Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Cycle News 1997 11 05

Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles

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IN THE WIND Ty Da vis (Kaw) won the AMA Na lional Cha m pionship Hare and Hound Series ro und in Lucerne Valley, Califo rnia, on Oct ober 26. Davis topped Nick Pearson (KTM) and Paul Krause (Kaw) in the sixth round of the series. Re ce ntl y cro w n ed Na t io na l End uro Cha m pi o n Mike La ff erty (KTM) won the fin al ro un d o f th e AMA Na tio nal End u ro Series in Del aware Ci ty , Delaware, o n October 27. Mall Sl avish (H on) fini shed seco nd, followed by Kevi n Hi nes (CRE), Fred Hoess (Suz) and Rich Lafferty (KTM). Bria n Kee g an (Yam ) w on th e fin al round o f th e AMA /Grand N ational Cros s Country Series in Danville, Virgini a, on October 27. The win was Keegan 's first in the series , He was followed across the finish line bv Steve Hatch (Su z ), who e n ded the 'se r ies seco nd overal l. Sco tt Su m mers, who clinched the title ea r lier, di d no t compete after having bro ken his leg at the previous round . Third place at Da nville went to Jason Dahners (KTM); he was followed by D o u g Blackwell (Yam) a nd Tim Shephard (Yam). Matt Walker (Hon) won th e Pro d iv isio n in round five of the Worl d Spo rts Florida Go ld Cup Series, held at Ga torback Cycle Par k in Gainesville, Florida, o n October 26. Anthony Pocorobba , (Suz) a nd Jason T homas (Kaw) fill ed ou t the top three places. S trong rumors persi st tha t three-time Wo rld Vet Motocros s Cham pion Do ug Dubach will rid e a preprod u ctio n Yamaha four-stroke YZ400F at the 12th an n ual W h ite Broth ers Vet Worl d Moto cross C hampionships at G len He len Raceway in Bernardino, Califo rnia, No vember 1-2, 1997. Tom Web b has left Petersen Publishing LLC after an Tl -yea r s tay; h e m ost recentl y served as editoria l director for s uc h titl es a s Dirt Rid e r, M Xra cer, Mountain Biker and Bicyclist. Webb will now serve as FMF s di rector of marketing, a job that will encomp ass marketing FMF product, handling the race-support prog ram and press re la tions, helping develop the suspensio n and motor divi s io ns a n d w orkin g with the newly form ed FMF/ Ho nda 125cc Supercross and Motocross team . "I've had a wo nderful relalionship wi th all of the peop le at Petersen, and being part of two excellent publi cations, Dirt Rid er and MXracer, was an experience I'll never forget," Webb said. "However, the opportunity to join my lo ng time friend Don Emler and the re st of the FMF team was too good to pas s up. This is a very exciting time to beco me part of the FMF team ." Webb is a mot orcycl e en thusiast and lon gti m e ra cer who has held a n AA rankin g in the National End uro Series, has competed in four ISDE events, has earned a GNCC Series Champi on ship, has earned an Ama teu r Nalional Cha mpionship in the U.S. Qu alifier Series, and has a Na tional Enduro wi n to his cred it. He' s been in th e mot orcycl e industry sin ce 1975, 18 year-,; of that working for Dirt Bike maga zine. Last week we incorrectly rep ort ed that former AMA Superbike Nalional Cham, pi on Thomas Stevens was all signed up to rid e the secon d Vance & Hines Ducati in the 199 8 AMA /MBNA Superbike Na tional Championship, but tha t isn ' t the case. Stevens slill hasn't sign ed wi th th e te am, but is ho pi ng that a deal comes tog et h e r th is w eek. Va nce & ~ z '" i The proposed March Nemes is. a 20D-mph V-elght powered superbike , :3 for the road. Will they build it? -~-----------, ,,, March ~uperbike still on hold W ith the March superbike currently on hold pending an investors" meeting and delayed due to problems with the prototype four-cylinder engine, March board member Al Melling has proposed a prototype 200-mph roa d-going superbike fitted wi th his V-eigh t engine o riginally developed for car racing. The power unit is based o n Melling's Formu la One car techn ology (supposed ly an engine developed for the Arrows Gra nd . Prix team) and his work on a larger -capacity V-eight for British car company TVR. T he latter is in sma ll-scale production, but so far, d e spi te s h o w i n g cas tings a nd models, no motorcycle engine, be it su pe rb ike four-cy linde r or Ve igh t, has been co m p leted a nd run. Despite this fact, a considerable amount of investmen t cap ital has been raised by March Motors of Eden Prairie, Minnesot a, and man y hope these funds will soon be u sed to begin produ ction of th e superbike, th ou g h co m pa ny CEO Joe Novogratz in fact seems keen on producing a cru iser 0 ) und er th e March name. In addilion to the four-eylinder originally pr opo sed for the bike and the V-eight recently sugges ted, a single-cylinder powerpla nt has abo been considered. - Hines Oucali has already signed forme r World Soperbike an d Gran d Prix racer Anthony Gobert to spearhead the team. The da tes for round s six, s e v e n and eight of the AMA PJ1 Arenacross Series have changed. Round si x wi ll now be held in Hampton, Virginia, January 1618, wit h New Ha ve n. Connecticu t, to hos t ro und seven Ja nua ry 23-25 . Th e eig hth rou rrd of th e 14-race se rie s will take pla ce in Niaga ra Falls, New York, January 3O-February 1. Eig ht- time ' AMA Grand Nationa l Cham pion Sc ott Parker is the la te s t nomi nee for the 1997 AM A /Speedvis ia n Pro Athl et e of th e Year Awa rd , scheduled to be awarded on Decem ber 13 i n Las Vegas, Nevada. Parker has been nomin ated for the award six time s - more than a ny other rid er in the history of th e award . He wo n the awa rd in 1994 . Fo r info r ma tio n regar d in g th e 1997 AMA National Cha mpions Awa rd Banq ue t. call the AMA's Dee White a t 614/891-2425. Rumors have, that fonner Team Suzuki rid er Mik e La Rocco will s tay in the . Uni ted Stat es an d co mpete in the 1998 AMA Supercross Seri es and ou tdoor Nalionals on a private Honda backed by Fac to ry Conn ecti on . LaR o cco was reportedly looki ng into th e possibility of ca m pa ign ing the FIM World Cha m pionship 250 cc MX Seri es circui t i n Eu rope. There was s pecu la tio n th at laRocco migh t fill o ne of the vacancies left by Mike Browp and Pit Beier on the Rinaldi Yama ha team. Word no w has it th at Rinald i will go wit h the one- ma n team 01Tallon Vohland . Guts Raci ng Produ cts is curren tly accepting rid er resumes for the 1998 racing season. Resumes can be sent to Gu ts Racin g Prod uc ts , 6070 Ente rp rise Dr ., Suite H, Dia mo nd Sp rings, CA 95619, attn: Andy Gregg. Raci ng Enterprises Motorsports (REM) won't be holding its 'weekly mo tocross at Carlsbad Racew ay in' Carlsbad , California, on November 1 becau se of the W hite Bro th er s Ve t N atio na l at Gle n Helen Raceway in San Berna rdino, Califo rnia . REM wi ll hos t th e Chris tmas G rand Pri x at Carlsba d Ra ce wa y o n December 7. Progressive Suspens ion has signe d "long- te rm ma rke ti ng agre eme nt wi th off-road racing legend Larry Roeseler to deve lop and market a "Larry Roeseler Sig natu re Se ries" lin e of shocks , fork springs, rear springs and accessories for fo ur-s trok e off- ro a d a n d d u a l s por t motorcycles. Jona tha n Werth, 38, a technical inspecto r for the AFM , di ed after a massive ·hea rt attack in Salinas, Ca lifornia, on October.20. Werth was also th e brotherin -l a w , m echa ni c and cr ew chief to Leatherneck Racing's Gary [aehn e, A new ca tego ry o f co m petit io n sa nction, des igned to provide rid ers with an eas ier trans ition from the Amateur to Profession a l ran ks in AM A compe tition , will be offe red in the 1998 season, according to th e AMA. AMA Pro -Am even ts, p reviousl y he ld !!.."der AM A Pro Racing rules, w ill now fall en tirely un der th e Me mber Ac tiv it ies De pa rtment's umb rell a, and services hav e been r edes igned to h elp prom o ters a ttrac t mo re en tries, s pectators and media coverage. AMA mem bers are eligib le to save $1 on adm issio n to the Internatio nal Motorcycl e Sho w s tha t w ill visit major cities arou nd the coun try th is wi nte'P The . series of shows opens at the Long Beach Convention Center in Lon g Beach, Cali fornia, Decem ber 5-7, and concludes at the Minn eapolis Con vention Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, February 6-8. The AMA has announce d a new se t of licen se rankings fur profess ional racing licen ses in 1998. Th e ex is ting Pr o-Am and Expert licenses will be rep laced by new li ce n ses ca ll e d Pro Spor t, Pro Expert and, d epending o n th e racin g d iscipline, Gra nd Na tiona l (for dirt track racers ) or Su perbike (fo r road racers). The new license rankings are as follow s:' ·. Pro Sport - d esi gned as an entry level for racers who wa nt to tes t the waters at AMA Pro Racing events, whi le not jeopardizi ng th eir eligibili ty for a mateu rlevel races; Pro Exper t - for the racer 1

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