Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

IN THE WIND lan ce Sm a il (KTM), Siev e Lamson (Hon) and Ty Da vis (Kaw) we re some of the big wi nners at the Lake Elsinor e Grand Prix in Lake Elsinore, Ca lifornia, No ve mber 8-9. Abbo tt to pped th e Unclassified, Four-Stroke and Open Pro classes: Lamson topped the Ham el 100, and Da vis rac ed to victory in th e 125 and 250cc Pro, an d Ove r 25 Expert classes . O ther win ne rs included Bre n t Wallings ford (Kaw) in th e legends division , John DeSolo in the Vin tage race, an d Mike Baker (Hon) in the Over 35 Expe rt class. Scott Ples sin ger was the overall win ner at rou nd two of the AMA Mid -Sou th Winter Hare Scrambles Series in l ynnville, Indian a, o n No vem be r 9. Do ug Blackwell (Yam) took second and was followed across the finish line by Duane Conner (Yam), Jim Jarrell (Yam) a nd Mike Sampson (Kaw), in that order. Rusty Holland (Kaw) was the big winner a t the West Coast Arenaeross Challenge at the Cow Palace in San Francisco, California, on Novembe r 8. Holland won both the 125 and 250cc classes, as we ll as the Dash For Cash. Accordi ng to Cycle Neio» World Supe rbike sour ces, indications are that Colin Edwards II has sig n ed a d ea l with Hond a to take the Castrol Honda RC45 rid e formerly held by World Superbike C ha mpio n joh n Koc ins ki . The d eal bod es we ll for the 23-year-old Texan, wh o fou nd himsel f ou t of wo rk after his contract with the Yam aha World Superbike team w as no t renewed w hen he appeared set to sign with the Red Bull Yamaha team for the SOOcc Gra nd s Prix. Once tha t d eal fell th rough, Edward s appea red to be out of work for 1998, but with Kocinski reportedly moving on to the MoviStar Honda team of Sito Pons , Edwa rds beca me one of the prim ary can d ida tes for th e Cas tro l H onda squad. Ed wa rd s re ported ly contacted H ond a, and a n a greeme nt has been reached, thoug h it has not yet bee n officially announced . If he has signed , then . it is conceivable that Edwards could be in Castrol co lo rs fo r the ' 98 Daytona 200. Ya maha Moto r C o rp . USA ha s announced the promotion of Jim Gentz to presid ent of the Mo torsports Group. "I'm very honored to take this lead role w it hi n' Yamaha's U .S . o pe ratio ns ," Gentz said. "Yamaha's prog ressiveness in naming an American preside nt of a ja panese motorcycle importer is unique with in the ind ustry and shows the comp an y ' s d ed icati on to mar ke ti ng to A merican co nsumers." With this pro· motion to .presi dent, Gentz is respo nsible for day-to-day operatio ns, includi ng sales, sales administra tion, and mar keting of a ll mo torspo rts prod u cts. Gentz wa s mos t recently sen ior vice president of the Mo toes ports G rou p a nd has served in various capacities of Yamaha's mot or ized -r ecreat ion busi ness dur ing his 30-yea r tenure wit h the compan y. Former Eastern Regiona l 125cc Su percross champion Brian Swink has called it quit s. Swink is now focusing his attention on his own busi ness selli ng clothing. Swink is working with his friend and fellow Floridian Ron Tichenor on opening his own streetwear s tore near Swi nk's h ome town of Fen ton , Mich igan. Tiche nor and his wife, Brandi , opened their own s to re, Bent Frame, in Palm Ha rbor, Florid a, last year. Swink 's store, also called Bent Frame, which he plan s to open in mid -Nov emb er, w ill feature suc h clothin g and accessory lin es as Oakley, Troy l ee Designs, Pomstar and Black Flys. Swinks says he might compete at selected eve nts during the 1998 season. BMW of North America Inc. has been selected by the California Department of General Services to provide a fleet of autho rity motor cycles for u se by th e California Highway Patrol. One hun d red a nd fifty 1998 BMW RII00RT-P police moto rcycles will be purchased from A&S BMW Motorcycles of Citrus H e ig ht s, Ca liforn ia , be g innin g thi s mon th. BMW was selected over Ha rleyDavidson and Kawasaki in the bidding process, wh ich ta kes p lac e an nua lly . "Law enforcement age ncies around the country are beginnin g to take a closer look a t BMW moto rcycles becau se they offer featu res and benefits not found on Gainesville National MX dropped; Tampa SX ...added to '98 schedule ' ~ aP r;::J .~ . ~ t-.. 0\ 0'\ 0\ . .... t""""" aJ ..c E OJ 5 Z 2 ACE Mo tor Spor ts and the American Motorcyclist Association ann ounced the add ition of a 16th rou nd to the 1998 Thor /Par ts Unlim ited AMA Supercross Series. The event, scheduled for February 28, will be held at Houli han 's Stad ium in Tampa, Florida. The addition of Tampa was mad e possible by the wo rki ng relation ship be tween Gary Becker, CEO of PACE Motor Spo rts, and Bill West, pr esident of World Sports . The d esire to chang e th e Gai nesville Motocross Nati onal int o a superero ss even t, accord ing to West, was in the best interest of off-road motorcycling. It means that for the first time in recent yea rs, the supercross and motocross programs will have two distinct sched ules with tran sition time in between . It also enables PACE and the AMA to schedule the future supercross series races with the necessary days off. "This move should demonstrate a sensitivity to the entire mot orcycle indu stry's wish to dis continue overlapping of the supercruss and moto cross sched ules," Becker said . "We feel confident that this will take us a step further in demonstra ting the commitm ent PACE has to the sport." West, the longtime prom oter of the Gainesville Na tional, agreed that the time has come to make this change. "We are sad to see the pass ing of the Gainesville Na tional," Wes t sa id . "The ra ce has p layed an integra l ro le in the histor y of the AMA Pro Motocross Series. However, I am confident that the separation of the supercross and motocross programs will be a welcomed cha nge to the sport. World Sports will now focus entirely on our amateur and semi-pro events." Speed(way)--v--=. is- -=.io-"- -"-n_ ---'--f peed way fans who subscribe to the Speedvision satellite and cable network can plan on getting a healthy do se of their favorite sport, as Speedvision will be televising all six rounds of the 1997 World Ind ividual Championship Speedway Grand Prix Series in November and December. American race fans who subscribe can watch as Greg Hancock travels the road to the World Championship by tuning in to the da tes and times listed below. All listings are Pacific time. Listin gs are tentativ e and sub ject to change. November 11 @10 a.m, Prague and Swed en (two hours) Sweden and Germany (two hours) November 11 @6 p.m. Sweden and Germany (two hou rs) No vember 11 @10 p.m. Nov ember 16 @11 a.m . Sweden and Germa ny (two hours ) Nove mbe r 18 @10 a.m, Sweden and Germa ny (two hours) Germany and England (two hours) Novembe r 23 @11 a.m. Germany and Englan d (two hou rs) Nove mbe r 25'@10 a.m, England (one hour) November 25 @6 p.m . England (one hour) Nove mber 25 @ 10 p.m . England (one hour) Novembe r 30 @ 11 a.m. December 2 @10 a.m. England (one hou r) December 2 @ 6 p.m. England (one hour) Poland (one hour) December 2 e 10 p.m. Poland (one hour) December 7 @ 11 a.m. Denmark (one hou r) Decem ber 9 @ 10 a.m. Denmark (one hour ) Decembe r 9 @ 6 p.m. Denmark (one hour) Decembe r 9 @ 10 p.m. Decem ber 14 @12 p.m. England (one hou r) Decem ber 16 @10a.m. Denmar k (one hou r) S . any oth er motor cycle so ld for official use ," said Jeff Byers, national marketing man a ger fo r th e BMW Motorcycl e Group . "BMW offers the only authority motorcycle with an antilock bra king system, and stu d ies hav e show n that our bikes are also the most cos t-effective to own and operate." The Australian-built Dry sdale 750cc Veight will make its raci ng debut in the Shell Adv ance Six-Hour endurance race at Oran Par k near Syd ney, Austra lia, on Nov em ber 30. The bike will compete in the event's Formula One class and will be rid den by 125cc riders [ .]. O' Reilly and And rew Willy, acco rdi ng to Cycle Neu» contributor Darryl Flack. The race is a lso o pe n to su pe rb ikes, Formula Xt re m e bikes a nd 600cc Supe rspo r t mo torcycles, and should prove to be a big test for the new V-eight. Build up to the race has been surroun ded by controversy following the pu llout of a major sponsor before Shell stepped in to sponsor the eve nt. In add ition , up to eig ht different ru le cha nges hav e been made since the race w as first announced, leading to severa l top Formula Xtr eme teams boycott ing the race. Casey Folks, d irector of the Best in the Desert Racing Association, has released the 1998 Silver State Seri es race schedu le. The se co nd annu al Silver St ate Series consists of four rounds, w ith the first being the Tonopah 300 in Tonopah, Nevada , April 17-18; the second round, the Silve r St a te 300, wi ll s ta rt in Mesquite on june 26 a nd end in Ely, Nevada , on june 28; the third rou nd will be Vegas-to-Reno (545 miles), October 14; an d the newly added final rou nd w ill be the Terrible Town 200 in Pahrump, N evada, December 4-6. For more information, plea se contact Casey Folks a t the Best in the Desert Raci ng Association, 702/ 457-5775, fa x 702/641 -2431, web address www.bitd.com. O'Neal USA has signed Tea m Cha pa rra l/Yama ha 's J im my Bu ll on to wea r O'Neal appa rel du ring the 1998 season. Button, na tion al n u rnb er -Tl , finished ninth overall in both the 250cc Supercross and Motocross series . Bu tton's O'Neal debut will take place at the Bercy Supercross in Paris, France, November 7-9. After man y long yeors of waiting, it is finall y ti me to reope n Snowy Trai l in the Gorman OHV Park in Sout hern California - and v olunteers are need ed. Work began on the weekend of October 25, 1997, and will conti nue each following weekend until completion. To help, simp ly call the Mount Pinos Ranger Station at 805/245-3731 to make sure that the work has not been canceled due to inclement weather a nd to find out the time and loca tion to mee t for the work pa rty . Canadian road race r Neil Jenk ins , alo ng w ith his tuner, Scott Miller, and his spo nsor, Fast Company, ha ve left Yama ha and will be the official Canad ian Suzuki factory team in the 1998 Toyota Ca nada Su perbike Na tiona l Champ ionship . j enki ns w ill ri d e th e ne w fuel-injected GSXR750 in the Superbike class and a GSXR600 in the Sportbike d ivision . jenkins ha s ridden Yamahas for five yea rs, winning round two of the 199 7 ch a m p io n s h ip a t Chi ll iwac k , British Columbia, and led the series for much of the season. He began his career riding Suzuk is, how ever. Acco rdi ng to new sp ap er reports from DeLand, Florida, next yea r' s AHRMA road race at the Deland Airport may be the last. According to the Sentinel, city officials, citing doubts about attendance an d the cost of the event, are considering not ren ewin g a three -yea r agre ement to put on the race a fte r the 1998 race, scheduled for February 26-27. In a letter to AHRMA execu tive director jeff Smi th, Deland ci ty m an ag er Wayne Sanborn wrote: "At this stage, I would simply want to be very honest wi th you and advise that un less there is a subs tantial increase in spectator interest in this race, this office hat) serio us concerns abou t the city 's desire to con tinue this

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