Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

The 1997 AMA Amateur National Motocross program is set to begin with thousands of riders gearing up for spring qualifying rounds en route to the AMA Youth & Amateur National Motocross Championships August 4-9 at Loretta Lynn's in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee. Area qualifiers are held across the country. For more information, call 6147891-2425. The greatest increase of supercross spectators from one year to another took place in round three of the AMA Supercross Series in Tempe, Arizona, according to event promoters. In 1991, the last time the series visited Sun Devil Stadium, some 19,000 people attended the event - that grew to 63,656 for this year's race. PACE Motorsports has announced that all amateur supercross events scheduled to run in conjunction wi th the AMA Supercross Series have been postponed for the 1997 season, except for the event sched u1ed for April 14 in Pontiac, Michigan. According to Roy Janson, director of supercross operations for PACE, the amateur program will return after a comprehensive amateur racing program has been completed. J. Witty, SO, died on September 19, 1996, from a heart attack at his' home in Eustis, Florida. Witty, a former Dade County police officer, was a longtime off-road rider, competing in dual sport, enduro and hare scrambles events. Several famous racing venues will be included on the 1997 AMA dirt track racing series schedule, a series which begins on February 28 at Oglethorpe Speedway in Savannah, Georgia. The 17-event Hot Shoe Championship Series includes races at Daytona Beach Municipal Stadium, the Indiana and lllinois State Fairgrounds and the historic Peoria Motorcycle Clubgrounds. The series will inclu.de 750 and 600cc Expert Pro classes, combined with 600 and 250cc Pro-Am classes with selected events also including Harley-Davidson 883 races. For more information, call the AMA at 614/891-2425. Motocrosser Davey Yezek fractured his 12th vertebra and suffered a broken foot at Perris Raceway in Perris, California, on February 2. Cards and letters can be sent to Yezek at Riverside General Hospital, Room 309, Riverside, CA 92503. Mike Corbin has announced that he has obtained the necessary permits to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the 1947 Hollister motorcycle gathering. Corbin's ride is scheduled for July 4 in Hollister, California. For more information, call 408/633-2500. Tulare Cycle Park will host a vintage IT on Saturday, February 22, the day before the AHRMA Vintage Motocross on February 23. For more information, call 209 1685-0503. With the AMAI MBNA Superbike Series scheduled to start February 14-16 at Ph'oenix International Raceway in Phoenix, Arizona, Smokin' Joe's Racing's Miguel DuHamel and Doug Polen are at the top of the list of active riders with Superbike National victories. DuHamel and Polen are tied for fifth with 13 victories, one behind Eddie . Lawson. Fred Merkel heads the' all-time win list with 20 victories, the last of which came in 1986. Wayne Rainey is second on the list with 16, followed by Freddie Spencer's 15. Polen, meanwhile, is tied with Spencer for AMA Superbike pole positions with 18. AHRMA's 1997 rulebook is now available on-line through the organization's site on the World Wide. Web (http://www.ahrma.org.com) Spanish World Trials Champion Marc Colomer (Mon) closed tlie gap on 1997 World Cup Indoor Trials Series points leader Doug Lampkin (Bet) with his home-country victory in Barcelona, Spain, on February 8. As a result, Lampkin's lead in the series has been reduced to only four points, 91-87. Amos Bilbao (G-G) finished third. The final round of the AMA/PJ1 National Arenacross Series by MSR I Answer is set to be televised live, according to Mike Kidd Promotions. The series-ending Denver, Colorado" round will be shown as it happens on the Speedvision satellite network at 9:30 p.m. EST. [t was' a longtime goal to get our PJl National Arenacross Series televised," MKP president Mike Kidd said. "I think this season we proved that we have a TV audience that enjoys the close and intense racing of Arenacross. It makes for a great show. Now with the opportunity to showcase our sport with a three-and-a-half-hour live television special, this not only adds credibility as a national-caliber sport, but offers valuable exposure for our sponsors, riders and teams." Muzzy Kawasaki's Doug Chandler, Tommy Hayden and Todd Harrington and HyperCycle Suzuki's Jason Pridmore and Mark Miller tested new Dunlop tires at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on January 27-28, with Chandler recording a 1:38.9 best over the two days, a bit off his 1:37.529 pole position time set at last year's AMA National. Chandler tested three compounds of 17-inch front slicks, three compounds of 16.5-inch rears and three compounds of 17-inch rears. Hayden's best superbike time was a 1:41.6 and his 600cc Supersport best was a 1:44.1; Harrington, meanwhile, logged a 1:42.37 on his 600cc Supersport-spec Kawasaki. Pridmore had his first outing on the HyperCycle Suzukis, posting a 1:41.47 on the GSXR750 (under Aaron Yates' pole time of 1:42.342 set last year) and a 1:41.82 on his GSXR600 (Andrew Stroud's pole time of a year ago in the 600cc Supersport class was a 1:42.923). "Coming into the HyperCycle Suzuki team, I knew I'd be on the best bike out there, but I was pleasantly surprised to be under both tiack records first time out," Pridmore said. "My team assures me they can make the bikes even better - 1 can hardly wait for the season to start." Miller, meanwhile, lapped at 1:42.57 on the 7SO and 1:43.95 on the·6oo. OPENED: Nitrous Oxide Systems' home page on the World Wide Web. The site can be found at the following address: http://nosnitrous.com. NAMED: Greg L.1si'ewski as Kawasaki Team Green parts coordinator. Lasiewski will handle racing parts in road racing. off-road and m.otocross. AUTOGRAPH SIGNING, At PlainE,eld Kawasaki in Plainfield, Indiana, on February 14 from 7 to 8 p.m. Team Kawasaki's Jeff Emig. Damon Huffman and Ryan Hughes are scheduled to appear. For more information, call 317/839-2391. RESCHEDULED, The 1997 GFI Winter Series North/South Showdown to March 23 at Perris Raceway in Perris, California. The change is due to flooding in Northern California. For more informa. tion, call 909/653-4042. The Modenas KR3 cheduled to take to the race track for the first time this week, photo~ and information regarding Kenny Roberts new three-cylinder 500cc Grand· Prix motorcycle were released by Marlboro on Friday, February 7, with the bike being labeled the Modenas KR3. The V-three is a collaboration between Marlboro Team Roberts and Modenas, a Malaysian manufacturer of 1l0cc street bikes, and is being built in Roberts' new facility in Banbury, England. . . "Modenas is a very ambitious, forward-thinkmg company, just like ourselves," three-time World Champion Kenny Roberts said. "Their people are looking to the future, so they were immediately interested in joining forces with us. I've been very impressed during my visits to their headquarters and I know this project is going to be extremely fruitful for both companies. We want to work with the best people and so do they, so we make a great (From left to right) Jean-Michel Bayle, Kenny Roberts and Kenny partnership." . Designed and engineered by Marlboro Team Roberts Jr. pose WIth the KR3. Roberts and TWR (a road and racing car design, engineering and manufacturing company that now r~s the Arrows For?"ul'l One team which will field World Champion Damon Hill this season), the KR3 IS the ~st motorcycle to come from Britain's ~ormula One car industry. Roberts c~s the project "the most exciting thing I've done smce I stopped raong. It's as close as I ve ever got to going into ba'ttle with my helmet on." .. . . Work started on the KR3 ill May of 1996, It was fired up for the first .time on December 14 and the bike is scheduled to make its racing debut in the MalaySIan SOOcc Grand Prix o~ April 13 in the hands of Kenny Roberts Jr. and Jean-Michel Bayle.Desi.gned by Australian Warren Willing, the KR3 is unique among current SOOcc GP bikes ill that It uses a three-cylinder design, rather than the four- and two-cylinder engmes currently employed by Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki, Aprilia m:d EUISwissau~o. The Roberts Gr?up opted for a V-three design because they feel a tnple offers the Ideal power-to-welght ratio for modem race tracks, allowing them to take advantage of current GP r~~a tions which allow three-eylinder bikes to weigh 33 pounds less than the fours. WIth ItS claimed weight of 264 pounds (11 pounds over the minimum), Roberts and cre,:" are hoping that while the bike will produce less peak horsepower than the f?ur-cylmder competition, it will also be lighter, more manueverable, ~ore'aerodynanucand more controllable, offering better power delivery and better ~e life. . Although the majority of the motorcycle was desIgned and built by Roberts and TWR the KR3 will use outside vendors for some components - Brembo brakes, Ohlins susp~nsion and Marchesini wheels. Roberts' team has also opted to use Michelin tires on the new bike. . Roberts had the first ride on tbe bike in December, but has since given way to Roberts Jr. and Bayle, both of whom have had limited time on the machine. "Wow, this thing is fast," was how Roberts Jr. summed up his initial impression of the KR3. "It was real hard to keep the front end down. I was pretty surpnsed how fast it was first time out, though I guess I knew all along that the bike would live up to expectations. My vision of how it is going to turn out is really good. I'm really, really confident in Warren (Willing), Mike (Sinclair), my dad and the rest of the team, so I know this is going to be the best bike out there. Up until I rode the bike at the end of January, all I'd seen were some pictures, plus a handlebar my dad gave me for ChrISt. . . mas. But even the first time out was great." Modenas chairman Y.Bhg. Tan Sri Dato' Seri Yahaha Ahmad IS also highly enthusIastic about the companies' new venture: "This is a strategi~ alliance in our effort to build a meaningful presence in the world motorcycle market, he saId. S BORN, Zachary james George, to longtime Anzona motocrosser jim George and his wife Trish on February 4 in Arkansas. CANCELED: The Sidecar Racers Association event at the AMA Superbi~e National at Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, California, April 18-20, due to track-time limitations. The SRA will be holding its first race of the season at Willow Springs Raceway in Rosamond, California, Apri119-20. For more information, call 916/339-1778. AUTOGRAPH SIGNING, At Honda/Suzuki/ Kawasaki of O~a1a in Ocala, Florida, on February 28. Members of Team Kawasaki, Team Suzuki, Honda of Troy, SplitFire/Pro.Circuit Kawasaki, Moto XXX, Performance Engineering and AXO are scheduled to appear. For more information, call 352/732-8531. . OPENED, Neanderthal Cycle Salvage's home page on the World Wide Web. The site can be fOlU1d at the following address: http://www.cycle salvage.com. STOLEN, 1996 Honda CR125 Hond. of Troy motocross bike, V1N #jH2jE0107TM702471. The bike was stolen from a trailer the week of January 27 in Fort Lauderda.le, Florida. For more information, caU Tim Shea at 954/972-1028. CORRECTION: Allen Wenzel was not appoint- ed to the AHRMA Board of T.rustees, he was elected to the poSition in a democratic process, according to AHRMA executive director Je.ff Smith. AUTOGRAPH SIGNING, At Slo City Cycles in San Luis Obispo, California, on February 14 from 4 to 9 p.m. Team Green's Ty Davis and Larry Roeseler are scheduled to appear. For more information. call 805/541-1714. HffiED: Chris Maida as editor of Thunder Alley and Hot XL magazines, by TAM Communications. For more information, call2Q3/425-8m. OPENED: California Superbike School's home page on the World Wide Web. The site can be found at the follOWing address: http://www.super bikes.com. MOVED: Hinson Gutch Components, to 1630 W. 11th St., Unit E, Upland, CA 91786, 909/946-2942 (phone), 909/985-2301 (fax). OPENED: GNC Motocross' home page on the World Wide Web. The site can be found at the following address: http://www.gnonx.com. OPENED, The Pike's Peak International Hilldimb home page on the Wo,rid Wide Web. The site can be found at the following address: http://www. ppihc.com. '.:N 3

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