Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

(ill1rn~ VOICES America's weekly motorcycle newspaper LEITERS TO THEEDfTOR VolumeXXXV Sharon Clayton, President Michael Klinger, Publisher Editorial Paul Carruthers, Editor Kit Palmer, Associ te Editor a Scott Rousseau, AssociateEditor Mark Hoyer, Managing Editor Keith Bush, Assistant Editor/CopyEditor Alan Cathcart, European Editor David R. Holther, Copy Editor Advertising Terry Pratt, National Accounts Manager Mark Thome, Western SalesManager Thomas Center, Western SalesManager Forrest Hayashi, Western SalesManager Greg Mitchell, Eastern Accounts Manager Jim Clark, Eastern Sales Manager Rhonda Crawford, Western Ad Coordinator Bridgett Bobrofsky, Assistant Carla Allen, Eastern Ad Coordinator Marketing & Promotion Mark Thome, Director Forrest Hayashi, Manager Kory Klinger, Dealer Representative New Media Development Rick Matheny, Webmaster Stephanie Leamon, Assistant Classified Ads Teri Kerr Graphics and Production Mandy Loo, Art Dire ctor Dennis Greene, Lab. Tech. Amanda Wollny, Graphic Artist Sandi Gettys, GraphicArtist Paul Fisher, Graphic Artist Administratio n Judy Klinger, Coordinator Leanne Sims, Administrative Assistant AccountingfData Processing Donna Bryan-Diamond, A/i? Coordinator Geneva Repass, Assistanl. Theresa Milburn, Credit Circulation Alma Anguiano, Circulati n Mana o ger Ca rol Maggio, Processing Coordinator Pam Klein, BillingCoordinator Joy lou, DealerCoordinator Service and Support Shannon Clark, Receptionist Jim Olson, Service and Support N at iona l Headq uarters 3505-M Cadillac AYe., Costa Mesa, CA 92626 P.O. Box 5084, Costa Mesa, CA 92628-5084 (714) 751-7433 FAX (714) 751 -6685 Eastern Offi ce 41 88 First Ave., Tucker, GA 30084 P.O. Box 805, Tucker, GA 30085-0805 (770) 934-7850 . FAX (770) 934-3112 e-mail editor@cyclenews.com subs cribe@cyclenews.com ad vertisingfccyc lenews.com Intern et Action Group ·response Fo llowi ng t he le t te r b y Xa v ie r Audouard th a t was pu blished in Cycle News (Issue #40, Oct ober 14), I'd like to be p recis e in sayi ng tha t the Action Group' s in terest is to deve lo p Supercross all over th e w orld . We're therefo re no t inte;ested a t a ll in the local unimportant bus inesses ma de by some orga nize rs. We want to introduce th is spo rt to househ olds all o ve r th e world th rough telev isi on a nd th e p ress. We are ha vin g g reat success in this, as 47 Euro pea n co untries ca n wat ch th e ent ire Sup er cros s W orld C ha m p ions hip in prime time, a nd the Middle East, Au s tralia, USA, Ca na da and Mexico ca n wa tch it d ela yed o n Fo x an d Sp eed visio n. As far a s Jer em y McG rath is co n ce rn e d , we w ere an d s t ill a r e , o f course, very interested in him, as he is th e best in th is d is ci p li n e . We w e re dealin g with Yam ah a Eu rope and Da ve Stevenso n to get his participat ion and thi ngs we nt ve ry well in th e beginning. In add ition, an im portant sponsor was rea dy to help Yamaha so that McG ra th co u ld co rne . Th en Mr . Au doua r d, thanks to some relatio nships, managed to block every thi ng. We can therefore congra tula te him in preventing "o nly" 120 m illio n T V viewers (t hi s is the nu m ber of p eople wa tching o ur p rograms) fro m wa tch ing Jeremy in action o n the uniqu e Supercross of Europe. I say "uniq ue," as America n people ca ll it A re nacross. Moreover, I'd like to p oint o u t th at n e it h er t he Actio n G roup nor the o rgani ze rs of th e Stad d e Fra nce even t did a ny p u bl ici ty o n Jer emy. I'd like to finis h by saying tha t if we g o t th e Su p e rcro s s W orld C ha m p ionship from the FIM, it's on accoun t of th e g rea t resu lts w e' ve ha d wit h th e World Mot ocr oss Cha mpionship a nd a ls o b ec aus e th e p eo p le for m erly in charge of the Super cross Wo rld Championsh ip didn't succeed in launching it. We beli eve a lot in the Stad d e Fran ce and although we've been the subject of bo ycot t, and in s p it e of the fact th iM M cG r at h , T o r telli and so me o th e r . fam o us ride rs didn 't p art ici pate, w e broke th e rec o rd o n p re sales fo r th e even t. We a re also con vi nced tha t we will o u tn u mbe r 50,0 00 spec ta to rs , an incred ible numb er fo r Europe. I hope that Jerem y McGra th w ill fo llo w ou r series and will be with us in 1999 w hen there will ce r ta inly be a rou nd in th e United Sta tes in a la rge s ta d iu m a nd wi th great production from an American ne twork. Meanwhile, 1 w ish Ber cy to keep on being the nices t little sho w it has always been. G iu seppe Luo ngo Nice, France Luongo is in charge of the Action Group, the promoters of the Sup ercross World Champi onship... Editor. MX des Nations Una d illa, 1987 - the site of the Motocross d es Nation s. It rained all day a nd the Am ericans, led by Bob Hann ah on a 125, s mo ked the r est of th e w o rl d o f m otocro ss. Now we hav e rid ers who ca n ju mp higher tha n Superman in a ' si ng le leap , bu t their m o tocr oss skills have no t increa sed a t th e rate of th ei r su percro ss s kills . All th e su percro ss tr acks, th e fac to ry pract ice tr acks a nd mo s t of the ou tdoor motocross tracks are for the most part perfectly groomed . Back in the 7 0s and into the early '80s, supercross tracks had a mud cro ssing or a sand pi t. Don 't ge t me wrong, supercross here in the U'S. is gr ea t and it has elevated motocross to a new leve l o f public awareness . So to b r ing th e des Na tio ns t itl e back horne, 1 th in k th e FlM s ho u ld cha nge the ru les a little for next yea r. First off, H ou sto n s houl d h o st th e event. 0, n ot a t h ist oric Rio Bravo (ironic, though, because th a t was th e firs t place an American bea t th e Eu ros - and in the ra in, no less ), but under the roof of the As tro d o me. We w on ' t ha ve to wo rry abo u t rain or overwatering . It w ill be a jump-i nfested track wit h a whoop sec tion from go al pos t to goa l p o st a n d w i th n o off-camber turns. To sho w ou r confidence, we wi ll onl y l et two t eam s co m p e te - t h e Am eric ans vs. ev eryone else com bined. M a vb e wit h th e s e n e w r u les , ev e n Jerem y wo u ld wan t to rid e. . Larry Hughes Houston, TX Liked the U.S Open I a m w riting in response to th e le tter yo u p rinted fro m Ke vin Smythe from Lee' s Summit , Miss ou r i. Mr. Smy th e li s ted 11 diffe ren t probl ems th at h e found wi th the U.S. Open of Supercro ss. I am 12 yea rs old and I was th ere th at w eek end. I m ay not be as tr avel ed as Mr. Smythe must be, but I had a g rea t time that weekend . Mr. Smythe so unded like a ll he did wa s sit o n his butt, w ri ting down nasty comm ent s - and he never look ed up to enjoy the show. Please explain to me how it is the U.s . Open's fault that you did not ge t the seats you wa nted . Sounds like he sho u ld ha ve done some more research and found ou t that Ticketmas ter was only one of seve ral places selling tickets. And . regard in g his co m m ent on the music - ho w old is he? Th e music wa s g rea t and it really go t the cro wd goin g. H e mus t b e a r eall y ol d g uy to be offended by the lyrics. If Smy the is suc h a n exper t on the promoting of a su percross, how corne I've never been to a su percross with the title of " Kevin Smythe 's Supe rcross? " It see ms to me that he went to Las Vegas wi th an a ttitu de and left wi th an even bigger one. Dear Mr . Smy the - ge t a life. - Jaqualyne Peeples He nderson, NV Pastrana writes I am writing this letter to clear up all the rumors abou t my heal th. Firs t, I would like to th an k a ll my fri end s, fan s and s p o nso rs fo r a ll t hei r co n ce rns a nd prayers . It mean s a lot to my fam ily and me. O n October 17, I was in Lake Havasu practicing for the Frees tyle competition when I carne up sho rt on a jump and stuck. I spent six days in the hos pita l rece ivi ng six b lood transfu si o n s before bein g flown to Good Samarit an Hospital in Los A ng eles. Dr. Matta, a worl d- re nowned su rgeo n, perform ed surgery . To pu t it in layma n's terms, I en d ured multip le fra ctures along with my spine di slocating from the hip-pelvic area. Four scars and two screws later, I am fine . I a m confi ne d to a w heelc ha ir for e ig h t w eek s, th en I w ill s ta r t h ea vy ph ysical therapy . 1 should be back racing s tro ng in th e sp ring. It' s go ing to take a lo t more th a n th is to keep me away from racing motorcycles. Travis Pastrana Annapoli s, MD Lette rs to the editor sho ul d be sent-to Voices, Cycle New s, P.O. Box 5084 , Cos ta Mesa , CA 92628-5084, faxed to 714/751- 6685 or e- m ail , editor@cyclen ews .co m. Publi shed letters d o n o t ne cessarily reflect the po sition of Cycl e News, Inc. Leiter s sh o ul d not exceed 200 words an d all leiters are su b ject to ed iting. A no ny mo us letters will not be cons id ered for pu b lic ati o n. All leiters s h o u l d co n ta in th e wr i te r 's n ame, add ress and daytime phone nu mber .. . 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INSIDE Issue "144 November 11, 1 998 FEATURES ROAD RACE NASB /CCS Fina l from Daytona WERA GNF from Road Atlanta 6 22 ENDURO SETRA /MSR Brown Mountain Ligh ts Enduro .35 .36 NCCES Jackha mmer End uro FIRST RIDES 1999 Yam ah a Venture Royal Sta r. 1999 Hond a CBR600 F-4 16 .26 HARE SCRAMBLES ECEA Lu mis Mill HS HARE & HOUND Lucern e National 20 SUPERCROSS Paris World SX Series opener M OTOCROSS Marysville Trans-Cal Final Glen Helen California State Champions hips Hollister SCRU AH RMA Nationals .37 DEPARTMENTS ON THE FRONT COVER LEADERBOARD .32 33 34 EVENTS 38 CALENDAR 28 .25 50 WANT ADS 54 ACROSS THE ATLANTIC 71 LOOKING BACK .71 O n th e track and on the stree t, we ride the 1999 C BR600F4 a nd g e t you the story first. See page 26. Photo by Kevin Wing. Inset: The ve ne ra ble Yamaha Vfou r goe s fu ll ci rcl e in the new 1999 Ve n tu re Ro y al S ta r fu ll- rig c us to m cruiser. See page 16. Photo by Da vid Dewhurst.

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