Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

IN THE WIND Everts flawless at French MX 250cc GP. H onda's Stefan Everts moved a step closer to passing sixtime 250cc World Champion Joel Robert for the most overill victories in 250cc GP racing after pulling off another overall win at the French Motocross Grand Prix at Villars-sousEcot, France, April 26. Everts scored maximum points with two wins. "I feel really confident," Everts said after .crushing his rivals. 'T m going to the start line and thinking none of these guys can beat me on this track." With the win, Everts moves up to 32 250cc GP overall wins, while Roberts holds 50 wins. Second place on the all-time win list is Torsten Hallman from Sweden, with a tally of 37 overalls, which can be realistically passed by Everts this year. In France, Everts romped to victory, finishing 17 seconds clear of French rider Frederic Bolley, on a Honda, followed by another French rider, Sebastien Tortelli, on a Kawasaki. German Pit Beirer, on a Honda, finished fourth, followed by a trio of French riders: Mickael Maschio (Yamaha), Yves Demaria (Kawasaki) and Pierrick Paget (Honda). In the second moto, things were closer as Everts had only five seconds on Tortelli for his second win. Beirer climbed up a notch to third, followed by Bolley, Demaria and Maschio. American Tallon Vohland had a miserable day. After crashing twice, the Yamaha rider retired from the first moto on the fourth lap. "I crashed in the first turn after hitting Beirer," he said. "He moved left just as I went for a line. I got up in last place, then crashed again when I hit a tree stump. I fell down a slope and Reigning 12Sec World Enduro Champion Shane Watts will not defend his title this year after suffering extensive knee damage in the second round of the series in Spain recently. The Australian, who also competed in the United States last year, tore ligaments in the knee during a special test in Spain. It was the same knee that he injured last year, forcing him to undergo surgery and miss the last two rounds of the World Championship and also the Paris-Dakar Rally. Watts plans to make his comeback in the ISDE in Australia in November. Four-time World Champion Mick Doohan made an embarrassing Formula One debut when he crashed Jacque Villeneuve's Winfield Williams V-10 FW20 in to a safety barrier at Catalunya last Tuesday, reports Cycle News contributor Darryl Flack. The 32-year-Qld Australian was taking part in a one-off promotional test drive with cally champ Tommi Makinen when the accident happened just four corners into his drive. "1 took it pretty easy, 1 guess; then coming out of turn four, I got a little bit aggressive with the throttle," Doohan said at a press conference. "I thought it was in a straight line, but the thing ju t spun. Jacques said later, 'Did you hit the brakes?' But that didn't enter my mind because when a bike spins, you're flying through the air and you can't hit a brake! Had 1 hit the brakes, 1 possibly wouldn't have hit the wall. It's definitely not a good feeling hitting the wall, then sitting in the middle of the track with a broken car after four comers, 1 can tell you." For his part, Makinen made it just 150 feet farther than Doohan before he too spun the red Williams the following day. 00 g:: ...... could not get myself up. Also, 1 hit my head then found out the front brake was locked on, so it was impossible to go on." Although he fared better in the second, he wasn't satisfied with his 10th-place finish. "I don't know what it was," Vohland said. "1 just wasn't there, my rhythm was not good and riders were going by me. 1 could not do anything. It was very frustrating." Everts padded his series points lead to 147 over Tortelli's 129. Beirer is currently third with 97, and Vohland is holding onto fourth with 80 points. In Schwanenstadt, Austria, April 26, for round three of the World Championship 500cc MX Series, German Husqvarna rider Bernd Eckenbach scored the overall win with a 3-1. His teammate Darryll King won the first moto, followed by Sweden's Peter Johansson (Yamaha) some eight seconds back. Eckenbach took third, followed by Great Britain's Rob Herring and Austria's Erwin Machlinger, both of wt>om were riding Hondas. King's brother Shayne King chased Eckenbach to the finish in the second moto but came up less than a second short to finish second after posting a 10th in the first moto. Following his seventh-place showing in the first moto, Husaberg's Joel Smets climbed to third, followed by Johansson and Machlinger. Overall, the race went to Eckenbach, followed by Johansson, Darryll King and Smets. Darryll King leads the series points chase with 93. Smets is econd with 74 and Eckenbach is third with 67. Geoff Meyer Gobert, Eric Bostrom, Mark Miller and Roland Sands on Thursday, May 7. For more information, call 714/573-4993. One of the stars of the television sitcom "Veronica's Closet:' Christopher McDonald, will lead the way when hundreds of motorcycles pull away from the House of Blues in West Hollywood, California, on May 2 for the start of the Sol Ride: Dollars for Dreams. The ride will take motorcyclists to Ensenada, Mexico, to raise awareness of Dalmatian Dreams, a nonprofit organization that grants wishes to terminally ill adults. Former factory Harley-Davidsen racer Leo J. Anthony, 81, died r ently at his Port Huron, Florida, horne. Anthony's racing career began in 1934 and he won both dirt and ice race Nationals. Anthony owned a Harley-Davidson dealership and a Yamaha dealership in Port Huron until 1972. "1 had the pleasure of competing with Leo Anthony in the '405 and '50s," Dick Klamfoth said. "He was a great friend and competitor, and over 100 motorcycles were in the funeral procession - most of which were from the pro Huron Motorcycle Club that he helped organize in 1948. He was a hero to the cl~ and they will miss him." Paolo Casoli and his Ducati emerged from the recent three-day Pirelli Supersport test in Albacete, Spain, with the fastest lap - a 1:35.70. Casoli's time was better than those turned in by Yves Briguet, Cristiano Migliorati, Giovanni Bussei and Giuseppe Fiorillo. Dirt tracker Will Davis has been named to a second se~on with the Racing For Kids program, along with other notable racing drivers such as Indy Racing League driver Robbie Buh!. Founded in 1989, Racing for Kids is a nonprofit organization that uses the popularity of motorsports to rajse public awareness and funding for child-healthcare needs in the United States and Canada. Davis, who finished second in the 1997 AMA Grand National Championship Series points standings, will make an appearance on behalf of Racing For IGds at a select number of children's hospitals during the season, signing autographs and handing out racing memorabilia. Showcase Bike Night at Speedway International Racing Bistro & Bar in Newport Beach, California, will feature road racers Miguel DuHamel, Anthony Former AMA Grand National Champion Chris Carr and his promotion partner Steve Mayfield of M/C Promotions, in association with the Lodi Motorcycle Gub, have announced the running of the second annual Big Valley Ford Spring Classic dirt track race at the Lodi MC clubgrounds. Scheduled for May 9, the race will include classes for Pro Sport, 600cc Expert and Pee Wee divisions. Due to heavy rains on Monday and Tuesday, the SDFTA has announced that the Temecula Speedway track is once again underwater, and cannot be dried out in time for the upcoming AHRMA Regional dirt track scheduled for April 26. The race has been canceled. U.S. Forest officials have announced plans to severely restrict off-highway vehicle use in the Daniel Boone Natiortal Forest in eastern Kentucky, according to the AMA. Previously, 80 percent of the ational Forest System lands within the Daniel Boone had been open to OHV recreation, with more than 800 miles of trail in existence. In putting together the OHV plan, forest officials considered alternatives ranging from a continuation: of use of all existing trails to complete closure of trails. In the end, they chose an alternative, calling for an initial trail system of only 117 miles, with an additional 34-mile section to be proposed for public comment. Forest officials noted that vehicles licensed fur street use will continue to have access to the 1700 miles of county and national forest roads. However, the plan represents a serious loss of recreation opportunities to Kentucky's trail riders. The location of the Moto XXX, Etnies, Arnette-sponsored, all-ages supercross party in Las Vegas on May 2, has been changed due to scheduling conflitts with the Hard Rock Cafe. The new location will be the Huntridge Theater, 1208 East Charleston Blvd. The bands Guttermouth and Strung Out are still scheduled to play at the event which will take place after the Las Vegas SX. Tickets will be $7 and the doors will open at 11:30 p.m. AUTOGRAPH SIGNING: At Harley-Davidson of Seaford in Seaford, Delaware, on May 15 from 3 to 7 p.rn. AMA Grand National number 66 Goo Roeder nand 1997 AMA Grand National Rookie of the Vear Johnny Murphree are scheduled to attend. For more infonnation, £311302/629-6161. AUTOGRAPH SIGNING: At the Walmart in Rancho Cucamonga, California. on May 7 from 6 to 8 p.m. Team FMF riders Scott Sheak, David eingree, Brock Sellards, Jason McCormick and Danny Smith are scheduled to appear. For more information, call 310/S39-6B84. AUTOGRAPH SIGNING: At Goodtimes Kawasaki/Suzuki in Sacramento, California, on May 15 from 6 to 7 p.m. Team Suzuki's motocross team is scheduled to appear. For more information, call 916/344-2]41. AUTOGRAPH SIGNING: At Kawasaki of Riverside in Riverside, California, on May 9 from 12 to 1 p.m. Team Kawasaki's Jeff Emig, Damon Huf(man and Ryan Hughes. and Team SplitFire/Pro Cireuifs Ricky Carmichael, Casey johnson. Nick Weyand Nathan Ramsey are scheduled to appear. For mC!-re information, call 909/683-8839. REsrCNED: Marcel Fortney, as sales manager of Fox Racing, effective immediately. For mOTe information. call650/364-5820. OPENJ:D: Costa Mesa Speedway's home page qn the World Wide Web..The site can be reached at the following address: www.wient.com/speedway. The page includes results from the weekly speedway motorcycle races, rider profiles and speedway memorabilia for sale. 0 Supercross TV ratings • • romlsln S unday's Iive-to-tape airing of the Dallas, Texas, round of the Toyota Trucks/Thor /Parts Unlimited/ AMA 250cc Supercross Series on ABC's Wide World of Sports caught a lot of pe0ple's attention, according to the Seals Communications Corporation, who, along with PACE Motor Sports, produced the one-hour TV special. The show, narrated by Paul Page, who is known as the voice of Indy car racing, and David Bailey, along with floor announcers Art Eckman and Davey Coombs, received a 2.7 overnight rating, which translates into roughly 2.7 million households that watched the next-

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