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/127813
liN THE WIND ROUNTJ 1OFTHE DISTRICT 37 G.P. SERIES 1991 SAT., FEB. 1st 8:00 8:00 UI'ICVoSSmr.D SUN., FEB. 2nd V1l'lTAOr-/CLASSlC/SIDr-HACK 9: 13 KIDS' / 9: 13 Sr-NIOJV!'1AONUM/SUF.SNR. Pr:r:~r- r-Vr:NT" 10:~ V~ r-xI"/AM 11:132~ 11:43 Yr:n:RAN NOV/BEO 1 :00 o-17~ - WOl'mn/MINI 2: 1.5 12:.50 QUADS···MJN. AOr- 16 RAC~· -..000 n.us 7~" Cm1'n" (}..17!k:c. 2&Occ. 2&loc er UP C'lASSES PRO 1 :4.5 2~lcc Al"tD UP .For Recorded Info: (714) 779-5313 KIit NEW1997MOTORCYCLES, ACCESSORIES 6 DISPlAYS Sf00 fOR THE BESTRITJER C()ST(JMf t'll\./cobaS./" • MQTQRSPORTS Kawasaki ~~I~hC2~S"'~'r5~ ANAHEIM ...,,. i'TI"1 ..---.... "~ @>Presents ... ' 21st Annual 1\PNC INTERNATIONAL U" ..'"; . MOTOCROSS FINAL ...'. .:;:';;':Y: ::'. MOSIER VALLEY DFW l I Fogarty, Ducati test at Misano C ·arl Fogarty fired up his Ducati again at 11:38 a.m. Monday, December 2, under a pale Misano sun. His brief flirt with Honda, which lasted 13 months, ended with the reconciliation of a love affair between two old partners, so much so that the British rider turned up at the appointment with a red hat, the same color as his new / old bike. The former World Superbike Champion arrived at the circuit early in the morning to a warm welcome from the same mechanics who worked with him from 1993 to 1995. With Fogarty came Tony Bass, the trusty mechanic who Fogarty took to Honda, but who was then fired by the Japanese after just a. few weeks. . Fogarty tested the two bikes used by John Kocinski this year and started to set the 916 up to his liking. At the end of the two days, the British rider had covered a total of 88 laps and his best time W1;lS 1:36.65. Pier-Francesco Chili, who will be an official factory rider in 1997 despite continuing to ride for team Gattolone, went better, putting in an excellent time of 1:35.91. The cold and the conditions of the track, which was very slippery after rain the previous days, meant that the riders were unable to get anywhere near the fantastic time of 1:34.296 set by Kocinski during the '96 San Marino round in April. Both Chili and Fogarty, however, went faster than Scott Russell, who set a time of 1:36.9 two weeks ago after his first (and only, due to rain) day of testing aboard the Yamaha YZF750. The aim of this first session was to test the '97 evolution engine, which has a few cylinder modifications to strengthen them as compared to the previous model. 1n order to avoid the structural breakages which emerged as a result of the increase in bore and cylinder 'size up to the engine's current 996cc, Ducati engineers have considerably increased the thickness of the cylinders and redesigned the engine-block anchorage system with reinforced bolts. These modifications have forced Ducati to produce the 150 models necessary to homologate the new design, and therefpre it will not now be possible to combine the new cylinders with parts of the 1996 engine already in existence. In order to get the most out of these new components, the engineering staff, led on this occasion by Franco Fame, carried out endurance testing in conditions on the limit, partially covering the oil coolers to reach the sort of temperatures recorded during races, as well as taking the revs up to 12,500 rpm. The lab engine, which was tested on the track by Chili, has done more than 600 miles with the bike (300 in a previous test at Vallelunga and the same in two days at Misano) without any problems being recorded. 1n order to put in as much mileage as possible, Ducati also called on the services of its test rider Mauro Lucchiari (1:38.20, 90 laps), Britain's John: Reynolds (1:38.46, 16 . laps), who has left Suzuki to race in the British Superbike Championship with a factory Ducati, as well as Michele Gallina, the young Italian competing in the German and Italian Superbike Championships. - Paolo Gozzi ~ :'.:~:'}"::'::' ;.~~~::, . . DALLAS/fT. WORTH, TX March 13,14,15,16, 1997 MOTOCROSS CLASSES; leeney Mini thlll Over 40 (A Class for Everyone) CQNDNGENQES' SCHEDULE OF EVENTS: Thursday, March 13: • Nat'l Semi-Anal Qualifier • Organized Practice Friday, SaturdaY, Sunday, Mardi 14,15,16: • GNC ANAL, all classes $50,800 Factory ContIngencies $100,000 Support ContIngencies TROPHIES; EXPERT PURSE: SO-, 1st·1Oth $5,000 + $11,000 Factory Cash NO SIGN UP ON RACE PAY: MUST BE PRE·ENTEREP FOR INFORMATION CAll: (214) 351-9900 ~ ! 86 Continued from page 3 With the workshop facilities virtually clo ed for the Thanksgiving break at the end of November, news from Kenny' Roberts' three-cylinder enterprise in England is very thin. Perhaps ominously so, since Roberts had said that he hoped to be testing the bike by now. "I can't tell you anything more now than 1 could at the end of the season," Roberts said before leaving England. This coin· cides with a fresh rumor that Marlboro is working on getting Yamaha and Roberts to stay together for one more year, to give the new three-cylinder project time to get properly developed before it has to prove itself in full racing action. Roberts and sources close to Yamaha both dismiss the possibility of the two getting back together. . The 250cc Suzuki GP road racer will be back in 1997, but the team sponsor and rider lineup has yet to be decided. It is known that Noriyasu Numata will be one of a pair of riders, but the other choice depends on who spon~ sors the team. The team will be managed by two-time 125cc World Champion Haruchika Aoki's former team manager, Arie Molenaar. Aprilia concluded three days of testing at Jerez with new factory riders Tetsuya Harada and Loris Capirossi marginally slower than full-time factory tester Marcellino Lucchi. Lucchi recorded a best of 1:46.10 on the chird day, with Capirossi at 1:46.97, ex125ec GP winner Stefano Perugini 1:47.21, and Harada at 1:47.50. Biaggi's lap record in the 1996 Spanish 250cc GP was 1:45.10, with his pole half-a-tenth quicker than that. But Jerez is notorious for wide variations in surface grip and lap times, even from morning to afternoon, so comparisons are difficult to make. Mystery surrounds the whereabouts of 500cc GP team owner Paolo Pileri, amid accusations of fiscal misdeeds and a pending criminal investigation. His disappearance is a major blow to the racing plans of two-time 125cc World Champion Harachuki Aoki,' who was scheduled to move to the 250cc class with Pileri in 1996. Pileri, himself a former seven-time 125cc GP winner and 1975 World Champion, is a long-standing team owner, fielding Loris Capirossi in his two titles in the 125cc class and then in 250s. Last year, Piled's team featured Alexandre Barros in the 500cc class on a Honda NSR500. Danny Walker's American Super·