Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

oorn~ V ICES O America's w eekl y motorcycle newspaper LEITERS TO THE EDITOR Vol u me XXXIV Sharon Clayton. Preside nt Michael Klinger, Pub lislwr Have another dou ghnut Editorial Paul Ca rruthers, Editor Kit Palmer, As ~iate Editor Scott Rousseau, Assodau Editor He y. guys. what's up w ith yo u r selection of ov er grown. overwe ig ht test riders in yo ur 125cc MX Shoot out? Have yo u been to an y local a m a te u r races lately? If you have. yo u might take note that yuur average 125 rider is 5-foot-5 to 5-foot-10 and between 120 and 150 pou nds. How ca n you give accu ra te results with these riders? They should be on 250s and 5005. Try it aga in. Ta d Working Nas hv ille. TN ~drl Hoyer. Managing Editor Keith Bus h. AssistQ'I' t.ditor!Cgry Editor Cameron Coatnev, Ati..<; /stan l Editor Alan Cathcart . European Editor David R. Holth er, Copy Editor Ad verti sing Terry Pratt. NationalAccounts Ma1Ulger Mark Mit ch ell, Eastern Acco un ts ftAimagaMark Thome, Western Sales Manager Thomas Gonter, WestL'TJ1 SalesManager Forrest Haya sh i, Wt'StC'rn salt'S Manager G n>g Mit chell, fAstcrn Sales Manager Rick Mathen y, Eastern Sales Mnnager Rho nda Crawford. WestmJ Ad Coordinator Brid ge-tt Bobrofsk y, Assistant Carla Allen. Ea stern Ad Coordinator Tina Parr. Assistallt M arketin g & Pro moti on Ma rk Thome, Direct or Forrest Haya sh i, Manager Gainesville, RIP Ne w M ed ia Developmen t Mark Mitchell, Director Rick Matheny, Wcbmaster Stephanie Leam on, Assistant Cla ssified Ad s Laurie Torstcnsen G raph ics an d Productio n Ret"jo hnson, Production Superuisor Ma ndy Loo, Production Managcr Denn is Green e, l.ab. Tech. Amanda Wulln y, Graphic Artist Robyn Light , Gra,'hic Artif;t Ad m inistration Jud y Klinger , Coordinator Leanne Sims, Administrative Asf;istant A cco u n tin WOa~a Processi ng I have be e n closely followi ng the Gai nesville Orphan National d eba te and. now that it has bee n rep laced by a Ta m pa Su pe rcros s d a te. I fee l J must voice my opi nio n. I ag ree that scheduling one National in the m iddle of the supercross season makes lit tl e sense . H o w e ver, Gai nes ville h as h isto rica lly bee n th e kickoff of Bike Week . w hich cul mi na tes the followi ng week in Daytona . Virtually all forms of moto rcycle competition are scheduled during that week. including flat track. enduro. road race. vintage, trials a nd, of course, motocross and supercross. Bike Week has now los t part of its heritage. on the ational Gainesville has schedule since the early 1980s. I have seen Hannah, Howerton, Glover , Bailey. O'Ma ra , Johnson. Lechien, Wa rd . Bradshaw. Bayle. Sta nto n. Kied rowski. La Rocco. Henry. McG rath. Emig, Dowd and countless o thers roost the re. History was made th ere las t year when Rickv Carmichael won the first National o" his career. and th e Yama ha f YZM 400 four-s troke ma de its d ebu t with Do ug He nry . I will m iss be in g ther e in March . Te am ma nage rs are a lways co m plainin g about the long su percross seaso n. yet the AMA has now eli mi na ted an ou tdoor Na tio na l and has added a supercross in its place. The 1998 schedule now feat ures 16 su percrrnises an d 12 ou tdoor Na tionals . Pe rha ps th e AMA can elim inate one or two Nationa ls a nd w!'t can have the su percross "surviva l" series. been Donna Bryan-Diamond. AIR Coordinator Geneva Repass, Assistant Herlane Lewi s, Cred it Circu la tion Rhcba Smith. Manas<' Alma Anguiano , Processing Coordinator Keshena Dawson. BillingCoordinator Carol Maggio. Dt'aler Coordinator Service and S uppo n Doris Rice. RLceptionist Michael Swedberg, Scroiceand Support National Headq uarters 350.'i-M Cadillac Ave.• Costa Mesa . CA 92626. P.O. Box 5084. Costa Me-sa, CA 92628-5084 (714) 751-7433 FACX(751)751-6685 Eas tern O ff ice 4188 First Ave., Tucker, GA 30084; mailing address 1'.0. Box 80S, Tucker, GA 30085-0805. (770) 934- 71l 0 . FAX (770) 5 Kevin Windham , 125cc Western Regional Sup ercross Champion - 6'l'" . 180 pounds; Ricky Carmichael . 12S cc Natio nal MX Champion - 5'4".142 pound s. It' s all telatits:... Editor. 934- 31 12 e- ma il ed itor@cyclc ne ws .com Mo tocross is supposed to be a spo rt where the ri d er o ve r comes o bs ta cles and variables, and it was never intended to be easy. It requires skill. determination, d ed icati on , preparation, sac rific e, stra tegy, heart and so metimes lu ck. I have been involved in the sport for over 20 years and have met the nicest people. in ad d itio n to having mem orable experienc es. It is sad to see a part of motocross history di sappear. ow . with the ca ncella tio n of Gainesville. there won't be any East Coast Nationals south o f Marvland . There are tw o Na tio nal s apiece o n th e 1998 schedule for Ca lifornia. New York and Pennsylvania . I p ro pose that the AMA change the nam e of the series to the AMA Selecte d Regio na l Na tio na l Championships. As sta ted ea rlier, th e sched u ling of Gainesville has been a problem - and it makes sense to unify the two series. But why not move Gainesville to a later date instead of elim ina ting it altogether? Let us not forge t wh ere our roots come from - otherwise our fine sport wi ll suffer. Steve Rus Sarasota, FL Gordon Lunde Jr. On Octobe r 11, a brigh t light went ou t in the CCS Midwest /Great Lakes region. Gordon Lunde Jr. was tra gicall y taken .fro m us in a racing ac cid ent a t Road Atlanta while taking part in the WERA Grand National Final. Gord y wa s a fixture at Blackhawk Farms Raceway, G ratta n , and Road America. When he wasn't on the track. he co uld us ually be found w a lkin g arou nd the pits with his dog, and visiting with othe r racers and track officials . Always smiling and friendl y, he was there tu give you a helping hand if yo u needed one. o r a w o rd of advice and encouragement. On the track. he was all business. but he wuu ld still gi ve a th umbs-u p o r a wave while passing by. Gordy Jr. and Go rdy Sr. a re a much-loved. res pected and important part o f our Midwes t / G rea t Lakes "fam ily." Go rdy Sr. runs th e We g ma n Be n e fi t Fund a nd ha s always had the ad mira tion of all racers because of h is drive and dedica tio n to the cause. I only hope the Lunde family can take so me co mfo rt in th e fact that Go rdy Jr. will al ways be in o u r hea rts and minds whe never we are at the track. I'm s ure that, w henever we're a t the tra ck . we 'l! a lwa y s see h im w a lk in g around the p its - smiling and waving. God speed, Gordy. You will always be in our hearts. thoug hts and prayers. You will nev er be forgotten. Dave Vaupel Pekin. IL Kudos to Summers I wa nted to take a mom ent to congratulate Scott Summers and Fred Bramblett o n winning their fifth AMA Grand National Cross Country Series overall championship this fall. I feel that Scott and Fred are good people a nd true ambassadors for the sport of off-road ra cin g . Case in poin t : A fte r al read y clinching the title at th e 12th round of th e 1 3- ra c ~ se ries (and, in th e p roc~ss , b reak ing h is leg). Scott ne vertheless . d rove wi th Fred fro m the ir ho m e in wes te rn Kentuck y to a ttend the fina l round of the series in Virginia. Sco tt sai d he wa nted to be there beca use he didn' t wa n t to d isa ppoint the fans at an ope n house that had be en set up well in advance. He also wa nted to help promo te the series and our sport in the state of Virginia. where the GNCC series was s topping for the first time. Over the weekend. Scott did more autog rap h sessions. h elped o ut the MotoWorld guys with a race report, and stuck it out to the very end in one of the muddiest races the series has ever seenbroken leg and all. Scott Summers and Fred Bramblett are true champions. an d I coogratulate them once agai n o n a job weI! done. Dave Coo m bs Sr. Mo rgan town, WV .Coombs ow ns Racer Productions, the promoters of the GNCC Series... Editor. Lett ers to th e edito r sho ul d be sent to Vo ic es, Cycle N ews, P.O. Bo x 5084, Co sta Mesa. CA 92628-5084, faxe d to 714/751 -6685 o r e-m ail , e ditor@cyclenew s.com . Published let ters do not necessarily reflect th e pos ition of Cycle News. In c. Let ters sh o uld not exceed 200 words and all letters are sub ject to editing . Ano nymous letters wi ll not be co nsidered fo r pu blicatio n. All letters s h o u l d co n t a i n t he writer' s n am e, ad dress and daytim e phone number ... Edi tor. subscriM:«yclenews.ro m adver tising@cydenews.com INSIDE Intern et h ttp: / /www.cydenews.com Issue #47 November 26, 1997 Cyck N..." ",·!Oo (USPS141·)-I i!Oo rubli~ht-d wt"t"lly " t"'l-pI lh.m Ll'o t two "'n- h of the ca lt-nJ. ar VNr for SSO.oo pel" vear by Cvcle New5 Inc... 3505-M. <:ostia Moa. CA9"'..b28.1'ciod'icab . POsta&e PaWj at Long Beach. CA. nd at acIdJtional maill l& r offKC::. Canad.1 p~ {ntcmatwl'loll Pubhca hon.~ Mail 1546615. roSTMASTER: ~ .addrnll et....ngn to Cyclt' Do. S084. ~~ Mt'Y, CA92ft2S.S084. N~w\., FEATURES P.O. To dfltrmint Uu:tlpiration ciait' of yoursubsaiption. cb«k the four numbfts on ee fll5lline of )"OW' addrts51abfl. The first two dlgitl lndio tt the Iat n1lDlbft you'll eeeeive and the u"tlwo cIu.rKkn indk.te the reM 01 Uw r.t i~Mle. _1M! . Katn lor thr United State!! and its ~ siam.for one YCAf. (50 is.<.ue;). S50 two yea r.; (]OO 5ucs). .00; S9S.00; six montl\ol.. ~l"8), $2&.00; trial subOSis&uesl. 519.00. C.Ilolda and Fo l n:;sn. one year GO i:Isues).S90 two .IXl; yem.000 N,ue), $175.00;sir. months MJes). $45.00; trial flUb 05 ~). $38.00. GRAND PRIX Elsinore G rand Prix from Lake Elsino re. California 6 DEPARTMENTS Su~pbon rat as as umol icitrd editori.1l ma tmaJ iDduding stann. cartoom. plk-b. de. Such matma1.1f pubbslwd. ~ tlK- t'lC1tr;i~ ~ ot Cycle N~'S. Rtoprinting in whole or ~rt only by penni!lAon. ot t!w publisher AdWl'ti$. iJtK ra te and l'ir't.-uWbon infomurion will ~!Ot'ftt upon Cy~NrwllWl'~ sans fftflJl"d . s,... W~.8 ~':' TION ~ Printed in U.S.A. Co ~yrigh rO CycleNews. Inc. 1997. Tr.ademnk Cye]e News ~I!rttrtd Patent Offi(f. All rights m1eMd. us. HARE SCRAMBLES Round 9 - AMA National Championship Hare Scrambles Series fro m Kent. Washington 10 EVENTS _ 20 FIRST RIDE 1998 H und a VFR Intercept or 16 30 LEADERBOARD 32 CALENDAR .33 WANT ADS .38 A VIEW FROM THE FENCE SUPERCROSS Rounds 2-4 - F1M World Supercross Championship Series from France .......14 RESULTS .55 LOOKING BACK 55 Alan Cathcart takes th e Ho nd a Interceptor for a spin in the ra in. For his ridin g im pressions of the new bike. see page 16. Pho to by Dirk Melkeb eek / Dead line. Steve Lamson takes it to the st reets in wi nning the Elsino re Gra nd Pri x. Photo by Kinney Jones.

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