Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~~. VOICES America's weekly motorcycle newspaper LmERSTO THEEDfTOR V olumeXXXV Sharon Clayton, President Michael Klinger, Publisher Editorial Paul Carruthers, Editor KitPalmer, Associate Editor Scoll Rousseau. Associate Editor Mark Hoyer. Managing Editor Keith Bush, Assistant EditorlCDfJY Editor Cameron Coatney, Associate Editor Alan Cathcart European Editor David R. Holther, CopyEditor Advertising Terry Prall, National ACCDunts Manager Mark Mitchell, Eastern Accounts Manager Mark Thome, Western Sales Manager Tho mas Gonter, W estern Sales M anager Forrest Hayashi, Western Sales Manager . Greg Mitchell, Eastern SalesManager Rick Matheny, Eastern SalesManager Rhonda Crawford. Western Ad Coordinator Bridgett Bobrofsky, Assistant Carla Allen, Eastern Ad Coordinator Tina Farr, Assis tan t Marketing & Promotion Mark Thome, Director Forrest Hayashi, Manager Kory Klinger, Dealer Representative New Media Development Mark Mitchell. Director Rick Matheny, Webrnaster Stephanie Leamon, Assistant Classified Ads Cherie Collie Graphics and Production Ree Johnson, Production Supervisor Mandy Loo , Production Manager Dennis Greene, LAb. Tech. I w a s w onde rin g - ju s t h o w m u ch money ha s the AMA spent on behalf of its three (3) members in th eir lawsuit against the Canyon Lake Owners Associatio n? Mike Conley Hollister, CA Mike's th anks I wo u ld like to th ank all of those who participated in the Mike Young Jr. practice da y at Glen Helen in San Bernardino, California. I want to than k Mr. Bud Feldkemp for the idea a nd Steve and Lau rie at Glen He len for making it happen - and also to my managem ent , Tony Strangio . For all of th e em p loy ees at Glen Helen, thank you for you r efforts. Thanks also to the sponsors who participated - SMP, VP, Oakl ey, IMS - and the man y others who helped. Thanks also to Jeff Emig for comi ng ou t and spending the day with us. One last thank- you to my wife, Alex, an d our friends. I am very gra tefu l to all of you and hope you have a great 1998. Mik e Young Jr. Fontana, CA Graham was killed in a fire at his home in Salinas, California, On Thursday, Janu ary 22. For the complete story, see "In the W ind " in this issue... Editor. Good track I would like to give two th umbs up to Mark Barnett and the whole Dirt Wurx crew for the tr a ck at the H ou ston Astrod om e Supercross. I liked the multiple lines that were pr etty equa l, making for s ome grea t r acin g a n d p a ss ing ins tead of a follow- the- leade r affair. Ricky Graham Amanda Wallny, Graphic Artist Robyn Light, Graphic Artist Admin istration Judy Klinger, Coordinator How much? . Leanne Sims, Administratite Assistant AccounlingiData Processing Donna Bryan -Diam ond, N R Coor dinator Geneva Repass Ass istan t . Theresa Milburn, Credit Circulation Alma Anguiano, Processing Coordinator Carol Maggio, Dealer Coordinator Ke she na Daw son , Billing Coordinator Service and Support Shannon Clark, Receptionist Jim Olson, Serviceand Support N at ional Headquarters 3505-M Cadillac Ave., Costa Mesa, CA 92626 P.O. Box5084, Costa Mesa, CA 92628-5084 (714) 751-7433 FAX (714) 751-6685 Eas tern Offi ce 4188 First Ave., Tucker, GA 30084 P.O. Box 805, Tucker, GA 30085-0805 (770) 934-7850 FAX (770) 934-3112 e-mail <>ditOr@cyclcnews.com subscribe@cyclenews.com advcrtisi ng@cyclcnews.com Internet http:/ / www.cyclenews.com I was sa ddened jo hear about the untimely passing of Ricky Graham. His being in the midst of yet another gr eat comeback makes h is death that m u ch h arder to accep t. I believe that 1993 was p robably the greatest year in the last 10 years or so of AMA Grand Natio nal Ch am p ionsh ip Dirt Track. Watching "Ricky G" destroy Parker, Carr and the rest of the competitio n was so rewarding for m yself and, I'm sure, countless othe r fans . Gra ham also rewro te the single-season record book in the p rocess of capturing th at cha m pions hip. The '93 seaso n a ls o m ark e d a changi ng o f th e gu ard as a new champion was crowned - something that' s only happened twice in 10 yea rs. I rem ember a 1992 ESPN d irt tra ck telecast where Ricky was qu oted as say ing, "It's time for them to go" in referen ce to H arl ey -Da vi d son teamma tes Sco tt Pa rker an d Chris Carr. He was tru e to his wor ds that follow ing year. With every comeback, I was hopin g for a repeat of th a t gre a t 1993 season from Ricky Graham. He will be missed greatly. Kevin Howard Turlock, CA I would like to also thank ESPN for the upcoming d irt track shows - I just wish there were more than 10 and tha t they were longer than 30 minutes. But a little is always better than none. Keith Williams Baytown, TX A case of the pukes You make me puke. Not you , person ally - just you r publication . Specifically page 4 of the Jan uary 28 issue (Euro File), which is design ed like news, but ap pea rs to be Alan Ca thca rt's ad v oc a cy co lu m n o n b eh a lf of o neworlders. The one-worlde rs - I just coined the ph rase an d I hope you like it - are those who, lik e Yosemite Sam, beli eve th is town ain' t big enough for the two of us tha t if this is a world wi th a Grand Prix Wo rld Cham p ionsh ip a n d a World Su perbike Ch ampionsh ip, the only solution is to ge t rid of one of them . Peo ple like these are not only shortsighted, bu t also prone to never pa rticipate in group sex . On the other h and, for gro u p sex one d oes not ne cessarily need to be prone. Cath cart's piece abo u t TV coverage for World Superbike is SO slanted that I wa s reaIl y disappointed to read it in a news format. He mentions, " ...h as th e thrilling sp ectacle that World Superbike delivers been able to overtake 500cc GP racing in terms of public su ppo rt - a fact underlined by the 70,000 spectators who crowded into Brands Hatch this August for the World Superbike round there, a couple of weeks before a scant 25,000odd fans visited.. . the British GP." He conveniently lea ves out the fact that the sup erbike race w as the hometown race for Carl Fogarty, who at that point wa s among the p oint lea d e rs in th e champion ship . In contrast, the 500cc GP h ad no leading Brit s because, as we know, u pper-class inbreed ing ha s left Brits unab le to ride tw ostro kes. In a journalistically ba lan ced s to ry, Cathcart co ul d ha ve m ent ioned Spain, where about 150,000 tu r n ed ou t to see lea d ing Spanish rid ers a t th e Jere z GP w hi le th e s u per b ike race in Albacete attracted only 72 people. Racing snobs like Cathcart suck . Why can't people app recia te both race series? Why d o so me peop le feel tha t if th ey like on e series, then the other one is a thr eat? Cathcart needs to kee p his opi nions on the ed itorial page and not pass them off as objective news. In that form at, his opinions can be considered and judged by the read ers for wha t they are - just opin ions. Randy Warren San Rafael, CA Letters to the editor sh ould be sent to Vo ices, Cy cle N ew s, P.O . Box 5Q84, Co sta Mes a, CA 92628-5084, faxed to 714/751 -6685 or e- mail, edit or @cyclenews .com . P ub li s hed le tters d o n ot nece ssarily reflect th e p osi tion of Cycle N ews, Inc. Letters sh ould n ot ex ceed 200 wo rds and all le tters are subject to ed iting. Anonymous letters will no t be con sidered for public ation. All letters s h o u l d co n tai n the w rite r 's na m e , ad dress an d da ytim e phon e number .. . Editor. CycleNe... (USPS141·340)is published weekly except the last two weeks of the calendar year for $50.00per year by CycleNews, lnc, 3505- Cadillac Avenue, Costa Mesa. CA M 92b28. Periodicals Postage Paid a t Costa [i l8 ~ Mesa. CA and at additional mailing office. Canada Post international Publications Mail_ 54661 5. POSTMASTEIC Send address changes to Cycle News , P.O. BOl' 5{)S4 , Costa Mesa, CA 9262S-SOM. To determine th e e xpiration date of your subscripti on, check the fou r numbers on the first li ne of your address labe l Th e first tw o digits Indi cate th e l.iIst iss ue number you' U recei ve and the last two characters in dicate the year of the last issue. Subscription rates: Rates for the Uni ted States and its posst'S'slons for one year (50 issues), $51.1.00; tw o years (100 issues ), 595.00; six months (2S issues), $26.00; trial su b (15 issues), $19,00. 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FEATURES SUPERCROSS Rou nd 3 - Toyota Tru cks / Thor / Parts Unlimi ted AMA Supercross Series from Phoeni x, Arizona 6 TIMEREMEMBERED Mike Bell , 10 RALLY 1998 Paris-Dakar Rally from Africa .....14 ROADRACE IRTA Tests from Phill ip Island, Australia 16 ARENACROSS Rounds 11 & 12 - AMA /PJl Na tional - .L Arenacross Series from Hampton, Virg inia 18 OBSERVED TRIALS Round 2 - Worl d Championship Ind oor 20 Trials Series from Germany DEPARTMENTS EVENTS INTHE TAPES LOOKING BACK CALENDAR WANT ADS 22 32 32 33 38 ON THE FRONT COVER Honda's Ezra Lusk won for the second straigh t week in th e AMA Su percross Series. This tim e h e came fro m beh ind to wi n in Phoenix. Photo b y Kin ney Jones.

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