Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

(ill10~ VOICES America's weekly motorcycle newspaper LffiE RSTO THE E ITOR D Volume XXXV Sharon Clayton. President Michael Klinger, Publisher Editorial Paul Carruthers, Editor KitPalmer, Associate Editor Scott Rousseau, Associ te Editor a Mark Hoyer, Managing Editor Keith Bush. Assistant Editor/Copy Editor Alan Cathcart, European Editor David R. Ho lth er . Copy Editor Adve rtising , Terry Pratt, National Accounts Manager Mark Thome. Western Sales Manager Thomas Ganter, Western Sales Manager Forrest Hayashi. Westen, Sales Manager Greg Mitchell, Eastern ACCOlwts Manager Jim Clark, Eastern Sales Manager Rhonda Crawford. We stern Ad Coordinator Bridgett Bobrofsky, Assistant Carla Allen, EasternAd Coordinator Marketing & Promotion Mark Thome, Director Forrest Hayashi: Manager Kory Klinger, Dealer Representatite New Media Development Rick Matheny, Webmaslt7 Stephanie Leamon, Assistant Classified Ads Teri Kerr Graphics and Production Man d y Loo, Art Director DennisGreene. Lab. Tech. Amanda Wallny, Graphi Artist c Sandi Gettys, Graphic Artist Paul Fisher, Graphic Artist Administration Judy Klinger, Coordinator Lea nne Sims, Administrati e Assistant v Accounting/Data Processing Donna Bryan-Diamond, AIR Coordinator Geneva Repass. Assistant Theresa Milburn, Credit Circulation Alma Anguia no, Circulation Manager Carol Maggio, Procelsing Coordinator Pam Klein, Billing Coordinator Joy Lau , Dealer Coordinator Service and Support eptionist Shannon Clark. Rec Jim Olson. Service and Support National Headquarters 3505-M Cadillac Ave., Costa MC 1, CA 92626 's. 1'.0. Box 5084, Costa Mesa, CA 926285084(714)751-7 433 FAX (71 4) 751-6685 Eastern Office 4188 First Ave.. Tucker. GA 30084 85-0805 P.O. Box 805, Tucker. GA 300 (770) 934-7850 FAX(770) 934-31 12 I just read a lett er from Jerry And er son (Iss ue #46, November 25) in w hich he com plained abo ut how golfers and tenn is p la y e rs m ak e m ore mon ey th a n supercross race rs. It seems like he thinks there is a d irect relati onship betwee n the level of risk in one's chosen profession and the salaries they make. I could add a no ther sport - professional baseball w hose to p p laye rs m a ke o bscene salaries (Mike Piazza's $90 million deal comes to mind) . It's p retty obvious that in the world of professional spo rts, there is abso lu tely no relat ion ship between the level of risk and the correspon di ng sa lary. The real mon ey is in televi sed even ts tha t appeal to the masses - like golf, tenn is, baseball, boxing, etc. Why aren 't su percross races and road races televised live . o n th e ma jor n e t w o rks ? I' d g u e s s beca use there is too small of a potenti al au d ience, no t eno ugh ad ve rtis er interest, etc. It all comes d own to the botto m line - pure and sim ple. Jerry said he drove 700 miles to see th e su percross in Lo s Angeles . I li ve o n ly 60 m il es away an d h a ve n e ve r a ttend ed one of those eve nts. The rea son? I have no interest in the di rt bike as p ect of motorcycling . Usi ng Jerry 's logic, road racers sho uld ge t paid a lot more tha n their di rt riding counterparts, if salaries are based on risk. WFO at the Hockenheimring at spee ds close to 200 mp h vs . ju mping over som e di rt berms and hay bales? It' s a no-brainer... Mos t p e opl e ou ts ide the mo to rcycling subcu ltu re could n't tell you who Mick Dooh a n or Doug Polen a re and why they are significant in the wo rld of motorcycle road racing. But that's okav. I couldn't tell yo u who the top five go lfers or ten lJis players are in the wo rld, either, so I guess that makes us even. Robert Brooks Camarillo, CA ... Big Dave Dave tru ly loved the spor t of motorcycling and together wi th his partner and wife, Rita, they raised a famil y that continues to carry forwa rd with his passion and legacy. A lt houg h the recen t op por tun ity unfor tun ately passed to honor Dave in a special fas hio n, so mehow his presen ce was fe lt jus t th e sa me las t Sa tu r d ay night. Maybe it was transferred th rou gh his family and man y friends who we re se a ted amongst th e crowd . Ma yb e it was the feeling tha t Dave was looki ng d own on a ll of u s as h e enjoyed th e show. Or maybe it was because he wa s as close to the stage as he wou ld have ever w a nt ed , as he stood be h ind th e spotlight and guided its beam. Here's to yo u, Dave, and to all your many accom p lis hm en ts. You ma y be gone, but you'll never be forgott en . And the spo rt of motorcycling see ms to shine a little brighter for those you left beh ind . Lou Seals Atlanta, GA pu t on the legends banque t and vintage motocross races in conjunction with the White Brot hers Vet World C hampionships . Bot h the banquet and the races were fan tastic for ride rs and fans alike . For me, it was a dream come tru e to ride a replica of my 1974 factory Monark 125 on a well-pre pa red 70s-sty le track and to meet and watch some of the original heroes of our sport. I sure hope this happens agai n someday. . My on ly di s ap p o int ment wa s the lack of any of today' s su p ers ta rs wh o could n' t find time in their "busy" sched ul es to come to th e ba nqu et a nd hel p ho nor the guys who paved the way for them to do wh at they are do ing today. Am I th e on ly on e w h o not iced their absence? I hea r th ere is a co m mem o ra tive video that will be available soon for fans w ho cou ld n ' t ma ke it in per son . That should be fun to see. Scott Wallenberg Valencia, CA Lou Seals is the oWllerof Seals CommunicaCorpora tion, the company that produces MotaWorld, MotaWorld2 and motorcycle racing on ESPN arId ESPN2... Editor Doughty says there is a video on the way. We'll give the details when they become available... Editor . . tiOIl Remembering Gunter Ducati and Ferrari Perha ps I'm read in g more into the Virginio Ferra ri press release than wha t is tru e, bu t I feel comp elled to com ment. I a m a recently retired cor po ra te executive and wo nde r if Ducati' s CEO is not acting on beh alf of TPG, now that they have com plete control of the com pany. It wou ld be a sha me for an old Itali an marqu e, with th e pa ss ion a nd so ul of typical Italian manufacturers, to begin behaving like a cos t-cu tting, stockho lder-obsessed American corpora tion. W h a te ver th e m oti va ti o n for this recent failu re to h on o r th e co n trac t, Ducati is beginn ing to look more Ame rican and less Italian. For this, we will all be so rry. Bob Dinneweth Washington , GA Dave Coombs never lived in Search of the spo tlight. So "Big Dave" would not have missed the bright lights at the recent AMA Awards Banque t in Las Vegas . His quiet demeanor and gentle personality often overshadowed his tireless efforts as one of the AMA's most suppor tive race pro moters. I wa nt to d rop a line of thanks to Rick Dou ghty of Vintage Iron, his crew, and a ll th e ind u stry s po nsors who h elped FEATURES In respon se to Bob N or tman 's letter (Is su e #46, No ve m be r 25), I seem to rem ember A l G u n te r ridin g a G-50 Match less 500cc sing le. In fact, the late Mr. Gunter ro de to a third-place finish a t th e ve ry fir st r ace held a t Wi llo w Sp rin gs Intern ational Racew ay, behind wi n ne r KennyE gg er s an d seco n dpl aced Dick Ma nn . Tha t is, if thi s old gu y rem em bers correctly . Billy Keys Hayward,CA Letters to the ed itor should be sent to Voices, Cycle News, P.O . Box 5084, Costa Mesa, CA 92628-5084, faxed to ' 714 /751 -6685 or e-mail, editor@cyclenew s.com. 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W/B0'A V --r ~ ENDURO Internation al Six Days End uro fro m Traralgon, Au stralia 8 ARENACROSS Round 2 - AMA/PJl National Arena cross Series from Worcester, Massachu setts 16 RACERTESTS . Troy Corser's World Superbike Championship-winning Ducati 996 20 Printed in U.S.A. Co~yrightC Cycle News, Inc. 1998 Trademark Cycle News . registered U.S. Patent Office. All rights reserved. 2 EUROFILE 4 NEWPRODUCTS , 27,45 DRAG RACE NARA Winston World Finals from Pomo na, California WORLD TEST SESSION Wor ld GP and Superbike testing in Jerez, Spain EVENTS 34 LEADERBOARD .48 CALENDAR .49 . WANT ADS .53 .INTHE PADDOCK Fabrizio Pirovano's World 600cc Superspo rt-winning Suzuki GSX-R 600.........24 .?1 26 A UD ITED CI RCULAnO~ INTHEWIND 28 LOOKING BACK · 71 ON THE FRONT COVER Finla nd ' s Kari Tianen a nd tea m mates celebra te thei r win a t the 73rd ISDE in A us tralia . A cco m pa nying ph o tos inclu d e opening ceremonies, a final MX test mo ta, top U.S. club rider Jason Dahn er s, Top A meric an Ty Da v is , gold m eda li st M ike Laffer ty , a n d th e im po und area at pare ferme. Pho tos by Kit Pal m er , Steve Berkner an d Mi ke Klinger.

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