Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

IN THE WIND Recently erowned Canadian Superbike Champion Don Munro e (Ka w) sp lit wins with New Hampshire International Speedway regu lar Eri c Wood (Kaw) in the eighth round of the NASB Formula USA Series, he ld in Loudon, New Hampshire, on Oct ober 5. Munroe ran aw ay from the field in race on e, leading Wood aeross the line. Fritz Kling (Yam) was third . In the second race, Wood took the win over Munroe and Grant Lopez (Suz) . Wood a lso won the EBC Brakes Spo rtbike class, ah ead of Buellmounted Shawn Higbee, who also won the Buell Lightning race. Keith Bowen (KTM) topped the AMA Eastern Four-Stroke MX Series round in London, Kentucky, on October 5. Bowen scored the win ahea d of Jim Nee se (Hbg ), Todd De Hoop (Hbg), Kell y Smith (Hbg ) and Rodney Carrier (Hbg). Supercross and 250cc ational MX Champion Jef f Em ig (Kaw) topped the field in the 250cc class at the 21st annual Kawasaki Race of Champions at Englishtow n Raceway Park in Englishtown, New Jer sey, on October 5. Emi g won bot h motos for the overal1 win, finishing ahead of teammate Ryan Hughes (Ka w) , and Canadian [ean-Sebastien Roy (Suz ). Scoll Summers {Hen} clinched his fifth AMA Gra nd Na tio nal Cross Co untry Series Champ ions hip after placing third in the 11 th rou nd of the series in Crawfordsville, Ind ian a, on October 5. Rodney Smith (Suz) wo n the race, followed by Fred Andrews (Ya m), Summers, Doug Blackwell (Yam) and Brian Keegan (Kaw), The title is the ninth off-roa d cha mpionship of Summe rs' career . Once again, Mike Brown (Yam) was the big wi nner at the AMA Fall Class ic MX Series in Londo n, Ken tucky , on October 5. Brown topped bo th the 125 and 250cc Pro classes. In the 125cc cla ss, Brown beat Josh Demuth (Suz), with third and fourth go ing to Kelly Sm ith (KTh!l and Doug Stone (Kaw), respectively. Brock Sellard s (Kaw ) round ed o u t th e top five. In Ihe 250c c class, Ke ith Bowen (}"'TM ) took runner-up honors, with Jim Povolny fini shing third. Jim N e es e (KTM) took fourth wi th Brock Sell ards (Kaw) fifth . In the 125cc class, Damon Huffman (Kaw ) posted the overall wi th wit h 2-1 moto finishes. Taking second was 12Scc Nationa l MX C ha mp io n Rick y Carmichael (Kaw ), who went 1-3. Nick Wey posted a 6-2 moto tal1y for third . Mike Craig (Hon) sto le the show at the West Coas t Arenacro ss Challenge at the San Diego Spor ts Arena in San Diego, Califo rn ia, Octobe r 3-4. Cra ig wo n the 250cc classes on bot h Friday and Saturday nights . Craig also wo n both nights' Dash for Cash races, as well as Saturday night's Jump-Off co ntest. On Fr iday night, Craig took the win ov er Ca sey Johnson (Ka w) and Budd y Antu nez (Hen), while Johnson topped the 125cc main, followed by Dean Matso n (Kaw) and Rusty Holland (Kaw). On Saturday, Chris Wheeler (Suz) finished seco nd to Crai g in the 250cc class, wi th Jason Partrid ge (Suz) finishing third . Jeff Willoh (Yam ) topped the 125cc class, follow ed by David Pin gree (Hon) and Wheeler. McGrath makes Yamaha debut ea m Chaparra l/Yamaha 's Je remy McGrath made his Yamaha debut at the Sheffield Arena Supereross in Sheffield (near London), England, on October 4. When he arrived in London, McGrath said: 'This is the first test. I love the Yamaha; it's going to be the old Jeremy McGrath again once we get it sor ted out. You can be sure of tha t:' And from the loo ks of things, the four -time AMA Supercro ss Champion d oesn 't have too much sorting ou t to do . McGra th did n't win the race, bu t he did lead most of it before getting passed by Hond a of Troy's Larry Ward on the fina l lap . With one lap to to go, McGra th was lookin g tired, suffering from arm pump . "Consid ering how my arms felt (pum ped up ), I was riding okay;' McGrath said . 'T o be honest , I was jus t holding on. I'm nu t too d isap pointed , but it's not nice to lose on the last lap - aga in:' On e week after signing w ith the Chaparral Yama ha team , McGrath was setting his sigh ts on the Pa ris Supereross for his Yamaha d ebut, but after collecting $30,000 to appear at the small town of Sheffield for its just-as-sma ll supercross race, the former champ says he is well on his way. "I expec ted to ride Paris first, bu t when the mon ey came through, I decided to ride here;' McGrath said the day of the race. "It's not an important race. I'll do sume testing (here). I would like to win for su re, bu t well see." In the race, Manchester Honda's Damon Bradshaw jumped out to an early lead but got out of sha pe and McGra th passed him . McGrath led until the 19th lap of the 2Q-Iap race, when Ward slipped by the tiring McGrath. "I had it (arm pump) as soon as I passed for the lead ; ' McGrath said . "It just go t T worse on r-, 0\ 0\ ....... u) ....... .... (l) .c .8 u o 2 ~very lap." On the podium, Ward said : "Anyone wh o wants to bu y a bike, gn ou t and ge t a Honda 250. This bike I rod e toni gh t is stock, and it goes like a rocket:' McGrath said: .., could've go ne back to Honda if I wanted to - the contract wa s there - but if I rod e a Honda, everyo ne would sa y il's the bike. It's not the bike. I won because it wa s me. Once I get my bike sorted ou t, I'Il win agai n an d again, and again - of that I'm certain." Finishing third in Sheffield was Bradshaw . And McGrath's plans for racing his off-season sched ule? "1 think l'Il do Paris and maybe one of the Japanese rounds. I still don't know about Bar celona; ' McGrath said . McGrath will be focusing on getting his new bike read y for the 1998 AMA Supereross Series, which begins on January 10, in Los Angeles, Ca lifornia. "1was going to have a three-week vacation in November, but it will only be a wee k now - I do n' t want to star! the '98 seaso n not ready. By the time Jan uary comes, my bike will be awesome:' Geoff Meyer Y amaha announces motocross team Y ama ha Motors Corp. USA has anno unced its motocros s team for the upcoming 1998 AMA Motocross and Supereross seasons . Yamaha wi ll field a powerful three-man team consisting of returning rid ers Dou g Henry, Kevin Windham and John Dowd (below, left to right). . Henry will campaign a production-b ased YZ400F in the AMA 250cc Supercross and National Motocross Series, Windham wil1 ride a YZ250 in the Supereross and ati ona ! Motocross Series and, in a very surprising move, 1997 250cc National Motocross runner-up John Dowd ,,~11 be switched back to a YZ125 for both series. As in '96, Dowd will campaign the 125cc Na tional Motocross Series an d the 125cc Supcreros s Series (the region has not yet been decid ed ). -We are extremely happy to have three retu rnin g riders in '98; ' explained Yamaha racing division manager Larry Griffis. "1997 was a tremendous season for our team, and the experience and team chemi stry should enable Yamaha to capture eve n more race w ins and championships in '98." Anthony Pocorobb a (Suz) won the Pro di visi on at round tw o of the WorldSpor ts Florid a Gold Cu p MX Se r ie s, held a t No r t h Florid a Ra ceway in Hillard, Florida, on Oct ober 5. Ern es to Fonseca (Ya m) fi nis hed second, with Jason Thomas (Kaw) rounding ou t the top three. Pocorobba also topped th e 12Scc A clas s, w hi le Th om as won the 250cc A division. Casey Joh nson (Kaw) won both the 125 a nd 250cc Pro main eve nts a t the Sella nd A rena for th e We st Coas t Arena cross Challenge in Fresno, California, September 26-27. Jeff Willoh (Yam) finishe d second in the 125cc class on Friday, with Rusty Ho lland (Kaw) takin g thi rd . In the 250cc class, Hol1an d took seco nd , fo llowed b y Chris Wheeler (Suz ). On Sa turday , Shaun Perol io (Suz ) and Hollan d went 2-3 in the 125cc class, while Willoh and Jeff Pe stana (Kaw ) went 2-3 in the 250cc class. Johnson and Holland sp lit the Dash for Cash wins. Jak e Windham won the Jum p-Off cont est. Era ldu Ferracci, the owner of the Fasi by Ferracci Ducati AMA Superbik e team, con firmed that he is negotiating with forme r Lucky Strike Suzuki 500cc Gr and Pri x r id er Anthonv Gob ert to spearhea d his 1998 AMA assa ult. With h is n u m be r-o ne rider, Mat Mlad in, re tu rni ng to Yoshimura Su zuki fnr 1998, Ferracci said that he is considering six " rivers" for his team, including d the controve rsial Australian. A month ago, Gobert was fired fro m the Lucky Strike Suzuki team after alleged ly tes ting p ositiv e for a banned s ubs ta nce, jus t befo re br eaking his leg in a scoo ter acciden t in Rimini, Ita ly. Speaki ng at the fi na l ro u n d of th e 1997 AMA Superbike Champions hip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Su nday, October 5, Ferracci told Cycle News correspond ent Darryl Flack: "Yes, we are spea king tn Go bert. Okay, he's ha ving problems a t the mome nt, b u t he 's young a nd he ca n w ork it out. I ca me very close to signing h im for 1995, but Mu zzv Kawa sa ki offered him' a World Superbike ride. I was pretty upset al losing him, but now I ha ve the opportunity to win the AMA titl e with him: ' Ferracci sa id that on ce an ag reeme nt was reached, he exp ected to fin ali ze d etails with Gobert this week. Ask ed w ho initiated negotiations, he said , "M y son -C l. a r ry Ferraccil ha s b e en spea king with Gobert's people: ' Texan Co lin Ed w ard s II is very close to signing a deal that will see him race a Red Bull-backed Yamaha YZ5500 in the 1998 500cc World Championship Series. New Zealander Simon Crafar h as a lr ead y signed up to rid e in th e Bob Macl. ea n-o w ned team . The team will u se Dun lo p tire s in ' 98. Stay tuned. The Co mmonwealt h of Pennsylvania has co me w it hin o ne step of the stat e legislatu re's revers ing its 29· yea r·o ld mandato ry helmet law when th e House of Representatives voted by a two-thirds ma rgin to a ttach a helme t amend ment to a Sena te bi ll be ing debated on the House floo r, according to the Na tio na l Coa lition of Motorcyclis ts . The H ou se voted 134 -63 to amend SB279, a Sena te-ap p roved bill renaming a bridge , to include language fro m Representative Teresa Brown's HB43 (a bill to a llow motnrcvclist s 21 and o lder, wh o have at least two years of ridi ng experience or ha ve completed a mot orcycle-safety course, the right to decide on helmet use) . The amend me nt also calls for a stu dy to determine the fi na ncia l impa ct assoc ia te d w ith rem o ving the helm et requ irem ent fo r q ualifyi ng r id ers . Th e H ou se then vo ted 163-35 10 ap prove the a men d ed Sll279 a nd return it to the Senat e for a concurre nce vot e. SB279, as ame nd ed, is expected to pass the Senate, where a helmet -law repeal bill wa s ap pro ved last session befo re later stalling on the Hous e floor. If the Senate concurs with the amended version of SB279, the bill

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