Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

IN THE WIND Brit Doug Lampkin (Bet) won the first round of the World Observed Trials Championship in St. Fruitos d. Bages, Spain, on April 5-6, the first of the new two-day trial format. Lampkin won on day one with a score of 37, topping defending World Champion Marc Colomer (Mon) by 10 points. Multitime World Champion Jordi Tarres (GG) finished third. The second day of the trial was won by Japan's Kenichi Kuroyama (Bet) by just a single point over Colomer. Lampkin, meanwhile, was third on the second day with David Cobos (G-G) fourth and Gabriel Reyes (Mon) fifth. Lampkin leads the championship point standings with 35 points, one clear of Colomer. Kuroyama is third with 27 points. British expatriate and reigning World Enduro Champion Paul Edmondson (Suz) came out on top of a heated battle with Scott Plessinger (KTM) at the combined Grand National Cross Country (round four)/National Hare Scrambles (round three) race at Loretta Lynn's Dude Ranch in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee, on April 6. Scott Summers (Hon), Steve Hatch (Suz) and Rodney Smith (Suz) filled the top five. Former National Enduro Champion Kevin Hines (CRE) topped the 140-mile Tecate Enduro in Tecate, Mexico, on April 5, with a score of 27 points. Ty Davis (Kaw) was second with 27, losing to Hines on a tie breaker by .01 of a second, 125cc-mounted Jimmy Lewis (TM) placed third with 33, Team Green's Larry Roeseler (Kaw) finished fourth with 35 and Northern California's David Wood (Hon) finished fifth with 41. Team Yamaha's Justin Buckelew won big at the 26th annual NMA World Mini GP at Las Vegas Speedway in Las Vegas, Nevada, on April 3-6. Buckelew took the overall in three classes, topping 80cc Stock and Modified 14- to 16year-old, as well as the Supermini class. Other class winners included Shae Bentley (Yam) in 125cc Stock Pro, Danny Smith (Yam) in 125cc Modified Pro, Rusty Holland (Kaw) in 250cc Stock Pro and· Chris Wheeler (Suz) in 250cc Mod Pro. Troy Bayliss (Suz) won both legs in the Shell Australian Superbike Championship in Baskerville, Tasmania, on April 6. Martin Craggill (Kaw) finished second in both races with Damon Buckmaster (Kaw) and Shawn Giles (Hon) splitting third-place finishes. The race was marred by an accident that left privateer David Emmerson with head and spinal injuries, reports Cycle News contributor Darry Flack. . Lucky Strike Suzuki's Anthony Gobert will make his 500cc Grand Prix debut on April 14 in Malaysia, despite rebreaking his right collarbone and being knocked unconscious at Shah A1am two weeks ago during a private test. Although Gobert has vowed to get through the three days of practice and racing at Shah Alam, Suzuki factory rider Katsuaki Fujiwara is on standby if t-.. the Australian should be forced to with~ draw. Peter Goddard, the team's nomi...... nated reserve rider, is already commit\15 ted to racing in the 24 Hours of Le Mans ...... o.n April 12-13. e e Legislation that would create New York state's first-ever self-funded motorcycle safety program has passed that state's Senate and is now off to the Assembly for consideration, according to the AMA. The bill, SB-2496, sponsored by state Senator Owen H. Johnson (R-Suffolk), would establish a protected fund to be financed by a $3.50 surcharge on motorcycle registrations and endorsements. The fund would be used exclusively for rider education activities throughout the state. The bill also would exempt graduates of the program from having to take the state department of motor vehicles road test to obtain a motorc.ycle endorsement. Currently, New York is only one of six states that does not adminster a selffunded motorcycle safety program to educate motorcyclists. "This is a very big victory for New York motorcyclists and Senator Johnson deserves a lot of credit for his untiring efforts to promote motorcycle safety in his state," said Sean Maher, AMA legislative affairs specialist. The AMA and others in the motorcyclists rights movemen't are optimistic about a preliminary federal rule that would curtail health insurance discrimination against motorcyclists. The interim rule, to be issued April 8 and currently being finalized by officials in the Departments of Health and Human Resources, Labor and the Treasury, is another step toward the final implementation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. Portions of the act prohibit employers from denying health care coverage to employees who are injured while riding motorcycles. While some of the language in the interim rule indicates that federal regulators do not intend to allow employers to arbitraily reduce health care benefits of certain classes of individuals like motorcyclists, there are other portions of the regulation where officials are still seeking public comment before drafting their final rule. Six-time World Champion Jim Redman will ride Team Obsolete's Honda Six as part of the Team Obsolete vintage exhibition during the Toyota Challenge of Laguna Seca, round three of the AMA Superbike Series, in Monterey, California, on April 19-20. In addition, David Aldana will ride the team's MV Agusta and Yvon Duhamel will be aboard a Benelli 350 four. Don Vesco and Dave Roper will also take part in the exhibition, riding an MV Agusta and an AJS 7R3, respectively. The AMA Women and Motorcycling National Conference, scheduled for July 13-15 in Westerville, Ohio, has gained a new corporate sponsor - Progressive Motorcycle Insurance. "Our sponsorship of the Women and Motorcycling National Conference is a natural outreach of other events we sponsor to . promote the sport," said Jim Lloyd, Progressive's general manager for motorcy: c1e products. "We're proud to say that we insure a great many women motorcyclists and look forward to seeing more women enter the sport." Factory Yamaha road racer Tom Kipp has switched leather companies, effective for the third round of the series at Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, California, on April 20. Kipp will now be fitted in Be1l2 safety gear, joining contracted riders Doug Toland, Roland Sands, Chris Rogers, Tray Batey, Josh Hayes, Reuben Frankenfield, Chris Ulrich and La Vaughn Montgomery. The Wax Shop has announced that it will again host the Wax Shop Pro Bike Yamaha's four-stroke wins Italian GP A .ndrea Bartolini gave Yamaha's four-stroke YZM400F a win in only its secondever Grand Prix as the Italian posted a 1-2 tally in winning the Italian 500cc Grand Prix, held in Castiglione dal Lago, Italy, on April 6.. In addition to making history with Yamaha's new bike, Bartolini also put himself in the record books by becoming only the fourth rider in the history of the sport to win Grands Prix in all three classes - 125, 250 and 500cc. In doing so, Bartolini joins Eric Geboers, Trampas Parker and Kees van der Ven as the only riders to win in alI three divisions. "This win has given me the most satisfaction," a jubilant Bartolini said after the race. "To win, and so quickly, on a bike in which I have been involved in the development, is particularly sweet. And in front of my home crowd." Defending World Champion Shayne IiCing and new points leader Joel Smets also had cause for delight. King managed to beat Bartolini in the second moto with Smets going to the top of the championship points tally via his 2-3 score - all on his 28th birthday. "And it's the first race for a long time that I didn't crash in either moto," Smets said. Vertemati-mounted Trampas Parker, the lone American in the series, ended the day with a 7-5 tally from the two motos. Smets leads the World Championship point standings over King, 54-49. Bartoloni is third with 45 points. Dash, a special race featuring the top eight Pro Stock motorcycle riders in the NHRA Winston drag racing series, at the NHRA U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis,'Indiana, on August 30. The race will pay a $25,000 purse and will be televised live on TNN, according to Wax Shop. DESMO of Indiana, a motorcycle club serving Northern Indiana riders, will conduct a road rally on May 4, a checkpoint tt> checkpoint rally covering roughly 120 miles. The rally will begin in the parking lot of Action Motor Sports in Lafayette at 1 p.m. For more information, call 765/423-1001. Donald o. Woods, 60, a former editor ot'Dixie Cycle News and The Island Navigator, died on March 9. A 19-year resident of the Florida Keys, Woods also served as director of professional competition for the AMA and was working on several novels at the time of his death. Woods is survived by his wife, Fran, and son, Tazio. Summit Point Raceway in Summit Point, West Virginia, will host three motorcycle tune and test days for road racers in 1997, beginning on Thursday, May 1, prior to the AHRMA National.. The second. day will be held on July 31, prior to the WERA National Endurance event, and the third test day is scheduled for August 20. Preregistration is recommended. For more information, call Roger Lyle at 301/933-2599. In an effort to consolidate its business position and to concentrate on the production of the new Vee Two Squalo street bike, Vee Two has announced its withdrawal from road racing in the U.S. The Australian motorcycle components manufacturer was scheduled to chase the AHRMA Battle of the Twins F-1 and Sound of Thunder titles with Lee White, but a number ofdisasters during Bike Week at Daytona forced the team to return to Australia. "The DB2 cannot be made ready in time for Les (White) to realistically campaign to retain the number-one plate," Vee Two owner Brook Henry said. "Les is an excellent rider, and rather than put him on a different bike that wouldn't be as competitive as the Bimota, we decided to withdraw from racmg in the States this year. I've enjoyed teaming up with Les and his organization and I hope to do so again in the future." White will now focus his attention on the NASB Series, riding a Ducati 748, and will make his debut on May 29-June 1 at Mosport Park in Toronto, Canada. According to a press release from Harley-Davidson, it has joined a multiindustry coalition urging the U.S. Supreme Court to lift the ban on allow. ing a manufacturer to set maximum retail prices for its products. The Coalition for Fair Consumer Pricing, composed of several dozen companies including Harley-Davidson, General Motors Corp. and Eastman Kodak, filed a brief on April 3 asking the Supreme Court to reconsider its stance on setting maximum retail price limits. The Supreme Court's interpretation of federal antitrust laws currently prohibits this pricing practice. "Harley-Davidson is taking part in this coalition because we have heard the pleas of our riders concerning dealers charging more than manufacturer's suggested retail prices," said Jeff Bleustein, president and Chief Operating Officer of the Harley-Davidson Motor Company. "We feel the longterm success of our dealers and the Motor Company is based on the relationships we build with those riders, and that's why we support fair-pricing policies." The don't forget deparment: The World Championship Road Race Series opens on April 13 with the first round of the series taking place in Shah A1am, Malaysia. For those of 'you who get Speed vision, the race will be shown on April 13 at 2 p.m. Eastern and 11 a.m Pacific. The race will feature an announcing crew of Dennis Noyes and four-time 500cc World Championship runnerup Randy Mamola. Can the Ducati streak be broken? For the past two years, Ducati has swept all four races in the World Superbike Series events held at the Misano Adriatico circuit in Italy with Carl Fogarty and PierFranc.esco Chili splitting wins in 1995 and John Kocinski winning both races in 1996. The San Marino round at Misano is next on the World Superbike cal.endar, scheduled f9r April 20. GFI will begin holding Wednesday practice days at Perris Raceway in Per-

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