Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

IN THE WIND Fo ur races, four d iffere n t w in ne rs. Chad Pederson (S u z ), Heath Voss (Ha n), Jeff Willoh (Ha n) a nd Cliff Pa lm er (Kaw) all won races during the opening two rou nds of the AMA /PJ1 Na tiona l Arena cros s Seri es, held in Des Moin es , Iow a, Novem ber 6-7. Ped erson topped Buddy An tu ne z (Suz) and Voss to win the opening nigh t' s 125cc final, with Voss beating Pe derson and Mike Jon e s (Ka w) to take Fr iday n ig ht's 250cc class . On Satu rd a y , W illoh topped Palm er an d Peders on in 125cc action whil e Palmer came back to beat Vos s a nd Antu ne z in th e 250cc class . Aft er two of 34 ro u nds , Voss leads the cha m p io n s h ip po int s tanding s ove r Ped erson, 69-65, w it h Pa lm er ho ld ing down thi rd place with 53 points. Lance Sm ail (KTM ) w on th e fea tured Hamel 100 cla ss at th e Elsin or e Gra nd Prix, held in Lake Elsinore, Ca lifo rnia, on Novem ber 8. Smail topped for mer World En d u ro C ha m p ion Paul Edmondson (Suz) by some thr ee minutes. In add ition to his Hamel 100 victory , Smail won ' the 125cc , 250cc and O pen classes. Following h is victory .in th e Brazili an rou nd of the Wor ld Supercross Series on Oc to be r 31, Robbie Reyna rd s its atop the championship p oint stand ings. Reyn a rd lead s Par is Su pe rcross wi n ner David Vu illemin by jus t four points, 3531, with Ste ve Lams on, wh o wa s third in Brazil, lying third with 28 points. Newly crowned 250cc World Champion Loris Capirossi - strip ped of his secondp lace finish aft er a co ntroversia l collisio n with Tetsuya Harada in the 250cc Gr and Prix of Argent ina - has been officia lly ex onera ted by the' FIM, a nd has . had his 20 points an d second-place finish restored . This outcome of the appeal d id not affect th e fina l ou tco me of the championship, because w hen Capirossi knocked Har adainto the gravel trap, he had alrea dy d on e enoug h to take th e crown . Capiros si was s trip p ed of the p o in ts in respo nse to a pro tes t fro m Ha ra d a, ci ting an FIM article s ta ting: "Riders mu st rid e in a responsible manner w hic h d oes no t deliberately ca us e danger to ot he r co m pe tito rs or participants..." Capiross i appealed , and on Friday, Novem ber 6, the FIM's lnternation. al Disci plinary Com mittee (CDl) met, in . th e p re sence of Capiro s s i a nd hi s lawyers. His appea l was accepted, w ith a tortu ou s s ta teme n t wh ich , br o ken down, said tha t the CD! had found his actions in Argen tina "effectively dan ge rous , how ever wit hou t any d eliberate ~ intention to cause an accident. " Th ey also cited his beh avior as "irre proachable d u ring h is ca reer in G ra nd Pr ix" and quashed the earlier punishmen t. < Scan d al may be brewin g over the controver sial Kazuta Saka ta disqu alification from the Au stralian 125cc Grand Pri x, fo ll o w i ng t e s t re s u l ts that s howed Sa ka ta ' s Aprilia h ad used a b rew o f ill eg al hi gh -o ct a n e le a d e d fu e l. He ha s the rig ht to a p pea l and ha ve a seco nd sealed sa m p le, held in his possess ion, tested ind epend ently . N ormall y th er e is a d ead lin e o f 10 d ays, w hich wo u ld have had th e sec · o n d sa m p le i n th e lab s before th e Argent in e GP. However, th is had to be extended, sin ce the sealed sa m ple w as with th e team's cra tes in tra nsit from Au st rali a to Ar gentina . Sin ce then, the sam p le ha s followed a slow and tw istin g p ass age - to Argentin a , back via Ap rilia's sh ip pers to Italy, a nd the n ev e ntually to a lab ora to ry in Mil an . Th ere is wild tal k of the sea l h a vi n g been brok en "by Argentine customs ." Results of the seco nd lab tests h a ve a lso b een d el ayed . "We ex pec ted t o h e ar la st w e e k . It w ill b e a ny ti me soo n," said th e FIM p ress offi cer last Monday. By Friday, November 6, th e resu lt s s till ha d n o t come . The ou tco me of t h e 125 cc Wo rld C ha m p i. o ns h i p hi nges on th e d e ci si on whet her it goes to Sakata or to Honda rid er To mo mi Mana ko. Accordi ng to Cycle News corr espo ndent Pa o lo Go z zi, Aus trali an Pe te r Goddard, 34, will sig n a two-year contra ct w ith Ap rilia next week to ride the Ap rilia Superbike in the 1999 and 2000 Worl d Superbike Cha m pio ns hip Series. Go d d a rd rode facto ry Su zukis in thi s year ' s World Su pe rbike Cha m pions hip. The Ap rili a tea m' s cre w ch ief will be Ferd inando De Cecc o, th e fo r me r owne r o f th e De Cecco- Duca ti tea m th a t fie ld ed G r ego rio La vill a in th e 1998 World Supe rbike Series. The team , is sche d uled to test at j erez in Spain, Novem ber 16-18. Tets uya Hara da w ill tes t th e A p rilia 500cc GP racer at [erez, Novem ber 1618, a nd w ill rid e the b ike in th e 1999 500cc World Cham p ionship. Th e tea m will u se Michelin tires on the 500 after previous efforts with the V-twin had the team using Du nlops , Form er Ap rilia tea m boss Ca rlo Pernat ha s s ig ne d a tw o- year co n trac t with Andrea Merloni, the owne r of Benelli, acco rd ing to Paolo Go z zi. Pernat will sea rc h for spo ns o rs and w i ll d ire ct Benelli 's efforts as th ey prepare for a World Su perbike debut in 2001. Meanwhile, Pernat wi ll lead the Ga tto lin e tea m in next year' s World Su perb ike Championship , with Doriano Romboni se t to ride the team's Du cati. "Ro rnbon i is an u ltraf a st rid er," Per nat said . " I know him very well. I think that he is a good choice for us, and also for him . He can relaunch his career wit h ou r bike an d team." A ccordi n g to r eports from Europe, Yamaha has p re pared a on e-y ear co ntract for Luca Cadalora to join its World Su pe rbike team , but the Ita lia n hasn ' t sig ne d it ye t. "The agreement is done abo ut mon ey, etc.," Yama ha team manager Da vid e Brivio said. "I th ink tha t after hi s tr i p to Arge n ti na (w here Ca da lo ra ra ced th e M u Z 500), Lu ca wa nts to wait for answers from anybody fro m a 500cc GP team. Bu t Ya m a h a want' to close the deal ve ry soon, an d we can wait only a few days more." Accord ing to reports from japan on Friday, November 6, Ma x Biaggi will sig n a co n tract to race a fac tory Yama ha YZ R500 i n ne xt y ear ' s 500c c Worl d Champio nship after all. No officia l word has been given. Stay tuned. Forme r 500 cc Wor ld C h a m p io n and Troy Corser's Ducat i team ma na ger in 1998, Virg in io Ferrar i, issued a press release last w eek reg ard ing his current situa tion wi th Du cati. The release states: "O n M o n da y , Oc tober 12, dur in g a meeting in the office of Mr. Mino li, CEO of Du ca ti Moto r, SpA , t h e latt er in form e d m e, in an in fo rma ti v e but unequivo cal ma nn er, that the cont ract d at ed january 29 could no lon g er be see n as valid . The ou tline of the origina l con tract drawn up by Du cat i was as follo ws : The duratio n o f th e agreemen t was th ree yea rs, end ing Decem ber 31, 2000. It also ou tlined a budgetary alloca- Boomer ets his Sottail N ew Yo rk Y an ke e s pit ch e r David "Boome r" Well s wa s given a Ha rley -Davids on So fta il a t a p resentatio n held at Macy' s in New Yor k City on Nov ember 4 after bein g designated a s th e H arl ey Davidson Watche s 19 98 Ma n of t he H ou r. T he new H a rl e yDavi dson watches , a lin e of 57 rang in g in price from $65 to $200, were lau nched at the p rese n tat ion , wi th the first 275 customers w ho purchase d a watc h getti ng a Wel ls-a u t o gra ph ed b a s e ball . We lls, the America n Lea gu e Cha m p io ns hip Series' Most Valuab le Pla yer w ho pit ched a perfect ga me ear ly in the seaso n, grew up in a house tha t was frequently visited by memb ers of the Hell's Angels - who we re friends of his lat e moth er, nickn amed "A ttitu de Annie." Wells sai d it wasn 't uncommon for him to wake up and see 100 Harleys ou tside his hou se and for members of the Hell's Angels to rid e to his games and rew ard him for strikeo uts. "It's not Yankee pride we're talk ing about tod ay - it's Harley pr id e," Wells sa id at the present ati on. tion fo r th ree ye a rs as w ell as riders' salaries su pplied by Du cati. In the meeting held on October 12, I was offered the follow ing alternative program: budget nullified; riders' saleries - nu llified ; the su p p ly of tw o mo to rcycl es with moderni z ati on k i ts three or fou r rac e s behind tho se of the' official Ducati team bi kes . On Oc to ber 16, I sen t a fax in rep ly to Mr. Fed erico Mino li, th e contents of which we re literally as follows: ... I am ver y sorry to say tha t I mus t reconfirm that it is im poss ible for me to a ccept you r p rop ositio n. I ha d pu t a grea t d eal of tho ug ht into trying to find a mutually beneficial so lu tion, but you ha ve placed me in an impasse. As you have dis honored ou r contract drawn up in ja nuary, 1998, 1 mu st reconfirm what 1 a lre a dy s ta te d in the p res en ce o f Messers Bordi and Domenicali. It is not a n acce pt a b le so lut ion to me to be offered some 'B' series bikes and to have the bud ge t and the rid ers' salaries cance le d . T h e co n d it io ns of o u r initi a l a greement were v ery differen t fro m those you are now putting forw ard, and ther efore you oblige me to refu se thern. J now full y und er s ta nd th a t yo u d o n o intend to carry on wit h our exist ing contract, and as the new proposal is totally unacceptab le, I co ns ider ou r rela tion ship ter mina ted as of today. I mu st add th at I am flabberga sted by you r at ti wd ~ " . One Duca ti team tha t will be racing in 1999 is the Fast By Ferra cci D u cat i sq ua d, acco rd ing to t eam man a g er Larry Ferracci. " It" looks like we're racin g, w it h one rid er or maybe tw o riders ," Fe rr acci sa id o n Th u rs d ay , No ve mber 5. "We d on 't h av e a rider yet , bu t my fathe r (Eral do ) has finished up w ith Du ca ti and he' s comforta ble with wh at they a re pu ttin g together for him . We're going to be there for su re." Ferra cci said that they ha ve been tal kin g p rim a ril y w it h Pa s cal Pico tt e in regards to riding for the tea m next year , thou gh he also said tha t Larry Pegr am and Jord an Szoke are po ssibilities. He al so men tio n ed th a t there a re a fe w mystery rid ers, but one of th e m is n' t Sco tt Ru ss ell. "I don' t th ink we could make anythi ng happen wit h Scott," Fer racci sa id . "He' s go t too much money in his sigh ts." The Pla ne t Hon da /Pro Grip motocross tea m appears to be up and ready, wit h team management to come from Paul Lin d se y. Th e team w ill fea ture Jaso n M cCormick and Ryan Huffman in the 125cc Eas t /West Supe rcross Series and AMA 250 cc Nati o na l MX Ch amp ionship, Mi ke Craig in 250cc Supercross and 125 cc Na tiona l M X a n d Br i a n Swink in the 125 and 250cc AMA /PI J Arenacross Series. The team is also talking to Mike Brown and [ean-Seb astien Roy. . Kaw asa ki Team Green will be provid ing emergency pa rts sales and techni cal ass is ta n ce at t he ' W in ter Nat ion al Olym pics, sched uled to be ru n in Florida begin nin g on November 23. Former 500cc World Cha m pion Wayne Gar d n e r w a s rece n tly ho nor ed by appeari ng in Australia's top-ra ted televis io n p ro gram, "T h is is Your Life ," accordi ng to Cycle News corresponden t Dar ryl Flack. Ga rd ner was ambushed by a film crew whi le celebrating the birt hday of h is close friend and biographer Nick Hartgerink at a restaurant in Sydney. Many friends and racing celebrities h onor ed h im vi a vid eo a p p ea ra nc es , including Mick Dooh an, Graeme Crosby and Mick And rews. R ~ ,~

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