Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Cycle News 1998 07 22

Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles

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IN THE WIND Ale~ s io" ch io d i(H u s ) ~ i'n crea s~d h is points lead in the Wor ld Champions hip 125cc MX Series afte r scori ng the ove rall win at the 125cc MX GP in Lau nsdorf, Aus tria, on Ju ly 12. Chiodi won bo th motos to pull back a few points on the rapidly gaining Da v id Vuillemin (Yam), who wen t 4-3 for th ird ov er all. Finishing between the two series rivals was Al essandro Puzar (TM), who wen t 3-2 on the d ay . Rou nd in g out the top five were Claudio Federici (Yam ) and Philippe Dupasquier (TM). In the series po ints chase, Chiod i now has 234 points to Vuillem in' s 218. Pu zar is jus t five po ints behi nd with 213 points. The next closes t rider in fou rth is Federici w it h 137. Mike Lafferty (KTM) collected his fifth win of the 1998 AMA / Acerbis Na tional End uro Series in West G reenwich , Rhode Islan d , on July 12. Lafferty carded a 27 on the day, finishing wi th roo m to spare over runn er-up Fred Hoess , who posted a 32-poin t.score. Third overa ll wen t to Chris Smith (Ho n) , wh o rod e and XR250, foll ow ed by Mark Spence (Ho n) and Jerry Ma dore (Yam).: Finishing six th was former N ational Enduro Ch ampi on Randy Hawkins (Yam). Lance Smail (KTM) won ro u nd six of the AMA Western Four-Stroke Na tional Champion ship MX Series rou nd in Boise, Idaho, on Ju ly 12. Smail won both mot e s, w hile Robert Naughton (Yam) took runner-up honors with a 3-4 tally. Th ird o ve ra ll wen t to Greg Schnell (Yam), who went 4-7, while fourth overall went to Scott Myers (Yam). Rounding out the top five overall wa s Rich Taylor (Yam). Joel Smets (H b g) fought thr ou gh pouring rain and several falls to lead home an International field of rid ers a t the Kester Trophy, held in Kester, Belgium, on Ju ly 12: Smets fini shed th e three-m ot e motocross event in th e top s po t, while Stefan Everts (Hon) fin is hed s e co n d ove rall , and Shayne King (KTM) third. The fo rma t of th e extrava ganza, which is one of th e top Internationals on the European ca lendar, puts th e riders to the tes t w ith - at fir st - a tr aditional 40 -minute m oto, followed by another race where th e top riders start at the ba ck of th e grid, then the final moto used a "knock-o ut" formu la, where the last five riders at the end of eac h lap ge t the black flag. Pro Stock rookie Sh aw n Gann (Suz) pu t h is fi rst w in in the books a t th e Inau gural AMA/ Prosta r Street Fighter N ation a ls, held at Route 66 Raceway in Jolie t, Illin ois, Ju ly 10-12. Gann, 20, from Sto neville , N orth Carolina, quali fied in th e number-one po sit ion a nd continu ed h is domination, becom in g th e youn g e st r id e r e v e r t o win a n AMA /Prostar Pro Sto ck Bike titl e. In the Top Fuel class, Larry "The Spiderma n" McBride (Suz) end ed h is sixyea r streak of no wi ns when he defea te d T on y La ng (P u m ) in th e fina l ro und . 2 Mic hael Taylor (Kaw) becam e the first tw o-time winner in the Toyota Canada Su pe rbike Ch ampion shi p season when he won the fourth round of the series a t A u todrome in St . Eu stach e, Qu eb ec, Ca na da. Don Munroe (Kaw) was second , w ith cha m pions hip lea de r Jordan Szoke (Kaw) finis hing thi rd . The Open Su persport class was also wo n by Taylor, wit h Frank Wilson (Ho n) ta l?n g the victory in 600cc Supersport. ' Morehead tests F&S TL 1000 at DuQuoin Mile T hey finally rod e it, and it ra n to beat hell. . Veteran dirt tra cker Steve Morehead got the chance to swi ng a leg ov er Gary Stolzenbu rg's F&S.Suzuki TLlOOOR for a quick five-lap test session after the AMA Gra nd National final was run on July 11. The verdict? Flat bitchin' . "That was the most aweso me attempt at a first-time di rt tracker that I've ever rid d en," said Morehead , w ho has been a critic of the Project 2000 concep t since it was annnounced over 18 months ago . "It steered like a champ and the suspension was good . Denn is Tow n and Gary Stolzenburg di d a heck of a job on the thing." And the motor? "U nbelievable," Morehead continued. "I was comi ng off the com ers an d shifting it, an d it wo uld take off like a rocket. Tha t was the first five laps that it has ever ru n, and already it wa s only one second off our 750 lap times, and the gearing was way off. If we had gotten th e cha nce to get the gea ring righ t, it would have bea ten our norm al lap times easily. I cou ld actua lly run it d eep er into the turns than I cou ld on my Harl ey beca use when I rolled off the throttle, the thin g wo uld actua lly slow down. Of course, how long the tire would have lasted I have no idea." The test sess ion would seem to have br eathed new life into the AMA's Project 2000 d irt track concept, which is a little less than two years from actu al com pe tition . Morehead sai d that he feels th e program, w hi ch w ill make th e H arley-Da vid son XR750 eng ine obsolete in favor of prod uction -based lOoocc eng ines, is very viabl e if the right chips fall int o place. "It can work if the manufacturer s ge t involved ," Mo re head sa id . "Righ t now, ther e is no ince ntive for I11e to ride any thing othe r than a Harley-Davidson, because they are the only ones paying any kind of continge ncy mon ey. Th at shows how loyal they are ; the y don't have to put any mon ey into it becau se everybod y already runs Harl eys, but they do it anyway." Fo r m er 250 cc a n d World Sup erbike Ch ampion John Kocinski was a spectator at the World Superb ike race at Laguna Seca, Jul y 11-12, and confirm ed that he won't be racing in th e upcoming Su z u kaB H ours d u e to h is inj u re d pinkie finger. "I' m havin g su rgery on Mond a y (July 13) w i th Dr . (A r th u r) Tin g," Kocin ski sa id . "I' Il be ou t until Brno (the Czech Republic round of the 500cc World Cliampion sh ip on Augus t 23). I tried to rid e in Holland, but I've got no gr ip in my left hand. I could n' t hold on . We've been preparin g the skin for the surgery and it' s very painful. It' s no fun and I'd much rath er be racing." Dirt tracker Davey Camlin has started a new promotion co m pany, Sideways Circus, which will be handling the promoti on fo r the upcoming East Moline Half Mile in East Molin e, Illinois. Camlin has also s ta r ted a new site on th e World Wide Web for the compa ny. The ad d ress is www.daveycamlin-27.com. FlM motocross boss Wolfgan g Srb has said thatthe top Am er ican rid er s will not ge t the u sual great start mo ney they are u sed to in th e World Su percross Cha mpions hips from this year on. "It is not correct that one or two rid ers ge t so mu ch mon ey," Srb sa id . 'The spo rt is bigger than that. Last yea r, Jeff Emig di d not rid e the last round of the series; he was lead in g th e cha mpio ns hi p , and it (the t itl e) m ean t no thi ng to hi m . We need to get the importan ce of the World Cha mp ions hip in sha pe, and .the riders need to be put on a level field ." Wit h the likes of Jerem y McGra th and Emig being used to the extra money at the end of the cold winter events, it see ms unlikely they will tra vel to Europe to compete, a lt hough Srb thinks o therwise. "Sure, the first few years they might not come, bu t the prize mon ey will be good for the winners, a nd the Action Grou p looks like they will be givi ng away a red Fer- Morehead sai d tha t he feels contingency - and not all-out factory race efforts - is the wa y to go. "I wou ld hope that the factories don' t ge t involved like that (factory racin g team s)," Morehead sai d . "These things alre ady make 135 h ors ep o w er. Wh y wo u ld we need a l SD-h o rse Yoshimura Suzuki ou t ther e? The way to look at this is, with the horsepower that this thing is making now, we could put 25 races on one befo re we eve n had to tune it up." . Exactly how the rest of the p ackage will fall int o place rem ains to be see n, but More hea d says that the Project 2000 idea, based upon seat-of-the pants perfo rmance, may be a good one afte r all. "I w as skeptical until I ro de it (the U )," Morehead said . "It impressed the heck ou t of me. It has more potential th an any' other 'pre tend ' dirt tra cker we've ever come up with." .. rari for the cha m p ions hip winner. We will also be running the championship on bigger track s.than in pr evious years, with a probable round held in the new Paris Stad ium (w here this year's World Cup Soccer final was played )." Srb also mention ed a few plans for thi s yea r's series . "We alread y have the su ppo rt of all the factory teams in Eur ope," he said . " Dave Grant from Hond a ha s s igne d (Ezra ) Lusk an d (Steve) Lamso n, while it seem s o ther top Americans w ill also come." Shayne King ha s s ig ne d for a nothe r two yea rs w it h th e KTM factory. H e says he will rid e th e co m pany's new KTM four-stro ke. "We will hav e a hu ge truck for th e bik es, and I will rid e the new four-stroke," King said . "I hav e not eve n ridden it yet, but b y the sou nd of the power and weigh t of the thing, it's goi ng to be awesome ." Kin g is sched u led to test the machine in the comi ng months. "I will cu t sho rt my holid ay in New Zeal and thi s winte r a nd s pen d mo re ti me in Eu ro pe w it h th e n e w bike," King sa id . "I want to do it correctly.I really feel like it' s all starting over again: It' s very exiting." A t th e e n d o f th e 125cc MX World Cha mp io ns hi p rou n d h eld in Borgo Ma gg io re , Sa n Marj n o , o n June 14, Brit is h rid er James Dobb was sa nctioned wit h a two-minu te penal ty ad ded to his res ults in the firs t heat , becau se the noise level of his machine was found to be above the lim it of 98 dBA. Dobb lod ged an a ppeal to th e Internat ion a l Disciplinary Courts aga inst the decision of th e Inte rn ation al Jury. The a p peal was co nsidered accep ta b le a nd wellfo unded . T he tw o-minute pe na lty inflic ted o n Do bb has been ca nceled , thus returning to him the seventh place of the first heat (ni ne points). The updat.ed champio ns hi p poi nt stand ings is as follow s: 1. Alessio Chiodi (194); 2. David Vuillemin ( 90) ; 3. Alessandro Pu zar (180); 4. Claudio Federici (110); 5. Carl Nunn ( 08); 6. Luig i Se guy (02 ); 7. Brian Jorgensen (100); 8. James Dob.b (84); 9. Alessandro Belometti (82); 10. Erik Camerlengo (71). The saga continues: Team HyperCycle's Carry Andrew was o n h and a t t he Laguna Seca World Superbike round to s u p por t and tune for his two riders, Jason Pridmore and Nicky Hayd en, wh o w ere both e n te re d in th e Supersport World Series round using sp ecially built bikes that took adavantage of the FlM's mor e liberal rul es regarding all owabl e modification s. Sources said that Andrew' had checked wi th the FlM and was told he cou ld be on site, but w hen the AMII officials d iscovered him at the event ·he w as told to lea ve, per his season- lo ng ban from atte ndi ng AMA Na tional road races. O n Sat urday And re w told tea m manager Lan ce Holst by telephon e that he had decided that he wanted to w ithdraw Pridmore's an d Hayd en ' s en tries in the World Su perspo rt event in ret alia-, tion for the AMA kicking him out of the ve n ue . Acco rd ing t o H o lst, it w a s And rew 's understanding after a conversa tion with th e FlM's Steve Wh itelock th at he could be present si nce he was' running FlM-spec bikes at an FlM eve nt. H o w e v e r , w he n Whi tel oc k was app roac hed Su nday afternoon, And rew never having been readmitted , Whitelock sa id, "The FIM's official view is that this is organized by the AMA and that they have an ongoing thing wi th a mem ber and thev are en titled to do that They are the orga nizer. They' are orga: nizin g the event on behalf of FIM. They are th e Fed er ati on member nati on and therefore they have the right to choose.': ' CastroI Honda spent a lit tle mon ey on mot or cycle pa rts during thei r weekend at th e Lagu na Seca ro u nd. Bot h of its I

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