Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Cycle News 1997 08 20

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/127853

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 1 of 63

IN THE WIND Willie Price (H-D) topped the 800cc class at th e cr a s h- m a r r ed AMA National Championship Hillclimb in Haydenville, Ohio, on Au gust 10, an eventthat saw thr ee of the six podium finishers end up on the ground . Price crashed on his wa y to th e win, and second-placed St eve Dresser (H-D) also crashed. Paul Zander (BSA) filled the to p three. In the 540cc class, Paul Pinsonnault (H on) took the win, with cra sher Terry Thomp son (BSA) second and Rick Soter III (BSM thi rd . Among th e o the r crashers were 5-IOcc-class riders Chad Disbennett, wh o broke his fifth vertebra but was listed in good condition, and Ca thy Templeto n, who was taken to the hos pital with poss ible head injuries. Th e 199 7 AMA Ama te u r National Mo tocross Champ ionships were held at Loretta Lynn's in Hu rricane Mills, Tennessee, o n Aug us t 4-9, w it h the 16th an nual even t attracting more than 1200 finalists from an initial qu alifying field of more than 7000. Among the big winners w ere Brock Sellards (Kaw) and Nick Wey (Ka w ), ea ch of whom won tw o Expert classes. Sellards won the 125 and 250cc A Mod classes , whil e Wey got his win s in the 125 and 250cc A Stock classes. Four other ra cers joine d Sellards a nd Wey as double-class champions: Ernesto Fonseca, Justin Buckelew, David Millsaps and Steve Sullivan. Th e a nnu al AMA State Championsh ip Troph y, w hich goes to the state wit h the six highest-placing finishes, went to Florida. With Sears Point Raceway slated to host the ni nt h ro u nd of the AM A /MBNA Su perbike Na tio na l Champion sh ip on August 29-31, seve ral activities hav e bee n planned around the event. Leading the way is a special screening of th e Bruce Brown classic "On Any Sunday." Th e special "director's cut" versi on of the film will be show n at 7 p.m. on Frida y, August 29, at the Sebastiani Theater in the dow ntown So noma Plaza , a nd Brown will be availa b le for questions after th e sh o w in g . Admissi on to th e movie is $12, and a VIP wine reception will be held a t the Buena Vista Winery Tasting Room , located next to th e theater, at Ii p.m., with Brown and ot her mem bers of the cast sched uled to appear. Pr0ceeds from the $25-per-person reception will benefit the Sonoma Sister City Association and the Sonoma Valley Film Festival Restoration Project. For more infor mati on, call 707 / 93 8-844 8. Other ac tivi ties planned for th e w eekend incl ude a Kawasaki-d ea ler-sponsored s pecial ticket package; a Northern Califo rnia Harley-Davidson-hosted poker run; a special Honda ticket package; and a Ducati-dealer-spo nsored ticket packa ge that includes the oppo rtuni ty to eat lunch at the track with the Fast By Ferracci Ducati team. For more information on the ticket packages, call 800/870-7223. And the winner is... Illinois Governor Jim Edgar has signed legislation that wi ll creat e the stat e's first o ff-road vehicle registration program and trail fund, similar to Califo rnia's successful Green Sticker program , according to the AMA . The new law will create a special fund to all ow Illinois co unties and not-for-profi t gro ups to expand that state's off-highway ri jling opportunities. The fun d will be suppo rted by an ORV titling and licensing program , wit h part of the fccs go ing to the De pa rtmen t of N a tura l Re so urces . Th e depart men t, wor king w ith a com mittee of trail-bi ke and AlV en thusiasts, wi ll provide grants for groups wishing to develop trail-riding oppo rtu nities. The legislation signed by the governor, HB 489, passed the Illinois Legislature by a 98-14 margin in the House, and by 55-1 in the Senate. Three-tim e World Cham pion Michael Doohan is sched u led to m eet officials from both Honda and Yamaha this week to decid e w he re he w ill race in 1998, reports Cycle News contributor Darr yl R ack. An HRC rider since 1989, Dooha n ha s received large o ffers to s hif t to Yamaha in recent years, and his visit to both factories is seen as a se rious sign that he "ill take his entire tea m wi th him if he strikes the right deal. While Dooha n has bee n accused of using Yama ha's overtures to bum p up his con tract with HRC in the past, recen t reports that Yama ha is to secure Marlbo ro sponsorship 'a t th e expense of Kenny Roberts' Modenas project wou ld see Doohan' s worth hit $8 milli on per season. Wh ile fund ing Doo ha n's hug e as king p rice is one issue, the other is accummoda ting key members of . hi s team, incl u d i ng lo ng ti me crew chief Jeremy Burgess. Wh ile Doohan may race until 1999, th e team would want assurances that they wou ld ha ve a co m p etit iv e 500cc race pr ogram and riders capable of winning the World Cham pionship after the Australian's retire ment. It is underst ood that the visit to Yama ha in Japan will involve discussion on the long- term future of the team members. Doohan previously rode for the Marlboro Yamaha Australian Superbike team in 1988 , and ha s expressed a desire -to renew the relationship if the deal is right, but taking on a different bike so la te in his car eer will have its risk s. One man who doe sn 't believe it would be a problem is former World Champion Barry Sheene. '1 ha ve no dou bt that if yo u s tuc k Doohan o n ~ ~ Smets 500cc World MX ChamR_io_n _ ~ B elgian Joel Smets clinched the SOOcc World Mot ocross Ch am pionship wi th a run to second place overall in Luxembourg on August 10, the penultimate round of the series. Smets reclaimed th e title he first won in 1995, after rid ing to 3-5 moto scores behind ove rall winner Kurt Nicoll (J ยท2), riding a KTM, who was the first rider this season to take an overall wi n riding a two-stroke. Smets' po ints tota l rose to 279, 56 ahea d of d ep osed cha m pion Sha yne King, who finis hed 7-6. Nicoll 's overall win moved him back ahead of Darryl King to take ov~r third in the stan dings , 204-200. And rea Bartolini won the second moto after not pla cing in th e firs t, and remains fifth in the champions hip wit h 184 points. In the 125cc GP at Velke Uhurc e, Slovakia, on Aug ust 10, Chicco Chiodiwent 2-2 and increased his points lead over fellow Italian Sandro Puzar (4-1) by one po int, 317293. It was Ch iodi 's fourth win of the year. Swiss rider Philippe Dupasqu ier registered his first-ever GP moto win in the op ener, but returned to finish ed 18th in moto tw o. Jeff Bracy (right) accepts his 1997 Yamaha VZ250 Irom Cycle Works owner Mike Visser. Bracy won the bike In the PACE Motorsports/Vamaha /Cycle News Supercros s Sweeps take s. the Yamaha, and gave him a full presea son tes t p ro~ ra m to sort out the bike, th at he cou ld win th e World Champions hip . Having said that , if for whatever reason that he w asn't as success ful on the Yama ha, then peo ple would say tha t his World Cha m pions hips were due to the Hond a and not him , whi ch is not the way he would like to be remembered. I can see w hy Mick would like th e challenge, but then again, why leave a factory where yo u've beco me the most successf u l 500 rid er a fte r Ago (G iacomo Agos tini)?" Rid in g a Honda CR250, former Austr alia n Motocross and Su p e rc ross N atio nal Ch ampion Ki m Ashkenazi scored his first indoor "in of the season at round eig ht of the Australian Super cross Masters at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre on August 2. After racing a Honda C Rl25 in the Un ited Sta te s in 1996, the 23-year-old has been in the dold rums so far in 1997 - but his dominant win in the 20-Iap final has signaled a welcomed return to form. Cu rrently fourth in th e point s tand ing s, Ashkenazi still has a chance of a serie s win in the final tw o rounds, to be held at the Sydney Entertainment Centre on August 15-16. America n Suzuki has announced that it plans to bu ild an all-new parts-distribution wa reho use in Kenn esaw, Geo rgia, so me 19 miles north of the co mpany 's "curre nt Atlanta warehouse complex. The new repla cement fac ility will fea ture sales offices an d dealer service-training facilities to su pport Suzuki au tomo tive, marin e and mot or cycl e o pera tions thr o ughou t the So u th eastern United Sta tes. Con stru ct ion is se t to begin in August and will be completed by Janu ary 1998. Stu nt man Gary Ro th w ell is the s ta r attraction for this yea r's Day of Cha mpions a t Donington Park in England o n August 14. The a nnual fund ra iser for Riders for Health, a ch arity workin g with other organizations to deliver services like health and childcare via motorcycles to rem ote villages in Afric a, wili also mark the debut of the Michael Scott- penned biography on Wayn e Rainey. A book signing is scheduled, with form er racers such as Ed d ie Lawson, Kev in Schwantz and Rand y Mamola sched uled to attend . Ann Ferrar, w ho undertook a six-y ea r pr oject that carried her around the country o n her motorcycle, res earching th e role of women in motorcycl ing for the book "Hear Me Roar: Women, Moto rcycles and the Rapture of th e Road," ha s been awarded th e AMA's Ha zel Ko lb Brighter Image Award . Named for th e first woman to serve on the AMA Board of Trustees, the award is meant to recogni ze th ose whose efforts significantly raise the profile of motorcycling with the public. For her book, Ferrar learned to rid e, and then took her 650c c Hond a Hawk GT to different parts of the country, interviewi ng women racers, touring ride rs, sportbikers, and those who simply love motorcycles. The award was presented at the recent Wome n & Moto rcycling National Co nference, where more than 400 women met to celebrate a nd define for them selves women's Toles in motorcycling toda y. The third annual Br anso n USA motocross championships will take place on October -3-5 in Branson , Missouri. There are no qualifiers for the Branson ra ce, and mor e than $25,000 in co ntingency is being offered. For mo re information , call 909/657-6834. A fede ral appeals cou rt in Denver , Colorado , ruled in favor of American Suzuki a n d i ts parent co m p a ny, Suz uki Motor Corp. of Jap an, in a case alleging that the Suz uki TLSOOR all-terrain ve hicle is d efectively designed . In ruling for Suzuki, the court of appeals affirm ed a ju ry verdict re jecting all of th e clai ms a dva nced by the o pe ra tor, i ncl ud ing claims that the Suz uki ATV is uns table. The court of appea ls also affirmed a key ruli ng by th e trial jud ge regarding evi dence tha t the operator had been drinking prior to the accident. Al M ulder, 83, the fat he r of dirt track legend Eddie Mulder, died in Medford,

Articles in this issue

Archives of this issue

view archives of Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's - Cycle News 1997 08 20