Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

IN THE WIND Darryl King (H us) won the 500cc World Motocross race in Lagu epie, France, on July 20, the ninth round of the series. . Reign in g C ha mpio n Shayn e King (KTM) was seco nd . Ty Davis (Ka w) won the AMA National End uro Series rou nd in Rand, Colorado, o n July 20. Jim Gray (KTM) finished second with Mike Lafferty ( KTM), who cli nc hed th e series title the previous w eek in M ichigan, fini shing third . Rounding out the top five were Do nn ie Book (Kaw) and Scott Stretch (KTM) . Lance Smail (KTM) moved back into the series po ints lead by winning round seven of the AMA Western Four-Stroke National MX Series in Boise, Idaho, on Jul y 20. Smail won both motos over Shaun Ka los (H b g ), who went 2-2. Third place went to Mike Hea ley (Hen), fo llo wed by Robert Na ugh to n (KTM) · and Steve Drew (KTM ). Smail hold s a fi ve -p o in t lead go in g in to t he fi na l rou nd nf the series at Washougal, Washington , on Au gu st 17. James Large (H- D) won the SOOcc class at th e Marquette Mountain AMA Na tin na l Cha m p io ns h ip HilIclimb in Marquette, Mich igan, on July 20. Steve Dresser (H-D) was second and Rod ney Williams (H-D) finished third . In the 540cc class, Ted Wilkins (RTX) took the w in, followed by P a u l Pi nso nn a u lt (Ho n) and Rick Soter III (85A) . Tray Batey (Suz) won both legs of the Su noco Fue ls Fo rm u la USA round a t Portland International Raceway in Portland, Oregon, o n Jul y 20. Batey topped Fritz Kli ng (Yam ) and David Sadowski (Muz) in th e first leg and th en topped Grant Lopez (Suz) and Steve Grigg (Muz) in th e seco nd. Sadowski, who failed to finish the second race, stilI holds the cha m p io ns h ip points le ad over Kling, 229-213. Th ose who missed the AMA Supercross Se ries wh en it aired on televisi on the first time will get the opportunity to see the shows again. ESPN2 will rebroadcast nine of the best races of the season in July. All the races will be shown at 3 p.m. Eastern time. Check your local listings . Three-time World Champion Michael D oohan says he's hoping fo r an AIlAustralian dais at the 1997 Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island, sched uled for October 5. Sp eaking fro m Mon aco alongside Anthony Gobert, Troy Corser , Daryl Beattie and Kirk McCarthy for the openin g press conference heralding the return of the race to the Victorian circuit after six years at Eastern Creek, Doohan sa id : "lr ' s (an Au stralian SOOce cl ean sweep) ne ver bee n do ne befo re . The closes t we came wa s when Wayn e Gardner and I finished first and second at Phillip Island back in 1990 - although in the w rong position! It w ould be a great way to cel ebrate th e return to Phillip Island. U it does happen, I won 't ca r e what the fi n is hi ng ord er is ." In r.,.pouse to Doohan 's sentiment, Gobert said, "Mick's the man every body wan ts to beat. I'v e had good success at Phillip Island, and en joy putting on a show for the Au stralian fans. I wa nt to beat Mick, and I figure if I d o tha t, I' ll w in the race ." In a s tartling revelation , McCarthy said that his contract wi th the World Championship Motorsports team s t ip u la te d th at h e w ould receive a works Yamaha YZRSOO by the midd le of the sea son. Unfortu nately, th e d irec tor 1998 AMA Grand National Championship Series schedule he AMA has released a tentati ve sched u le for the 1998 AMA Grand Na tio na l Champion ship Series. With the exce p tion of two TBA da tes in April, both of which are rumo red to be set aside for Califo rnia events, the sched ule appears to be un chan ged . The sched ule is as follows: Round I : Dayt ona Municipal Stad ium, Daytona Beach, Florida - Mar ch 7 Round 2: TDA - Ap ril 18 Round 3: TBA - April 25 Round 4: West Virginia Motor Speedway, Mineral Wells, West Virginia - May 2 Round 5: Delaware State Fairgrounds, Harrington , Delaware - May 16 Round 6: Springfield State Fairgrounds, Spring field , Illinois - May 24 Round 7: LaSalle Speedway, LaSalle, Illinois - May 30 Round 8: Terre Hau te Action Track, Terre Haute, Indiana - Jun e 13 Round 9: Sta te Fair Speedway, Sedalia, Missouri - June 20 Rou nd 10: Allen County Fairgrounds , Lima, Oh io - Jun e 27 Round 11: 1-96 Speedway, Lake Odessa, Michigan - July 4 Rou nd 12: Do Quoin State Fairgrounds, Do Quoin, Illinois - July 12 Round 13: State Fair Speedway, Oklaho ma City, Oklahoma - July 18 Round 14: Eldora Speedway, Rossburg, Ohi o - July 25 Rou nd 15: Peoria MC O ubgrou nds, Peori a, Illinois - August 2 Round 16: Black Hills Speedway, Rapid City, South Dak ota - August 5 Roun d 17: Quad City Downs, East Molin e, Illinois - Au gu st 8 Round 18: Indiana State Fairgrounds, Indianapolis, Ind iana - Augu st 15 Round 19: Hagerstown Speedway, Hagerst own, Maryland - Au gu st 22 Round 20: New Yo rk State Fairgrounds, Syracuse, New York - Au gust 28 Round 21: Illinois State Fairgrounds, Springfield, Illino is - September 6 Round 22: Shakopee Downs, Shakopee, Minnesota - Scptember 12 Round 23: Cal-Expo State Fairgrounds, Sacramento, California - September 26 Round 24: Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Las Vegas , Neva d a -.October 3 Round 25: Del Mar Fairgrounds, Del Mar, California - October 11 T 2 1998 AMA Superbike schedule . he AMA /MBNA Superbike Series will cons ist of 12 rounds in 1998, including a sched uled visit to the yet-to-be-completed New Mexico International Raceway in Albuquerque, New Mexico , on September 4-6, according to a schedule released on July 16 by the AMA . In add itio n to the new race in New Mexico, th e AMA will also make a return trip to Willow Springs Raceway in Rosamond, California, on April 24-26, the week following the th ird round of the series at Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, California. The onl y even t on the calendar without a date is the one scheduled for Sears Point Raceway in Sono ma, California, bu t it is known that Sears would like a spring date. With the series expanding to 12 rounds - the highest number of races since 1985 - it will run for nine months, beginning in February and lasting until October. . The schedule is as follow s: . Round 1: Phoenix International Speedway, Phoenix, Arizona - February 13-15 Round 2: Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, Florida - March 4-8 Round 3: Laguna Seca Raceway, Mon terey, California - April 17-19 Round 4: Willow Spri ngs Raceway, Rosamond, California - April 24-26 Round 5: Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin - June 12-14 Rbund 6: New Hampshire Internat'l Speedway, Loudon, New Hampshire - June 19-21 Round 7: Brainerd Intern ational Raceway, Brai nerd, Minnesota - June 26-28 Round 8: Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, Ohio - Jul y 19-20 Round 9: Pikes Peak Internat'I Raceway, Colorado Springs, Colorado - August 14-16 Round 10: New Mexico Internat'l Raceway, Albuquerque, New Mexico - September 4-6 Round II: Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Las Vegas, Nevada - October 2-4 Round 12: Sears Point Raceway, Sonoma, California - to be announced T of th e press conference didn't catch Co rser's response, repor ts Cycle News contributor Darryl Flack. Seve n -ti me AMA National Enduro Champion Rand y Hawki ns w as a nos ho w a t the Jul y 13 AMA National End uro in Drummond Island, Michigan , as well as the July 20 National Enduro in Colora do, after inju ring hi s leg while riding his personal watercraft on July 5. '1 was out in the ocean, jumping wakes, and I went to jump this one wake right when it curled," Hawkins said. "1 went stra ight up, abou t 12 feet, and I slipped a n d fe ll ba ck , and th e cr a ft land ed straig ht across my shins . M y left shin w as scra ped but my right shin had a deep gouge and I thou ght I had broken it. I was still go ing to ride the (Dru m mond Island ) enduro and had flown to Minnesota and w as goi ng to dr iv e to Michigan wh en, on Thu rsday, I go t up and cou ldn 't walk. 1went to th e ho spital and (found) my leg had gotten infected. The docto rs started talking abou t things like amputation if th e bone gets infected, so I didn't take any chances and decided to sit this one out, cons idering th e fact I rea lly d idn't have mu ch of a chance at (this yea r's) title." Hawkins said he will be hea led and read y for the ISDE next mo nth in Italy and will ride the National End uro Series fina le in Delawa re City, Delaware, on October 26. Road racer Jason Pridmore dedicated his Tea m line 750cc Supers port wi n a t the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in lexington, O hio, on Saturd ay, Ju ly 19 to D r. Tom Parriott, w ho died last week after suffering a brain hemorrhage. "He was one of my good buddies," Pridmore said . Parriott was the owner of Team Desmo , Speedvision has recently begun ai ring three 30-second co mmercia ls featu ring three-time Wo rld Champion Fr edd ie Spencer, former land-speed record holder Craig Breed lov e. and Christine. the famed 1958 Plymou th from the Steven King horror m ovi e that bore its name. Speed vision is th e only 24-hour 'cable network devoted to motorsports. The green team, led by Castrol Honda's Aa ron Slight, came ou t on top of a battle with th e red team, led by his teammate John Kocin ski, in a go-kart challenge ra ce h eld prior to th e World Superbik e w eekend at Lag u na Se ca Raceway in Monterey. Th e challenge saw Slight's team top Kocinski's by 9.51 seco nds after three laps of the make-do race tra ck. The race was held to benefit the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation and ended up raising $3500. The Blue Ribbon Coalition reports that the Bureau of Land Management in Ca lifornia is proposing a closu re to offhighwa y ve hicles of th e enti re Black Sa nds Beach recreation area near She lter Cove, California, 250 miles north of San Francisco , citing "user conflict" with h iker s a nd backpackers who say the vehi cles detract from their "wi lderness' ex perie nce. OHV u sers wi shin g to ex pre~s their op inion about the closure sho u ld fax BLM Area Mana ger Lynda Roush at 707/ 825-2301 or BLM Direct or Ed Hastey at 916/ 978-4657. Whi te Brothers will be on ha nd at the 5th annua l Mikuni Motorcycle Show at th e Santa Monica Airport in Santa Monica, California. to host a Dyno Shootoul. Classes will be a vailable for all s po rtbikes and American cru isers. Partici pants will receive tw o dyno ru ns for $15 and plaques wi ll be awarded to overall clas s cham pions. For more information, call 714/692-3404. Honda's Scoll Summers was a surprise entry at Creek Raceway in O hio on July 5 a nd the off-road racer flew his big four-stroke to wins in the Over 25 and Over 30 Plus classes . Summers' mechanic Fred Bramblett also raced, ending up sixth ove rall. Th e Pro Circuit Racing Support Team wi ll be on ha nd at the Lorett a Lynn' s Ama teur National MX Championship . Pro Circuit will be available to check for proper race setu p on Sunday, Au gu st 3prior to th e start of the week of racing. The A HRMA N a ti o n a l D i rt Track, scheduled for August 3 in New Castle, Deleware, has been canceled. Th e pro-

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