Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Everts Tortelli battle on B INT EWIND H Showca se Bike Night will be hel d at Speedway Internationa l Raci ng Bistro & Bar on Thursday, July 2, and will feature sev era l exotic bikes and the lates t motorcycles from Su zuki and Yamaha . For m ore info rmation, call 949/675-5900. '. For mer Nationa l Motocross and Supercross C hampion David Bailey finished third in the wheelchair class at th e Suzuki-spons ored Rock N' Roll Mara tho n in San Diego , California, on June 21. Bailey comple ted the 26-mile cours", in o ne_ ho ur, 43 minutes a nd 20 seco nds. In addition to Bailey, th e marathon al so fea tured appearances from 1993 500cc World Champion Kev in Schwantz and NHRA Pro Stock racer Angelle Seeling. Both Schwantz and Seeling paced the fi e ld of wo r ld- cl a s s runners , wit h Sch wantz a boa rd a Su zuki TUOOOR while Seeling rode a Suzuki GSXR600. Some 6000 Ducati enthusiasts from aroun d the w orld took pa rt in the World Ducati Weekend in Misano, Italy, Jun e 12-13. An additional 4000 joined th e fes tivities in Bolog na, Ita ly, on june 14, bringing the total number of attendees to 10,000 . Making up fo r lost even ts due to poor weather co nd it io ns, AMA Di strict 27 will host five dual sp ort ri des in Sout hern California, be g in n in g with th e Kenned y Mea dowsride, July 18-19, and con clud ing with th e Bass Lake outing , on August 29-30. For mo re information, call 818/ 249-2141. Australian Su perbike Series rider Mark Willis will be on hand at the British Grand Prix on july 5 and plans to hold talks with severa l Grand Prix teams regarding his racing pla ns for 1999. The 22-year-old is a imi ng to sec u re a 500c c GP ride, bu t w ould al so consid er Wo rl d Superbike options. 'T m determin ed to race in th e SODs next year, which is w hy I'm going to England," Willis told Cycle News contributor Darryl Flack. "I've already made contact with a few factory teams, and I'll be following those up face to face at Donington." Willis currentlv lies sixth in the Shell Australian Superbike Champio ns hi p on the Tearn Ansett Suzuki GSXR750. FS Productions will host World Superb ik e Night a t the Blue Fin Cafe & Billiard s in Monterey; California, o n Thursda y, Jul y 9, beginning at 6 p.m . Featured guests include AMA Su pe rbike Na tiona l Champion Doug Chand ler, 1993 500cc World Cham pion Kevin Schwantz, former World Superbike Cha m pio n Sco tt Russell, Castrol Honda's Co lin Edwards II, Van ce & Hines Du ca tis A n thony Gobert, and Yoshimura Suzu ki's Mat Mlad in and A aron Ya te s . For m ore informati on , ca ll the Blue Fin a t 408/ 375-7000 o r FS Prod uc tio ns a t 714/573:4993. A post-World Su perbike night w ill tak e place at In Cahoots in Sacra mento, California , on july 13, featurin g 1996 World Superbike Champion Troy Corser, Kevin Schwa nt z, Coli n Ed w ard s II, Ca strol H onda's Aaron Slig ht and Dou g Chand ler. The Sport Bike Night pr esentation wil l begi n' at 7 p.m. and is spo nso red by Dunlop Tin~ and Arai H elm et s . Fo r more in form atio n, call S&j Productions at 916/373-1557 Our coverag e of the AMA /MBNA Superbik e Na tiona l Championsh ip from New Hamp shire International Speed wa y in Issue #25 (July 1, 1998) wa s incorrect in stating that Mike Hal e's contract had been terminated by Fast By Ferracci team owne r Era ldo Ferracci. Accord ing to Larry Ferracci, Ha le is still under contra ct w ith the team until the end of the 1998 AMA Superbike season. Raine retires W ayne Rainey brou gh t a tearful end to an era of rac- 00 0\ 0\ ,...... 2 ing, choosin g Assen, the ca thedral of mo tor-eycle racing, to anno unce that this yea r will be his last in the spo rt. . "I've decided to stop punish ing my bod y, and to spend time at hom e with my family," he sa id, in a formal farewell on June 26, hosted by Yamaha - his em ployers (in one way or another) since 1987. Yama ha's head 'of racing, director Toshimitsu Iio, sha red the tab le to pa y tribute to Rainey' s career as rid er and team "owner" (though as Rainey ad m itte d , "It all bel on gs to Yamaha") and to ann ounce that the factory wou ld contin ue to su ppo rt their own tw o-rid er team next year as well as th e Red Bull WCM team owned by Am erican backer Bob MacLean . . The news was greeted wi th a sense of relief as well as sadness. In the five years since Rainey' glorious career as a rid er en ded in 1993, when he was on his way to a fourth success ive World Cha mpionship, he has not only faced the difficulties of life in a w hee lchair but has also had a troubled time as team boss. Rain ey fractu red his spi ne at Misan o in Septembe r of 1993. He returned for the first Grand Prix the followi ng year to run the Roberts-owned 250cc Ma rlboro Yamaha tea m. In 1995 he ra n the fac tory 250cc team again, and in 1996 a works 500 as well as a 250. In 1997 and 1998 he has head ed the two-rider factory 50Dec team. But w hile there we re sporadic successes and race wins, Rain ey's enterprises as a team man ager w ere beset by a variety of m isfortunes. As well as the loss of Marl boro spo nsorship at the begi nni ng of last year, Rainey ha s also been troubled by the midse aso n collapse of 250cc rider Tetsuya Harada in 1996, and the defection at the end of that year of GP wi nner Loris Capirossi. In 1998, po tential star rid er Jean- elgian Stefan Everts and Frenchman Sebastien Tortelli continue d thei r heat ed bat: tle for the 250cc World Championship Mo tocross Series w hen the nint h round of the se ries was held in Montevarchi, Italy, on June 28. Honda-mounted Everts topped Tortelli by some 19 seconds in the firs t moto, bu t Tortelli boun ced back in the second moto , riding his Kawa saki to a 15.5-second win over Everts . Th ird place both tim es ouf when to Kawasaki's Yves Demaria. American Tallo n Vohla nd ende d the da y w ith a 4-5 tally on his factory Yamaha in w ha t was his return to action aft er suffering a bro ken finger in an earlier ro und . With nin e rounds completed, Everts holds a seven-point lead over Tortelli in th e 250cc World Cha mpionship, 323-316. In 125cc World Championship MX action, Fre nchman David Vu illemi n turned in a 31 tally to take the overall in the Italian Gra nd Pri x, held in conjun ction wi th the 250c( ro u nd in Mo n teva rc h i. Vu ill em in and his fa ctory Yamaha finished behind TM 's Alessa nd ro Puz ar and Honda's Luigi Seguy in the first moto, but Vuill eman storm ed back to beat H us qva rn a's Alessio Chi odi and Pu zar in the seco nd moto. e Chiod i now leads Vuilleman by just four poin ts, 194-190, with Pu za r third in the " sta ndings with 181 points. "I felt very good," Vu illeman said. " I knew I only needed to ride at my own pace, and in the end it paid off. On e mistake and the championship is over for me; it is so . close, but still I feel no pressu re. 1 w ant to finish in the top three, and at the mom ent that is loo kin g possible." Th e eigh th round of the 500cc World Cha m pio ns hip was held in Sverep ec, Slova kia; on June 28 and Yama ha's Andrea Bartolini turned in a perfect 1-1 moto sco re to cap ture the ove ra ll win. Bartolini topped defend ing World Champ ion and current points leader joel Smets in both m ote s, w ith German Bernd Eckenb ach finishing third both times out. Sme ts leads New Zealander Darryll King by 40 points, 260-220, wi th Bartolini th ird in the series stand ings with 199 points . King didn't finish the first moto and wound up. fourth in the second . Laguna Seca Raceway is hosting a "Vi ntage an d Bikes of Interest" displa y during the Du nlop Worl d Superbike w eek end, july 10-12. TI,e d isplay will feature several mot orcycles, including a 1964 Triumph Tiger Cub, a 1969 Bultaco Metralla MKII, a 1948 Indian, and several other noteworthy motorcycles. For more information on disp layin g specialty b ikes, contact Brid Caveney at West Coast Racing, 408/ 4847778, or Bill Keys at 510/ 357-3015. O P EN ED : Anti-Theft Sy s tems' hom e page on the Wo rld Wide Web. Th e site can be found at the following ad d ress: http:/ / www.armedgua rd.com. OP EN ED: AMA Wes tern Four-Stroke National MX Series' home page on the World Wid e Web. The site can be found at the following address: http:/ / www.4strokenati onals.com. OP ENED : The FlM's hom e page on th e World Wide Web. The site can be found at: http:/ /www.fim.ch . Miche l Bayle has missed the first half of the season because of a trou blesom e head injury sustained in testing. Rainey had already decided, he revealed, that this would be his last year. "I reached the decision in November last year, bu t decided to try to kee p th e team run n in g a nd to d el a y the anno uncement until Asse rt," he said . "It' s the midpoint of the year, and it's always been the poi nt where announcements are made, and where the silly-season rumors begi n. "The passion is no t there for me anymore," he con tinued . "It's a struggle to leave home to go to the race track. My so n, Rex, goes to school next year, and I wa nt to be there for him. To do this job right, you can 't live in California . It's been five years since the accident, and the travellin g has bea t up my body pretty bad ly. But it has been part of my rehabilitation. "I'm not sure w ha t I will d o, but I'll take a yea r off to stay hom e and just try and be a normal gu y," he concluded, denying rumors that he would head Yamaha's AMA Superbike team next year, Rainey will remain invo lved as a consultant to Yama ha , revealed Iio, w ho paid tribute to his dedication to the firm over the years. "He is a grea t am bassad or for us," lio said . After the conference, speaking from his unique ly aut horitative posi tion, Rainey spoke freely about many aspects of racing after being forced out as a rid er. . "Team managem ent never filled the gap that racing left," he said. "I think Kenn y (Roberts) was fortuna te enough to live his racing through me. It's bee n different for me - the culture gap and so on with Japa nese riders." Rai ney also gave for th right comments on the cu rrent crop of rid ers. oMick Dooha n - "He's the only guy who is there every wee kend - bu t I need to take him aside and teach him a few his tory lesso ns. (Doohan recently commen ted that if Rainey and 5chw an tz we re still racing, they wo uld not be as sue- OPENED: T he Dan Rouit Flat ' T ra ck Mu s eum ' s h om e p a g e o n the Wo rl d Wid e Web . Th e si te ca n b e ' found at the foll~wing address: http:/ / J www.vft.or g /rou it.hem. CO RRECTION: In our coverage of the j Nati onal Four-Stroke MX round in Sal t Lake City, Utah , we rep orted that KTM's Lance Smail is from Oregon , w hen he is actually from Washington. CORRECTI O N: To obtain H usqvarna dealer information , ca ll Cag iva USA, Corp . at 215/ 830-3300. . . OPEN ED: Pacific Crest Pipe Re pa ir' s , home page on the World Wide Web . The s it e can be fou nd a t th e foll owing address: http:/ /wv..W.piperepair.com. MOVED: American Road racing maga- ' zine, to 11426 N . Cave Creek Rd., Sui te B; . P hoe nix, AZ 85020, 602 /997-5887, 602/ 997-6567 (fax). l~ J cessfu l as before.) The lap times say everything. Some tracks are still not as fast as in 1991." oNorick Abe. his Yama ha rider - "N orick only gets good on Sunday. He's not even there the res t of the time ." oJohn Kocins ki, erstwhile teammate - "H is career was ove r in 1990. I mad e sure of that. It was m y job ." oAlex' Cri ville - "The re are so me guys inch in g up on Mick, but th ey have go t to rid e more mature to bea t him . Criville is lead ing the World Champions hip, but he runs off the track at [arama , What kind of a move is that ?" - Carlos Checa - "Checa is one determined guy, thou gh. He cou ld be a hu ge threat if he gets the right bike - a factory Honda or Yama ha ." - Loris Capirossi - "Loris is just a kid . He's not read y to l race ag ainst Mic k. Mick has th e easy life ra cin g agai ns t , these guys." Rainey's Grand Prix career spans a full golden era , an f age of giants in w hich the blond e American road racing champion rose to be the dominant figure. 1 It started in 1984, with a troubled but sometimes brilliant j year with an underfunded 250cc Yama ha team ru n by the freshly retired Kenny Roberts . Disillusioned, th e Californian ' from Norwalk (nea r Los Angeles) returned to America to win a second AMA Super- J bik e title, then came back to rejoin Robert s in the Lucky Strike Yamaha SODcc team in 1987, winning a debut-season GP, bu t in 1988 already challenging for the title. His career-long rival Kevin 5chwantz had come to the GPs at the same time, and the battles between them defined the World Championship for the next five years - eve n at a time w hen other riders of the status of Eddie Lawson and Wayne Gardner we re still active, and w hen Mick Doo ha n ~ reached full streng th. Although 5chwantz won more races' i wi th 25 to Rainey's 24, Rain ey' s consistency was devastating in cha mpions hip terms, and he wo n from 1990 to 1992. He fina lly ceded the title to his Texan adversary w ith his ~ crash at Misan o. j

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