Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

- Everts wins Polish 250ccMXGP (f." IN THE WIND " ";~ ',1_: ,-,:' "j.~~--""",,_~'...~.~....... " . •• Rodney Smith (Suz) won round nine of the AMA Grand Nation al Cross Countr y Series in Fairmont, We st Virginia , Au gu st 30. Smith ' s teamm at e S teve Hatch (Suz) fini shed se cond , followed by Scott Summers (Hon), Smi th has finished on the rostrum in all nine races. H ond a had a busy week last w eek. In addition to signing Kevin Windham to a co ntr act for th e 1999 AMA Su p ercross and Na tional Championshi p Motocross Series, Honda has inked road racing ph enom Nicky Hayden to a two-year contra ct for the 1999-2000 seas ons. Hayd en , w ho is cu rren tly riding Team Suzu ki Spor t (fo rmerly H yperC ycl e Suzuki) in th e AMA 600 a n d 75 0cc Su persp o rt Series , will be placed in the Erion Racing team next year and will contest the 600cc Su pers po rt and Formula Xtreme Series on factory-backed Hondas. In 2000, Hayden w ill mov e up to th e "big team," where he, w ill compet e for the 600cc Su pe rs port and Superbik e Na tio n a l Championships. The signing of Hayden a p pa ren tly leave s Ben Bos trom out of the Honda equati on, as his spo t on th e factory team will likely be tak en by his brother Eric Bostrom, who has ano the r year remaining on his two-year deal with Honda. Eric Bostrom is currently filling in for the injured Miguel DuHamel on th e America n Hond a team while a lso racing 600cc Su p ers p ort and Fo rm u la Xtreme for Erio n Racing. Severa l teams are known to be courting Ben Bostrom, but th e m an wh o is ju st tw o poi nts beh ind Dou g Chandler in the battl e for th e AMA Su perbike Na tiona l Cha mp ionship currently has no contract for 1999. • " It' s not over yet. Accord ing to reli able sources, Yamaha is fighting the contract th at Kevin Windham signed wit h Honda last we ek on the content ion tha t Windham had already signed a lett er of intent to return to the Yamaha tea m . Stay tuned . According to sources in Europe, Tallon Voh land will for go the Wor ld Cha mpions hip 250cc MX Series next year to race in the United States for the FMF Hon d a team. " I got a ca ll fro m Bo bby Moo re (the team's manager) an d I will sig n the contract on Monday (Aug ust 31)," Vohland sa id . " My a im was to race in Euro pe next year, but the FMF dea l was a good on e, and I th ink I have a great cha nce of w inning the ou tdoor series. Of cou rse, th e su percross se ries will ta ke some pr actice, but I wi ll do okay." Germ an ride r Pit Beirer has signed with JHK Kawasaki for the 1999 250cc Grand Prix series in Europe. Beiter, wh o has two races left on the Pam o Honda team , said, "I wanted the same parts as Stefan (Everts) and they cannot offer me th at , so I wi ll race for the factory Kaw asaki team wit h the best parts possible. Tha t is very important if I am to race against Stefan in 1999." Yamaha' s David Vuillemin will move up to th e 250 cc cl ass fo r next yea r's World Champions hip 250cc MX Series . "I feel I am strong eno ugh to compete w ith the 250cc rid ers, and staying in the 125cc class d oes not help my career," the 1998 250cc World Cha m p ions hi p runner -up said . "I look forward to next vea r.' The Fren ch rid er is ex pected to race in th e United States full time in 2000. 23 AMA Grand Nationals set for '99 he AMA released its 1999 Grand Na tio na l Dirt Trac k Series schedule on August 25, a schedule that includes 23 events. Of these 23, the major ity are es tab lished eve nts, but the schedule also features two new venues and a return to dirt track racing in Texas. The new ve nues joining th e series are both situated in the Lone Star state, wi th Sam H oust on Raceway Park in Houst on an d the Lone Sta r Par k in Dallas sched uled to host th e series for the firs t tim e. Th e last time th e d irt trackers visit ed Texas for a Grand Na tional was in 1993 at th e Dev il ' s Bo w l Speedway . Prior to '93 , th e H o u st on Astrod ome played host to AMA dirt track racin g for so me 18 years, end ing in 1986. Dixie Speed way in Woodstock, Georgia, returns to the dirt track sc he d ule as a Gra nd Na tiona l half mile. The dirt trackers last visited Ge orgia in 1989 w hen the event was pa rt of the 600cc Natio na l Dirt Track Series. In ad di tion, Emerald Downs in Auburn, Wash ington , has upgrad ed their Hot Shoe Series event to a fu ll Gran d Na tiona l for 1999. The full sched u le is as follows: Mar ch 6 - Municipa l Stadi u m, Daytona Beach , Flor id a (Short Track) May 15 - Dixie Speedwa y, Woodst ock, Geor gia (Ha lf Mile) May 22 - Delawar e State Fairg ro unds, Harrington , Dela w ar e (Ha lf Mile) Ma y 30 - Illinoi s State Fairgrounds, Sprin gfield , Illinoi s (Mile) June 12 - Sam Houston Raceway Park, Houston, Texas (Mile) June 19 - West Virginia Motor Spe ed way, Min eralwells, West Virgin ia (Half Mile) June 26 - Allen County Fairgro unds , Lima , Ohio (Ha lf Mile) Jul y 3- TBA Ju ly 10 - Du Quion State Fairgrounds, Du Quion, Illinois (Mile ) Ju ly 17 - Stat e Fair Speedway, O kla homa City, Okl ah om a (Half Mile) July 24 - Eldo ra Speedway, Rossburg, Ohio (Half Mile) Ju ly 31 - New 96 Sp eed w ay, Lake Od essa, Mich igan (Half Mile) Aug u st 7 - Route 66 Raceway, Joliet, Illinois (Half Mile) Aug ust 11 - Black Hill s Speedway, Rapid City, Sou th Dak ota (H alf Mile) Aug ust 15 - Peoria Clubgrounds, Peoria, Illinois (TT) Au gust 21 - Hager stown Speedway, Hagerstown, Marylan d (Half Mile) Au gu st 28 - State Fair Speed way, Sedalia, Missou ri (Half Mile) Sep tember 5 - Illinois State Fairg ro unds, Springfield , Illino is (Mile) Sep tember 11 - Lone Sta r Park, Dallas, Texas (Mile) Sep tember 18 - Emerald Downs, Aubu rn , Washin~ton (Mile) Sep tember 25 - Cal-Expo State Fairgrounds, Sacram en to, Cal ifornia (Mile) October 2 - Las Vegas Motor Speed way, Las Vegas, Nevad a (Half Mile) October 10 • Del Mar Fair grounds, Del Mar , California (Mile) T n B a ~ • 2 elgian Stefa n Everts, on the Radson Honda, took ano ther step to ward the 1998 World Championship 250cc MX Series title by winnin g both motos at the Polish GP in Gdynia on August 30. With two rounds left in the series, Everts has pulled out to a 16-point lead in the series over Frenchman Sebastien Tortelli, who went 2-2 in Po land . In th e firs t mot o, Everts took th e checkere d fla g 13 seco nds clear of Kawasak i' s Tortelli, then finished 32 seco nds ah ead of him in the seco nd moto, Tortelli cras hed in that mo to while chas ing Eve rts and received slight injju ries to his arm. Finis hing more than a minute behind Torte lli in the first moto was third-place finish er Frederic Belley, on a Hond a, followed bv Ge rm an ride r Pit Beir er, on a Ho nda, and Finland 's Miska Aaltonen , on a KTM. In the seco nd moto, Beirer finished a distant third, followed bv Sweden's [oakim Karls son , on a Ho nda, and The Nethe rla nds ' LL'On C iesbers. on a KiM . Bolley cras hed in the second moto and broke a bone in his hand, and it looks likely that he'll miss the next two ro unds of the series. Ame rica n Tallon Vo hland, on the Tea m Rina ldi Yamah a, did no t ha ve a good time in Po land . In the firs t mot o, his thro ttle stuc k over a tabl et op jump and he cras hed heavily, injuri ng his back. He still managed to ride the seco nd moto, w here he finis hed a credi tab le ninth . Vohland is currently six th in point s . The final round of the Wo rld Cha m pionsh ip 500cc M X Series was played out in Wac htersbach, Germany, on A ug ust 30. Husab er g's Jo el Srne ts, w ho had already clinc hed the series title, sco red th e overa ll win, go ing 1-2 on the day. Mak ing th e triP . to Germany to com pe te in the 500cc GP finale wa s American Lance Smail, w ho is the recently crowned AMA Western Regional Four-Stroke Series Cha mpion. Smail, on a '99 KTM 380 SX, went 10-9 for ninth overall. It wa s Sma il's first GP race. B Five-ti me U.S. Su perc ross C ha m p io n Jeremy M cGrath is racin g again. Afte r pu lling ou t of the ou tdoor Natio nal MX Series in M a y wi th a w ris t i njury , McG.rath co mpeted in a local event at Glen Helen Raceway in San Bernardino, Ca lifornia, on Aug us t 22. McGrath competed aboard a Yamaha YZ250 and finished seco nd to Doug Dubach . McGrath won the first moto and was slowe d by a flat tire while lead ing the seco nd moto. Do yo u remember th e d ocumentary on Team Yama ha 's Doug Henry th at CN aired last yea r? If so , you will probably be in teres ted to kn ow tha t CNN is pla nning to air a follow- u p to that story. The CNN came ras we re rolling w hen Henry cli nched the AMA Nationa l Championship 250cc MX Series title at Binghamton , New York, o n August 30. The show is scheduled to air at 10 p.m. (Eas tern ) on Sunday, September 6. Reports fro m Europe in dica te that Kenny Roberts Jr. has signed a contract to ride factory Suz ukis in th e 1999 500cc World Cha mpionshi ps . Robert s, w ho currently rides for his father's Mod enas 500cc Grand Prix tea m, wi ll reportedly take his crew chief, Warren Willin g , wit h him to Suzuki. Chris Walker (Kaw) won both ra ces in the ninth rou nd of the British Su perbike Cha m pionship at Cad w ell Pa rk in Lines, Eng land, on August 30. Walker top ped Michael Rutter (Ho n) and Troy Bayliss (Due) in th e first leg prior to beating John Re y n o lds (Due) a n d l ai n M acP he rson (Kaw) in the seco nd race. Niall Mackenzie (Ya m) co ntinues to lead th e champions hip with 315 point s to Wa lker's 266. A nn Ya tes , th e 19- year- ol d sis te r of I Yoshim u ra Suzuki's Aa ron Yates, won her first road race on August 30, takin g victory in th e M iddleweight Spo rtbi ke class during NAS B ra cin g acti on at Road A tla n ta in Braselt o n, Georgi a. In add i- , tion to her wi n, Yates fini shed seco nd in , both Mid dleweight Su perbike and Middleweight G P. Th e Road Atla nta race was Ann Yates' fifth ou ting as a Novice roa d racer. Yes, she rides a Suz uki. i I Accor d ing to a pre ss release issued by the AMA District 36 Legislative Ac tion Office, thanks to the har d work of D-36 and the California Motorcycle Dealers Association (CMDA) , the Cali forn ia Air Reso urces Board (CAR B) has agreed to modify the off-road motorcycle and ATV em issions regulations. Essentially, CARB ha s ag reed to allow the use of noncom plyi ng motorcycles and ATVs year-ro und in some areas tha t have attained air-quality standa rds . In the rest of the sta te, negotia ti ons a re o ngoing to allow seasonal use. Th ere are areas tha t have d iffer ent levels of noncompliance, according to D36, and acco rding ly, there w ill be di fferent pe riods an d len gths of time each area will be available - but in most regions, use w ill be allowed during the prime riding season, since air-q ua lity problems are typically at their worst durin g the summer and early fall, w hen off-road use is at its lowest. A new subca tegory of "Green Rickardsson oh-soclose in Sweden S w ed ish speedway star Tony Rickardsson roa red to victory in his hom e country and edged a step closer to regaining the World cro w n he last w on in 1994, at the 1998 Sw edish Gr an d Prix in Linkopping, rou nd five of six in the Worl d Ind ivid ual Cham pio nshi p Series . Rickar dsson was unst opp abl e in Link opping, as he made fou r per fect starts to lead the way, and with chief threat Jimmy Nils en, a fellow Sw ede, only managin g to make the Co nsolation Final, it means Rickard sson is within striking di stance of the title. Tea m Exide Ca liforni ans Greg Han cock and Billy Hamill are certain to suffe r the en d of their brill iant two-year d omination of the World Cha mpio ns hip, as they are no w level o n poi nts, w ith 61 each, an d face a ba ttle just to finis h in the top eig ht and automatically q uali fy for next yea r's se ries. Hancock had his bes t GP of the year, with a fourth place in th e A Final in Sweden, bu t it was a di ffer ent st ory for H am ill, who st ruggled in the only tw o rid es he had . With one ro u nd remaining, Rickardsson lead s the series, wit h 101 point s to Nil sen 's 81. Po land's Tomasz Goll ob is th ird , with 72, and England's Chris Lou is, who fini sh ed second in the Linkopping A Final, is fourth, with 69. John H ipkiss

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