Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Cycle News 1997 11 26

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/127867

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 1 of 55

IN THE WIND Team Honda scored the overall win at the SC ORE Ba ja 1000, ovember 14-15. Joh nny Cam pb ell, Ti m Staab and Greg Brin gle, riding a Honda XR628 fourstroke, finished the i07-mile race in 13 hours, 19 minutes and 59 seconds, at an average speed of 52.6 mph. Campbell, Staab and Bringle finished more than an hour and a half in front of the secondplace team of Mike Healey, Jeff Capt, Tex Mitchell, Robert Prather and Marc Burnett. The five- me mber team, riding another Honda XR628, s topped the clock at 14:45:47, with a 475-mph speed average. Topping the 250cc class in third overall, on a Honda CR250, was the th ree- rider tea m of Tim Morton, Fred Willert and Ron Wilson, w ho finis hed t he race in 14:58 :58. Fo r me r Supercross and National MX Cha mpion Rick Johnson was a member of the winning Class 30 tea m . Joh nson a nd teammates Cliff Matlock; Ma t Barney, Ken Grenfley and James Cloud took fourth ove ra ll on a Hond a XR628 with a 'fin ish ing time of 15:16:12. Ca mpbe ll, Staab and Bringle also finished approxima tely 33 m inutes ahead of th e fi rst four-wheeled vehicle. Th e top 10 finishing mo torcy cle riders we re aboard Ho ndas. Kawasaki Tea m Green did not field a team. Brad Woolsey (Kaw) was the big winner a t the opening round of the AMA /PJ1 Arenacross Series in Des Moines, Iowa, November 14-15, taking two victories. On Friday, Woolsey took the 250cc-class win ahead of Cliff Palmer (Kaw) and Buddy Antunez (Suz), Palmer, meanwhile, topped the 12Sec class on Friday over Jimmy Gaddi s (Kaw) and Nick Wey (Kaw). On Saturday, Woolsey rode to victory in the 125cc mai n, followed by Palmer and Josh Demuth (Suz), In the 250cc class, Grayson Goodman (Kaw) took the win , followed by Weyand Demuth-, Josh McLevy (Ho n) won the final round of the NETRA Hare Scra mb les Series, the Belltown Ha re Scramble, in Union, Connecticut, on November 16. It was M cLe vy ' s 11th w in of the IS-round se ries . Arthur Menzel (Kaw) was second overa ll, and Kenny Law (Yam) was third overall . Former Malaysian Superbike Cha mpion Ben n Arc hibald (Yam) won the ina ugural Aus tralian Form ula Xtrem e Chal len ge Cu p a t Oran Park in Sydney, on Novem be r 17, des pite t he fac t th at Shawn Giles (lion) won all th ree races at Ora n Park. Altho ug h Giles ended up w inning mo re races in the se ries than Archibald, two DNFs re legated him to second in the final standi ngs. ~ 0\ ..... -.0 N .... ClJ .!:l E ClJ > o Z 2 World Endurance C hampion Peter Goddard is expected to sign a contract this week that will see him ride factory Suzukis in the 1998 Wo rld Superbike Championship. The Australian recently met with Team Harris Suzuki personnel in England, and details of the contract are expected to be finalized this week, according to Cycle NI!'U'S correspondent Darryl Flack. There ha d been strong speculation that Goddard, the 1996 Australian Superbike Champion, would take over the running of Suzuki's World Superbike effort following two lessthan-stellar years un der cu rrent team boss Les ter Harris, but it now appears as tho ug h Goddard will join the team as a rider. The 33 -year-old ha s ser ve d as rid er/manager of Aus tra lia's Su zuki team since 1994, but ha s expressed a desire to race full lime following his su ccess in this ye ar's World Endu rance Championship with Doug Pole n. Goddard will join Jamie Whitham (who will return for a second year on the team) in riding the new fue l-injected Suzuki GSXR750s. Suzuki Australia, meanwhile, has extended its deadline to re-sign its star rider, Troy Bayl iss, for its Team Ansell Airfreight Superbike team while the young star contemplates a works Suzuki 250cc GP ride. After finishing sixth in his 250cc GP debut at Philli p Island on October 5, Bayliss is considering an offer from the Molenaar Suzuki team to enter the 1998 250cc World Champio nsh ip . Bay li ss ' tea m ma te Mark Will is ha s already re-sign ed wit h the team. The AMA has been awa rded the FIM Env iro nment Award for significan tly im proving env ironmental awareness and sensitivity in the motorcycling community. Th is is the first time the awa rd has been given since the FIM forma lly ado p te d it s Environmen ta l Co de in 1996. In an no u nci ng th e awa rd, mem bers of the H M cited the AMA's 25-year history of br inging toge ther federal officials, pub lic -la nd managers an d off: high way motorcycle ent husiasts to provide mo torized-recreation opportunities while protecting the environment. In addition, the HM noted the AMA's 73yea r hist ory of promoting noise-abatement programs aimed at street, off-road a nd co mpetition motorcycles. The awa rd will be presented at the 1997 AM Banquet on December 13 in Helsinki, Finland. As of Monday, November 17, American Honda' s AMA Superbike Series team was still unsponsored , though one potential backer is expected to make a decision this week. The team, formerly backed by R.J. Reynolds and its Smokin' Joe's bra nd, will field Miguel Du Ham el an d Ben Bostrom in official Honda colors in 1998 if the sponsorshi p package do es n't co me together, according to team owner Martin Ada ms. HWe're still waiting, but it won't be much longer," Adams said. "We had a mee ting wi th a sponsor last Wednesd ay, and they'd be a very good sponsor. We're insis ting on a commitme nt beyond 1998 an d we're waiting to ge t an answer. Unfor tu na tely, we wa ited SO long to get an answer from RJR." (Adams was negoti atin g with the Winston brand.) Ear ly- pub lici ty d epartm ent: Ar izona Bike Week, sched uled for Februa ry 715, 1998, will kick off wi th the Liza rd Rock Ride on February 7 in Scottsdale. That will be followed by the two-day Full Throttl e Rally, the Dutc h Dice Run, the Phoenix Coyotes Coyote Run, the Leather &: Lace Chrome Ball, Sonoran Cinema Ride-In Movie Night, and CycleFes!. The week concludes with the Cruise America Arizona Superbike Challenge at Phoenix International Raceway. For more information, call 602/970-3757 . Wh ite Brothers will be producing aftermarket products for the highly anticipated 1998 Yamaha YZ400F fou r-stroke due in early 1998. White Brothers and Yamaha conducted the research, development and testing of the prod ucts that will be available th rou gh the Yamaha Parts and Accessory Division and Whi te Broth ers. Some of the more int eresting parts being produced include three- and four-speed tran smi ssions, performancebred eng ine accessories, carbon- fiber guards, and titanium exhaust sys tems, handlebars and subfram es. We've moved A fter 33 years of publishing in Long Beach, California, CN Publishing - pub lisher of Cycle N/!'U'S and Personal Watercraft Illustrated- is moving its national headquarters to a new facility in Costa Mesa, California, effective Monday, November 24. The eastern advertising office , ho wever, will remain in Tucker, Georgia . The new facility is 18,000 square feet, up from the Long Beach facility's 10,000 square feet, and will provide mo re opportunities for the company, according to publisher Mike Klinge r. 'The increase in space will allow us the opportunity for more in-ho use projects: Klinger said, "w hile also crea ting a bette r wo rking environment for our employees as we continue to publish Cycle N/!'U'S and Prrsnnal Watercraft Illustrated into the next millennium." CN Publishing will now be located at 3505-M Cadillac Ave., Cos ta Mesa, CA 92626, 714/751-7433

Articles in this issue

Archives of this issue

view archives of Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's - Cycle News 1997 11 26