Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

The 12th annual Wegman Benefit Auction will be held at Blackhawk Farms Raceway on June 27. The event is a fund-raiser for the Wegman Benefit Fund. For more information, call 414/871-5682. Team Other Side Racing, a road racing team featuring Roland Williams, has secured sponsorship from Fila, the Italian-based clothing and footwear manufacturer. The team will compete in all Loudon Road Racing Series (LRRS) events in New England. Seven-lime World Champion Phil Read will lead the British squad when it hosts the third and fourth round of the Historic Team Challenge on June 14 at Mallory Park in England. The event pits top British classic racers against their North American counterparts from AHRMA in a four-race series on 500 and 750cc machines from the 19605 and early '70s. After losing both rounds at Daytona International Speedway, March 1-2, the Brits trail the North American team, 196-135. The 59-year-old Read will ride a 750cc BSA. Led by Gary ixon, the American team will consist of Mitch ,Boehm, Don Emde, Will Harding, Todd .Henning, Rusty Lowry, Craig McLean, Larry Poons, Adam Popp and Jay Richardson. The two teams will be vying for the Roger Reiman trophy. PACBOG, a Buell motorcycle owners group, is forming an international Buell motorcycle registry. "This is something I've thought about doing for a long time," said Jerry Haughton, founder of PACBOG and editor of Sport Bike USA, the Buell-oriented magazine published by the group. "I see this as an idea whose lime has come, and it's my hope this becomes a valuable resource for Buell owners and enthusiasts around the world." On Sunday, April 26, over 500 rider raised in excess of $100,000 to support the battle to find a cure for pediatric brain tumors at the Houston, Texas, Ride for Kids event. Castrol Honda World Superbike racer Colin Edwards II took part in the ride. The next Ride for Kids will be held in Torrance, California, on May 17. The third annual AMA/WML Women's Outdoor Motocross Championship has attracted several international riders, including Italian champions Stefy Bau and Paola Cazzoia. The series kicks off on May 9 at Glen Helen Raceway in San Bernardino, California. Riders who participated in the World Mini Grand Prix in Las Vegas, evada, recently and did not see their photos can call Mary at Kevin Heath Photography at 619/481-0192. Team Roberts ha invited the TravelCraft British GP tour group to visit the team's headquarters in Banbury, England. The visit will take place the Thursday prior to the July 5 Grand Prix at Donington Park. The entire facility will be toured, including the workshop in which the Modenas KR3 racers. are developed and maintained. For more information or to join the GP trip, call TravelCraft at 800/241-1223. AMA referee Bob Hill wanted to let riders who would be competing in Gene Romero's West Coast Flat Track Series know that they would need AMA Pro Racing licenses for most classes. Riders in the 600cc Pro Sport, 600cc Expert, and 83 classes will need the Pro Racing licenses. Riders competing in the vin- tage races won't need Pro Racing licenses, but will have to be AMA members. Hill said that AMA representatives would be at the races to sell memberships. The series, which will be run under an AMA Pro-Am sanction, begins with the Big Valley Ford Spring Oassic at the Lodi Cycle Bowl in Lodi, California, on May 9. For more information, call 209/369-2471. AMID: Dave Wager as sales manager of [daho, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, ebraska, Kansas, ew Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana for Victory Motorcycles. ANNOUNCED, Metzeler Tires, as the sponsor of the Utah Sport Bike Association's Advanced Riding School. For more information, call 801/281-2256. BORN: David Erin Ruif, to Frank and Elnine Ruff on March 21. Elaine Ruif is the executive director of the Women's Motocross League. AUTOGRAPH SIGNING: At Malcolm Smith Motorsports in Riverside, California, on May 9 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Team Primal Impulse's Buddy Antunez and Team Suzuki's motocross team are scheduled to appear. For ~ore information, call 909/687-1300. HIRED: Paul James as communications manager for the Harley-Davidson Motor Company. James, who most recently served as marketing manager of Arctic Cat. will assist with media relations and wilt also lead the production of the company?s consumer magazine, Enthusia t. Hale and Tom Kip? are scheduled to appear. For more information, call 405/751-5200. PROMOTED: Phil Ammendolia. to director of domestic sales of Fox Racing tnc.• by Greg Fox. Ammendolia will oversee Fox's domestic motocross. bicycle and clothing sales managers in the United States. NAMED: Dale Pyne. as overall district manager of the year (or Harley-Davidson. Pyne received the honor for his district's 24.14 percent increase in parts and accessories sales, as well as other programs. Pyne has won the award five times. RESCHEDULED: The motocross scheduled for May 17 in Batavia, New York, has been moved to Hunt Mota Park in Hunt, New York, on the same date. For more information, call 716/476-2697. CORRECTIO : Last week we incorrectly reported the total dollar amount of the purse money for the May 2 125cc East/West Shootout at Las Vegas. 11 should have read that the purse was increased $5000 to $25,000. AUTOGRAPH SIGNING: At Chaparral Cycle Supply in San Bernardino, California, on May 8 from 6 to 8 p.m. Team Suzuki's motocross team is scheduled to appear. For more inJormation, call 909/889-2761. BORN: Twins, Sean Patrick and Shaye Elizabeth Conley, to motocross racer Sean Conley and his wife Rickaye on March 23 in Woodland, California. OPENED: RPM Cycle, a Triumph dealership in Dallas, Texas, by longtime racer and tuner Keith Martin. For more information, call 972/62D-3883. OPENED: Vintage Dirt Track Racers Association's home page on the World Wide Web. The site can be found at the following address: http://www.vdtra.com. AUTOGRAPH SIGNING: At Bauer Ducati in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, on May 16 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Fast By Ferracci's Eraido Ferraro, Mike BORN: Alexander Morrill Kates, to G.M.D. Cornputrack Boston owner and Penguin Racing School instructor Peter Kates and his wife Jean on March 3 in Framingham, Massachusetts. HIRED: Krista Heidgerken as events manager for Excelsior-Henderson motorcycles. effective i.mmed.i. ately. Heidgerken most recently served as events project manager for Bombardier. 0' H erC cle owner sus ended he AMA has suspended HyperCycle Suzuki's owner/crew chief Carry Andrew for the rest of the 1998 season after they alleged that he had used an illegal windscreen on the Suzuki GSXR750 that HyperCycle's Nicky Hayden rode to victory in the Teamline 750cc Supersport race at Willow Springs International Raceway on April 25. The windscreen was found to be about 1 1/2 inches too tall. The AMA allowed Hayden to keep the win, but deducted five championship points from his tally. The move was just the latest punishment for the team, which has been under intense scrutiny this year since Daytona, where its riders, Jason Pridmore and Hayden, were disqualified after finishing first and second. A post-race technical inspection found that metal had been removed from the cases on both machines, an automatic infraction, even though the cases remained within legal specilica tions for the class. At the third round of the championship, at Laguna Seca Raceway, the team's wiring harnesses and fuel-injection throttle bodies were closely scrutinized, but found to be legal. Andrew will not be allowed at the race track for the remainder of the this season and, according to a Suzuki news release, the AMA has rejected Andrew's request for an appeal. HyperCycle Suzuki team manager ance Holst said that Andrew's absence was not severely impacting the team, though Pridmore disagreed."We're definitely in a delicate position," Pridmore said. 'The AMA put us in that position. But I'm pleased with the morale of the team. I'm happy with the attitude." Hoi t said tl1at Andrew made jetting decisions on the team's fleet of Suzukis. "Right now the engines are running fine," Holst said. "And we're able to communicate with him by phone. He's up here in a hotel room." Much was made of the absence of Carl Steyrer, the Canadian who helps HyperCycle with its suspension adjustments. But Holst said that Steyrer had been absent for the last two races, and the team's results weren't suffering. Others in the team, including Holst himsell, took up the slack during round five of the eries at Sears Point Raceway. "We're a little behind the eightball on qualifying," Holst said. "I gave Nicky (Hayden) a suggestion for this next ession." "We've been without our suspension technician for the last three weeks, and that's really hurt me a lot," Pridmore said. "We've been lucky to pick up (someone) who's a friend of Nicky's, and he's done a really good job with Nicky. But I've been struggling a little bit in that area. But we called Carl (Steyrer) today up in Canada, and he straightened our stuff out a bit." . Botl1 Hayden and Pridmore addressed the team's recent punishment by the AMA during the Teamline 750cc Supersport postrace press conference at Sears Point. "I think it's to the point where we're going to start putting stock OEM stickers on all of our parts so that everybody knows that we are legal," Pridmore aid. "We're a smaller team than a lot of people give us credit for, so I think maybe we get pushed around a little bit more than some. There's a lot of questions in my mind about a lot of things. I think the state of AMA racing T right now is at its highest because we've got a lot of young talent coming. I think we need to take care of that young talent, and I don't think they need to keep on being brought into the political aspects of things. To attack one team I think's a little unfair, but we're going to get through this regardless of what they do to us, and we're going to keep putting them up on the podium." "I'm just really happy for the whole HyperCycle Suzuki team for what's been going on the whole year actually," Hayden said. "I just hope it's all over with now. It should be. AMA, they got what they want, so hopefully they layoff of us a little bit." Both Hayden's and Andrew's penalties were unprecedented, something which wa not lost on Muzzy Kawasaki's Rob Muzzy. "Once again, 1 question the AMA's action and how they do things, Muzzy said. "It's the inconsistency of how they administer the rules. I was told when I got here that Cary Andrew was suspended. Not taking Cary's position, but I've been racing AMA for a hell of a lot of years, and I fail to understand how tl1ey can punish Cary Andrew for an infraction on Nicky Hayden's motorcycle. The rulebook clearly states that the rider will be penalized for anything found illegal On the motorcycle. I don't understand what they can tell the other competitors who have been penalized over the years." Muzzy cited the example of Jay Springsteen's suspension several years ago. According to Muzzy, Springsteen had his license revoked for racing an illegal motorcycle, one that he'd never seen before, at Daytona. The suspension was appealed, and shortened. Twice, Muzzy says, he's lost championship because hi riders have been penalized. Scott Russell was penalized for riding backward on the course, and Wayne Rainey was penalized for a riding infraction. "Trust me, I'd rather they evicted me for Russell riding backwards when we lost the championship or when Wayne Rainey passed on a waving yellow and we lost the champion hip," Muzzy said." owhere in the rule book does it say the team owner or mechanic will be penalized. It clearly tates that a rider will be penalized." In this pecific case, Muzzy said that if the bike was illegal, to be fully consistent, the rider should have been di qualified. "If they want to cl1ange the rules, they need to notify us so we know what the rules are," Muzzy said. "Cary Andrew has a very strong case against the AMA. That's pathetic. It's only because of what they've done." When contacted on Monday, M?y 4, AMA Pro Racing's Merrill Vanderslice explained his position on only taking points away from Hayden. "If there's a performance advantage, then basically you get disqualified," Vanderslice said. "It's hard to prove 100 percent that he (Hayden) had a performance advantage. We didn't want to disqualify Nicky (Hayden). The next best thing was to take points and we decided on five. Although we've never done this before, we've always had that option. This is a unique case and we had to get to the root of the problem on who is responsible. We also have a responsibility to the rest of the field and that's why we took away some of his championship points." Henny Ray Abrams

• Cover