Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

IN THE WIND ..",' , "' ,-. ., Superbike Championship, planned for Mar ch 15 a t Sentul in Indonesia, has been po stponed . Th e Ind onesian eve n t w ill n ow b e s ta ge d la ter in the ye a r. Forthcoming elections in the country on Ma rch 11 have ca use d th e p ostponemen t. The cha mpions hip will now start at Phill ip Island in Aus tra lia on March 22. The Sentu l races will be held on Septem ber 27 or October 18. Max Biaggi' s 500cc-class b aptism a t Philli p Isla nd durin g the las t w eek of January saw the four-tim e World 250cc Champ ion make a slow start, as he was interrupted by a minor .spill and ended up slow er than he had lapped the same track on his 250, reports Cycle News contributor Michael Scott . But the 26-yearold rid e r h ad much to g et u sed t o, in cl u d in g a s w it ch from Dunlop to Michelin tir es, as he rod e a Big Ban g ma chine "borro w ed" fr om Ta dayu ki Okada, following the IRTA tests a t the Islan d . "The power was not so critic al. What re all y s u r p rised m e was th e w eight of the bike," Biaggi told Italian journalists. "I have to go away an d wo rk on my strength." Biaggi's best time was 1:35.44 after almost 70 laps; he was two seco nds off the benchma rk set by Mick Doo han and Nobuatsu Aoki at the IRTA tests. Ralf Waldmann will ride for Mod enas this season, joining Kenn y Roberts Jr. on a tw o-m an team , a n d he is bringing Mar lboro backing wit h him . But details of the 1998 p rogr am were still not finalized eve n aft er he'd been brought in taking the place that was expec ted to go to Lu ca Ca dalora . Accordin g to team owner Kenn y Roberts, it was not yet certa in wheth er both bikes would reta in th e Marlbo ro co lors, a fte r h e h ad secured other spo nsorship in Malaysia . Roberts a lso con firm ed that th e team would field an interim vers ion of th e bike for the first few races, whil e the Mk II engine and chassis was completed in its own Banbury w orkshop - they have severed co n n ectio ns with ca r-racing firm Tom Walki nshaw Racing (TWR). The new version of th e bike would be b igger, h e sai d, aft er lon g-de ferred wind-tunnel tests rev ealed that restrictive int ernal airflow had played a ma jor part in th e bike' s cooling prob lems. Waldman n had been expected to tak e over the factory Aprilia V-twin, until the Italian company's abrupt withdrawal of the lightweight 500cc-class racer during January ended that possibility. Two r ound s o f the World Champi onsh i p Roa d Ra ce Se ries ha ve been canceled a nd a third moved as the GP calendar undergoes enormous cha nges at the last minute. The casualties are the Portuguese round and the Indonesian GP, while the Mala ysian GP has shifted away from its us ua l ven ue at Shah Alam and will now take p lace th ree weeks la ter at the [ohor Baru circuit. The Portu guese cancellation is d u e to the fact tha t safety wo rks can not be completed in time at the Estoril circuit near Lisbon - its status was in any case "to be confirmed ." The Jun e 14 date may be given instead to a race at [ar arna - mak ing a . , third GP on Spanish soil, but mai ntain..... in g a 15-round ch a m p io ns h i p . T he ..... Ind onesian race is a victim of economic problems; likewise the Shah Alam race. The race was origi na lly sc hed u led for March 29. Now it will tak e p la ce on Ap r il 19, th e o r igi nal date for the Ind onesia n rou nd , but is still pending trac k inspection . This means tha t the season will now open on AprilS at the Japanese GP at Suzu ka. The German GP 2 at the Sachsenring on Jul y 19 has also not yet been confirm ed . Mick Doohan came ou t the los er in a . p itched ba ttl e with Joh n Kocinski for lap times in H onda' s private tests at Eastern Creek durin g the last week of January. The fou r-time World Champion fell without injury, while Kocins ki edged ahead to set the fast est time at 1:30.29, margin ally ins ide Alex Crivi lle's 1996 lap record . Do oh an was b arely tw o-t ent hs slower, wi th Carlos Checa almost equa ling his time and Alex Crivill e a n oth er tenth d own . Tada yuki Oka da struggled to match the pace, ending up with a best time of 1:31.20. . Will Honda tak e an even bigger s te p b a ckward for 1998 ? Last yea r , th ey brought back the pre-Big Ban g "Screamer" co ncep t ou t of mothballs to gi ve Doo han ba ck so me of the w heel-sp inning fury lost in the switch to close firing orde r. This yea r, it is thou ght they have been testin g an eve n earlier version of the engine, in a bid to restore throttl e resp onse lost with the switch to unleaded fuel. The Big Ban g fires the cylind er pairs wi thin 60 or 70 degrees of cranks haft rotati on; th e Screamer has them eve nly spaced at 180 degr ees. The original NS R mo tor fro m 1984 to 1987 had o ne cy linder fir in g every 90 d eg rees, lea d ing to excessive w he els pin a nd a wa rbling shriek from the exhau st, when ridd en in an ger by the likes of Freddie Spencer an d Wayne Gardn er. Officia lly, Honda has only two typ es of the mo tor for test in g, as available last year, an d most rid er s hav e yet to decide which they prefer. . It will be ha rde r to quali fy for a GP in 1998, after the qu alifying cut -off poin t was cu t back from 110 per cent to 107 percent. This was one of a list of changes decided on by the Grand Prix Commission in January. Other changes include a reduction in the number of 500cc-class wild -card entries to just tw o, and th e introduction of a start-line protocol that will pu t the SODs on the gr id five minutes earlier, wit h riders obl iged to remove their helmets for the extra time so the crowd can see their faces. A 25y ear-old age lim it for new rid e rs (including wild cards) is all that remains of a swee ping set of proposals int ended to turn the 125cc cla ss in to a nurs ery schoo l. Amo ng the p lan s th at were dropped was one to force an y rider who won the 12Scc champion ship to move directly to 250s or SODs. The number of wild cards remains a t six for the 125cc and 250cc classes - four nom inat ed by the local organizing federation, and one each bv the Grand Prix Manufacturers Assodanon (GPMA) and the FIM. The 500cc class has just two - one from the GPMA and one local n omination. A new di sciplinary cod e exclusively for GPs will be introduced, while a stu dy of drug regulations currently in progress will also be included in the GP regula tions . PireIli recently comp leted a tire-testing sessio n at the Cartagena circuit in sou thern Spa in. Paolo Casoli of the Duca ti Performa nce team , Yves Brigu et a nd C ris tia no Mig lio ra ti of th e Du cat i Endo ug team, a nd Jean -Phillip Rug gia and Serafino Foti of the factory Bimota effort we re all p resent for the January 30-31 tes t, rep or ts Maurizio Mazzon i. The first da y was ru n u nd er wet cond itions, with Casoli setting the best lime at 1:40.2; then came Briguet (1 :40.5 ), Migliorati (1 :40.7), Ruggia (1 :41.5) a nd Foti (1 :43.7); Foti crashed durin g th e da y ' s testing , thou gh h e was n ot injured . The next da y began with more rain, bu t skies cleared for the afte rnoo n session and the teams were finally able to run laps unde r sunny, d ry conditions. Briguetleaped ahead wit h a 1:39.2, leading Cas oli 's 1:39.3, Ruggia' s 1:40.1 i!nd Migliorati 's 1:40.7 An estimated 1250 people were on hand for the memorial service in honor of the late Ricky Graham on Tuesday, January 27, at the Lagu na Seca Raceway's medi a center amphitheater. Att end ees included fo rm er World C ha m pio ns Ke n n y Roberts rFred d ie Spencer an d Wayn e Rai ne y, fo rmer AMA Gra nd Na tio na l C hampions Di ck Mann a n d Bubba Sho be rt , and d efendin g Superbike Cha m pion Doug Chandler. A lso in a tte n da nce we re Terry Poovey; Skip A ks la n d ; Gra ham ' s form er Honda mechani c, Sparky Edmonston; and Pete Pestoni, the ow ner of Graham's first prolevel bik e. Gra ham's family set up th e USC racing tent and had the thr ee-time Gra nd Na tio n al Cha m p io n's lea th er s and num ber plates on d isplay, as well as photos taken throughou t his career. ZLT Racing has an no unced it w ill be assuming the prom otional resp onsibilities of Perris Raceway, in Perris, Californ ia , begi nning Janua ry 1, 1999. Go at Breker chose not to renew his lease wit h the track bu t " ill continue to run races at Perri s throu ghou t the year. olee n Motorcycle Divi sion ha s new owners. The asse ts of the Noleen Motor. cycle Division ha ve been bought fro m p aren t com pany K2 In c. by a g ro u p head ed by Brant Russell, the d ivision 's current director of sales and mark etin g, an d 'his brother Steve. The new company will be ca lled N oleen Mo tor sport and will be invol ved exclus ive ly with motor cycl e-related parts and serv ices. All of the key members of the Noleen team will be part of the new company, in clud in g pipe maker Randy Blevins and sus pension technician Jake Tho mpso n . Th e bicycle sid e of No lee n w ill rem ain pa rt of K2, and Clark Jones will con ti nue to carry ou t th e company' s . bicycle-suspension R&D. Als o, thou gh Jon es will not be a pa rt of No leen Motorsport, he will be team mana ger for Tim Ferry' s supercross and National race efforts for the res t of the 1998 seaso n with support from Noleen Motorspo rt. "We've always known that there was terrific op portunity on the motor cycle side," Jones said , "but the demands a nd rapid gro w th of the much larger b icycl e business mad e it difficult to devote the necessary resources and get focused. Now N oleen can rea lly take off." Speaking of N oleen Motorsports, the. company is moving to Corona, Cali forn ia, from its current location in Adelanto. The company's new address is 232 N. Sher m a n Ave., Unit F, Corona, CA 91720 . Thei r new phone n um ber is 909/ 340-2555. Ma xxis In tern a tio na l-No rth Ameri ca has announced its race-conti nge ncy program for the 1998 race season. All pro racers competing in the AMA Western Fo u r-S troke Nationa l Ser ies a nd th e Gra nd Nationa l Cross Coun try (mo torcycle) Series on Maxxis tires are eligible. First place pays $250; secon d $175; third $125; fou rth $100; fifth $75; a nd six th through 10th $50. For more info rmation, call 1/800-4MAXXIS. G a e rn e America is now accep ti ng resumes 'fo r th e 1998 r a ce season. Resumescan be faxed to 805/ 257-3455 o r mail ed to Ga e rn e A me r ica , 27833 Ave., Hop kins #2, Valencia, California, 91355, attentio n: race su pport. In an effort to give increased support to racers and thei r sp on sors for th e 1998 racing season, Dunlop has dropped the price of their racing tires. Depen d ing on . the tire, prices ha ve been reduced as mu ch as 15 pe rcent from 1997. For more informa tion, call 800/776-8473 (wes t), or 800/m-8473 (east). Speaking of Harl ey-Da vid son, not only is the compan y ce le b ra ting it s 95th anniversary this yea r, the state of Wisconsin is turning 150 years old . In ho nor of th e anniversar y, Gov ernor Tommy Th omp son of Wi scon s in wil l ri d e a Harley-Davids on motorcycle from Wisconsin to Washin gton, D.C.:June 20-24. PROMOTED: Ray Blank . to v ice pres iden t o f sa IL 'S and ma rke ti ng a t Ameri ca n Ho nd a Mot o rcy cle Divisi on. Blank will be assuming the duti e of Rod s Anderson, wh o retired on January 31 after having been with the company for alm ost 26 years. AUTOGRAPH SIG N ING: At Mi llennium Cycle Works, in Libum , Georgia, on Friday, February 20, from 7 to 8 p.m. Team Kawasaki's Jeff Emig. Damon Hu ffman and Ry an Hu gh e s are sc he d u le d to appear. For more information, call 770/952-7900. A UTOGRAPH SIGNING: At Spo rts City Cafe, in La Jolla, California . on Friday, Februa ry 6, fmm 6:30 to 7:30 p.m . Team Yama ha motocros s members Kevin Windham, John Dowd .and Doug Henry are sche duled to ap pear. For more inform atio n, call 714/761-7547 or 619/450-3463. HIRED: Elisabeth L Piper, by the Motorcycle Safety Foundation, as its new corporate communications supervi sor. Piper is a California Motorcycle Safety Program instructor, and has be published in seven eral motorcycle titles, includ ing Petersen Publication's Motorcycle Cruiser. She will co ncentrate on all facets of communications for the MSF. HIR ED: Nick Cedar, by High Speed Producti ons Inc. of San Francisco, California, as photo editor for Twistgrip magazine. FO RMED: The Volunteer State Trailriders Associltion , to provid e ridin g opportunities , to carry the voice of off-roa d mo torcyclists and ATV riders to the legislative process, and to prom ote the positive image of family CRV riding while encouraging the sourc e of the state s responsibl e use of the natural re of Tennessee. Davi d Lotz has been elected as the first presiden t of the VSTA. For more information, contact David Lctz, pr esident . VSTA. PO Box 682Whit e Hou se , TN 37 188, e- ma i l . Dlo tz .no hv cC@ju no .com . Web site: http:/ f members.aol.rom/volstatea / VSTA.htmJ. O PENE D: Rac e Tec h's ne w hom e page o n th e World Wide Web. The site can be reached at the fol- lowin g address: http: / /www .ra Ct.~ tech.com . FO RME D : Flesh Gear, a new motocros s-cJ ing oth company (heavily influenced by the freestyle mo vement ), by Dana Nich olson and Jon Free man, the makers of the -su ccessful "Crus ty De ons of Dirt " m videos. 'For more info rmatio n, co ntact Flesh Gear, 1602 Babcock St., Costa Mesa , CA 92627, 714/6503605 . HIRED : Mike Vaug hn as ge ne ral manager, chief ex ecu tive officer of Triumph Motor cycle Ltd. in s Peachtree City, Geo rgia . Vaug hn has been in the powe rsports indus try for more than 26 years, first with Polaris in the ea rly 19705, and th en w ith Kawasaki , ult imately be ing made the director of marketing communications for all Kawasaki prod ucts in 1979. MOVED : Wom en's Motocross League headquar - ters, to PO Box 1674, Ramona, CA 92065, 714/8373374. AU T OG RA P H S IGN ING : A t the De a lern ew s Internation al Powersports Deal er Exp o in Ind ianapolis , Indiana, on February 22, from 3 to 5 p.m. at th e Ca s tro] N o rth Am eri ca booth . Cas tro l Honda's Colin Edwards 11, three...time World Champion Freddie Spencer, and Kurt Marmor are scheduled to appear. .~

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