Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

IN THE WIND Desp ite rum ors to the contrary, officials at both Yamaha and Chaparral have denied tha t four-time AMA Supercross Champion and former 250cc National MX C ha m p ion Je remy McG rath has inked a contract for the 1998 season. It is known that McGrath has tested a Yama ha and that the signi ng is immi nent. If signed, it is likely tha t McGrath will be teamed wi th Jimmy Bu tton, w ho w ill return to the team . Reports also indicate th at the team will be s ponsored b y Home Depo t. Do ug Lampkin (Bet ) took the Observed Trials World Championship with a pair of second- place fini sh es in Ne po muk, Czech Republic, on August 30-31, after a n a ma z ingly co nsisten t season th at saw him take 12 victories and finish on the podium at e very rou nd , fin ish ing third ' only one time. Spanish rider and now form er World Ch ampion Ma rc Colo mer (Mon) took the double win, but fin ished se cond in th e championship, si mply unable to match th e British rider's brilliant fo rm ov er the course of the seaso n. Third in the series s ta n d ing s wa s ta k en b y Kenich i Ku roya ma (Bet). Lampkin finished off the season with 323 points to Colomer's 276 and Kuroyama's 198. Da ve Sadow ski rode his Muzzy Raptor to victories in both leg s of the NASB Formu la USA event at Pocono Internationa l Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania, on August 31. Sadowski topped Jason Fraser (Ho n) a nd Gra nt Lopez (Suz) in the first leg before beating Tra y Batey (Suz) and Lo pe z in the second race. Sadowski also won the EBC Brakes Sportbike class over Eric Wood a nd Jason Fraser. Dirt tracker Kevin Athert on called the Cycle News offices on Tuesday, September 2, to mak e su re that we kn ew the Harley-Davidson he rode to victory in Monday' s rain -delayed runn ing of the second Sprin gfield Mile w as a "twingle." '1 want 'em all to know that I whipped their ass on a twingle," Atherton said . 'That's the reason I rode it. I wanted to show that I could beat 'em on a mile wi th it." Se ars Point Raceway in Sonoma, California, w ill host the fifth round of the 1998 AMA /MBNA Superbike Na tiona l Championship, a ccordi ng to an announcement mad e at Sears Point on Sund ay, Au gust 31. Th e ra ce will be held on May 1-3, th e weeke nd a fte r ro _und four at Willow Springs Raceway in Rosam ond, Califo rnia, and two weeks a fte r th e third round of the series at Lagu na Scca Raceway in Monterey, Cal- ifornia. The series calendar now looks like this : Round 1: Pho eni x, Arizon a Febru ary 13-1 5; Round 2: Da yt ona Beach , Flor ida - Mar ch 4-8; Round 3: Monterey , Ca liforn ia - April 17-19; Round 4: Rosam ond , Californ ia - April 24-26; Rou nd 5: Son oma, Ca lifornia May 1-3; Round 6: Elkhart Lake, Wisconsi n - June 12-14; Round 7: Loudo n, New Hampshire - June 19-21; Rou nd 8: Brainerd, Minnesota - June 26-28; Round 9: Lexington , Ohio - Ju ly 19-20; Round 10; Pikes Peak, Colorad o - August 14-16; Round 11: Albuquerque, Ne w Mexico Sep tember 4-6; Round 12: Las Vegas, Nev ada - October 2-4. Veteran road racer Ra ndy Re n frow un derw ent su rgery to repair his broken left tibia (lower leg) on Tu esday, September 2, at the Sonoma Valley Hospital in Sonoma, California. The 41-year-old Renfrow was injured in the AMA 250cc Grand Prix final at Scars Point Raceway on August 31 when he cras hed with Roland Sand s in one of the faste r sections of the track. In addition to the broken leg, Renfrow also suffered a broken right shoulder, a broken left ankle and a slight concussion. He also suffered damag e to b oth knees that will req u ire surgery . A ccordi ng to those w ho watched video rep lays of the incident, Renfrow w as st ruck from be hind by San ds . "I 'm not 100 percen t sure, bu t · I'm 95 percent su re tha t he (Sands) ran into me," Renfrow said from the hosp ital on Tuesday, September 2. "He' s run into me before, at Mid -Ohio, and h e ca me to a pologize. But all he says is, 'Dude, that was the only wa y I could get by: That doesn't really cut it. As far as I'm concerned , if he did run into me, he should n' t be racing." Renfrow expec ts to be in the ho spital in Sonoma for a Doohan declines Yamaha offer F our-time World Champion Michael Doohan w ill no t return next year riding a Team Rainey Yam aha. The drea m that the longtime Hond a rider migh t switc h ended the day after the Czech Republic Grand Prix, w hen the deadline for the Yama ha dea l passed wit h no agree ment from the do minant Aus tra lian. "We had the bud get and everyihing Mick asked for. But we had a time limit: ' said Wayne Rainey, speaking from his Monte rey, California, home on Monday, September 1. Dooh an had been tight-lip ped at Brno, sayi ng only that he had not yet decide d which tea m he would rid e for in 1998. Many hoped he wo uld ma ke the switch to Yamaha, to revive int erest in a 500cc class which he utterly dominates on the Hon da . The offer from Rainey was one option. Team Suzuki has also made him a big-money I:'-... offer to switc h. "The ball is in Mick's cour t: ' said team mana ger Garry Taylor in Brno. 0\ Honda appears to have been slow to meet Dooha n's requirements - one poss ible 0\ reason being that it also has John Kocinski signed up for next yea r, possibly to switch ,..... from his current superbike saddle to the 500cc class. However, with Honda the dom inant machine in the class, it is thought that Doohan wo u ld probably prefer to stay there, as he continu es to rack up record s of race and cha mpionship wins tha t bring him ever closer to the all-time class hero Giacomo Agostini. 2 "It's a pity Mick didn't agree to terms: ' Rainey said . "We had every thing available that he'd asked for - but only for a limited time. I have other plans for next year, and I hope to announce what they will be at the next GP at Cata lunya." Doohan has flirted with Rainey Yamaha for the previous two yea rs as we ll - but cyn ics believe it is just a way for him to increase his fee to stay with Ho nda. Michael Scott Americans top PolishGrand Prix A m e rica n s p eed w a y fa ns ca n ce lebrate ye t again, as Greg Hancock rode to the victory at the rain-delayed Polish Speed way Grand Prix in Wroclaw, on August 30, lead ing his Exide teammate Billy Hamill across the line in the A final. Hancock's win takes him one step closer to the World Cha mpionship his teammate Hamill won last yea r, th ou gh only a foo l would rule second- in- po in ts Hamill out of the championship running. Hancock, ho w ever , w on this meeting in good style, winning four of five qua lifying heats to qualify beh ind his teammate Hamill an d home-country rider Tom asz Goll ob. In the A final , Gollob cho se gate three; Hamill, gate two; and Hancock was left wi th the unfavored inside position. Han cock, however, made no mistakes in the race and took his second win of the season, leading Hamill, Co llob and Greg Hancock Piotr Protasiewcz across the line. Though Hamill has yet to win a Grand Prix this year, he trails Hancock by only 12 poi nts in the champion sh ip sta ndings, 100-88. Gollob is third w ith 76, followed by Brian Andersen wit h 72 and Tony Rickard sson wit h 70. John Hi pkiss week to 10 days. He will have his knee. operated on once he retu rns horne to Virginia . Renfrow, who is in his 22nd year of professional ro ad racing, has won National Championships in three different AMA classes - 250cc Grand Prix (1983), Formula One (1986) and Pro Tw ins (1989). In 1990, he fini shed secon d in the AMA Superbike Na tional Cha m pio nship. Joel Smels will mos t definitely ride in the Motocross des Nations for hos t team Belgium. Bu t Stefan Eve r ts is unsure about how the tea m will fare: "Joe l sh o u ld go okay, bu t h o w Ma rnicq (Bervoets) will go is another thing," Everts said about Bervoets' chances on a 125. Bervoets is a lso a bit worried, according to Cycle News contributor Geoff Meyers. "To be honest, I have not ridd en a 125 for 10 years," Bervoets said . " Irn to o h ea vy a n d if 1 ca n get one result then I'm happy - winn ing for me is not poss ible." Reportedly, team manag er Joel Roberts didn't even co nta ct Berv oets to seek his approval of riding th e 125 . Sme ts, meanwhil e, w asn 't a favorite with man y of the Belgian officials as his results are also a w orry conside rin g the ev ent will be held on the supercross-style Nismes track. Britain's Mark Eastwood, meanwhile, was a little surprised about being chosen for hi s co un tr y 's Motocross d es Na tions team. "On my results, I think I am worthy, but you ne ver can be sure if results are th e re ason for getti ng picked : ' Eastw ood said . "I'm not one of the favori tes to get picked . I'll be getting so me parts from H onda , but I do n ' t wa nt to cha nge too many thin gs on my bike. This weekend (in the Swiss Grand Prix), I had a new ignition and it took time to get used to it. I would rath er go to the des Nations wit h a bike I unders tand - th en I mi ght ge t so me good results." The California O ff-Highway Vehicle Rec reatio n Divi sion annou nced on August 22 that effective January 1, 1998, it will beg in charging a user fee to nonresident off-highway vehicle and snowmobile en thus ias ts rec rea ting o n the state's public land s. Accor d ing to Cliff Glidden, de pu ty d irecto r for the state' s OHV d ivision , th e a nnua l u se r fee of OHVs a nd sn ow mob iles from out of sta te will be $20 per yea r. "Wi th th e ever-increasing num ber of out-of -state off-h ighway en thu siasts and snow mobile rs joining us for our diverse recreational opportunities, we have found it necessary to create a me thod for them to help us with the up keep and co nstru ction of our trails and facilities:' Glidden sa id . Glid d en added that th e revenues collected w ill be retu rn ed to the California OHV tru st fund and will be used to construct an d maintain trails, acq uire new land for OHV opportunities, co ns truct new trail head s, build new facili ties , and continue resource protection. Team Obsolet e Promotions w ill promote a historic road race at ,Daytona Intern ational Speedway on October 26, according to a release from Team Obsolete. The even t will feature a full program of vintage road races, plus mod ern singles, twins and vintage superbikes . In add ition, six-time World Champion Jim Redman will make some parade laps on the Honda Si x. For more information, call 718 /596-0504. Newcomb's Ranch in Chilao, Ca lifornia, wi ll host a mot orcycle rendezv ou s on September 28 w ith an emphas is on motorcycl e safety . The meetin g will feature a "ticke tless" motorcycle inspection by the Californ ia Highway Patrol and a nu mber of booths a nd ex hi bits from mo torcycle de alers and acces~ory compa n ie s . For more info rm a tio n, call 626/796-609 1. . Powerstarts has been pa yin g $100 to the first privateer into the first corner during each of the four motos a t the AMA 125 /250cc Motocross N a tio nals. For more information, call800/545-CATE. Tim Locey is currentl y hos ting one-day motocross schools at the Lemon Grove MX Park in Piru , California. The schools cost $79 an d run fro m 9 a. m . to ·3:30 p.m., with a lim it of 10 riders per sessi on . For more informa tion , call 805/ 647-9814. The Caro lina Harley-Davidso n Deale rs As soci atio n's 57th annual Fall Rally and Races will return to New Asheville Speedway in Asheville, No rth Caro lina

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