Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

IN THE WIND Paul Edmondson (Suz) scored the overall win at the second round of the AMA National Championship Hare Scrambles Series in Wilseyville, California, on February 22. Edmondson led a trio of Suzuki riders across the finish line with teammates Rodney Smith and Steve Hatch going 2-3, respectively. Fourth overall went to Patrick Garrahan (I<1M), while Jason Dahners (KTM) rounded out the top five. Mike Brown showed that he will be a force to be reckoned with in Europe this year by scoring the overall win at the Beaucaire Motocross International at the Circuit de St. Roman in France, on February 22. The race, traditionally the first major international event of the year and basically a warmup event for the World Motocross Championship Series, set to get under way in April, saw Brown score the win for his new Yamaha Rinaldi team. Brown did not win a moto in the three-moto-format race, but his consistency earned him the numberOne trophy via 2-3-2 placings. Second overall wen t to Frenchman Fred eric Bolley of the Kawasaki Silkolene team, . while third went to fellow Frenchman and teammate Sebastien Tortelli. Rounding out the top five overall were defending 250cc World Champion Stephane Everts On the HRC Honda and American Tallon Vohland of the Yamaha Rinaldi team. Scott Plessinger (KTM) was the overall winner at round eight of the AMA MidSouth Winter Hare Scrambles Series in New Waverly, Tennessee, on February 23. The runner-up was Doug Blackwell . (Yam), followed by Robert Patterson (Suz), Shad Ricketts (Yam) and Mike Cornett (KTM). Rick Ryan (Suz) and Ray Crumb split wins in the Sacramento, California, round of the CMC Golden State MX Nationals on February 23. Ryan beat Dean Matson (Suz) and Jeffrey Pestana (Kaw) to win the 125cc Pro class with Crumb topping Ryan and Rusty Holland (Kaw) to win the 250cc class. Luca C3dalora was the fastest of the four Yamaha riders who participated in a four-day test at Shah Alam in Malaysia on February 16-18. Yamaha Promotor's Cadalora lapped at 1:24.6, a half second . under the lap record set by John Kocinski in 1991. It was Yamaha's second of three preseason visits to the circuit which will host the opening round of the 1997 World Championship Road Race Series on April 13. Yamaha will return to Shah Alam on March 5 before testing in Spain on March 20-23. ~1 tried many different tires this time," Cadalora said". "My chassis is set up good and this makes me try harder. I tested a lot of new engine modifications that YMC have made and I feel a lot more relaxed and confident. The new direction YMC is taking makes me feel really positive. I think my lap times are a good indication of the direction in which we are working." Cadalora's teammate Troy Corser lapped at 1:25.3, a bit faster than his laps set earlier in the month. "The first day I ~ returned, I wanted to start at the point ~ where we left off," Corser said. "I am ,...... starting to like the bike now. We concentrated a lot On the different setting I tried last time, but I've now found a good setting and this will let me improve the next time we return in March." Yamaha Team Rainey's Norifumi Abe was third quickest at 1:25.6 while his Spanish teammate Sete Gibernau lapped at 1:25.9. Two-time 250cc MX World Champion Stephane Everts says he will not compete at the opening round of the AMA National Championship MX Series at Gatorback Cycle Park in Gainesville, Florida, March 2, after all. Instead, the HRC Honda rider will be competing in .a race in Italy. The AMA has added two races to the 1997 AMA National Hare & Hound Series, a September 21 event in Yerington, Nevada, and a November 1 series finale'in Wells, Nevada. The series began on January 26 in Lucerne Valley, California, with Ty Davis taking the win over defending series champion Greg Zitterkopf. The updated series schedule is as follows: March 16 - Murphy, Idaho; April 12 - Jericho, Utah; September 21 Yerington, Nevada; October 12 - Oreanna, Idaho; October 26 - Lucerne Valley, California; ovember 1 - Wells, evada. AMA Pro Racing is exploring the possibility of adding asphalt races to the AMA Grand National Championship Series in the future. To that end the sanctioning body is looking to receive more feedback from Grand National and Expert riders by encouraging them to participate in a no-cost practice session during the AMA/MARS asphalt race at Volusia County Speedway in Barberville, Florida, On March 2. "Riders will be required to enter the race for insurance purposes," AMA Dirt Track Manager Bruce Bober said. "At the end of the session (approxima tely 90 minutes), any rider not wishing to time trial will receive a full refund." For more information on the practice session or the race, call Ken Lilly at MARS, 803/626-7959. The Southeastern Trials Riders Association recently voted unanimously to make Geoff Aaron, Ryan Young, Ray Peters, Mark Manniko and Jess Kempkes honorary members of the association. In addition, Laura Bussing was elected president of STRA, making her the first woman president of a trials club. The International Six-Day Enduro OSDE) Board of Directors will choose the 1997 U.S. World Trophy and Junior Trophy ISDE teams at the board's March 5 meeting in Daytona Beach, Florida, according to the AMA. This year's ISDE is scheduled for August 19-24 in Brescia, Italy. ISDE enthusiasts can be part of the action and support Team USA at this year's event by traveling as part of the Team USA Tour, offered by the AMA and Central Park Travel. For more information, write Central Park Travel at 1112 Finnegan Way, Bellingham, WA 98225, or call 800/657-2550. American Suzuki has announced that it will hold demo rides at the Suzuki tent on Manufacturer's Row outside Daytona International Speedway on March 4-7, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Customers can choose between a 1997 Bandit 1200, VZ800 Marauder, VS1400 Intruder or RF900R for an escorted demo loop near the speedway. After directing the placement of 102 16yard truckloads of limestone and clay and more than 500 plastic-bagged hay bales as well as the operation of a Caterpillar 515 front-end loader, a D5 bulldozer and a Ford 555 backhoe for five days, Gary Bailey has completed his 27th Daytona Supercross track. "What we've done with this year's track is make it quite a bit different from previous years," Bailey said of the mile-long track. Antunez nets AMA Arenacross title eam Thor/Primal Impulse/Tuf Honda's Buddy Antunez grabbed the first professional . championship title of his 101)-g career when he was crowned as the AMA/PJl National Arenacross Series Champion after the final round of the 13-stop tour at the Denver Coliseum in Denver, Colorado, on February 22. Antunez came to Denver with a 13point lead over F&S Suzuki's Cliff Palmer - the only other man still capable of winning the championship - 739-726, and Antunez finished fourth in Friday's 125cc main event after jamming his alreadydamaged wrist over a jump while Palmer raced to second to pick up valuable points. Later in the night, Antunez rode through the pain of his injury to claim a heroic 250cc main-event victory while Palmer finished second. During a live television broadcast on Saturday, Antunez got a scare with a near-last-place start in the 125cc main. Palmer went on to finish third while Antunez charged to sixth before the checkered flag fell, and thus only needed to finish 10th or better in the 250cc main if Palmer were to win. Antunez kept his cool and cruised to another sixth in the 250cc main while Palmer could do no better than fourth, thus assuring the Californian of his first championship by seven points, 800-793. Colorado's Shawn Morgan thrilled his home-state crowd with a win in Friday's 125cc main event while Team Green/ProAction/Barr's Competition's Mike Jones won the 125cc main on Saturday. Team Thor/Primal Impulse/Tuf Honda's Denny Stephenson claimed the SBS Dash for Cash Series crown and also won the final250cc main event of the year on Saturday. T "I looked at the tapes of our races from the '80s and saw what made those races exciting.l've incorporated some of those features into this year's track. The strong guys - those with stamina and endurance - are still the favorites. This year, with the rider changes, and making the track a lot tougher, I don't believe you can pick a ~er." The defending Daytona Supercross champion is Jeremy McGrath. McGrath will arrive at Daytona winless in the six rounds held thus far in 1997. Tickets for the Daytona Supercross, scheduled for March 8 at the Speedway, are available from the Speedway ticket office at 904/252-2453. Lucky Strike Suzu..ki will share the' Phillip Island race track with the Repsol Honda team the week of February 25 after encountering searing heat and blustery winds during their test last week, according to Cycle News contributor Darryl Flack. Only a week after their mostly rained-out test at Australia's Eastern Creek, Lucky Strike Suzuki's Anthony Gobert and Daryl Beattie faced poor conditions when they traveled to Phillip Island. "We had three days over 100 degrees and lots of wind, which made chasing a fast lap a waste of time," Lucky Strike spokesman Stu Avant said. "We had to get through a lot of different equipment anyway after the rain at Eastern Creek, which meant lots of stops to change and swap parts, so it's been a very difficult time for the riders. It's great tha t we've negotiated with Honda to share the track next week and I only hope the conditions will allow us to sort through the rest of our program." Three-time World Champion Michael Doohan will test the first complete 1997 Honda NSRSOO on February 25 at Phillip Island in Australia. "At the first test, we basically tested a '% bike with '97 parts, but the boys went back to Japan to develop the new bike which we'll be testing this week," Doohan said. "Being fastest is nice, but at this stage it's more important to be consistent, which is what we've managed to do - the only time it'simportant to be fastest is in a race situation." Doohan is slated to drive a 1937 Mer- cedes around the Albert Park Formula One circuit in Melbourne, Australia, when the upcoming F-l car GP visits in' early March. "l've never driven anything that old, but it should be a bit of fun," Doohan said. "They're going to have to change the configuration of the pedals for me, so it's going to be interesting." A world-premiere party for the new video No Respect will be held on March 4 at 8 p.m. at the Galaxy Theater in Santa Ana, California. Tickets can be purchased by calling 800/688-6686. You must be 18 years or older to attend. Adelanto GP trophies will be given out at a trophy presentation on April 5, following the last race of the day at the 037 Hilltoppers GP in Twentynine Palms, California. For more information, call Dan Daniels at 909/678-0419. The 1997 Dual Sport Ride for Kids has been schedulea for March 16, beginning at the Glen Helen OHV Park north of San Bernardino, California. Sponsored by the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation of the United States and AMA Dual Sport 0-37, this year's ride will take participants on a 90-mile ride through the San Bernardino mountains. For more information, call 818/951-1333. K&N Engineering has joined the WERA National Endurance Series as title sponsor of the Mediumweight Superstock class for 1997. For more information, call WERA at 770/924-8404. The world-famous Chris Carter will again host a radio show during Camel Motorcycle Week in Daytona Beach, Florida, March 1-8. Carter's show will take place in the boardroom of the Ramada Inn Speedway, directly across the street from Daytona Interna tional Speedway, and will air nightly on WNDB 1150 AM. Harley-Davidson will have 30 motorcycles from its 1997 lineup available for demo rides, beginning on March 4 at Daytona International Speedway. The Daytona event is the first of 13 demo

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