Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Cycle News 1999 02 17

Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles

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. uick in K a/ami Mike Lafferty (KTM) won the opening round of the AMA National Championship Hare Scramble Series at Hollister Hills, California, on February 7. Lafferty took the win ahead of. Doug BlackweU (Yam), Brian Garrahan (KTM), Kelby Pepper (Yam) and Australian Shane Watts (KTM). Former ational Hare Scrambles Champion Scott.Summers (Hon) finished sixth. Mick (Doohan). We've asked Suzuki for more power and acceleration, and we're moving ahead all the time on the chassis. There's work to be done, but so far we're on target. I've worked hard on my own conclition, and - though I was never really unfit before - I'm fitter and stronger now than I ha ve ever been. I can feel it when I'm on the bike. I'm feeling really positive, and so is the rest of the team." Ty Davis (Yam) maintained the unofficial title of "King of Adelanto" at this year's running of the Desert Vipers Adelanto Grand Prix in Adelanto, California, February 6-7. Davis won the Pro, Four-Stroke, 0-200cc and Open races. In the premier Pro race, Da vis was followed across the finish line by Larry Roeseler (Kaw), Greg Zitterkopf (Kaw), Johnny Campbell (Hon) and Dave Ondas (Kaw) - all were on Open bikes. Shane Esposito (Kaw) was the first 250cc finisher in the Pro race, followed by Russ Pearson (KTM). Zitterkopf won Saturday's Unclassified race and Healey won Sunday's 250cc race. Max Biagg! crashed on the final day of testing in Malaysia, escaping without injury. '1 crashed this moming, but it was a first-gear corner and I just carri.ed on back to the pits on the same bike," Biaggi said. '1 managed to improve my time by well over a second on the final day, so I'm satisfied with the result 'of the test. I still think [ could have gone faster, but we had a few problems with rear traction and stability that we were working on. I was probably a little happier with my result at Phillip Island last week, but we know which areas we have to work on. Our target is to be competitive for the frrst race, and I am confiden t we'll achieve that. I love this track. It's fantastic - somewhere between Brno (Czech Republic) and Barcelona (Spain), and meclium fast: I would say the facilities are some of the best in the world here." Simon Crafar was the third quickest of the Yamaha men at the test, lapping at 1:08.410 on the Red Bull Yamaha - which is now shod in Michelin tires. Behind Crafar came Biaggi's teammate Carlos Checa and Red Bull's Regis Laconi. Honda didn't take part in the Malaysian test. After a horrible night on Friday, February 5, in round 21 of the AMA/PJI National Arenacross Series, Jeff Willoh (Hon) bounced back to win both the 125 and 250cc classes on Saturday, February 6, in round 22. WiUoh beat Buddy Antunez (Suz) and Jeromy Buehl (Hon) to win Saturday's 125cc final, then stopped Buehl and Cliff Palmer (Kaw) to win the 250cc finaL Friday's 125cc win went to Denny Stephenson (Hon) over Antunez and Palmer, with Palmer taking the 250cc win over Antunez and Mike Jones (Kaw). After 22 of 34 rounds, Palmer leads the championship over Antunez, 687-671. Willoh is third with 643 points. Spud· Walters (Yam) won the Stadium Thunder Bike final in round five of the U.s. Off-Road Championship in Phoenix, Arizona, on February 6. Walters topped Scott M~yers (Yam) and Robert Naughton (Yam). Dutch rider Leon Geisbers, making his debut as the number-one rider on the factory Suzuki team, opened up the. European motocross season with a win on February 8. Geisbers fought through a massive snowstorm tha t left the Koersel track in Belgium a white mess. Giesbers, who also won the opening motocross of the 1998 European season, led home former Suzuki top gun Marnicq Bervoets, who is now a Kawasaki factory rider, and Husqvarna's 500cc GP rider Johan Boonen. Stefan Everts and 500cc World MX Champion Joel Smets both missed the event due to injury (Smets) and illness (Everts). Kenny Roberts· Jr. ended the four-day IRTA Grand Prix test at the new circuit in ,. Sepang, Malaysia, on February 5, as the "'I fastest of the 500cc GP riders. Roberts lapped at 2:06.655 on the factory Suzuki to top Yamaha's Norick Abe and Max Biaggi, who lapped at 2:06.819 and 2:07.074, respectively. "In Australia last II week and also for· the last few days here, we've been con~entrating on testing and ~ evaluating different mechanical options," ... Roberts said on February 5. "Today was Q the first time I was able to just coneen• trate on lap times. It's good to know that §! the bike is up to it, when we still have some more things we can improve. I ~ believe we could have found another ~ half-second with a different suspensiongJ and-chassis combination we still want to . a try, and there's more to come after that.. If At the moment, I believe the bike is at 2 about 80 percent of what we need to beat I :! - Valentino Rossi was the quickest 250cc rider at the Malaysian test, lapping at 2:08.647 on his factory Aprilia. Yamaha's Olivier Jacque was next at 2:08.879. Road racer Mark Miller will ride a Rich Stanball-tuned Attack Performance Yamaha R1 in the 1999 AMA Formula Xtreme Series. ''I'm looking forward to working with Rich Stanball in Formula Xtreme this year," Miller said. "He has built some of the fastest bikes I've seen and has a good handle on what it will take to win races in '99. This will easily be the most competitive Formula Xtreme field to date and, considering the players, should be an absolute blast to·watch." Johnny Rock Page will join Miller on the team, and the pair will use Dunlop tires. Miller finished third in the 1998 AMA Formula Xtreme Series, riding a Graves Motorsports-backed Yamaha Rl, winning the Pikes Peak round of the series along the way. Well-known motocrosser Brian Manley suffered serious injuries in a crash on January 24 in Phoenix, Arizona. Manley suffer.ed a broken back, and the full extent of his spinal injury won't be known for a few more days. Manley is cur-re·ntly in the Rancho Los Amigos Meclical Center at 12500 Erickson Street, IFI 3 South, Downey, CA 90242. It's official: Legendary racing broadcaster Dave Despain has joined the Speedvision Network and will host "Victory Circle," the network's latest addition to its historical motorsports programming. Despain will also serve as the new host of "Bike Week," the weekly 30-minute motorcycle show. Despain's "Victory Circle" debut will be on February 4 at 10 p.m. (Eastern), and his "Bike Week" debut will air at 7 p.m. (Eastern) on March 4. In addition, Despain will aLso help unveil the newest Speedvision show, "Motorcyclist," a magazine show developed in conjunction with the eclitors of the print magazine of the same name, on Marcll 91\f7:3O p.m. (Eastern). In adclition ei gl1 ing World Superbike Champion Carl·Fogarty put three months of racing inactivity firmly behind him with a dominant three-day performance at the first all-teams test at Kyalami, near Johannesburg, in South Africa. .... His first outing since he won his third title in dramatic fashion at Sugo in October 1998 saw him top the time sheets on all three days and destroy the previous best-ever lap at Kyalami on the final day. A 1:43.111 lap, with his Ducati Performance 996 on qualifying tires, was half a second faster than the 1:43.668 set by next-fastest man, Troy Corser - and significantly ahead of Pier~Francesco Chili's official lap record of 1:43.970 set in cooler conclitions last year. "I'm shocked to be going this fast this soon," said the fired-up Englishman. "I've always been more of a racer than a qualifier, and I'm usually down in fifth or eighth at this stage. I think it's because my confidence is still so high after winning the title last season." Fogarty seemed hungry enough for saddle time and completed several race-dis- ' tance tests of, among other things, 42mm Ohlins front forks instead of the more-usual 46mmitems. . "They certainly don't feel any worse than the 46s, and I did set my best times on . them ..." said Fogarty. Aprilia 250cc Grand Prix-style caliper. brackets (holding the caliper at each end, for enhanced rigidity and more consistent pad wear) adorned both Fogarty's and Corset's _ bikes for much of the test. ' This was the first test of the year for the enlarged Ducati Performance team, and an almost entirely successful one, as Corser was the only other rider to break into the 43s, with 1:43.668 being set in the final session. The '96 World Superbike Champion crashed in the attempt to go faster still, and he also suffered a scary moment when an oil-cooler matrix let go on the last day, coating the rear tire and necessitating a precautionary change of unit on both the Ducati riders' bikes. Colin Edwards II was consistently fast throughout and claimed that his 1:44.270 best was more the result of running race tires instead of qualifiers. "The main changes are to the suspension," Edwards said. "The only way to ride this bike is to ride the front - and that is not my usual style. But now we have a front setup which I can use." The reigning Supersport World Series Champions, Team Suzuki Alstare, were having their first swim in the World Superbike pool with proven winner Chili and ex-GP pilot Katsuaki Fujiwara. Chili impressed first, being one of the few into the 1:44 bracket on the second day of testing, but there he stayed after spending the last day e><;perimenting with chassis and EFI setups. Still, being the fastest man in a new team, on a new bike, and just a little slower than the only other tearns to have won recent World Superbike Championships was very encouraging for Chili. "It's a big shock to get on a four-cylinder after the Ducati," Chili said. '1 think. tb.e lap times are already good for the first test against all the other teams. I am only here to learn the bike, to understand it and the tires. At the moment I am quite happy." Two entirely new World Superbikes made their debut at KyaJami: the Yamaha R7 OW02s of Noriyuki Haga'and Vittoriano Guareschi, and the other Italian V-twin, Peter Goddard's Aprilia RSV Mille. Unsurprisingly, these new bikes packed out the last few places on the time sheets, but neither is in its final engine or chassis configuration. Of the riders, Guareschi was particularly impressive, especially after turning a finalday high-side crash to his advantage. "I fell this morning, and that taught me just how focused you need to be," he said. "I then spent three hours just thinking and went out in a good frame of mind to do my best time." . He didn't quite manage to demote Noriyuki Haga from one position ahead of him, despite the relatively few laps completed by the find of the 1998 series. Aprilia's 6O-degree V-twin RSV had a respectable first test against the more-seasoned tearns and machines. Lone Aprilia rider Peter Goddard was very impressed by the chassis setup on the physically large RSV racer, but acknowledges that the engine needs more work before the bike can achieve a truly competitive status in the World Championship. Gordon Ritchie R to the featured shows, Despain will also go back to play-by-play announcing as the lead man in all of Speedvision's live coverage of the AMA Superbike Series. Fredclie Spencer and Dave Sadowski will join Despain in providing commentary for Speedvision's superbike coverage. ·Road racer and Cycle News contributor Cary Lurie, 36, was killed during open practice at Talladega Grand Prix Raceway in Alabama on February 6. Lurie, of Gulfport, Mississippi, clied from head injuries after high-siding his 1997 Suzuki TLlOOOS. Condolences can be sent to Lurie's father, Charles Lurie, at 14161 Spruce Ct., Gulfport, MS 39503. After the first day of the three-day World Superbike test from Phillip Island, Austr.alia, on February 8, Castrol Honda's Aaron Slight was the fastest of the testers, lapping at 1:33.%1 - justa tenth of a second quicker than Ducati's Troy Corser. Slight's first day at Phillip Island was an even tful one, as he suffered a bruised thigh when he struck a seagull in the morning, then crashed without injury in the afternoon. "It's aU happening out there - to me," Slight said. "The bird was bad this morning. I really gave it a whack and when 1 got back to the pits, my boot was covered with bits of feather. My left leg was pretty bruised and sore, but at/ least it didn't hit my head. When I crashed in the afternoon, the front just went away without any warning at all maybe because of the new track surface. The new surface makes it feel like a new racetrack at the moment, and I think we'll all struggle with tires." Behind Corser came Slight's teammate, Texan Colin Edwards II, at 1:34.392. Fourth and fifth were Kawasaki teammates Akira Yanagawa and Gregorio Lavilla. Ducati's Carl Fogarty was sixth fastest after the first day. '1 can't seem to get 'round here like I want to at the moment," Fogarty said. "The track is so different - it's like having a brand-new track. I'm not confident about the grip yet. It looks okay, but I think the track can catch you out easily, so you've got to be on your toes." Yoshimura Suzuki's Mat Mladin came away from the two-clay AMA Superbike test at Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, Caliiornia, February 3-4, with the quickest lap times. The Australian lapped at 1:27.4 to barely edge out Harley-Davidson's Scott Russell, who turned in a 1:27.5. Jason Pridmore was third fastest at 1:28.0. The fastest 600cc Supersport time was turned in by Erion Honda's Nicky Hayden at 1:30.4. Erion Racing's Kurtis Roberts edged Hayden as the quickest

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