Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

,...- ~~ IN THE WIND _. ., Hamill injuredat Polish Gp, R ickardsson wins title ~ Co rbin Racing packed a one-two punch in the 750cc Expert mai n event at th e Seatt le Mile Hot Shoe ational in Au bu rn.Washington, on Sep tember 19. Rich King (H a n) won th e main, with teammate G ary Rogers finishing second . Scott Par ker (H- D) was thi rd, ....-ith Chris Carr (H -D) finis hi ng fou rth and S ha un Ru ssell (H -D) en di ng u p fifth . Lon nie Pauley (W-R) topped th e 600cc Expert class, finis hing ahead of Steve Ma yfield (\V-R) and Eli Price. Rogers took the w in in the 883 class. Sean Lollar was second and Chris Fitzhugh w as third. Jer em y Cha ussee (Kaw) w on th e 125cc Pro class during round two of the G FI Fall Series at Los Angeles Co unty Racewa y in Palmdale, California, on Sep tember 20. Billy Payne (Kaw) finished seco nd an d Jeff Willoh (Suz) was third . Pa y n e w o n the 250cc Pro class , with Willoh finis h ing se co nd and Chaussee finishin g third . Tim Friedhoff (Han) and Lou Gerencer (H- D) we re the big winner s at the 10th round of th e A MA Na tiona l Cha m pi ons hip Hillcl imb Series in Middlebury, Indi ana , o n Se p te m ber 20. Friedho ff w on the 540cc cla ss ov er Paul Pinsonnault (Hon) a nd We s McCoy (Ka w), w hile Geren cer to p ped th e 800cc class over M ike DeBusk (Kaw) and Bobby Templeton (H- D). Larry Ward (Suz) wa s th e big winner at th e UFO Fast C ross , held in Arsago, Italy, o n September 19. Ward led hom e a lon g list of American riders, incl uding Rya n H u g hes (Kaw) , Tall on Vo hland (Ha n) , Mike La Rocco (H a n ), Ji mm v Button (Ya m) and Jo hn Do wd (Yam ). Jeremy McGrath (Ya m) also competed bu t ended up eighth: Th e top-finishing Eu ro pe an w as 125cc World Motocross Cham p ion Alessio Chiodi (H us) , who fi nish ed seven th . Stefa n Everts, who was sched uled to race, di d no t show up. Wa rd , La Rocco a nd McGrath all won t he i r h e at races , a n d Hu gh es a nd LaRocco w on th e se m ifina ls. McGr ath came back to win the Fas t Cha llenge, a rac e tha t - through a series of qualifiers - p i ts two rid er s in a fi na l, one -lap . s hoo to u t . For War d , the w in wa s his third Fast Cross victo ry , matchin g th e win total of Rick Johnson's Fast Cross vic to ries back in 1988, '89 and '91. " I pu t a lot of pr essure on myself for this race," Wa rd sai d . "It's one of the events we (the America ns) all loo k forward to, and to win it as many times as Ricky is a thrill." The Fast Cross race in ltalv was th e firs t race on a 25 0 b y J o h n 'D o w d si nce April, and he was using the event as p repara tion for this week's MX d es ations in England. " I wa nted to just ge t some practice fo r the des Nations:' Do w d said fo llowi ng hi s sixth- p lace finish in Ita ly . " I feel I d id 'o ka y. We have a good cha nce next weeke nd , and I wa nt to wi n afte r losin g the th ing last yea r." 2 I Speaking of th e MX des Nations - no t to me n tion good sportsma ns hi p - Su zu ki will s till su p p ly Fre nch rid er Mickae l Pichon w ith a m ot o r cy cl e e ven th ou gh th e for mer tw o-tim e 125cc East Coa s t Su p e r cros s C ha m pi on a nn ou n ced h is s ig n ing wi th Team Hond a at the final AMA Na tio na l MX of th e yea r at Stee l City. Su zuki is als o su p p ly ing him wi th a mechani c: G reg A lbertyn ' s tuner, Ian Harrison . To top th in gs off, Picho n w ill be re p resenting the French team in Eng land . merica n Wo rld Team Cup hero Billy Hamill' s w orld fell apart as he suffered a crus hed vertebra in a horrfic crash w hile co mpeti ng a t the Poli sh Grand Prix in Bydgoszcz, Poland, on Sep tem ber 18. Ha mill, who won the World crown in 1996 , tangled with Aussie Jason Crump in heat three and went crashing into the Bydgoszcz fence at high speed. Thankfully, there is no sign of paralysis, but Hamill loo ks se t to be in plaster for the next three mont hs. He has alrea dy returned to his home in England for furt he r medical exa mination. He now faces an anxious period of uncertainty regarding the question of his immed iat e fu tu re in the sport. Adding ins ult to the flashy American 's injury is the fact tha t he has also lost his pla ce in the top eig ht for next year's series, as bot h Cru m p and fellow cou ntry ma n Ryan Sulliva n too k advantage their chance to pass his to tal of 62 point s. Ha mill 's America n colleague Greg Han cock was clea rly upset" A Unconfi rmed re ports have it tha t Larry Ward has inked ano the r o ne-year d eal wit h Team Suzuki , while up-an d-com er Branden Jesseman has sig ned on w ith th e Pri ma l Im pulse 125cc Suz u ki teain . It looks as though bot h Ryan Hughes an d Mike Brown will be heading for Euro pe for the 1999 MX season. Hu ghes has been linked to the Honda Rad sson team and Bro wn to th e Dave Th orpe CAT 125cc Hond a te a m . If thes e d ea ls p a n o u t, Hughes co u ld be team ed with Stefa n • Everts on the World Cha mpionship 250cc MX circu it, and Brown paired with Grea t Britain' s Carl Nunn on the Wor ld Cha mpionship 12Scc Motocross circuit. AMA Su per bi ke Serie s s illy-seaso n rid er /t ea m ch a n g es are s ta r ti ng t o wind d own with w o rd th at two of the top "free ag ents" have signed co ntracts for th e 1999 se ason. Curren t Yoshim ura Suz u ki rider Aaron Yates has signe d a d ea l to join the M u z z y Ka w a s ak i tea m fo r 1999; and current A merican Honda s tar Ben Bostrom has sig ned to ride a Vance & H ines Du ca ti in '99. "It s u r p r ised e v e r y b o dy but u s , " sa id Yat es' manager , Cliff obl es, o n Yates' sw itch ing from Yos himu ra Suzu ki to Mu zzy Kawasaki. " We w ere ser ious with a lot of people. Eve rybody wa n ted him (Yates) . Rob (Muzzy) wa s abl e to g ot o Ka w a s a ki a n d , fi na ncia ll y , th ey mad e a rea l big co m m it men t to Aaron. We fee l re all y good a bo u t the m ove - the y (Kawa saki) alw ays find a way to w in a ch a m pio ns h ip . We ju st thoug ht it w as the wa y to go. Ha ving a five-year associa tion w ith Su zuki made it tou g h to lea ve. Aaron ha s a really goo d re lat ion s h ip with M r. It o a n d Don Sa k a kura (Yos h im u ra 's c re w chief)." Ben Bostrom' s deal with Terr y Vance was signed o n Frid ay, Se p te m be r 18, and it too is a o ne-year deal. "I' rn way ha ppy," Bostro m said on Mo nday, September 21. "Things w ill be good and I' m reall y looking forwa rd to next yea r. I wa nt to try and give everybody a bit of trou b les-you k now ho w th a t goes . I think I'Il reall y like rid ing the tw in; I've rid d en the m m y who le life o n th e d irt tracks and I think it' ll su it my sty le. I've go t a lot to prove next yea r an d I wa n t to wi n a bu nch of races." Bostrom said he is lea ving Hond a on "friend ly terms" a nd hopes to be o n th e Du cat i for the fi rs t tim e a t th e Dunl op ti re tests in Decemb e r at Da y to n a Int ern a t to n a l Speed w ay. Bostrom M il try to bring the number-one pl ate to Duca ti next yea r, as h e is cu rre n tly ti ed wi th Mu z z y Kawasaki' s Dou g Chand ler in the battl e for th e 1998 AMA Superbike Na tional Championship. As fo r who w ill be hi s teammate a t Va nce & Hi nes, Bost rom beli eves An tho ny Gobert will end up joining him on the facto ry Du ca ti team. Sta y tu ned . by the situa tion, he a lt hough managed to put it asi de as h e won his open ing rid e in heat 13 . But Hancock, who saw his crown finally taken awa y from hi m by Ricka rd sso n, we nt out in Heat 17 and had to se ttle for sixth place ove ra ll. Sweden's To ny Ricka rd sson wasted no time in w in ni ng the title, as he won his opening ride of the nig ht in heat 11, and this made him mat hem at ically certa in of taking Ha ncock 's crown. But the bigges t celebratio ns w ere for Poland 's Toma sz Collob, w ho won the final race in front of 25,000 enthusiastic horne fans w ho had pinned their hopes on the Ipswich star. Belgium telev ision re ported on Monday, Sep tembe r 21, that 500cc World Ch ampion Joel Smets su ffered a broken arm while com peting in a Ge rm an internation al mot ocross on Septem ber 20, and he w ill be forced to miss the Motocro ss des Na tio ns. This M il be a hu ge d raw back to a Belgian team tha t was one of the favo rites to win the team title at Foxhill in Eng land o n Se p tembe r 27. And Sme ts isn't the o nly mot ocrosser to suffer injury in the days leading up to the des ations. Accord ing to reports fro m Eu ro pe, Sebastien Tortell i suffere d a brok en foot in a practice cras h and M il a lso m iss th e event. Belg ia n 125cc G P rid er Patrick Ca ps w ill rep lace Sme ts on th e Belgi an sq uad, with Micka el Maschio likely to se rve as Tort elli's rep lacement for the French team. PAC E Motor Sports and Seals Communication s w i ll help s po nso r fo rm er Supercross a nd Motocross C hamp ion Da vid Bailey in his quest to ca p tu re g o ld a t t h e H a w a iian lronm a n Tria thalon on Oc tobe r 3. Bailey says he on ly rece n tly go t invo lv ed with the spo rt of triat halon. H aving traveled as a specta to r sev eral tim es to w it ness th e Ironm an co m petit io n, it w as la st year w hen he "sa w the light " and decided to give th e s por t a s ho t. " W he n I ca me home from the Ironman last year, I qu it No Fear (one of·his em ployers ) and told . Sco tt (Mcl.emore, Mot oWorld's producer) to work wi th me on the sched ules:' sa id Baile y, w ho is a co m men ta to r fo r the Sea ls-prod uced sho w "Mo to world ." " I told m yself in s tead o f saying 'tha t wou ld be nic e (to co m pete): I ca rne horne and sai d , This is the yea r." Bailey wo n his first Ironman qualifier in Lubbock, Texas, recen tly. Accord ing to Bailey, last year the Wh eelchair class at the Ironman was "still an adven tu re." Th e last three vears, since [ro nman officials have aIlo\~ed w heelchairs, none of the competitors have mad e it pa s t the 5:30 p.m . cutoff time. Last yea r was the fITSt time a co mpetitor broke tha t barrier. This year Bailey says it's a race. 'There' s no question that three of us will make the cutoff times: ' he said. "I'll see Elvis if I have to. [ have put everything into it." Lo ngti me m e ch an ic o n t he ou tdoor AMA National MX and Su percross circuits Ma rshal Plumb is calli ng it quits. " Ove r t he y ea rs, Plumb h a s tu rn ed w renches for such riders as Guy Cooper, Brian , Swi nk, Lar r y W a rd , M ik e Cra ig a nd Jeff Matiasevich . Hi s la test pai ring wa s with Craig on the Hond a of Troy team . Plu mb has sta rted his ow n busi ness - Marshall 's Racin g Ser vices i n S ti llwa te r, O kla ho m a . He ca n be reac hed at 405/ 880-0482. War of words, Pa rt two: With the final round of the World Superbike Cha m pion ship sch ed uled for October 4 in Sugo, Japan, things s till a re n' t se ttle d in the Duca ti ca m p foll o w in g the fi s ti cuffs b etw e en Carl Fogarty a nd PierFrancesco Chili at the last round in Holland. "I think a t Assen, Chili's and (Virginia) Fer ra ri's behavior left a lot to be desi red and in no way wa s professiona l, " Fo garty sa id la s t week : " I hav e never seen any body behave in this w ay in 15 years of racing. Chili said I tried to tak e him out o n th e last lap, but that's an incredible accusation. The fact is that he committed a big mistake by falling at th e last chicane and he tri ed to blam e m e fo r wha t happen ed . I have spoken with o ther team m anag ers a nd they agree th at I di d nothing w ro ng, just as eve ryone else co u ld see o n televisi on. But i d o n't w ant to spea k ab out what happened at Assen - I want to conce ntrate on the race, because I thin k I ca n w in this World Cha m p ions hi p, for me and Du cati. Personally, I d on't bea r a gru dge agains t anyone and I think that at Sugo Chili a nd I Mil have to hav e a cha t in private to sort things ou t. At this m o m e n t, w ith this im p orta nt a im in m ind , we have to join forces, no t waste time in futil e cont roversy ." Fogar ty also told Cycle New s contribu tor Paolo Gozzi th a t h e p lan s o n ra ci n g ' fo r a t lea s t another season. "I have decided to stay o n for anot her year, an d I cer tainly d on ' t want to d o it as an also-ra n;' Fogarty sa id. "I wa nt to continue win ning. I am very closely tied to Du cat i, and I would re all y li ke to fi ni s h m y ca ree r with them." Yamaha is ex pected to mak e an offer to Luca Cadalora th is w eek for the Italian to joi n . th e Yamaha World Su perbi ke team. " In the next few davs we ....'ill be meeting with Luca ag ain and we'll ma ke him ou r offer:' tea m manager Davide Brivio sa id. " However, we are not ready to pa y the w orld to ha ve him." Yamaha alrea dy has o riyuki Haga un d er contract for next year. H e ri ta ge Racing' s A d a m Popp (H a n) claimed three class victories a t the September 19 runnin g of th e AH RMA Historic Cup road races in Steamboat Springs , Colorado. Po pp s w e p t the co m petition in the Fo rmu la 500, Formula Vintage and th e head lin er 500cc P re m ie r class. Don Adam s ( Ho n ) to p ped the over 30 Expert and Spo rtsman 250cc Expert classes at th e Speed & Spo rt Nat ion al Vin tage Mo tocross on September 18. M ich iga n ri d e r Jam es Smith (Hon) was kin g of th e Modern C lassic Inter mediate class at the Speed & Spo rt Nationa l Vintage Tri al o n Septe m be r 17 . M aurice Ort ega ( Bu D opened u p the w eek w ith a pair of class wi n s (Class ic 250 cc a n d Spo r ts m a n 250cc ) at th e C lassic Bik e M ag a zin e Na tion a l Di rt T rack . The w ee kend ' s even ts marked th e fina l ed it ion of th e S tea mboa t Vin tage Bike Week, a nd att ra cted a record nu mbe r of entries .

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