Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

IN THE WIND Doug Blackwell (Yam) top ped Brian Garrahan (KTM) by some 30 secon ds to w in the seco n d ro u n d of t he A MA Na tiona l H are Scram bl es Se ries in Wilseyville, Ca lifo rnia, on Feb ruary 8. Michael Lafferty (KTM) was th ird . Roundin g out th e top five were Luca Trussardi (Kaw) and for mer Na tional Enduro C ham p ion Randy Hawkins (Suz), Fou r differen t w in ners emerged from ro u nds 17 and 18 of the AMA /PJI National Are nacross Series in Wins ton Sa le m , North Ca ro lina , Feb ruary 6-7. Gra yson Goodman ( K a w ) and Cli ff Palmer (Kaw) won the 125 and 250cc cla sses , respectively, on Friday night , a nd Buddy Antunez (Suz) a nd Mike Jones (Kaw) came away wit h th e wins on Satu rday nigh t. Antun ez holds down the points lead after 18 rounds, leadi ng C had Pe d er s on (Ka w), 577-541. Ten 'rounds remain in the 28-rou nd series. Kevin H ines (Yam) won th e openi ng round of the NETRA En duro Seri es in West Stafford, Connecticu t, on February 8. Second pla ce w en t to James Kelly (Hus), and th ird wen t to Sam Fischer (CRE). In Las Vegas, Ne va da, Spud Walters (Yam) w on the PAC E Off-Road Series fo u r-s t roke r ace over Mik e Hea ley (H us) . Third p la ce went to Dou g Dub ach (Yam ), and ro u nd ing ou t the top five w er e Rob ert Na u gh ton (Hb g) and Scott Meyers (Yam). Kaw asaki 's Akira Yan agaw a eme rg ed as the quickest of the World Sup erb ike racers w ho tes te d a t Shah Al am in Mala ysia last week. Yanagawa lapped at 1:25.89 to ed ge Yamaha's new est World Superbike recruit, No riyu k i Haga. Ha ga la p p e d a t 1:25 .927. Du ca ti's P i e rFrancesco Chili was third-fastest wit h a 1:26.04, foll owed by Ca strol Honda' s Aaron Slight (l :26.130) and Kawasaki's Neil Hod gson at 1:26.2. The lone American a t th e tes t, Texa n Co lin Edwards , lapped at 1:26.670 for the Tlth-quickest tim e. Ch eck ne xt w eek ' s issu e for th e full story. . The openi ng round of the AM A National Enduro Series a t Coalinga, California, sche d u le d for February 14, ha s been canceled . The onl y road to the event sit e has been washed out in the recent flood ing in the Northern Californi a area. The road is cu rrently closed and the Salinas Ramblers MC, the event's promoter, has been give n no indicati on as to when it migh t reop en . As a res ult, the eve nt has been officially canc eled and will not be re sch edul ed . Th e AMA w anted to reschedule the event in Sep tem ber but th ere a re n o o pen da tes . Th e se ri es opener is now se t for March 14, near Phoenix, Arizona. G reg Rand (Suz) wrapped up both the 125 a nd 250cc Pr o titles in th e fi na l weeken d of racing in the.1997-98 Action Spo rts Arenacross Series, Februa ry 7-8. Rand won both classes on Saturday an d the 125cc class on Sund ay. Cha rlie Dunaway (Hon) wo n Sunday's 250cc class. 2 Race-announcing legen d Dave Despain is pa rt of a group that is putting togeth er an invitational dirt track that will run in co njun ctio n w it h Sp ri ngfield Mil e over the Labo r Day weekend . The race will pay a $50,000 p u rse w it h $25,000 go ing to th e winn er, and w ill rais e money to h elp p rod uc e a Dirt Track Racing Hall of Fame. 'The response has be en overw he lm ing ," De sp a in s a id . 'There's still a lot to be worked out, bu t this group can really do a lot w hen they a ll pull tog ether . Th e ent hus ias m has been impressiv e and we 're just hop ing the dirt track en th usiasts will join in." For mor e informati on , call Despain a t 706/ 769-0474. The Sebring, Florida, ro und of the Formula USA Series has been canceled . Ori ginally sched uled for April 5, F-USA has w it hdraw n th e event for financial reasons and is lookin g at ot her options to fill the d ate. F-USA has announced that Pro -Tek will sponsor its Su per Sport class, and the class will now be called Pro-Tek Super Sport. The class is 'for production-based spo rtbikes weig hing no less th an 380 po und s a nd p roducin g no more than 103 horsep ower on the officia l Dynojet d yno. . Vance & Hin es Ducati's Anthony Gober t will be th e featured gues t at Sport Bike N ight at In Ca hoots in Sacrame nto, California, on Febru ary 23. Gobert is sched uled to be in atten dance from 7 to 10 p .m . For m ore info rmatio n, ca ll 916/ 373-1557. For the firs t tim e, the Canadian CMA Pro Motocross Seri es will incorpo rate a Pro Arenacross and Superc ro s s a s points-paying rounds for the 250cc class in 1998. The CMA feels th at its rid er s ha ve developed the s pec ia l s ki lls requir ed for sta d iu m- s ty le tracks a nd enjoy ridi ng them, so it is a nat u ral progression to include these ev ents in the championship series . The 1998 season is expect ed to consist o f th ree ou td oor even ts, one s upercross and on e arena cro ss, Following the direction tak en by the FIM in es ta b lis h ing the 250cc class as the premier class in mot ocross comp e tition , in 1999 the number-one plate will be awarded to the 250cc-c1ass champion rather than to the rider who accumulates the mos t points in both the 125 and 250cc classes. A National Champ ionship will al so b e awarded in th e 125cc cla ss. For more informat io n, call 905/522-5705 . Racing 's longe st-serving and most successful engineer and team manager, Erv Kanemoto, has spoken out against new unleaded fuel regulations for the 1998 Gr and Pri x seas on, reports Cy cle New s contributor Darryl Flack. Speaking after Max Biaggi's second 500cc Honda test in Au stralia, Kan ernoto , wh ose hon or roll of riders also includes Fred die Spencer, Edd ie Lawso n and Wayne Gard ner, said the move to unl eaded fuel is politically, not technically, motivated. "If it we re up to me, I'd like to see th e cu rre n t rules stay," Kanemoto sa id of the fuel specifica tio n u sed last season. "We a lrea dy had a reduction of lead content in 1994, and I believe the move to full u nlead ed w ill have a ve ry big im pa ct on Gra nd Prix racin g. It' s the sing le most sig nificant factor facing every team this yea r. It mean s a whole new spec, an d it cou ld be quite costly ." Kanem oto was quick to add that while he doesn't agr ee wi th the d eci si on , he u nderstand s th e rea son s w hy it was made. "We'll be using everything ," Kan emoto sa id as to how his team will ge t the new fuel to wo rk . "It all comes down to ex per ie nc e wh en yo u' re tryin g to se t th e co m p ress io n rat io tha t will maximize per forman ce while remainin g reli abl e. It is possible that there could be a chan ge in port timing as well." At the IRTA test at Eastern Cr eek, there wer e unconfirmed reports that a V-twin Honda team suffered two o commemorate BMW' s 75th a nniversary, the compan y will be off ering two limited-addition mod els su ch as this R11 00R roadster. The R1100R will be finished in the classic Night Black (no n-metallic) paint with white double-pinstripes alon g the tank and sid e panels. Seventy-fifth anniversary logo s ad orn the 55-gallon fuel tan k. The manu facturer's suggested reta il price for the roadster will be $11,990. BMW wi ll also have a 75th an niversary special-edition RI100GS model, which will sell for $13,990. All purchasers of these models wi ll rece ive a special com me mora tive po rtfolio containing a certificate of au thenticity, a 75th-anniversary-model commemor ati ve book, a model-specific 75th-An niversary pin, and a key fob. T maj o r e ng ine failures w hile run ning unl eaded fuel. In the early '90s, GP race fuel was reaching an octa ne level of 116plus, but the low-lead fuel introduced in '94 dropped the rat ing to 104-105. The new unlead ed is in the very low 100s. Accor dingly, mo st of the leading HRC te am s cl aim the NSR500 has lo st between 5 and 8 pe rcent power from 1997 to 1998 in its current form . Yamaha and Graves Motorsports have inked a deal that will see the Van Nuys, California-based aftermarket company cam p aig n a YZF-Rl - ridd en by Mark Mill er - in the 199 8 AMA Fo r m u l a Xtreme Series . Additional backing for the team will come from Maxima a nd Mich elin . Company own er C h uck Graves will a ct a s cre w chief, and G ra ves Motorsports will work in conju nction with Yamaha to develop race parts for the all-new machine. Lotus To urs, the Chicago-based motorcycle touring com pany, has announced that Du cati MotorSp.A and Lotus Tours w ill coopera tive ly operate a se ries o f factory delivery programs begi nning in June. Th is new Fact ory Deliver y Pro gram, a.k.a. Fly-Buy-Ride, will be run in coo peration with th e N ort h American Du cati deal er s. All mot or cycles will be U.S. specification, includ ing Californ ia, and they w ill carry fu ll Du cat i factor y warra nty . Lotus Tours will launch the first officially sanctioned Fly-Buy-Rid e progr am , Jun e 24 - July 3. A second tour is scheduled for September 15-25. In the Facto ry Deliver y Progr am, Lotus Tours particip ant s have a cha nce to visit th e Ducati factory and the new History of Du cati Mu seum and learn more abo u t Du ca ti. Th e eig h t-day tour begins a t Du cati wi th lun ch a t th e fac tory in Bol ogn a, Ita ly. For more inform ation , call Lotus Tours at 312/ 951-0031. After a 20-year absence, Premier Racin g Prod u cti ons a n d So u the as te rn Short. Tr a ck ers (SST) have a nnou nc ed that AMA motor cycle dirt track racing will r eturn to Wil mont S p e ed wa y , in Wilmont, Wisconsin, for two race dates: Su nday, Jul y 19, and Su nday, August 23. For more informa tion, call Premier Racing Productions at 847/ 395-0500, or Sou theastern Short Trackers at 414/3535920. Rid er info : 414/353-5920. Team Obsol ete has announced its 1998 Tran s-Atlant ic Mat ch Race Se ries , sc he dule , which w ill consist of three dates in th e USA vs . UK m a tch -ra ce action: April 17-19 at Laguna Seca Raceway, as part of the AMA /MBNA Superbike Na tio na l; Ju ly 25-26 at Ca dwell Park, Eng land, as part of the "Forgotten Era" weekend; and October 18 at Daytona Intern ational Speedway, as part of "Biketoberfest." The p res tigious Ha ilwoo d Trophy wi ll again be awarded to the high points scorer at each event. It m ight be th e mid dle of w inter, but now is the time to start planning your summer vacati on - lik e attending th e Honda Hoot Rall y in Asheville, North Carolina, Jun e 23-27. Registration is now open and brochures ar e available. This vear's attendees will be treated to dem o rid es on man y differ en t brands, including Honda, Kawasaki, Moto Gu zzi, Triumph and Yamaha. For mo re informat ion , ca ll the H o ot H otlin e a t 800/347-1289 or check ou t Hon da's we b site at www.hondamotorcycle.com. Just a reminder: The Rock Islan d Riders of Hawaii will be putting on its 23rd annua l Mauna Kea End uro on the main island of Ha waii over the Memorial Day holid ay wee kend, May 23-24. For those in teres ted in com peting in this one-of-akind even t, it's best to plan early, especially for riders from the mainland who ar e thi nking about attendi ng . For more informati on , call 808/959-1848. USA Motorsports will present the third annual indoor shor t tra ck race in conju nct ion with the mon ster-truck event at the Tucson Arizona Convention Center in Tucson, Ari zona, March 6-8. There will be a gua ranteed $1000 purse each night and also a vintage cla ss with a

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