Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

riders compete in both classes. Though it hadn't been officially announced at the end of the weekend, race officials were contemplating fining Estok $2500 and suspending him for one year. The suspension would begin after the fine was paid. According to r ASB officials, the intent of the punishment is to discourage Estok from ever competing in an NASB event again . The Championship Cup Series program has announced a major realignment of its regional setu p for 1999 in a greater effort .10 appeal to the public and to assist riders as welL The Mid-West, Great Plains, and Great Lakes Reg iona l series are now ca lled th e Mi d -A me rican Motorcycle Roadracing Championship and is expected to include 10 eve nts using Blackhawk Farms, Heart land Park Topeka, Brainerd Interna tional Raceway and Road America. The So ut h Wes t and Ca lifo rnia Regional series are now called the Sout hwestern United States Moto rcycle Road racing Championship and is expected to consist of 10 races at Buttonwillow Raceway, Firebird International Raceway, and Firebird West. The South East Regional series is now called the Southeaster United States Motorcycle Roadracing Championship and its anticipated 10 rounds are scheduled to take place at Roebling Road, Daytona International Speedway, Road Atlanta, Carolina Motorsports Park, and possibly' Pocono International Raceway. The Florida Regional Series will be named the Florida State Motorcycle Championship and is anticipated to consist of 12 races at Morose Motorsports Pa rk , Miami-Dade Speedway (Homestead), Roe b lin g Road, and Daytona International Speedway. Last wee k's reader poll on Cycle News Online asked the question: Do you think the AMA shou ld implement its Project 2000 ru les to its Grand National Dirt Track C hampionship? O u r reade rs responded with a resoun ding yes, with 78.59 percent voting in favor of Project 2000 whil e o n ly 21.41 percen t vo ted aga ins t it. Project 2000 calls for the use of producton -based 1000cc motorcycles as the formula for th e Gra nd N at ion al Cha mpions hip Series. See thi s week ' s online ed ition of Cycle News for the latest reader polL . Australia loo ks likely to get a round of th e 250cc World Motocross Ch ampionship in 2000 - at least that's what the FlM is planning . : We have spoken with so me pe o p le in Aust ra lia a nd a t firs t they w anted a 500cc motocross Gr and Prix , but we think it is a good id ea if they ta ke a 250cc G P - it h a s m ore a p pea l t o th e p ubli c," sai d FlM motocro ss d elega te Wol fgan g Srb. At the mom en t, several tracks are being considered. If the event comes about, it will be televis ed live on Fox with probable major backing from Winfield, which is o ne of th e m a jor sponsors of the World 250cc MX Series. If the 250cc GP is ru n with success, then it see ms almos t certain that the Motocross des Na tio ns will a lso return to Aus tralia within the next five years, a ltho ug h the FIM w ill not commit itself until the 250cc GP is run with some success. Fo r the fi rs t ti me in h ist o r y, the Women' s Sport Foundation - fou nde d by Billy Jean King - has awarded training g ran ts to wo me n sc hola rs h ip motocrossers. The recipients of the grants are Jennifer Ne lso n a nd Nikki Harris. The funds will aid the two in their travel an d tra ining for th e 1999 AMA /WML National Championship Series. Okada wins Sugo Su erbike finale H ond a claimed the top four places in the Sugo International Road Race, with Repsol Honda 500cc Grand Prix rider Tadayuki Okada winning by .050 of a second over Castrol H ond a World Superbike rider Aaron Slight. Five-time 500cc Wo rld Champion Mick Doohan was third , two seconds be hi nd Slight. The lone American in the race was Texa n Colin Ed wa rds II , w ho finished fourth , 2 112 seconds b e h in d Doo han. . The Sugo International Road Race has annually been an endof-the-season demons tra tion race for SOOcc Grand Prix bikes and riders . This yea r the format was switched to superbikes d ue to the logistical problems of getti ng the 500s out of Argentina and into Sendai, Jap an , in jus t a few days. To his credit, Doohan appeared an d settled into the task of learning to ride a su perbike. "I'm not here to ride a superbike, I'm here to race for Hond a," Doohan said . "That about sums it up." Doohan rod e on the condition of having equipment equa l to Slight's, and was prqvided with Slight's spare RC45 in HRC livery . Like Doohan, Slight initially had little interest in returning to Sugo, where he was luckless a month earlier and lost the World Superbike crown to Carl Fogarty. But in the mo nth fol' lowing the final round of the series, Honda had updated the AM NProstar has released its tentat ive sc h ed u le for the 1999 AMA /Pro Star Moto rcycle Drag Racing Series. The schedule, which currently features nine rounds, reads as follows: February 26-28 - Gainesville, Florida; March 27-28 Atlanta, Georgia; April 24-25 - Columbus, Ohio; June 5-6 - Rockingham, North Caroli na; July 9-11 - Chicago, lllinois; Augus t 13-15 - Ind ia na p olis, Ind ia na; Se p te m be r 10-12 - Atco, New Je rsey; Oc tober 16-17 - Hous ton, Texa s; a nd November 12-14 - Gainesville, Florida. Larry Lindenberg, Bill Maxey and Dick Ran ney - all longtime AMA volunteers eac h recently received th e p res tigious AMA Ju les Horky Award for Meritoriou s Service, given to sel ted mem bers based on mor e than 20 years of volunteer service to the AMA's d istri ct organizations. Th e Cas tro l Hon da tea m h as sig ned Spaniard Pere Rib a to con test the 1999 Worl d Su pers p o rt Cham p ions hip aboa rd Hond a' s new CBR600F4. Riba wi ll joi n Brit Jam es Toseland on the team for the l l -race series that begins in Sou th Afr ica on April 4. Riba finished seven th in th e 1998 World Su pe rs po rt Series and was 14th in the 1997 Worl d Superbike Series on a p rivateer Honda RC45. Innovation Training Systems is curren tly acce pting rider resumes for the 1999 racing season. Resu mes can be sent to In n ov a tion Tra inin g Systems, attn: Kir k La y fi eld , P.O . Bo x 13462 , Gai nesville, FL 32606. The re will be no more GFI Friday nigh t p ractice sessions a t Perris Raceway in Perris, California, for the 1998 season, according to GFI. For mo re information call, 909/ 653-4042. Th anks to increased a ttendance at th e 1998 A MA Mazda Tr uck Mo to cr os s Na tionals, the Clayton Memorial Foundation, a non p rofit organiza tio n supporting injured motor cycle racers, will receive a reco rd -setting contrib ution of $60,000 from the United States Tobacco Compa ny . The contri bution is a result of a program established at the start of the season by U.S. Tobacco to help raise engine and suspension for Slight and Edwards, and Michelin had d evelop ed better tires. The u pda tes were good enough for Slight to claim pole position and set a new track record of 1:29 .888 (the o ld record belonged to Noriyuk i Haga at 1:30.028). The 25-lap race started with the front row entering turn one in order: Slight, Okada, Haga and Doohan. The Suzukis of Keiichi Kitagawa an d Akira Ryo pulled alongside of Doohan, but the pass attempt didn't stick. Okad a drafted Slight at the start of lap five, and Slight slotted into second without retaliation. Three laps later , Doo han and Edwards took action on Haga, as Oka da and Slig ht started to open u p an ad vantage. Haga, suffering from t he fl u, faded a n d topped the group of Ryo , Ho nda's S hi n ic hi lto, Kitagawa and Yamaha's Watu ru Yoshikawa . Doohan stea dily pulled u p to Sligh t, bu t at mid race the leaders caught the tail-enders, w hich mad e losing time more easy than making it up. Doo han lost tou ch wi th Slight, and Edwards wisely deci de d not to risk ma king a p ass in a demonst rat ion race . that cou ld cause h imself and Doohan to crash. As th e race wo un d down, Slig h t closed on Okad a and tri ed to pa ss him in th e chica ne on the fina l lap . O kada blocked th e move bu t ran off in the d irt. In the ru n u p the h ill to the finis h, Slig ht pulled a longs ide o f O kada and the Kiw i took the checkered flag first. Unfo rtunately for Slig h t, the finish line is some 30 feet before the flag stand, and the victory went to Okada. The race also decided the All-Japan Superbike Championship, with Ito earning the crown. Tracy Hagen awareness of the foundation and badly needed funding to assist motorcycle racers who encounter financial d ifficulties due to racing injuries. Ll.S, Tobacco committed to donating 25 cents for each fan in attendance at the 12 races in the 125/250cc National MX Series for a minimum of $45,000 and a maximum of $60,000. With the final attendance tally of 189,894 amounting to a contribution of $47,473, t he company deci ded to donate the $60,000 anyway. " It was an incredibly positive progra m," said Andy Hoefer of U.S. Tobacco . "We were overwhelmed by the leve l of support and interest from the fans . We are thrilled to b e able to h elp-su ch a n importa nt cause and ho pe ou r efforts encou rage o thers to len d a h an d as wel l." T he C layto n Fo u n da tio n was e..tablis he d in 1989 by C ha r les a n d Sharon Clayton, the fou nde rs of Cycle NL'Ws, upon reali zing the need to help fallen moto rcycli s ts whose person al fu n ds, pri ze w inn in g s o r insu ra nce have bee n d ep let ed as a r esu lt of injury. Fo r more informa tion on the f6undatio n, write to 3505-M Ca dillac Ave ., Cos ta Mesa , CA 92626 o r call 714/751-7433. Elf Racing Lubricants is cu r re n tly accepting racer resumes for th e 1999 season. Res u m e s ca n be sen t to Elf Lubricants North America In c., a tt n: racer su p port, 5 orth Stiles St reet, Linden, J 07036. FMF will host a Mini Olympics practice day at the Red d ick practice tra ck in Florida on November 21, beginning a t 8:30 a.m. For mo re info rma tion and for di rectio ns to t he t ra ck, ca ll FMF at 310/631-4FMF. Am eri can Performance Engineering is now accepting resu mes for the 1999 racing seaso n . Re su m es can b e se n t to Team APE, Bo x 6998, Burban k, CA 91510. BORN: A baby boy, Cameron Layne Carr, to 1992 AMA Grand Na tional Champion Chris Carr and his wife, Pam, on October 21 in Allentown, Pennsylvania. APP O INTED : Patrick Lewis and Gary Galleher, as area managers for Triumph moto rcycles , by sales manager Jim McKenna. ADDED: The Crown Coliseum event in Fayetteville, orth .Ca ro li n a , to the . Checkered Flag Productions-promoted AMA Areanacross Series , scheduled for December 11-12 . The first race of the series will be held in Ardmore, Oklahoma, December 5-6. OPENED: The Ricky Stator Company's ho me page on the Wo rld Wide Web. The site can be found at the following address: http:/ / www.rickysta tor.com . OPENED: California Cross Motocross Promo tions in Roseville, California. Califo r n ia 'C ro ss will be prom o t in g m ot o cross p ractice a nd competitio n eve n ts on th e Ha ng town tra ck a t the Prairi e City SVRA in Ran cho Cordo va, Ca lifornia. For mor e in form ation, call 916/782-8511. NAMED: Dynojet Dynamo meter, as the official dyna mometer of the AMA/ MBNA Superbike Series, by AMA Pro Racing. OPENED: JC Motors' home page on the Wo r ld W id e We b . The site ca n be fo u n d at t he following ad d ress : http:/ / www.jcmotors.com . BO RN: Cameron Oliver Slater, to [i llian a n d An drew Sla te r, in So mers, New York, on September 27. Andrew Slate r is t h e v ice pr es id ent of www.motocross .com. MARRIED: ISDE rider and 1997 Texas Enduro Cha m pio n Josh . Whitak er, to Ai m e e M arqu e ss, o n Octo be r 24 in Plano, Texas. APP O INTED: Ame rica n Performan ce Eng inee ring, as wa re ho use di stributor fo r Micke y T hom pson dra g -ra cin g t ire s . Fo r m o r e info r mation, ca ll 818/842-4952. ' 00 0\ 0\ ......, ...... ...... l-< ClJ ..n a ClJ OPENED : The Moto rcycle Safety Found at ion ' s h o m e page on the Worl d Wi de We b . Th e site can be fou n d a t the following a dd ress : http://www.msf-usa.org. . f. ' :> o Z 3

• Cover