Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

- - T"" " "-~~~~ .~--:o,.,---------------------- SUPERCROSS TOYOTAITHORIPARTS UNLIMITED AMA SUPERCROSS SERIES "The track wa s very good t oni ght and m y b i ke was working very w ell," summarized Vuillemin o f his n ipht. " I n e ed e d t o show e very o n e tha t las t w e ekend , w h e n 1 finished s e v e n t h , w a s n ot rea lly me, 1 wa s sick a n d 1 co u l d not focus, 1 think t hat t h e r est o f th e series w ill b e v e ry intere stin g n ow ." Dav id Pin gree rode hi s FMFlHonda to second plac e in the 125cc class. f:\' Houston Astrodo me Houston, Texas Results: January 17, 1998 (Round 2 of 7) 125 HEAT 1 (6 lap s, 1-9 tra n s fer to m a in ): 1Ste p ha ne Ron cada (He n ): 2. Dav id Pingree (Hen): 3. Dav id Vu illemt n (Yam); 4. Je ff Matiasevich (Kaw): 5. Gre g Schnell (Yam ); 6. M ich ael Brandes (Suz );.7. Isaiah John so n (Ka w) , 8. Ja co b Ma rti n (Suz); 9. Ry a n Duff (Ho n ); 10. Gio Tedesco (Yam) ; 11. Espen Blfkstad (Yam); 12. Dax Kastrin (Suz): 13. Kenny Bart ram (Suz); 14. Travis Trieb (Yam ); 15. An d y Harrington (Yam); 16. Reps Reed (Hon k 17. Brian Sweany (Su z ); 18. Tommy H a rri son (Yam); 19. Jimmy Lemastus (KTM) ; 20. Tra vis Presto n (Suz), T im e: 6 min., 12.900 St.'C. 125 HEAT 2 16 laps , 1-9 transfer to main ): 1. Nathan Ramsey IKaw) : 2. John Dowd (Yam); 3. Jaso n McCorm ick ); (He n): 4, jiri Dostal (5uz 5, Erick Va llejo (Kaw): 6, jeff Willoh (Su z); 7. Mike M e tzger (Kaw): 8. Danny Smit h (He n): 9. Jason Pa rtrid ge (Suz); 10. Tyler Evans (Suz) ; 11. Ryan Huffman (Suz ); 12. Jero me Hemery (Suz); 13. Brad Hagseth (Yam); 14. Tony Graves (Yam ); 15. Brian Deegan (l(. W); 16. Scott Davis (Suz) ; 17. Jamey Grosser (Yam); lB. 1 Dustin N e lson (Ya m) ; 19 . La rry Linkogle (Ya m) ; 20. Shoun Perclio (Suz). Ti m e: 6 min., 11.500 sec. Brieflv. .. ,- 10 M cGrath 's mechanic, Randy Lawrence, got ers, 12S LeQ (4 la p s, 1-4 transfer to m a in); 1. Rya n H u ffm a n (Suz); 2. Brian Deegan (Kaw); 3. Je r ome Hcm ery (Suz) : 4. Tyler Evans (Suz): 5. Brad Hagset h (Yam); 6. Sha un Peroli o (Suz ): 7. Espc n Bliksta d (Yam) ; 8. Travis P reston (Su z); 9. Gia Tedesco (Yam) ; 10. Jim m y Lemastus (KTM); 11. Kenny Bartram (S:lz) ; 12. Ton y Graves (Yam ); 13. Larry Link og le (Ya m ); 14. Tommy Ha rrison (Yam); 15. Andy Harringt on (Yam ); 16. Tra vi s Trieb (Yam); 17. Dax Kastrin (Suz); 18. Reps R~ (Hon); . 19. Iamcy Crosser (Yam); 20. Dusti n Nelson (Yam); 21. Brian Sweany (Suz); 22. Scott Davis (Suz). Time: 4 min. , 17.840 sec . . 125 .MAIN (15 laps): 1. David Vu tllemin (Yam); 2. David P ing ree (Hon): 3. Joh n Do wd (Yam) ; 4. G reg Sch nell (Yam ); 5. Stephane Roncada (Hon) ; 6. Michael Bra ndes (Su z) : 7 . Je ff Mattasevicb (Kaw) : 8. Ry a n Huf fman (Suz) ; 9. Danny Sm ith (Honl; 10. Mike Metzger (J(.l W); 11. Isaiah Johnso n (}(aw); 12. Erick Vallejo (Ka w); 13. Ty ler Eva ns (Su z ); 14. Nathan Ram sey (Kaw): 15. Jason Pa rtridg e (Suz): 16. Rya n Duff (Hen): 17. Jason McCormick (Hon): 18. Jacob Martin (Suz); 19. Jeff Willo h (Suz ); 20. Brian Deega n (Kaw): 21. Jiri Dos tal (Suz ); 22. Jerome Hemery (Suz) . Ti me: 15 min ., 21.B10 Sl.'C. Margin of victory: 9.001 sec, USee AMA WESTERN REG IONAL SUPERCROSS SERIES POINT STANDINGS (After 2 of 7 ro unds ); 1. John Oowd (45/ 1 win); 2. David Vu illcmin (39 / 1 w in); 3. Step ha ne Ron cada (38); 4. Da v id Pi n gree (37); 5. Mich ae l Brand es (35); 6. Ryan H uffma n (31) ; 7. G reg Schnell (27) ; 8. Jeff Mattascvich (25); 9 . (TIE) Na t ha n • Ramsey/jason McConnick (20); 11, Jelf Wilioh (J4); 12, Danny Smit h ( 2) ; 13 . Mike Metzger (1); 14 . (TIE) Isaiah Iohnso n /Iiri Dos tal (10); 16. Erick Va llejo (9); 17. Tyler Evans (B); 18. Ryan Duf f (5); 19. Jaco b Ma rtin (3); 20. Bria n Deegan (2). Upco ming Round s: Round 3 • Phoenix, Arizona, January 24 Round 4· Seattle , Washi ngton, January 3 1 a~ assortment ot'pli-, " Since ,1974 , 'T r a il ~iders of HO,uston Inc; memb ers have . " worked " ' the Houston Supereross , lending 'a helping hand w ith ·track-flagging, parking and offic iating, among other things, "Our The facto,y.s'uppOrted .125cc 'm a c h i n es used by the Primal ' club members. almost fight to get a chance to wo rk this event , " , , , , , tmpul se/Btll ' s Pipes/S uzuk i. Honda of Tr oy, and FMF / Ho nd? , said club 'member Gary Mi ller, Fo unded in 1969, 'the club has 37 6 .Tearn Honda' s Ezra Lusk and Yamaha/FM F/ M ichelin·backed .. . . .. .members.· . Dav id , Vulllemin picked u p t h e 1 ·900·PRO·RACE , teams are all using works -like Showa suspen·sio n· kits , w ith the fo rks rumor ed to be 47mm - and very cosily; As points ·o f refer. Holeshot Awards on.their way to victory in the '250 and ,125<:c ence, the Suzuki RM 125 comes stoc k with Showa 4gmm c c nven- , Suzuki' s stable of facto'ry RM250s are also decked out w itli classes, respec tively , l.usk'pic ked up.$1000 for his hole shot .and so me, exot ic for k units for the ' '98 campaign, "They are '49mm V~iIIemin re~eiVed $500 for his quick getaway, ' , tional fofks· and the Honda CR 125 co mes standard with Kayaba , suspension co mponents, "This is a production-based kit. available , twin-chamber upside-down for ks wit h the very latest technology, " said team manager Roger DeCoster, - I also believe the Inter-There doesn' t , see m to be roo much st rife between ex-factory to the gen eral publ ic : said Ho nda of .Troy team manage r Erik Yarnahatearnrnates Kevin Windham and Ezra Lusk aft er a O . Kehoe . "They 've been homo logated throug h therules. o f the , nals are very similar to what Honda is' running," Like most of the wor ks 'forks in use, they are rumored to be coated with tltanturn : few racing ' incidents ' betWeen the tw o last week in LA , W indham A MA, so this Issu spenslon that anybody can buy, I donot know nitride . ,crashed wh ile trYing to block -pass Lusk ina heat : and ·then' the : how much th ey co st: though , " .Kaw asaki ' s fa~to iy. supported ' tWo. hil in midair in the main, wi th Lusk taking a severe soil 'sam· , 12 5cc effort · Team Pr~ ,C irc uit/ Split Fire / Kaw asa.ki . w ill be ' The old Suzuki M l s i n g suri M logo is again adoming the graphics r pie, ,",It was a pretty act ion-pack ed weeke nd for both .o f us; we , switching over to Kayaba s almost-works suspension kit. but Pro always seemed to be ,together,: W indham 'said.:" , don 't know, ·1 Circuit will cont inueto use Its o~_n modified Kayaba suspensions ' scheme on the team's factory race bikes" "That was my ldea.ia nd ' was produ ced with the help of Roo Healy at ·N -Siyle : Roger just kind .of had the feeling he would do the same thing ·to me, until the new unii s arrive in a f",w wee ks, " W",'11 be getting ,those DeCoster expiained, "The logo pay's ho'mage to Suzu ki' s great ' 'and I still thi nk we 'r e fr iends , I ,still think he'd do the 'same thing Kayaba ,suspension kit s for the team a nytime now ," Pro Cir cuit's tomo rrow .. along with the other 19 guys out there , I was racing ' 'Dave Feeneysaid. "They' ll also be available to the.public; and I'm . racing history. Suzuki was the first manufacturer to win a W orld Motocross Championship, 'and during that period, Joel Robert and sure they're cost ly," , ' hard andI was inio winning that rac e, ju st like everyone , I've ' I were running it on our jerseys, pants and bikes , I have quite a , talked to Ezra a couple , of time s since t hen, and I .queas ·he " " ," few young guys asking, 'What Is that loqo? ' But .they seem to like thoug ht it was a dirty move , but like I said, I'm sure he wou ld do . Sharp eyes in' the Hou ston pits may h ave' noti ced that Ryan it. Onthe track, I think everyoneIs going for it. 'and off th e track I ' , HuHman 's Primal Impulse/ Bill's Pipes/Suzuki RM 125 is fitted . it, and the older guys that were motocross fans back in the 1970s remember it :ven-and rea.ily enjoy seeing ltaqaln. " think we're all a pretty tight group, so we' ll see how it goes', and , with a 38mm Keihh Powerjet carburetor, 'complete with the fact ohopefully there are no hard feelings,' Lusk was a littl e less rosy ry ignition that regulates the soleno id-co ntrolled powe r jet. Robbie The absence of the' wo rid 's ·most ' noto rious " X " ' athlete at the about the sttuation. " I think .in the heat-rac e incident. ' something ' , Heynard . who w il,l co ntes t t he East ern Region , also uses the , HoustonSx had industry wags asking', " ls 'the Shaun Palmer , just clicked in .hts head, ~ Lusk said, " He got 'passed the last lap: setup, supercross era over already?" No , it's only on hold, accor ding to and I think he was upset abo ut it and he we nt for ·it. Luckil y, I ' , his crew , One we ek after qualifying ,for ·the LA SX , ' "The greatest played it a little smarte r than he did, and he went down, Yes, I'd Sincf;l,Team Kal«asaki's ,Ry a n Hug hes is stili recovering from night of my life, " according to the rider himself · Palmer passed on say that I ho ld a grudge against him, but it won' t be for long, ankle and back injuries sustained in a crash during practice before Kevin and I have been friends for , too long, I'm sure i t wiU'blow the Los Angeles round of th.e SX series, mechanic Ron Wo od , t he Hou st on rac e so that he co uld co mpete in th e Wint er X Games on ESPN 2, Palmer responded there by winning his secover after a w hile, but I'm always going to remember that.. When I ' , was w atc hing his . rider very closely in practice, "t can tell the ond and third career gold medals in snowboard motoc ross and 'crashed ove r the triple, I think it was just gravity that brough t us injuries are hurting him, especiaily landing from the triples, " W ood down hill mountain biking, Palmer' says his next mot orized goal is together, " At H oust o'n, the twi; riders batt led "togethe'r" ove r ' , said, "I'm going to have to set the bike up a little differently to to qua lify for th e seaso n.endi ng St eel City 125 c c N at ion al 'the second heat race for the first five laps before Lusk cleanly help him make. it 20 laps , " Hugh es finished a so lid fifth hi the M otocross in Septe mber, ' , 250cc main afte r 'running second and third for much of the race · move d by to take th", wi~ , much better than his 14th.place finish in the serie s opener a' week · , Team Kawasaki has been testing pro totype R e nth al hand l e TeamSuzuk; of. Japan's Kyle L e w i s made h'is fi';'t appearance lago. b a rs in Los A~geles ' and Houston, which, for now , are being called in the AMA Supercr oss Series for 1998 in H·o uston after a bumpy Team Si iffie / W estw o'od /Tom Morgan Racin g-bac ked ·S h a g n the'Twin-W all Ba': The bars feature an·aluminum·sleeve over most but fairiy successful year racing the All-J apan M X S eries,·"1 bro ke Per o lio got a real 'surprise when his ' right foo tpeg and mount of the regular 7/ 8·inch bar, The sleeve is actually installed before ' my co llarbone 'at the fifth round last year and ended up third overtore away from ~is RM 125 while landing from a tripie jump during the hand lebars are bent into shape, and 'the en d resu lt is an all, " Lewis said at Houston, ·" 'Chicken' Weff M atiasevich) was ridincrease in overall streng th and, most importa ntiy , Rentha! claims practice. .injunng his right knee in the .mishap, " I landed from this ing st rong again all· seaso n, didn' t get hurt , and he .orily had on'; trip le arid my foot ju st slammed th e ground , " Perolio sai d.'" 1 there is less chance for breakage at the clamps, w hich are now' 1 bad race , He won it. " Lew is is only competing in the Unit ed didn 't know whal had happened, so I w ent to seai -bounc e off the 1/ 8 irich in diameter C1ike Answer's Pro-Tapers), Doug Emig, Ryan States for a limited time again and found the Houston track to be next ,obstacle ,. my .foot flew into spac e and I almost crashed " Hughes and Sebastien Tortelli have been testi ng them and are very an eye-opener , "j'm going to ride tlie (supe rcross) se·ries u'ntil again," The frame was repaired and Perolio raced, aithough he did impressed with 'the stre ngth, although Emig did bend the cross bar after San Dif;lgo, then , go back to Japan . or a tes t sess,ion, and I f ' , not 'qualify for the 125cc main event. slightly ';'hen he crashed in the whoop s in practi ce at Housto'n, , th en.! basically start training for the seaso n,: Lewis said, "Today , "They should be available in March," said Rent hal' s Shawn Nor· I' m running a bunch ·of special paris ,. They gave me suspensi on fol k, " PeO are really inte rested in.these bars right now ,," ple and .motor' stuff , and it' s really goo d, I won my qualifier, but the Team Kaw asaki of M exic o ' s P e d r o Go nzalez , a ,Ho uston track is tough, I haven 't ridden anything Iike ,it ,in about 'a year," ., favorite, is out wit h a brok en coUarbone he sustained last wee k Se~n on Team K~wasaki'~ .works 'K X2 5 0 s'were new Keit~in ,Lewis finished 18th in the 250 cc main aft er being a victi m of the during a practice sessio n, ..Pedro broke his co llarbone and will be first co mer. ' . . out for four to six.weeks." said team owne r Javie r Martinez... Pricarburetors that utilize a pOwer jet and also look to have .a throt'.. . . vat eer J eff H edden will ride Pedro' s bike for now . It' s only temper ' tle.position 'sensor located at the top of the'slide , Kawasaki is M emb ers of th e Ho usto n branc h of Snap.On tools wer e in ' ' rary" but we'll see how things go ," . tight-lipped about the sensor, but insiders believe that the sensor ,attendance again this year, awarding tool s to the pOdium finishers' ' . , is tied into the ignition, which optimizes timing, according' to throt· '. ,. t ie Position arid rpm, mechanics in the 250c <: class , "Team Houston, our branch here, " Kevin Windham 's ,T e a m Yamaha :YZ250 ·us es a '98-based 'is presenting the too ls this evening, " said Jim Phillips: Snap:O n's cylinder ,inst ead of the '94-base'd cylinder seen' on most of the fac· fieiq manager, : Our Dalias' bran'ch will give them away in Daitas;, ' tory Yamahas last season and the one J eremy McGrath is using , The Pro Cireult/SplitFi ...../ Kaw a sak l t ea m bikes of Ca sey we' ll do Las Vegas : and we.'re try irtg to hoo k up With,New Orleans , on h iS factory Chaparral/Yamah a this yea,: "Those 'cylinders actu ·: Joh nson and .J eff M atiasevich brist le with' parts intended to make this year, Eventually, the goal is to get all of the branches Involved ' ally put out about the same amount of'overall power, It' s all in the the bikes as light as possible , : There are over 300 bo lts on this ' in, the supercross series, giving tools 'back to .th e mechanics : " , way it' s delivered : 'said Team Yamaha's Bob Oliver : " M cG rat h bike : said Ramsey 's mec~anic. John M itchell, "and (can' only Lusk' s mechan ic, M ike .G os,selaar, ·rec eiv e·d a ,co rdless, drill; , , likes the old ·o ne, while Kevin ,(W indham) and J ,D , (Jo hn Dowd) t think of three boits that aren't titanium: . wo fluid-check bolts and Emig ' s m ech'an ie, J e re my' Alb r ech t; got a d riv er se t ; and _ like the new styie," , ' , ' " ,' , ', " ,the fren t·brake lever-pivoi bolt: That' s it. " ' .",.

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