Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Cycle News 1996 11 13

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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Jeff Emig (Kaw) won the 250cc class at the Fukuoka Supercross in southern Japan Saturday, November 2. Larry Ward (Hon) finished second and Damon Huffman (Kaw) was third. Damon Bradshaw led the main event until crashing a few laps from the finish on a privately backed Honda CR250. Eric Kehoe, riding a 1997 Honda CR250, won the Pro class at the White Brothers Four-Stroke World Championships at Glen Helen Raceway in San Bernardino, California, November 2-3. Keith Bowen (KTM) finished second, followed by Brian Manley (Suz) and Winy Musgrave (Hon). Mickey Dymond (Kaw) rounded out the top five. Scott Plessinger (KTM) won the ninth and final round of the AMA National Championship Hare Scrambles Series in Millfield, Ohio, November 3. Steve Hatch (Suz) finished second and Jason Dahners (KTM) was third. Barry Hawk (Suz) and Eric Mashbir (Suz) finished fourth and fifth, respectively. Japan's Tadayuki Okada (Hon) won the Big Road Race in Sugo, Japan, November 3, topping Spaniard Alex Criville (Hon) and Nobuatsu Aoki (Hon) in the invitational 500cc race that ran in conjunction with the 11 th and final round of the All-Japan Championship. Three-time World Champion Michael Doohan (Hon) was fourth; Georgian Scott Russell (Suz) completed only eight of the scheduled 20 laps and was credited with 10th place. The final superbike round of the AlIJapan Championship was won by Wataru Yoshikawa (Yam) who beat Keiichi Kitagawa (Suz) and Akira Ryo (Kaw). The All-Japan Superbike Championship was won by'Takuma Aoki (Hon) with 209 points to Ryo's 131. . Marlboro Yamaha's Norifumi Abe had a day he'd like to forget in his homeland. The Japanese rider was forced out of qualifying by a high fever and he started the 500cc race from the back row of the grid. He was then high-sided 'from the YZRSOO in the third comer on the opening lap. Robert Patterson (Suz) won the second round of the AMA Mid-South Winter Hare Scrambles Series in Mannington, Kentucky, November 3. Patterson topped Doug Blackwell (Yam) and Mike Sampson (Kaw). World 250cc Motocross Champion Stefan Everts has confirmed that he will receive factory Hondas direct from HRC for his 1997 campaign. Everts will run his own team, backed by Honda Japan and a host of other sponsors his manager is currently pursuing. Everts, who plans on testing in the United Stat\!s in late November or early December, will be joined on his team by ·fellow Belgian Jaimy Scevenels. \0 0\ 0\ ...... ('f')' ...... ~ ..0 E Q) 5 Z 2 According to Cycle News correspondent Darryl Flack, Australian Damon Buckmaster has talked with Yoshimura Suzuki about replacing Mat Mladin - who will ride a Fast By Ferracci Ducati in 1997 - on the team for the 1997 AMA Superbike National Championship. Buckmaster had a tryout last year with Eraldo Ferracci's Ducati team during the Michelin tire tests at Daytona, but ended up racing in the Australian championship. Buckmaster has also had conversations with Suzuki France about the possibility. of him joining its World Endurance team. After his victory in the Australian round of the World Superbike Championship, Anthony Gobert disrobed, throwing his racing leathers into the crowd at Phillip Island. The leathers ended up being cut into a dozen pieces in order to satisfy the many claimants to the coveted cowhide. Gobert also showed up at the Australian round with bright red hair, only a week after spectating at the Australian Grand Prix with platinum hair. "I pulled into a hair salon and asked for bright pink, but they dido't have any so I settled for red," . Gobert said. According to road racer' Larry Pegram, the young Ohioan will return to the Fast By Ferracci Ducati team in 1997. Pegram ended the 1996 AMA Superbike Championship as the seventh ranked rider in the series. Is Rich Oliver going to ride a superbike next season? "Everything is still up in the air," Oliver said in a phone conversation Monday, November 4. "We won't know officially until mid-November." Oliver said that he'd had some encouraging talks with Yamaha as far as riding a superbike next season, but that Yamaha's racing plans have yet to be finalized so nothing was certain. What he is sure of is that he will be racing for Yamaha in some capacity and that if he is only signed to contest the 250cc Grand Prix class next year, he'll probably elect to race in another class as well, probably 600cc Supersport. Motocrosser Mike Brown is still weighing all options in regard to his plans for the 1997 season. As we reported last week, Brown was said to have signed on with Michele Rinaldi's Italy-based Chesterfield Yamaha team - but apparently he hasn't signed anything yet and he is sti)! considering an offer to join the new Manchester Honda team for the 1997 AMA 250.cc Supercross and 125cc National Motocross Series. In an effort to get things moving, Rinaldi has reported1y offered to double his original salary offer and has requested that Brown fly to Italy to meet face-to-face, visit the race shop and become acquainted with the operation. Rinaldi desperately wants Brown to join Tallon VohJand in the twoman team. Brown's concerns with heading to Europe are based on recent history - once an American rider commits himself to the European-based GPs, they never return to enjoy any type of significant support in the AMA Series. Vance & Hines Racing stilI has no firm . racing plans in place for 1997., according to team owner Terry Vance. "I should - know something soon, maybe five or six days," Vance said Monday, November 4. Vance & Hines recently parted with Yamaha after running. its AMA Superbike team for the last seven years. Los Ancimos MC dropped us a line to let us know that the Tecate Enduro will take place in 1997. The event, which has been a trail ride for the last two years, will take place some time in March. An actual date will be set shortly; for more information, call Jerry DeBerry at 6197281-1400. According to a press release from North American Sport Bike (NASB), road racers competing in the 1996 NASB Series earned $733,955 in the nine events. Over half those earnings were won in Formula USA where riders and tea.ms collected $388,170 in purse, point fund and contingency awards. EBC Brakes was the biggest sponsor of the F-USA class, paying out $38,160 in contingency awards and the EBC Brakes Triple Crown Series. Russell to World Superbike .- with Yamaha! Y amaha Motor Europe N.V. and the Yamaha Motor Company announced Monday, November 4, that it had signed former World Superbike Champion Scott Russell (right) to join Colin Edwards II on the Yamaha World Superbike team in 1997. The 32-year-old Russell won the World Superbike title in 1993, finished second in 1994 and joined the Lucky Strike SuzuKi 500cc Grand Prix team in 1995. Russell finished sixth in the 1996 500cc World Championship and was named the series' "Rookie of the Year." Russell reportedly had offers to join the Castrol Honda team or the Elf 500cc Grand Prix team, but instead opted to join the Italy-based Yamaha squad. "I had a couple of things going but the Yamaha 'opportunity appealed to me the most," Russell said. "From everything I've heard and seen, they're very professional and they're really keen on winning. Colin (Edwards) and Anders (Andersson, the team's suspension technician) are both excited about the direction things are going. That's where I want to be - with a team that wants to help me and move forward. I'm looking focward to riding alongside Colin. He's a great guy and I think we can make the bike even better next year. I've never ridden the YZF, but I'm looking forward to it - I've always liked Yamahas. I'm very excited to be coming back to World Superbikes. Grand Prix was okay, but I want to come back and win this championship again.· That's the only reason I'm domg it." . Russell will test with the team in Indonesia, Australia and the United States before he makes his Yamaha debut in the Daytona 200 on March 9 and in the World Super1?ike opener in Australia on March 23. "That's killer," Edwards said when being told that Russell had officially become his teammate for next year. "That's awesome. I can't lose either way, having that carrot out there; I'll just accept the challenge. Daytona will be a barn burner for Yamaha. It'll help (having. Russell on the team), but I think I'm already on the right track with the bike. I've spent two years developing it to where it is and you can see now how good it is getting." Yamaha says that plans for Wataru Yoshikawa, who finished ninth in the World Superbike Championship in 1996 as Edwards' teammate, have not yet been decided. In all, 214 riders earned checks in N ASB raci!1g in 1996. photography. For more information, call 405/348-6529 or 405/789-6045. The newly formed SoCal Vintage Racing Club will hold its .first Vintage Winter Nationals at Los Angeles County Raceway on December 15. The CRCsanctioned race will feature a Pro pay•. back Bomber class and will feature past professionals such as Scott Burnworth, Gary Denton, David Taylor and others. For more information, call BiH Clem at 818/855-0441. The dates have been released for the annual December tire tests at Daytona IritemationaI Speedway. Michelin will have its teams at the famed facility on December 7-8; Dunlop will have the track on December 9-10; Bridgestone takes over on December 12-13; and Pirelli IMetzeler wind things up on December 14-15. The tests are designed to prepare the tire manufacturers for the Daytona 200 By Arai, which will be held on March 9, 1997. Visitors to the track during the testing period may view ontrack action from a special section of grandstands accessible through the lobby of Daytona USA - "The Ultimate Motorsports Attraction." Tram tours of the speedway are also available for a $5 fee. Entries are still available for the West Coast Arenacross Challenge, scheduled for November 15, 16 '!Od 17 at the Reno' Livestock Events Center in Reno, Nevada. Friday's race will feature a "Kids for Coats Night." Those who donate a coat will receive a free child's admission with the purchase of an adult ticket. The host hotel for the event is the Days Inn in Reno. For reservations, call 7021 786-4070; for race information, call 702/267-4392. The Second Annual Boardercross vs. Motocross Challenge will be held at the Tri-County Fairgrounds in Bishop, California, and the Mammoth Mountain Ski Area in Mammoth Lakes, California, December 14-15. On Saturday, competitors will race in two motos on a newly designed motocross track and on Sunday those same competitors will race head-tohead on Mammoth Mountain's custombuilt boardercross course. At the end of the two days, the racer with the lowest point total will be crowned the 1996 Boardercross vs. Motocross Champion. For more information, call 619/934-5831. The Fifth Annual Scotty Adams 'Benefit Bash will be held on November 16 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, featuring Dan Mahony'S collection of dirt track The 1996-1997 Action Sports Arenacross Series will begin on November 22-24 at . the Hara Arena in Dayton, Ohio, before moving to the Ohio Expositions Center in Columbus, Ohio, December 6-8. The series will conclude at the Kentucky State Fairgrounds in Louisville, February 8-9. The series will post a purse of $45,000. For more information, call 6141 594-6686. The California Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation Division now has an in-deptfl workshop entitjed "Developing an OHV Program" available on diskette or hard copy. The free program is available by writing to them at P.O. Box 942896, Sacramento, CA 94296-0001 or by calling 916 1324-4442~ After 35 years with the California Department of Parks and Recreation, the man known as Mr. Green Sticker, Jerry Johnson, will retire on November 8. Johnson, who served for 10 years as chief

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