Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Belgium wins Motocross·des Nations IN THE WIND ,":,Y "\,',,,!''' ' ,".,, ' 'c;,-,,,,, ",, ~ -,' !'""".;i.",. ; ,_;.,,,.•' : Wit h one race rem aining in the series, Ty Da vis (Yam) unoffici ally wra pped u p the 1999 A MA H are & H ound National Championship Series title wi th a fo u r th-p lace fi n is h at th e Mu rp hy , Id aho, round on Se p te m ber 28. Firs t o ve ra ll wen t to Nick Pearson (KTM), .followed by Russ Pearson (KTM), Donnie Book (Ya m ) a n d Davis . Oakley Lehman (Kaw) rounded ou t the top five overa ll. Steve Hatch (Suz) recorded the overall win a t the H igh Point Gra nd N ation al _,Cro ss Country round in Mou nt Morri s, Pennsy lva nia, on Sep tember 28. Finis hing second was Fred Andrews (Kaw) , w ith Paul Edmondson (Suz) , Mike Lafferty (KTM) a n d J im Ja rrett (Ka w ) .rou ndi ng ou t the top five. Kelly Smith (Hbg) won ro und two of the AMA Eastern Four-Stroke Na tional MX Seri es in Bu cha nan, Michiga n, on Sep tember 28 . Jim Neese (H us ) took run ner-up ho no rs, w h ile th ird p la ce we n t to Anthon y Po corobba (Yam) . David Gaylord (Yam) and Todd Downs (Yam) rounded ou t the top five. At the AMA Fall Class ic MX Se ries, a lso hel d a t Buc ha na n , Mi chi gan , on ' th e s a m e day as th e Eas te rn Fou r Stroke race , Bradley Strunk (Suz) took top honors in the 125cc Pro clas s ov er Jeffrey Baker (Kaw ) and Jim Neese (H u s) . In th e 250cc Pro class, Ma rk Bu rkhart (Ya m) took th e wi n over Thomas Hofma ster (Su z ) and An dy Anaya (Yam). James Large (H-D) wra p ped up his second s tra ight AMA Hillcl im b Nation al Cha mpionship wit h his sixth win of the season, th is one co mi ng in the White Rose Motorcycle Club Hillclimb in Jefferson, Pennsylvania, on September 27. Large topped Glen Petty (H-D) and Bob Templeton (H-D) to wi n the 800cc class and th e titl e. In th e 540cc class, Chad Di sbennet (T r i ) wo n hi s fi rs t- e ve r Na tio n a l Hillcli m b, b e atin g Tob y Thompson (BSA) and Terry Thompson (BSA). Points lead er David Watson finished four th and needs on ly a 14th-place finish or be tte r to wi n th e titl e in th e final roun d , sched uled for October 11 in Oregonia, Ohio. Chris Walker (Kaw) and Michael Rutter (Hon) spli t wins in the final round of th e British Su perbi ke Cha mpio ns hip, hel d o n Sep temb er 27 a t Doni ng ton Pa rk . Wal ker to p p ed Rutter and Ian · MacPherson (Kaw ) to wi n the first leg, with Rut ter beating M a ttLlew e l lyn (Due) and Terry Rymer (Suz), who won n racing cond itions that bordered on the surreal, Team Bel- three laps. Anot her rider had to help him ge t his bike ou t of the giu m won the 52nd ru nning of the Motocro ss des Na tions in mud . Then Alessio Chiodi (Italy' s 125cc team member ) go t stuck / Foxhill, Eng land, on September 28. and the hill becam e impassab le. From there the stewards reroutLed by a dou b le moto sweep by recently d ispl aced 250cc ed the cou rse th rou gh the infield and throu gh all the fans, and World Cha mpion Stefan Everts, the Belgian tea m, also consisting the race becam e complete anarchy befor e the red flag flew . of Marnicq Bervo ets and 125cc-mounted Pat rick Ca pps, generat"The re w ere 20,000 screa ming Briti sh fans - many of them ed a score of 22 tot al points to win their third World Cham pi- drunk - blowin g horns, waving flags, throwing mud and chee ronship team title in four yea rs. Placing an eyeb row-raising sec- ing," added Coombs . "The n, a few of them actua lly took their ond overa ll with 45 p oints were Pe tteri Gustafsson, Marco clothes off and began streaking along the side of the track. It was Kov ala ine n and Miska Aalton en of Fin la nd . Joshua Co p pi ns, a lot like the old Blackwater 100." Shayne King and Darry l King led New Zealand to its best-ever Afte r an ad hoc ju ry meeting foll ow in g the min d -boggling Mot ocross des Na tions finish of third. Hollan d pla ced fourth . moto, it was r ep ortedly decid ed that the seco nd mot o would be Team USA, meanwhile, mad e up of opening -moto wi nne r scored one lap before the red flag flew, althoug h the meth od oloDo ug Henry, a fier cel y d eterm in ed Ricky Ca rmichae l - bo th gy of the decision was not available a t pre ss time . rookies to the prestigiou s eve nt - and John Dowd, p laced a credAfter following Garcia Vico, a rid er who does not consistently itable fifth ove rall. qualify for FIM 500cc GPs, during most of the opening moto for How ever, by all accounts; the real story of the 1998 Motocross Open and 125cc bik es, Henry, on his Pet e Steinb reche r-tu ned des Nati on s revolved aro u nd the calamitous racing cond itions . ' YZ400F, scored the victory after the u nkn own Span iard fell on Besieged by rain from Satu rday afte rnoon on, the entire Foxhill the last lap. Ca pps was the first 125cc rid er to cross the finish circuit was either completely mu d -ravaged or under wa ter by the line , in fourth. Ber voet s, meanwhile, rode his Suzuki to six th time the races were set to begin on Su nday at 1 p.m . . Observing tha t a number of 125cc com petitors were un able to overall to give Belgium the ea rly point s lead . Ca rmic hael, withpilot their bikes up the stee p hills in the back sec tion of the circu it ou t goggles or gloves, came across the line in 10th place, p lacing du ring Su nday morn in g practice, the orga ni zers - u nd er the third in the 125cc class behind runner-up Chiodi. After p ulling the hol esh ot , Everts won th e aforemen tioned watchfu l eye of the FIM (Federation Intern at ion ale Mo tocyclis te) -: removed the en tire section from the event. Moreov er, d ue to so abbreviated secon d moto (250 and 125cc) ove r Picho n. Dowd ran man y ride rs becoming stuck on one of the track's few remaining as high as fifth before his race came to an abrupt halt in the slop. hills during the second mo to, the r ace was firs t rerou ted (as it Ca rmic hael was on a late-race charge in the 125cc di vision, bu t he wa s go ing on) an d then, finally, red-flagged approximat ely two wa s relega ted to 14th after the post -red -flag sco ring arra ngements. lap s from its com pletion. In the fina l mo to, for the Open and 250cc classes, it was again Said Cycle News reporter Davey Coombs by telep hone fro m the Foxhill pr ess ten t: "The midd le hill was so steep that man y mu ck master Everts taki ng the rnoto win. Dowd came th rough riders co uld not ma ke it u p; in fact, th e Bel gi an 125cc rid er, fro m a lowl y 24t h on- track s tarting posi tion to fin is h ni nt h. Patrick Capps, was stuck the en tire moto . David Vuill emin of Henry, who ran fifth in the ea rly stages of the moto, fell off at the France (their team 's 125cc rider) wa s stu ck from the middle of the halfway ma rk and ended up being scored two laps down. moto on. John Dowd was running fifth bu t was then stuck for Eric Johnson the seco nd leg. Niall Mackenzie (Yarn), who had already wrapped up the seri es. ti tle, was fourth in th e first ra ce but failed to finish the second . Robbie Reynard (Suz) topped the 250cc Pro fie ld at ro und th ree of th e C MC Trans-Cal National, held at Competition Park in Perris, California, on September 27. Bill y Payne (Kaw) was second and Bryan McGavran wa s third. In the 125cc Pro class, McGavran took the win , wi th Payne a nd Michael Young (Yam) followin g him across the line. Danny Carlson (Yam) won the 125cc and 250cc Pro classes a t th e Bra nson USA Motocro ss Cham pions hips held in Gali na , M is s our i, Se p te mbe r 24-27. Chad Johnson (Kaw) stole the show in th e Interm ed iat e class by taking three wins, w ith Bryan Emig (Kaw) the top Vet wit h two wins . Mike Brown (Ho n) won bot h th e 125 and 250cc Pro classes a t the fourt h annu al Texas Pro MX Challenge at Swan MX in Tyler, Texas, on September 27. Brown top ped Jeff Dement (Yam) in bot h races. Road racer Bre tt Metzger, w h o was bad ly hurt d uring th e injuri ous AMA Superbike Na tional at New Ham pshire Int e rn a tio n a l Spe edway in Jun e , GAMA National Speedway ~ to Hancock . . ~ ex) 0\ 0\ ....... t-..:I-< III .c o ...... u o 2 merican speedway superstar Greg Hancock, the 1997 Wor ld Speedway, Cha mpion, jetted home to Californ ia and collected the AMA National Speedway Champio nship at Fast Fridays Speedway on the Gold Country Fairg roun ds in Aubu rn, Californ ia. Han cock scored 14 of a possible 15 points in the 2a-hea t cha mpionship-sty le portion of the program to lead all scorers into the A final, which would d etermine the cha mpi onship title. Reigning U.S. N ational Speedway Cha mpion Mike Faria, Northern Californ ia Spee dway Cham pio n Bart Bast and for mer Californ ia State Cham pio n Charlie Venega s also gai ned direct entry to the A final after tyin g on 12 points. Ano ther No rthern Califo rnia star, Bobby Hed den, mad e his way to the championship fina l by win ning the B fina l. In the A final, Ha ncock we nt on to post the win and claim the inaug ural AMA title but actua lly his seco nd dom estic national cham pionship title, as he won the U.S. Na tional Cha mpi onship in 1995. Bast was second , followed by Faria, Hedden and Venegas. A returned to the track for the first tim e sin ce his acciden t whe n he pa id a visit to th e AMA Grand C ham pio n ship s a t Loudo n o n Septem ber 27. Met zger' s accid ent came in practice at the exit of the final corner. He hit the wall on the outsid e of the track after a close pass by Graves Mo torsports ' Ma rk Miller. "If Ma rk Miller wasn 't th ere, I wou ldn 't h a ve cras hed," sa id Me tzger, who doesn 't remem ber the accident. "Sixty to 80 percent of the people who witnessed it said he contacted me and knocked me out of con trol." Metzger had his sp leen and one kidney removed an d also suffered a fractured sku ll. He wa s hos pitalized for 18 d ays and w as u nco nscious fo r th e fi rst th r e e o r fo ur , h e sa id , thoug h he can' t remember. He also can' t rem ember the next seven days, though ,' his gi rlfriend recou nted a conversation th ey ha d where he d iscu ssed ta lking with Miguel DuHa mel, who was in the sa me hospi ta l a fter cr as h in g du rin g qualifying in turn one . Th e gis t of the co n ve rsa tio n, Met zger sa id , w a s tha t DuHam el apologized for malignin g him after he finished one spot in front of him in the ra in-shor tened AMA Superbike race at the Mid-Ohio Spo rts Car Course in 1996 . Since h is acciden t, Metzger, w ho li ves in N ewington, Connecticu t, ha s be en work ing a t his perfo rma nce company, Metzger Mo torsports . He cosponso re d a ca s h- pa y ing race at the AM A Gra nd Cha mpionship s. He also said he. was going to race on the weekend , but cha nged his mi nd . He hasn't mad e a decision as to wheth er or not he'll retu rn to racing next year . Althoug h he 'has yet to sign a contract, Anthony Gobert is expected to ink the pact with Vanc e & H ines Duca ti on either Sep temb er 29 or 30. The dea l will keep the Aust ralian in the AMA Su perbike Series for ano ther season. According to Cycle News con tr ibu to r Pao lo Co zzi, Luca Cadalora tested a factory Ducati 996 on Mon d ay, Sep tember 21, a t the Mugello circui t in Ital y . The top -secret test d id n' t remain a secre t for long, with Cada lora turning in roug hly 60 lap s - wi th a best time of 1:56.8. Ca rl Fogarty set the superbike lap record at Mugello in 1994 with a 1:56.q69. "I have never ridd en a fou r-stro ke p ro d uctio n bike befo re," Cadalora sa id after th e test. "I was w rong in thin kin g that they we re heavy bikes tha t were difficult to rid e . In s tead , I w as rea lly impressed wit h the power and the handling of the Ducati. It was an ex tremely in terestin g test." The bid ding for Cadalora to make his World Superb ike debut has al ready started, wit h the fee estimated to be in the $1.5 million range - a large figure for World Su pe rb ike ra ci ng . Cada lo ra is being courted by bo th Duca ti and Yama ha, but Ducat i wou ld have to pas s on the services of one of its existing riders e ith er Fogar ty , Troy Corser or PierFra ncesco Chili - to make room for the for mer Grand Prix Wor ld Cha mpion . In relat ed sto ries, so urces in Euro pe indicate tha t Tro y Corser h a s been n e g ot iat in g w i th Franc is Ba tt a , th e Alstare team manager who will run two facto ry Su zuki GSX-R750s in the 1999 World Superbik e Cha m p ionshi p. PierFran ces co Chili an d hi s current tea m man ager, Virginia Ferrari, have visited the Aprilia headquarters. as the Italian manufacturer is seeking an ou tside team to develop the new RSVlOOO. Benetton has signed a dea l w ith Ducati in which a Ducati satelli te team will run in Benetton colors in next vea r's World Superb ike Cham p ionship '-Ferdinando DeC ecco, who cu rre ntly runs Grego rio La villa on a Duca ti team in the World Superb ik e series , w il l likely run th e team. Benetton sponso rs Formula On e car teams, as well as Marco Melandri in 125 cc G ra nd Pri x ra cin g and Toh ru Uka wa in th e 25 0cc Wor ld Ch amp ion ship . PACE Motor Sports will unleas h a new motocross series calle d th e PJl UItracross Series. It w ill be a six -race to ur tha t wi ll be ver y similar to PACE's PJI be held in Aren acro ss Series a nd ve n ues th a t h ou s e bet w e en 5000 to 15,000 spectato rs. The three-d ay even ts w ill fea tu re professiona l, a mateur a nd pee- wee riders. PACE p romises a "very ge nerous purse and bonus program " in the series . "This yea r we are celebra ting our 15th year with the PJl Are nac ross Series, and as the gro wth con tinues and w ill

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