Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

IN THE WIND Frenchman Bruno Camozzi (G-G) took a decisive home-country victory at round four of the World Cup Indoor rials series in Toulouse, France, January 18, finishing on a strong 11 points. Series leader Doug Lampkin (Bet) finished second with 17, followed by an off-form Marc Colomer (Mon) with 25. Buddy·Antunez (Hon) won the 125cc Pro class on both nights of racing in the AMA PJl ational Arenacross Series rounds, held at the New Haven Coliseum in New Haven, Connecticut, on January 17-18, while Denny Stephenson (Hon) and Gift Palmer (Suz) split wins in the 250cc Pro class. On Friday night, Antunez topped Jeff Dement (Kaw) and Stephenson before coming back to beat Stephenson and Shawn Morgan (Kaw) in 125cc action on Saturday night. In the 250cc class, Stephenson beat Kevin Crine (Suz) and Antunez on Friday night, but was beaten by Palmer on Saturday. Third place on Saturday night went to Jimmy Gaddis (Kaw). Antunez leads Palmer by just two points in the championship point standings, 504-502 Paul Currie (Kaw) and Tony Lorusso (Suz) were the big winners in round four of the Florida Winter AMA Series, held at Sun State MX Raceway in Florida, January 19. Currie won the 125cc Pro class after beating Keith Johnson (Kaw) and Lorusso. Lorusso came back to win the 250cc Pro class, topping Johnson and Scott Carter. Earl May (Kaw) won the Vet Pro class. The final piece of the 500cc Grand Prix class puzzle is having trouble finding a place, while money moguls Marlboro try to manipulate the situation that sees them short of riders for their top Japanese works team, reports Cycle News correspondent Michael Scott. The problem is finding a replacement for Loris Capirossi, who walked out of his contract with Wayne Rainey's Marlboro Yamaha team. At press time, the problem at hand was being thrashed around at Phillip Morris' headquarters in Switzerland. The plan, apparentiy, is to switch Jean-Michel Bayle from his slot on the Kenny Roberts team (also Marlboro-backed) to ride on Rainey's team alongside Norifumi Abe. But there is strong opposition from Roberts, while Rainey is just waiting for word from his sponsors. "I'm waiting for Marlboro to tell me," Rainey said on Sunday, January 19. "That's the way racing is at the moment. I'm hoping to hear tomorrow." Informed sources close to Marlboro have said it would be Bayle or nobody, leaving Rainey with a one-rider team against the Troy Corser/Luca Cadalora combination in the new Alfred Inzingerowned Power Horse team. Other rumors have Marlboro poaching Cadalora (with whom they have a personal contract) for its Yamaha team. But Ra4ley's response to suggestions that he might employ his former teammate was succinct: "No way." Kenny Roberts, meanwhile, has written off the rumors about Bayle leaving his team as "total speculation. You could specula te tha t I am going to work for Wayne's (Rainey) team if you want," Roberts said. "But I know I have Bayle and (Kenny Roberts) Junior under contract." If the deal goes through in spite of Roberts' objections, it will not only drive another wedge between former friends and allies Roberts and Rainey, it will also be further proof of Marlboro's growing level of control over the rider market. Of course, sponsors always exert influence over who rides for the major teams. Is this a sinister trend?' "No," insists IRTA boss Paul Butler. "Considering the size of Marlboro's budget and the length of time they've been in the sport, it's only natural." Three-time 250cc World Champion Max Biaggi has hit the gossip columns of Europe with his name being linked with that of British "supermodel" Naomi Campbell after the two were seen together over a period of three days, at nightclubs and at his apartment. "We're just very good friends," smiled Biaggi. But reports persist that Campbelt was two-timing her regular Spanish boyfriend "with Italy's most eligible bachelor." The Homestead, Florida, round of the AMA Superbike National Championship has been officially' dropped from the "tentative" schedule. The series now consists of 10 rounds, beginning with the Cruise America Arizona Superbike Challenge at Phoenix International Raceway on February 14-16 and winding up with the series finale at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on October 3-5. Dirt tracker Steve Morehead will likely miss the AMA Grand ational Championship Series season opener in Daytona in March. The Findlay Flyer exploded a disc between the fifth and sixth vertebrae in his neck while helping a friend move an appliance and had to undergo emergency surgery on Friday, January 10. "I shattered the disc into eight pieces," Morehead said. 'They made an . incision in my throat and went in there with a microscope and found all the pieces and removed them. Then they went in and replaced two bones and framed it all in titanium. I get to keep that for life, so my name ain't Morehead anymore. It's Metalhead." Morehead said that his doctor believes it will take three months for the injury to heal completely. "I have to go back in two weeks to get the staples out of my neck," Morehead said. "If I can race at Daytona, then fine. If I can't, I can't. In the meantime I'm trying to organize my races down at Daytona." Recall that Morehead is a promoter at Volusia County Speedway in Barberville, Florida, during Camel Motorcycle Week. Motocrosser Lowell Moural Jr. suffered a broken left leg and a dislocated knee during the opening round of the AMA Supercross Series at the Los Angeles Memorial Coli~eum on January 11. Moural i expected to undergo surgery. Cards and letters can be sent to Moural at 3768 Rodgers Ave., Chico, CA 95928. The final round of the Action Sports Arenacross Series is sched uled for February 8-9 at the Kentucky Expo Center in Louisville, Kentucky. The leader in both the 125 and 250cc Pro classes going into the final round is Davey Yezek. Early registration will take place on Friday, February 7 from 6 to 8 p.m. For more information, call 614/594-6686. Wiseco has announced its largest AMA Supercross and National Motocross contingency ever - posted at over $60,000. In addition to paying back to 20th in each class, Wiseco is also posting six mechanics awards at each race. For more il1formation, call Jay Clark at 909/672-9636. PACE Motor Sports, the producer of the AMA Supercross Series, signed a multiyear agreement with Parts Unlimited Gobert tops Beattie in first test ,..-------....,-;,..-,;:----------,z ~ oung Anthony Gobert (right) lapped faster than his fellow Australian and teammate Daryl Beattie in Lucky Strike Suzuki's first official test of the 1997 RGv500, held at Eastern Creek near Sydney, Australia, on January 14-17. Gobert lapped at 1:31.00 in the final session of the three-day test, half a second quicker than Beattie, who is returning to racing following his recovery from serious head injuries and a badly broken wrist in 1996. "I'm loving riding the 500," said Gobert, conducting a post-test interview with a beer in each hand. "My years in World Superbike were very frustrating because I didn't want to be there in the first place. The 500 really suits my style, and I can learn more and go faster. I want to ride it forever." The Suzuki factory has undertaken its biggest revamp since 1991 with the designated XR87 version of the RGv500. Team officials were extremely tight-lipped about the changes that they hope will give them their first victory since the German GP in 1995. Lucky Strike Suzuki team manager Garry Taylor did comment that the only interchangeable parts with the 1996 model are the handgrips. 'The bike is radical by our standards because we really haven't had a change of bike for six years or so," Taylor said. "Those who mow what they are looking for would see the changes." The bike is certainly narrower and more compact, as Taylor confirmed, and also has more midrange. But the Brit stopped short of ouUining detaiIed specifications. A curs0ry glance of the new Suzuki shows a lithesome front area, which also appears lower given the positioning of the new and larger air scoops feeding the airbox. The factory and team believe the time for a change is ripe, given that Gobert is new to the 500cc GP scene and Beattie is virtually making a comeback to racing after only finishing two races in 1996. '1t went all wrong for US last year when we lost Daryl and we never really recovered from that," Taylor said. "Scott Russell worked hard for us last year, and we're grateful for that, but I think the task was too much for him and he lost track toward the end of the year. Scott's a damn good rider and I'm sure he will do well where he is Y now." In the absence of Beattie, Taylor said the team was left to rely on feedback from Rus- sell and Beattie's two replacements, Terry Rymer and Peter Goddard, in coming up with the 1997 bike. "Peter was a great help to us at the end of the year," Taylor said. "We've started this week with la t year's bike as a yardstick and spent the first half of the day getting the . best out of that because that was the only bike we had to compare against. On the last day, particularly, we got into the new bike, this new-generation bike. We still have a lot of work, though, but I would doubt that anything but the grips will be the same on the new bike." The configuration of a braced swingarm has also been altered, with the use of more extruded components. It is also believed that the geometry - both front and rear - has been changed to facilitate a quicker steering response without sacrificing stability. The all-new chassis closely resembles the superseded one, but a change to the front-end geometry has been made to cure a tendency to understeer. Gobert's crew chief Stuart Shenton would only indicate that while the new bike is a departure, it still has a twin-crank V-four engine - although with very few interchangeable parts from the 1996 bike. Gobert used the new bike over the final two days of the test and, despite his limited 500cc experience, was able to record the fastest time of the test. Shenton is confident of "a lot more to come." Asked if the Suzuki was going down the same road as Honda with pre-Big Bang crank timing, Taylor said: "Our new bike is definitely not a retro bike in terms of being pre-1992, but it is very different." Three-time World Champion Michael Doohan clocked a sizzling 1:29.1 lap time after the 1996 Australian Grand Prix, reportedly using a pre-Big Bang engine. Gobert didn't surprise anyone with his bold decIaration that he plans on winning a GP in his first season. "It's a big task, but I want to win in my first year," he said, his hair now colored a shade of pink. "That's the way I'm feeling and that's what I'm setting out to do. The chances of it realistically happening-might not be very high in other people's views, but I believe it is because the only thing I need to learn is the machine. I've ridden bikes all my life, so it's not going to take me very long to learn the Suzuki. That only leaves me with the race tracks and I've been to most of them already." "Having Anthony is great," Taylor said. "He's a one-off, he's good fun and he's doing a great job. He's certainly not taking his time to get into it because he's going fast. He's not doing any heroics. He's not doing anything stupid and he's very good to work with. It's easy for the mechanics to understand him and everyone is looking forward to the season with a lot of enthusiasm. I think Anthony can do some podiums and I think he can win a race or two tins year. If we give him the right bike, 1'ln sure he can do that." Darryl Flack on January 15, a pact that will result in Parts Unlimited expanding its sponsorship commitment to the AMA Supercross Series. The agreement went into effect for round two of the series, held at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on January 18. Team Moto XXX's Brian Swink was only slightly shaken following his hard 1

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