T-shirt for his efforts. The most amusing answer had the four mystery riders identified as Gary Nixon, Scott Russell, Miguel DuHamel and Troy Corser with the common denominator being the fact that they all won AMA National Championships. The photo, incidentally, came to us courtesy of Yvon DuHameL Superbike road racer Thomas Wilson, motocrosser Ricky Carmichael and dirt track racer J.R. Schnabel have been named as the 1996 AMA Pro Rookies of the Year. Harley-Davidson factory rider Wilson finished ninth in the AMA Superbike National Championship, finishing second in the Mid-Ohio National. The 16-year-old Carmichael turned pra:fessional in September and finished eighth in his first AMA National in Delmont, Pennsylvania. Schnabel made nine Grand National Dirt Track finals and broke into the exclusive Grand National Top 20, finishing the series as the 20th ranked rider. Contrary to rumors, the 1996 LA-B-to-V Dual Sport Tour has not been canceled. According to 0-37 dual sport president John Siebler, there was some confusion with the event that was proposed by the Desert Vipers M/C. The tour is going as planned. For more information, call 818/249-2141. Vintage Iron will. be organizing the vintage bike show at the upcoming GFI Elsinore Grand Prix on November 9. The show is free but each entrant will be required to purchase a $5 event pass. There will be standard show classifications with the addition of "Best Honda Elsinore" and "Best Bike Previously Raced in the Elsinore GP." For more information, call 209 1252-9053. NASB 125cc National Champion Masahiro Iizuka has signed a contract that wiJI see him aboard Silverman Racing Museum-backed motorcycles in the AMA 125cc Grand Prix Series in 1997. Iizuka plans to move to Laguna Niguel, California, at the end of October in order to be closer to the Southern California-based team. Trials rider Mark Manniko will be the instructor for a trials school scheduled for November 14-17 in Sequatchie, Tennessee, according to the Trials Training Center. For more information, call 423942-8688: According to a press release £rom White Brothers, Guy Cooper is likely to be replaced by AMA National Hare & Hound Champion Rodney Smith for the upcoming White Brothers Vet World Championship at Glen Helen in San Bernardino, California, November 3. Cooper's wife, Wanda, recen t1 y suffered a broken pelvis while helping Guy remove arrows from the BlackJack Enduro Series round in Stillwater, Oklahoma. • W.A. "Bill'" Boyce, a longtime AMA official and former professional racer, is the latest recipient of the AMA's highest individual honor for service - the Dud Perkins Award. Boyce, 73, was presented the award during the recent FIM Congress. in Bangkok, Thailand, which marked Boyce's retirement from the FIM after 21 years as an elected officer. But the well-known figure from AMA Pro Racing had an even longer relationship with the AMA. After serving in the U.s. Navy during World War II, Boyce began a pro dirt track racing career in. 1946. After being recalled by the military during the Korean War, Boyce returned to racing and worked for several retail motorcycle franchises in Ohio. Boyce retired from racing in the mid-'50s and becalf\e involved in race officiating, eventually serving as the AMA District referee and later as an AMA National referee. In 1971, Boyce joined the AMA staff as a full-time employee. Boyce was also honored at the FIM Congress, being named as an honorary member of the Track Racing Commission. Schwantz rides .again, Harada too Preseason testing started the day after the Australian Grand Prix at Eastern Creek. In addition to the serious testers, magazines also sent joumellsta to try their hand at riding Michael Doohan's Honda NSRSOO - one of those riders happened to be former World Champion Kevin Schwantz (above). Former 250cc World Champion Tetsuya Harada (below) hed his first first ride aboard the factory 250cc Aprllia that he will ride In 1997 during the Eastern Creek tests. After 25 years as an elected offi~r of the FIM, AMA President Ed Youngblood is. leaving active service to the FIM. Youngblood, who was named Honorary FIM Deputy President during the recent FIM Congress, cited a need to devote moretime to various AMA projects and a desire to spend more time with his family as his reason for leaving the FIM post. Elsinore Grand Prix update: Kawasaki's Victor Sheldon, a three-time personal watercraft National Champion, will be competing in the GFI Elsinore Grand Prix watercraft events, November 8-9 in Elsinore, California. Meanwhile, in-line skating World Champion Dave Foster will attempt to break the world record of over 80 mph at the Elsinore event on Monday, November 11. Entries for the Elsinore Grand Prix are still open. For more information, call GFI at 909/653-4042. According to GFI, Honda, Kawasaki, FMF, Chaparral, Pro Circuit and VP Racing will have their semis in the Elsinore Grand Prix impound area for the November 8-9 event. GFI's Goat Breker also called to inform us that the Elsinore Grand Prix track will be watered and prepped for all classes. In addi tion to the motorcycle, watercraft and in-line skating 'activities going on during the Elsinore Grand Prix weekend, GFI will host the Legends BBQ outside the Lake Elsinore Diamond Stadium on Saturday night, November 9, prior to the Robbie Knievel jump. Riders such as Malcolm Smith, Chad McQueen, J.N. Roberts, Bob Hatley, A.c. Baken, David Aldana, Dallas Baker, Steve Lamson and others will be on hand to sign autographs. GFI will also host an Elsinore Warmup to be held at Perris Raceway in Perris, California, November 3. This is an opportunity for Elsinore GP riders to ride for 40 minutes on a Grand Prix course and get themselves and their motorcycles ready for the historic event the following weekend. For more information, call GFI at 909 1653-4042. Dirt tracker Jim Rosa has been hospitalized in San Bernardino, California, following his crash in the San Jose Mile October 21. Rosa underwent surgery to remove a blood clot from his left arm and he will be hospitalized until October 31. AMA Superbike National Champion Doug Chandler and AMA Grand National Champion Scott Parke.r are the latest riders to be nominated for the 1996 AMA/Speedvision Pro Athlete of the Year Award. Chandler and Parker join Jeremy McGrath and Billy Hamill as this year's nominees. The award will be presented during the AMA Awards Banquet in Las Vegas, November 16. To support the all-new YZF600R and YZFlOOOR, Yamaha Motor Corp. USA has announced that it will post $1 million in road racing contingencies in 1997. The program supports 12 series across the United States with more than 300 races included. The program covers riders in AMA and NASB professional classes as well as regional and club races. The highest level of support comes in the AMA 600cc Supersport class where Yamaha will post $111,000 for the 12-event series. According to Suzuki, Team Suzuki OffRoad's Steve Hatch competed in this season's final events with severe ligament damage and a broken bone in his left thumb. Hatch was injured in the October 13 GNCC round in Ohio. BORN: Joel Thomas Waters, to Feet Up! contributing editor Ron Waters and his wife Marilyn in Costa Mesa, California, October 26. OPENED: Yamaha Motor Corp. USA's home page on the World Wide Web. The site can be found at the following address: http://www.yamahausa.com. BORN: James Michael Weinert to former National Motocross Champion Jimmy Weinert and his wife Lynda in Middletown, New York, ~be:r 18. GRAND OPENING: At Beaumont YamahaKawasaki-Polaris in Beaumont, California. Novem· ber 2. Polaris' personal watercraft World Champion Frank Romero is scheduled to appear. OPENED: BMW of North America's home page on the World Wide Web. The site can be found at: http://www.bmwusacycles.com. OPENED: Freedom Tours' home page on the World Wide Web. The site can be found at the following address: http://www.indra.com/freedom. STOLEN: A 16-foot, white, enclosed trailer; a 1991 Honda XR600; a 1993 Yamaha YZ80 with a Honda 100 engine; a 1994 Kawasaki KX250; a 1994 Kawasaki KX80; a 1990 Honda XR200; three mountain bikes; Bieffe helmets; O'Neal and Fox ridin.g gear; and tools from the 'Burke family of Reseda, California. For more information, call Jim Burke at 818/701-0595. 1"N

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