Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

The Latvian sid eca r motocross team of Kri sters Ser gi s and Artis Ra s m an is (BSU) captured its second consecu tive FIM Sideca r -Cross Wo r ld C ha m pi onship title in the final moto at the German GP in Ruders be rg, Germany, on Sep tember 20. A 2-2 pe rformance left Sergis/ Rasmanis with 299 points , w hich a llowe d them to keep the crown fro m the Du tch brother team of Daniel and Marcel Willemsen (BSU), w ho trailed the points lead ers by one point coming into the rou nd bu t suffered mechanical problems on the d ay and finished wit h 279 points. Nia ll Mackenzie (Yam) clinched his thi r d co nsecu tive Br itis h Su perbike Championship at the Brands Hatch circuit in Eng lan d on September 20 after collecting a fourth- place finish in th e first leg and a third in the second leg. The tw o fini sh es pu t h im 50 points ahead of title cha llenger Chris Walker (Kaw) w ith only one round remai ning. Inci d en tally, Steve Hislop (Yam) wo n the firs t leg, a nd John Reynolds (Due ) 'won the second leg. Husqvarna is hoping to rekindle American interest in its motorcycles th rou gh t he fo r m a ti on of two P ro -level mo tocross racing teams for the upcoming AMA /Husqva rna Eastern FourStroke Motocross Ser ies a nd the AMA Fall Cla ssic Series . The co m pa ny has combined forces with George Quay of Pro-Action, a longtime suspension- and engine-mod ification sho p from Pennsylva nia . Th e tea m w ill u se Husqva rna TC610 and CRI25 models for its effort s in th e six-race se ries . Greg Rand ha s been ta bbed as the fi rs t rider of the Husqvarna Pro-Action team , and he will be joined by Jim Neese, who is pa rt nered with the Hon da / H usq va rn a of High Poin t Racing Team . H usqvarna USA is posting over $10,000 in Pro-elass co n tingency for the two serie s, with money avail able to Ama teur-cla ss riders as we ll. According to Cycle News corresponden t Darryl Flack , w hile speaking to th e Au stralian m oto rsport pro gram "RPM" d u r ing practice for the recen t Sydney Su percros s, An thony Gobert ad mi tted th a t he s m o kes mari juana o ccas io na ll y w i t h .fr ie n d s, bu t he d e ni ed tha t he was a habitu al drug user or that he has ever smo ked marijuana ove r th e course of a race meet ing . "It's not a full -time thing for me; I jus t like ha vin g a smo ke w ith friends occas io na lly," G obert sai d. " Any you ng guy d oes th at. I d on't personally see any thing wrong w ith it, as lon g as yo u' re not lighting up and ge tt ing on th e bike." Gob ert d id say th at he mad e " mis ta kes," for which he takes full responsibil ity. However , he add ed tha t marijuana stay ed in the sys te m for months a nd was easily d et ected. Gobert' s comme nts came just afte r he had comple ted a 30-day d rug-reha bilitatio n program as pa rt of his race sus pe nsion by the AMA. Gobe rt also sai d that he is tra ining ha rd er than ever and is extra motiva ted to achieve his goals, including winning three 500cc World Ch ampion ships. Hon da has pulled ou t of the Au stralian S u perbi ke cl ass, a ccording to Cycle News contribu tor Da rryl Flack, throwing some un certain ty into the future of th e class Down Under. H onda rid er s ha ve won five Au stral ian Su pe rbi ke crowns, including tho se won by Tro y Co rser, A ntho ny G ob ert a nd Kirk McCarthy. Eric Wood will be retu rning to the seco nd a n n ua l AMA Road Race Gra nd National Championships at New Hampshire International Speedway in Loudon, New Hampsh ire, September 25-27, but not to compete. Wood, who earned five AMA National Championship titles and the prestigious AMA Ho rizon Award for his pe rformances at last yea r' s eve nt, will be servi ng as the AMA' s "Champion Ambassador." In that capacity, Wood will be offering tips to racers not familiar with th e 12-tu rn , 1.6-mil e Lou d on circuit. He will al so be one of th e gues t instructors at the Pengui n Road Racing Schoo l on September 25. Post entries are still being accep ted for the event. Interes ted race rs s ho u ld contact Don Hu tchinson at 914/ 679-5547. In the upcoming Nov ember 3 elections, Californians will have a golden opportunity to rep lace one of their Ll.S, senators, as Senator Ba rba ra Boxer ' s term w ill be up. Off-roaders w ill recall that Boxe r co-s po nsored the California Desert Pro tection act. The AMA Political Action Commi ttee has thrown its support to senatorial candida te Matt Fang, who is the current Californ ia stat e treasurer. You mu st be regis tered by October 2 in ord er to vote. More annive rsa ries for Harley-Davidson: According to the Milwa ukee-based motorcycle company, there are a t least th ree other not ew or th y a n nive rsa r ies .being celebra ted con current to its histori c 95th an niversary yea r as a motorcycle ma nufacturer. The Capital Driv e Powertrain Operations facili ty in Milwaukee is celebrating 50 yea rs of production; the plant now produces all 883 and 1200cc Sportster powertrain s. The Motor Com pa ny' s Toma hawk, Wiscon sin-based fiberglass operations facility is now in it s 35t h year of se r vice . Arid Harle y-Davidson's final assembl y plant in York, Pennsylvania, is mar king its 25th an niversary. Kawasaki has electe d not to ta ke up the opt ion of exten ding the contract of roa d racer Neil Hodgso n for th e 1999 World Su perbike Series. Th e 24-year old Brit's final appearance aboa rd the machine will com e at the series final e in Sugo, Jap an, October 2-4. "Kawasaki signed Neil at the end of the last seaso n as on e of th e brig ht , you ng talents on . the World Superbike scene," team man ag er Harald Eckl said . "He has shown t he ability to p e r fo rm w ell o n the Kawasaki, and on his da y was able to run a t the fron t of the races and qu alify well in Superpo le. We hav e also been impressed w it h h is ca pa bili ties fo r d ev elopment, both during preseason testin g a n d o n a co n tin uo us ba si s b e tw een rounds. H ow ev e r, in th e world of intern a tional motorcycle ra cing, every th ing tend s to be viewed in black and white. Un fortunat ely, Neil's results hav e not met expec tat ions over th e past 11 rounds of the series, a nd the two parti es ha ve regrettabl y parted company. This was a difficult d ecision for Kawasaki to mak e, but I am sure that it is th e ri g ht one und er th e circumstance s. All the signs are that Neil is full of pr omi ses it' s just a qu estion of wh en this will be delivered . On beh alf of the Kawasaki Racing Team , I would like to wish him every future success in his career ." Hodgson 's best results wit h Ka wa saki w ere a fourth a t Monz a , Ital y, in Ma y, a nd a six th a t Lag u na Seca, in July . He also qualified on the fro n t row twice, th ese co m ing a t the rounds in Albacet e, Spain, and Asse n, H oll and . H od gson is ru m ored to be AMA Superbike schedule released A M A Pro Racing has anno unce d its 1999 AMA Superbike National Championship schedule, with 13 rou nds scheduled to be held at 12 venues from March to October,1999. The series will return to its traditional season opene r a t Dayt ona Intern ation al Speedway, March 3-7, wi th the Phoen ix International Raceway round, the opener for the past two years, moving back to th e weekend of Mar ch 19-21. Th e series also includ es thr ee stra ight rou nds in California, and a doubleh eader Superbike National at Road Atlanta. The series will conclude at Las Vegas Motor Speed way on October 3. A round of the AMA 600cc Sup erspo rt Series will also be held in conju nction with the U.S. World Su perbike round, sched uled for July 9-11 at Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, Ca lifornia. The series sched ule is as follows: March 3-7 Daytona Internat ional Speedw ay, Daytona Beach, Florida Ma rch 19-21 Phoenix Internat ional Raceway, Phoe nix, Arizona Willow Springs Rac eway, Rosamond, California April 16-18 Sears Point Raceway, Sonoma, California April 23-25 April 30-May 2 Laguna Seca Raceway, Monterey, California June 4-6 Road Atlanta , Braselton, Georgia (double header) June 11-13 Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin June 18-20 New Hampshire International Speedway, Loudon , New Hampshire July 16-18 Mid-Ohio Sports Ca r Course, Lexington, Ohio July 3D-August 1 Brainerd Inte rnat ional Raceway, Brainerd, Minnesota August 27-29 Pikes Peak International Raceway, Fountain, Colorado Octob er 1-3 La s Vegas Motor Speedway, Las Vegas, Nevada coming to AMA Su pe rbike racing with the Fast By Ferracci Ducati team . Meanwhile, Castrol Honda riders Aaron Sligh t and Colin Edwards II hav e both agreed to contract terms and will remain with the tea m in 1999. The 32-year-old Slight is currently second in the champion ship points chas e, on ly a few point s behind series leader Troy Corser. "Next year will be my sixth year wit h the team, and I am pleased to confirm my plan s for '99 at this stage," Slight said. "It' s a major boost for me going into the final round at Sugo . I hope I can now win the n umber-one plate for next yea r with Ca strol H onda ." Edwards, 24, ha s enjoyed a successful first year with Castro l Honda in 1998, hav ing scor ed his first career Wor ld Superbike victory with th e team and then backing it up with two more win s to currently run fifth in the series points stand ings . "It's been a solid opening year for me with Castrol Honda, and I'm very happy to continue my progression with the team in 1999," Edwards said. "I know that I can build on what I've ac hie ved th is year a nd hopefully go on to win the World Championship next seaso n." Want to kno w more abou t global positi on in g sys te ms a nd trail riding ? On Saturday, September 26, AAYWA GPS Gui de is hosting a GPS Eve n t and Tech Fair at Ranch o La Pond erosa, in Baja Ca lifo rn ia, Mexico, appro ximately 75 miles from San Diego, Ca lifornia. Sampl e rid es will be a vaila ble u sin g th e Garmin GPS Sys tems . Participants w ill be furnished w ith a map , a GPS rou te, and the basic education to use the GPS sys tem . Afterward, there w ill be a fiesta dinner, followed by a raffle a nd party. Registrati on is from 7:30 to 9:30 a .m ., and the entry fee is $20. For more information , call 760/439-6123, or visit their w eb site a t www.bajagpsgui de.co m. E-mail: gpsevent@ho tmai l.com. The AMA will be offering a special 75th A n n iversa ry Dia m o nd Membersh ip Package as a pa rt of its anniversa ry celebration in 1999. Diam ond Members will receive a commemora tive 75th-a nniversa ry membersh ip ca rd, plu s a specia led ition hat, pin , patch and deca ls featuring the new 75th-a nni versa ry logo, all for $75. 'We feel that this will be a grea t way for ou r members to show the world that motorcycling has a long, rich history," AMA vice presid ent of mar keting Ma r k Med e r sk i said . " We are very p roud of wha t the AMA has accomplish ed on beha lf of motorcycling over the past 75 years, and we look forward to doing eve n more in the fu ture. The AMA's 75th Anniversary Diamond Me mber s a re the kind of people who will make that happen." As Cycl e N ews was going to press on Monday, September 21, Doug Chandler wa s narrowly ahead of Ben Bostrom in the reader poll being conducted on Cycle N ews O nline (www .cyclenews .com) . . Readers have responded to the following guestion: Who will come out of Las Vegas with the AMA Superbike National Championship, Chandler or Bostrom? Thus fa r, 54.22 percent of our readers believe th at Ch andler will ret ain his . title, while 45.78 think that Bostrom will leave Las Vegas on October 4 as the new Superbike National Champion. Look for the reader poll as a new wee kly addition to Cycle News Online. BOR N: A bab y bo y, Ant hony Frank Ga et an o , to Int er sport Fash io ns West comm unications manager Amy Gaetano and her hu sban d, Frank, on Sep tember 14, in Irvine, California . CHANG ED: The date for even t number five o n th e Team Du al Do gs /KTM / Ga lp in Ford Ca li fornia Du a l Sport Series. The original dates of October 31Nove m be r 1 have been ch a ng ed to October 24-25. For mor e informa tio n, call 818/701-1913 or e-ma il: www.d ua ldogs.com . CHANGED: The courses of the Cou ntd own Du al Sport rid es sched uled for October 3-4 and October 31-November I . The October 3-4 ride will go to China Lak e and Lo ne Pine, California .·The H allo w een Week end 'ru n will go to Kenned y Mead ow s and Kernville, Californi a. Both rid es start at the Motel 6 in Ridgecrest, Ca lifornia. For more information, call Jerry at 818/348-838 1. RESIGNED: Bill Berre th, as vice presid ent of Acerbis USA. Fra nco Ace rbis, pr esid ent of Acerbis Italia an d Acerbis USA, and Berr oth have agreed to modify th eir rel at ionship, which will see Berroth d evelop a new firm tha t will act as a consultan t to manufacturers seeking expa nsio n o f th eir sales base in the American market. Acerbis Italia will be one of th is company's firs t clients and will use it as a prim e resource to fulfill a grea ter percentage of domestic moto rcyc le m anu fa ctu r er ' s a nd accessory fi rm r's need s for orig inal equ ip me n t compo nen ts. Berroth can be reached at 760/518-0040. 1'X 3

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