Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Cycle News 1997 03 26

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/127832

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INSIDE THE TEXAS TORNADO BY COLIN EDWARDS II irst I'd like to say hello and welcome everyone to a new superbike season. All I can say is that it should be an exciting one. A lot has happened for me personally during the off-season and my new home is at the top of that list. I ended up buying a ranch that's located halfway between Houston and Dallas in a place called Buffalo. Naturally, I've been spending a lot of time getting it dialed in. Right now there are some construction guys there fixing it up a bit and we'll probably be moving in right after Donington in early May. That should be a good time to move because there's just over a month between Donington and the fourth round of the series at Hockenheim, so I should have some time off. In addition to finding the new ranch, I was also able to have a bit of fun over the winter. My girlfriend Alyssia and I joined up with Aaron Slight and his wife Megan, Mike Hale and his girlfriend Kim, and myoid boss here at Yamaha U.S. Tom Halverson in Colorado to do a bit of snow skiing. We had a great time with great weather and skiing cond' tions - just trying to live the good life hile I can. Anyway, I'm definitely a snowboarder. Alyssia, Mike Hale and I were the boarders in our group while the rest of them stuck to snow-skiing. But all good things must end and it hasn't been all fun and games since we've been doing a good bit of testing over the winter. It's been really good having Scott (Russell) on the team because we can run a three-day test and get six days worth of work out of it. We're really able to communicate well together and it's nice having another American on the team. He's able to test stuff and I test stuff and we can work on things together after that. I definitely think having him on the F team will be good for us. Not only is he a great rider, but he also speaks English and communication is really important when it comes to getting the bike going in the right direction. When he came on to the team, his setup was pretty much the same as mine and he only really made small changes to the footpegs and handlebars - just little things to make it more comfortable for him. As far as suspension goes, we seem to like it pretty much the same and that's definLtely going to help both of us throughout the year. As for the bike, I'm really happy with it. Yamaha has done a lot of work since last season and so has Dunlop. I don't really know what the new pieces from Yamaha are, but they've got a few new things to get the bike running a little bit better and it really helps. Starting the season in Phillip Island will be pretty cool. My plan is to get a good result, get my confidence going and then go on from there. Phillip Island's been a good place for me in the past. I just like the track and the bike works really well there. As for the seagulls, 1 had another encounter with one while we were testing there over the winter. I actually skinned one of them alive. I hit him on the front straightaway, but I didn't feel it. Anyway, the impact tore all the feathers off the bird and it was running along the side of the track - featherless. I thought I'd killed it, but Scott came in and said: "Nah, I saw it running along the track but it couldn't fly!" But you can't be thinking about birds though when you're out there racing. If you hit one, you hit one, and you just ha ve to deal with it - it's just one of those things. But I'm definitely going to try to avoid them as much as I can. In a way I view the Australian race as a home race. Since I'm half American and half Australian, it's as much of a home race for me as Laguna Seca. It's definitely a big incentive racing at home because you race in front of family and friends so it's good. I've got a lot of family in Australia and some cousins will be coming down to see me race at Phillip Island, so I'm really looking forward to it. I can't think of a better place to start the season. When I win, don't look for me to start tearing my leathers off on the podium like (Anthony) Gobert did last year. I've just swapped leather companies and I don't have enough to be giving them away right now. It's a pity that I had to switch from Kushitani because I think they're one of the best leather companies out there. Unfortunately, they wanted me to wear their leathers for free and that's just not . the way this business works. This year I'm wearing Spidi leathers and so far they've proven to be perfect. By now you're all aware of what happened down in Daytona - at least on the track. Prior to the race I was able to play in the Cycle News golf tournament - and you all know how much I like to play golf. I was teamed up with Chris Carr, Mat Mladin and Cycle News' Paul Carruthers. We really had a good time, despite the fact that we didn't win. We ended up sh~g a 64 in the scramble format, but Jason Pridmore was too good for us and his team ended up with a 60. We had good weather, a nice golf course and we also raised a bit of money for charity - so you won't get any complaints from me. Mladin also raised a bit of money for himself, winning a $1000 in a closest-to-the-pin contest. Out at the race track, things were going our way right from the begirming and we were looking really good. Scott wasn't on the fast pace early on, but I've got to admit it's a bit intimidating having a teammate who has won the Daytona 200 three times and walked away with a few Rolexes as well. In qualifying, after I broke the lap record, I thought I had the Rolex in the bag. Then Scott went out there and did what he did. I said that I'll be better off when we get out of Scott's backyard and on to some neutral ground and I believe tha t to be true. The guy practically owns Daytona, but once we get to Australia... well, fm the one who's half Aussie, not him. I think having a bit of rivalry on the team is definitely a good thing. The way I look at it is I want to beat Scott as much as he wants to beat me - we are competitors as well as teammates. When you look at the big picture, it's really hard for me to lose either way. Scott wa Superbike World Champion before and he's got a lot of experience on fourstrokes, whereas me and the Japanese have developed the bike to where it is now. Things can really only get better forme. People often ask who I believe will be the main challengers for the World Superbike Championship. I think it will be Carl Fogarty, Aaron Slight again, me, Scott and John Kocinski - and that's all I'm really looking at. I know PierFrancesco Chili and eil Hodgson will have some good races, but I'm not really sure how consistent they'll be. I think the key to winning the championship is to stay in the top three or four every race consistently. You have to win some races, but you also have to finish every race. I haven't won one yet, but r will. It should be an exciting year and I look forward to seeing you' at the races. Peace. a 30 YEARS AGO... APRIL 6, 1967 ers first at the Ross' Hare Scrambles in Ponderosa, California. Bultaco-mounted Jack Ogle got second followed by Triumph-mounted Marvin Steele and Triumph-mounted Steve McQueen. Wes Anderson Jr. won the Trailbike class on a Yamaha with Cleve Thomas taking second on a Honda and Frank Wheeler grabbing third on a Kawasaki... and Hannah on the first night and Ellis (who was also on the cover) beat Pomeroy and Maico's Gaylon Mosier on the second night of racing...Yamaha's Kenny Roberts won the Charlotte AMA ational Road Race in Harrisburg, North Carolina, over teammate Skip Aksland and Kawasaki-mounted Greg Hansford. Roberts also won the Lightweight class over teammate Randy Mamola and Yamaha-mounted Wes Cooley...Husky's Larry Roeseler won the Bull Run Hare Scrambles in California City, California. Tom Brooks got second and Bruce Ogilve finished third ...Husky's Dick Burleson won the opening two rounds of the AMA National Enduro Series in Wiggins, Mississippi, and Dalton, Georgia class at the NMA Silverbowl of Motocross in Las Vegas, Nevada ...Paul Carruthers gave the 1987 BMW K7SS a test ... KTM's Kevin Hines won the Cherokee Enduro, which was round one of the AMA ational Championship Enduro Series. Honda rider Kurt Hough finished second and Husky-mounted Joey Hopkins got third...Tennessee's Kevin Rentzell rode a pair of Suzuki's to three class wins in Talladega, Alabama, in WERA Regional racing action...Bobby "Boogaloo" Schwartz won the Coors Speedway Spring Classic at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa, California. (;N" 20 YEARS AGO... MARCH 12, 1977 ssue 12 that year was the annual April Folly Issue and was titled "Cycledelic News." The issue featured funny quotes and pictures, and a lengthy cartoon called "Wonder Wart-Hog" who meets up with an Asian motorcycle gang...Bill Messer won the 17th annual Cal Poly Penguins Motorcycle Club HiMountain Enduro in San Luis Obispo on -a Triumph. Eddie Day finished second, also on a Triumph, and Nick Nicholson got third on a Greeves ... Rich Thorwaldson took his Bultaco to the check- 10 YEARS AGO... APRIL 1, 1987 I am Honda's Rick Johnson won the 2S0cc class at the Hangtown AMA National Motocross with a II moto score over Kawasaki's Jeff Ward and Yamaha-mounted Ross Pederson in third. Suzuki's George Holland won the 12Scc class with a 2-2 score over teammate Eric Kehoe and Yamaha's Jeff Leisk. ..Team Suzuki's Willie Surratt won the 2S0cc Pro class and Hondamounted Kyle Lewis won the 12Scc TI C an-Am's Jimmy Ellis and Suzuki's Tony DiStefano broke Bob Hannah's winning streak at round three of the AMA Supercross Series in Houston, Texas. DiStefano beat Honda's Jim Pomeroy

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