Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

IN THE WIND Dou g La m p k i n (Bet) and Ken ich i Ku ro yam a (Bet) split wins in the Andorra round of the World Championship Observed Trials Series on July 12-13. Lampkin finished second behind Kuroyama on the first day, prior to topping David Cobos (G-G) on the second day. Kuroyama finished third on the second day of competition. Marc Colomer (Mon) ended up third on day one and fourth on day two. . George Richtmeyer won a pair of races at the inaugural AMA Vintage Da ys dirt track in Ashland, Ohio, on July II . Rich tmeyer won th e Modern Vintage 750cc and Classic 500cc OHV / 750cc Sidevalve classes. John Plumb won the Modern Vintage 250cc class. Todd Hamilton (Mail doubled in the hardfoug ht Spo rtsman 250cc and 500cc Expert classes at the AHRMA / Speed & Spor t Na tio n a l Vinta ge MX Se ri e s rou nd held at the Mid-Ohi o Spo rts Ca r Co u rse o n Ju ly 12. Mike Treadway (Han) was also a doub le winner, picking up top honors in the Sportsma n 500cc a nd 40+ Intermediate cla sse s. Du ring the AH RMA road racing events at Mid-Ohio on July 12-13, Adam Popp (Hon) traded Form ula 750cc class wins wi th Da vid Roper (BSA). According to relia ble sources, Ameri can Suzuk i will field two teams in the 1998 AMA Superb ike Na tional Championship Series. One of the teams will use Suzuki's twin-eylinder TLlOOOs and the othe r will use the existing GSXR750s . Both teams will enter two riders. Stay tu ned . The Riverside Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California, has reported tha t the Lake Elsinore Ci ty Council granted Goat Breker of GFI Racing Inc. a fiveyear contract on Tuesday, July 8, givi ng him exclusive rights to conduct motorcycle races in the city. Breker pla ns to h o ld the Elsi nore G rand Prix on November 8-9, 1997. Acco rding to the re port, last yea r's Elsinore Grand Prix brought about 60,000 spectators and 4000 racers to the lakeside city . The Bridgestone Motorcycle Festi val of Speed will be held at Portland Int ernational Raceway on Jul y 19-20 and will incl u de a fu ll s la te of road ra cing, includ in g th e Su n oco Fo rm ula USA Series. In addition to the race action, British moto rcycle stunt rid er Gary Rothwell will perform a parade lap will be held fo r fa ns and th e Ba llleTrax evenr- a short-course competition - will be held. For ticket information, call 800/939-9372. Fritz Kling, la s t yea r's winner of th e Po rtland ro und of t he Formula USA Series, is hoping to repea t. Th us far in 1997, Kling is wi nless . "I won the last race last year (at Dayton a), so I' m not as desperate as (Dale) Earnhard t," Kling said. "But six races witho u t a win is still more tha o I' m comfortable wit h . I' m hoping for a win . Really, I'd like to take home a pair this year. I hav en 't done tha t yet." Kling is curre ntly seco nd in the championship point standings, 15 . points behi nd David Sadowski and 32 points ahead of defending series champion Tray Batey. WERA ha s rescind ed the p ost -entry penaliti es for WERA Sportsman events w hich were to go into effect on July 1. In the la test WERA memb er newslett er , Fa stline, a Sports ma n post-entry fee was set out in an effort to motivate racers to pre-e nter the events. WERA ha s decide d not to institu te a penalt y for 1997. For more in formation , call 770/924-8404. Th e Over The Hill Gang will host a Travis King benefit race at Perris Racewa y in Perris, California, on August 3. The race and post-race ba rbecue will he lp raise money for King, who was seriously injured a few mon ths ago while racing at Lemon Grove in Piru, Califo rnia . Membership is no t requ ired a nd s uppor t classes will be ru n . For more information, call 310/925-9634. Playboy magazi ne is offering a Titan Gecko motorcycle - valued at $40,000 and cus tomized exclusively for Playboy - as the prize in a six-month-long crossdivisional prom otion al sweepstakes. The Playboy Titan is fea tu red on the cover and in a 12-page "Biker Babes" pictorial in the August issue and on the cove r and in the Playboy Ho me Videore lease, " Bik er Babes : H ot Wheels a nd Hi g h Heels." Co m p lete details on the giveaway ar e a va ilable in Playboy magazine. AMA N a tio n a l H are & H ound r ace r Brad Cameron has been signed to ride Lafferty clinches enduro title TM's Mike Lafferty, from Millville, New Jersey, clinched the 1997 AMA National Enduro Series title in Drummond Island , Michigan. on July 13. Lafferty recorded his fifth overall win of the series at the Michigan National and, in doing so, locked up his first title and the third for KTM. The last rider to win the title on a KTM was Jeff Russell in 1991, while Kevin Hines gave KTM's its first enduro crown in 1987. At Drummond Island, the seventh stop of the AMA National Enduro Series, Lafferty carded a 10poin t score, followed by runner-up Matt Stavish (Hon) and third-place finisher Scott Luca (KTM), bo th dropping 12 points each. Fourth overall we nt to Blair Bersano (KTM) with Jon-Erik Burleson (Hbg) rounding out the top five ove ra ll. Burleson is the son of eight-time Na tional Endu ro Champion Dick Burleson, who took first-place honors in the Senior A class at Dru mmond Island. Rand y Haw kins, the defending cha mp and runner-up in the series going into the Michigan round, did not compete. As a result of Hawkins' non-score, Stavish moves into second place in poin ts, wit h Hawkins dropping to third . K ~ fa 81 ~ 2 Hunwick-Hallam wins, comin to Da tona T he Hunwick-Hallam XIR prototype Superbike chalked up its first victory in a Batt le of the Twins race at Eastern Creek in Australia on July 6. Piloted by veteran Malcolm Campbell, the Hunwick -Hallam V-twin scored seve ral top-th ree finishes in the preli minary BoTT and BEARS events before the team's inaugural four-second victory over Ducati Dealer Team rider Jason Low. However, the Hunw ick-H allam challenge almost went up in flam es during Friday's prac tice w hen a mal fun ction in the XI R's ECU engine-ma nagement sys tem leaned out the air-fuel mixture to such a degr ee that the muffler canister caug ht fire, along wit h the seat cow ling. After Campbell's hasty return to the pits, fire mar sha ls quickly dou sed the flames, but the badly dam aged titanium vers ion of the XI R prototype was sid elined for the rest of the weekend, forcing Campbell onto the heavi er version. The team also overcame a serious oil-press ure probl em by reconfiguri ng the breather system, allowing the bike to run trouble-free in more than a half-d ozen events. After ridin g the roller coaster from the emba rrass ment to victory , project boss Rod Hunwick is confident that the team 's firs t-up success will give it the vital mom en tum needed to realize its World Superbike drea ms. "Competition is the bes t way to develop o ur technology , and there's plenty to wo rk with from this weekend ," Hunwic k said. "We're planning to enter Daytona next yea r, and we' re also negotiating to take part in a match face agai nst the Britten in New Zealand later in the year." While Campbell's heavier 996cc V-twin Hunwick-Hallam exhibited admirab le midrange power around the back of the Eastern Creek, it was found wanting in top-end speed, failing to pass several privateer Ducati 955 Corsas down the 9OO-yard fron t straight. Still, the futuristic racer, with the Alchemy-like rear suspension, proved tidy and nimble in the turns, belyi ng its top-heavy configuration. Despite the euphoria of its maiden win, there's plenty of work to do for the alI-Australian team. Troy Bayliss took pole on his Suzuki GSX-RT"o Superbike with a 1:32.63 at a recent national round, w hite Campbell's best was a 1:38.17. Despite the gap, Campbell is confident of shaving off five seco nds next time out, after appearing to be riding wi thin himself last Sunday. Speaking on the lon g-term financial position of the XIR Superbike and streetbike project, Hunwick is finding the going diffiru lt despite widespread adulation since its public release in January. "We've approached many venture-capital agents, but they wa nt too much return up front, so it's a difficult situation. We're looking to Australian investment, bu t we may have to look elsewhere if we can't find the financial mix we want" Hunwick said he may co nsider turning to his native New Zealand if the Aussie investors tum their back on the futu ristic V-twi n design. "The reaction from the bike press and bike en thusiasts around the world has been sensational, but Australian invest ors are looking for a very high sho rt-te rm return , and we're wanting a 100year plan wit h an equity partner; go ing public mig ht be the way to go." After investing $3 million of his own mo ney, Hunwick' s preferred op tion is to take on an equity pa rtner to add $7 million to the project' s investment pool. Still, the overwhelming response from the enthusiasts may trigger a public float if pri vate capital is nol forthcomi ng. "We' ve had so many people asking if we' re a public company an d 'Can we bu y shares?' so a public float is a possibilit y," he added. Darryl Flack for the newly formed Barn u m' s ProProducts off-road team. Cameron will ride in the remaining AMA Na tional Hare & Hound events and the AMA District 37 Series on a Honda XR630 for the Adelanto, California-based team. Veteran Baja racer and Acerbis USA sa les rep Tom Morton is set to marry . Jennifer Wilsoo on August 31 at Mike's Sky Rancho in Baja California, Mexico. The wedding will be the first ever conducted at the historic site. Italian Carmela Anna Graziano is set to become the owner of the 100,OOOth motorcycle in the new BMW Boxer generation after it comes off the assembly line in Be rlin, Ge rmany . The BMW R850R will be delivered to Graziano in Italy. Accounting for 28,890 motorcycles de livered last yea r, the new Boxer made up more than half of the total sales volume of the 50,465 BMW moto rcycles delivered worldwid e in 1996. The Coast-to-Coast Rid e for Aid s Ed ucation, a two-week fund rais ing trip fro m New York to Los Angeles, was completed at the Santa Mo nica Pier in San ta Monica on June II. The fou r-person team ra ised $15,000 in support of AIDS research and education. Partici pants rode BMW K1200R5cs. In addition to the regular classes-that Reg Pridmore runs at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio, 1998 will see the Class school hold an exclusive Ducati Da y at the picturesque circuit. Th e class will be limited to roughly 50 participants. This year, Pridmore is also offering Ladies Days at his schools, with classes ta kin g place at such places as New Hampshire Internatio na l Speedway, Grattan, Sea rs Point and Po rtla nd Intern ation al Racew ay. For more information, ca ll 805 /9339936. Rid ers as piring to co m p e te on 125cc

• Cover