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/127927
~. IN THE WIND . e , . ~':\ ': : ', :"~.~; " ,;· , : ~ ':F . -''- .''.' ~ .:;, ~:,~',, '" S,", ;:;;~"';" \" ' ,~::\i;:" _ ",'• w he n s he regularly mi xed it up w it h the men on th e Camel Pro Series champions hip trail. We ll, Kirk is s till racing competi tively, as is evidenced by he r 17th- p la ce finish in the NASCA R C raftsman Truck seaso n-ope n i n g Chevy Trucks Challenge at Wa lt Disney World Speedway in Lake Buen a Vista, Florida, on January 18. Kirk, who drives the Au to Value Parts-sponsored Ford, finis hed one lap down to wi nner Ron H orn ad ay. , Andy Hansen, 51, of H.E.5 . Eng inee ring fame, d ied of a heart attack on Decemb er 29, J 997. H .E.5. Engi nee ring is re no wned fo r its high-pe rfo rm a nce Ha rley-Davidson engines, w hich have garnere d records a t Bonneville. H.E.5. was also th e supplier of engi nes for Rick y Graham's 883 di rt track effort w he n G raham took the series tit le in 1993 . H ansen is survived by his wife, Sharon, an d his dau ghter, Shannon. Former di rt track racer Wa yne Hosaka is currently hosting a cha t room for d irt tra ck ra ci n g fa ns o n M o n da y an d W edn es day ni gh ts fro m 5 to 7 p. m . (Pacific time) on the Flat Tra ck Page on th e Wor ld Wide We b. The address for th e site is ht!p:/ / www.flattrack.com . BMW of Nor th America is re por ting that its 1997 mot orcycle sales were the h igh est in th e co m pa ny's h ist ory . A cc ord in g to BMW, the m ot orcy cl e g ro u p p ost ed sa les of 6103 unit s, up n ea rly 25 percent over year-end sa les figures for 1996. Mot ocrosser Spu d Walters, the winner of the first tw o rounds of the PAC E OffRoad Stadium Series events, w ill race his fac tory-bac ked Whi t e Br ot he rs Yamaha YZ400F in th e third ro und &f th e AMA Supercross Series in Phoenix , Ari zona, on January 24. Walters wil l be joined by his teammate Doug Dubach for the Phoenix round. The California Superbike School wi ll again be offering their tw o-d ay ri di ng camps in 1998 . With grou ps of 12 o r fewer students, th e cam ps w ill incl ude Keit h Code's n ew Slide Machine, a device that allows rid ers to ex perience the feel of extre me lean and pow er slid ing. Also back for 1998 are the schoo l's over-your-should er video reviews , As eac h studen t lea rns o n tr ack, o nbo ard video cap tu res 12 key riding points for review and correctio n . For mor e info rm a ti on o n th e sc hoo ls, ca ll 818/2460717. ltalia n road rac er Al essandro Gramigni has sig ne d a co n tra ct to ra ce w it h the Ga ttonlone Racing Te am in the 1998 World Superbike Championship. The former 125cc World Champion and twotime AMA Superbike N ational winner w ill begin the season with tw o standard Ducati 996s. "I will be gin my first su pe rbike season with a st andard bike, bu t I hope to go really fast - and then gain the su p port from Ducati Motor," Gramigni said. 00 0\ 0\ ...... 2 AMA Superbik e National C h am pion Doug Chand ler will b e th e fea tured gu est at Sport Bike Night at In Cah oo ts in Sacramento, California, on Jan uary 26 from 7 to 10 p.m. For more in forma tion, call 916/ 373-1557, The CMC Golden St ate M X Na tionals hav e und ergone s o me s ched u le changes, mostl y due to weather. Rou nd two will be held a t Sandhill Ran ch on January 25; ro und th ree will be held at Silve rsta te Raceway on February 1; and round four will be held a t Arg yll Park on Febru ar y 8. Fo r m ore informa tio n, call 714/367-1141. T. Wayne Robertson, 47, d ied in a boa ting collision in Louisiana on January 14. Rob erts o n , who h ea d e d up R.J. Rey nold s Tobacco Company's s po rtsmarketing division, was among seven duck hunters in an aluminum boat that collided with a 110-foot oil-rig crew boat in a bayou . Only one of the hu nters su rvived . Peterhansel wins sixth Dakar Rail F EVS Spor ts Protection is cu rren tly a ccepting r esumes for the 1998 m ot ocro ss racin g season . Resumes ca n be sen t to EVS Spo rts Protection, a ttn : Dav e Bro w n, 2900 Airpo rt Ave., Sa nta Monica, CA 90405. ren chm an Stephane Peterhansel, aboard a Yamaha Motor France-backed XTZ 850 TRX twin-cylinder Yamaha, chalked up his sixth Dakar Rall y victory - Yamah a's nin th - with more than a half-hour lead over Italia n Fabrizio Meoni, on a KTM. Peterhansel went into the last two stages w ith a commanding 32-mi nu te lead and rode conservatively to w in w hat m ost likely w ill be his last Dakar appearance, this decision having much to do with Yamaha announcing tha t it w ill not field a team in next year's race. Neverthe less, Pe terhans el w as thrilled to win the Dakar Ra lly arecord sixth time. "It was very emotional for me when I crossed the line," Peterhansel sa id . " I' m very ha ppy to have beaten the record. It rea lly is a fan tastic feeling. " It is al so probably th e las t tim e for m e (to compete in the Dakar rall y), as Yama ha will ret ire this year fro m th e eve nt, but maybe I w ill come back in a car," Peterha nse l sa id . "I love this eve nt so mu ch that it wou ld be hard to just wa lk away - we'll jus t have to wa it. If Yamaha comes back in the fut ure, I w ill prob abl y be too old to rid e, so we go ou t on a high point." Fin is hing th ird , a p p rox im ate ly 40 minutes be hind Meoni, was Austra lia n rid er Andy Hayden, w ho , like Meoni , rode a KTM. , Finis hing 15th ove rall in his firs t try at Daka r was American Paul Kra use, w ho was also KTM-mou nted. Krause had problem s ea rly in the rally an d spe nt most of his ride making up for lost time bu t was othe rwise happy w ith his results. " It' s been an adventure, tha t's for sure," Kra use sai d . "I fou nd so me parts of the rally really interes ting. You have to respect this event, and I do. " Th is year's rally sa w 11 di fferent stage wi nners, includ ing Worl d-class end uro riders Giovanni Sala of Italy, John D eacon of Grea t Britain, Gera rd Jimmink of Holland, and Richa rd Sainc t of France. Road racer Steve Rapp has anno u nce d th e sign ing of San Gabriel Mountain Spring Wa ter as his primary sponsor for the 1998 AMA roa d racin g season. Rapp will ri de Cycle Gear Su zukis in th e AMA 600 and 750cc Supersport Series. OPENED: Pr o- Vu e Prescr ipti on Goggles' home p a ge o n th e World Wide Web. The site ca n be fou nd at th e fo llowi ng address : h t tp :/ / w w w .pro vue.co m. AMADirectlink, the official web site of the AM A, has launch ed @theWire - a new real -time race-r esults system th at posts AMA Su percross fini shing positions stra ight from the track to the Internet. The site can be found at the follow ing ad dress: http:/ /www.am a-cycle.or g. AUTOGRAPH SIGNING: A t Honda Suzuki Kawasaki Wes t in Tampa, Florida , o n February 27 fro m 7 to 8 p .m. Team Kawasaki's Jeff Ernig, Dam on Huffman an d Ryan Hughes are schedul ed to appear. For m ore in for ma tio n, call 813/968-7888. OPENED: Vint age Motocross Veterans' hom e page on the World Wide Web. The site can be found at the following add ress: http:/ /www.vint age.dnschoce.net /vrnv / vrnv.htrn . MOVED : A nswe r Racin g, t o 21021 Soledad Ca nyo n Rd., #509, Santa Clarita, CA 91351, 805/222-7170, 805/2229841 (fax). According to th e owners of th e La ke W hitney Mo tocross , Kawa sak i has announced that it will po st $12,650 in KMC Conti ngency for the 1998 La k e Whitney Spring Na tiona l, sched u led for March 19-22. For more information, call 254 /694-4271. Remi nder, reminder: Round one of the AMA National Hare Scrambles Championship will be held a t the Hollister Hill s Sta te Vehicle Recrea tion Area just south of H o llis te r, Cali fornia, Ja n ua ry 31-Feb rua ry 1. D efe nd in g champio n Rodney Sm ith will ope n his defense of his title in the P&J Pro mo tions-promo ted eve nt. Ad miss ion is $8 per day or $10 for both d ays . Fore more information, call 408/249-4335. AUTO GRAPH SIGNING: At Yama ha Suzuki of Arizona in Ph oenix, Arizona, on January 23 from 6 to 7 p.m . Members of Team Su zuki' s m ot ocr oss tea m are sch eduled to a ppea r, For m ore in formation, call 602/ 992-8620. O PEN ED : Classic Can-Am's home page on the World Wid e Web. Th e site can be found at th e fo ll ow i n g address : http:/ /www.dnschoice.net /canam /can am.htrn. OP EN ED: The Te xas Vinta ge Racing Club' s home page on th e World Wide Web. The site can be fou nd at the followin g address: http:/ / www.digitex.net/ tvrc/ POSTPON ED: The Lak e Elsino re (California) Planning Commission's hearing r ega rd in g th e m otocr os s raci ng a n d training facility proposed by Lak e Elsinor e C h ampion sh ip M oto cros s , to Wednesday, February 4, at 7 p .m . at the Lake Elsin ore Cultu ral Center on North Main Street. For more informat ion , call 909i522-6001. . OPENED: Sidecar Mot ocross Racin g's h o m e pa ge o n th e World Wide We b. The site ca n be found at th e foll owing address: http:/ / www.sidecarcro ss.com. AUTOG RAPH SI GNIN G: At Blooming to n Power Sports in Bloomin gt on, Indiana, on February 13 from 7 to 8 p .m . Team Kawasaki's Damon Huffman, Jeff Emig and Ryan H ughes are sche d u led to appear . For m ore information, ca ll 812/339-0199. AUTOGRAPH SIGNING: At Millennium Cycle World in Lilburn, Georgia, on February 20 fr om 7 to 8 p .m. Team Kawasaki's Jeff Emig , Damon Huffman a n d Ry an Hu gh es a re schedul ed to a p pea r . Fo r m ore info rm a tion, ca ll 770/638-8373. O PENED: Liberty Cycle Center's home page on the World Wide Web. The site can be fou nd at the follow ing address : http:/ /www.libertycycle.com . CORRECTION: Th e Glen H elen Raceway Pa rk qua lifier fo r the Lore tta Lynn's MX is Mar ch 29 an d not May 29 as reported in an earlier issu e. • CANCELED : Ro u nd five of th e Bardah l / Du n lo p Arenacross C ha lle nge Series, sche d uled for Feb ruary 7 in Richmond, Virginia. For mo re informa tio n, call 940/683-4742. NAMED: Aaron Fitch, as d irec tor of the Mo tor cycle He ri tage Museum in West erville, Ohio, by the American Mo torcycle Associatio n. Fitch brings more than tw o decades of museum experience to his new position. M OVED: Allredy Products, to 1930 Place n tia Ave., Costa Mesa, C A 926 27, 714/ 631-7233, 714/ 631-7247 (fax). OPEN ED: Th e International C BX Owners A s s oc ati on ' s h ome p a g e o n th e .W o rl d W id e W eb . T he s ite ca n b e fo u n d a t the foll owin g addre s s : http:/ /www.CBXclub.com. OP ENED : Ky le Ra cing En gines, an eng ine-build ing and high-performanceparts distribution cent er, by former Erion Racing crew ch ief and eng in e builder Dan Kyle, in Sand City, Ca lifornia., For m ore information, call 408/ 394-1330. A P POINTE D: Kathleen Wall as vice president, hurnan resources and associat es services for BMW Manufacturing Group; Phill ip Capossella , currently vice p resident of m o torcycl e operations, to general m anager - so u thern region for BMW of North America; Ed Robinson to ' head of BMW motorcycle operations. OPEN ED : Road r acer Greg W hite ' s ho m e p age on th e World Wi de We b. The site can be found at the following address: http:/ /gregwh ite.cicada.com I