Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

In the Wind Scott Summers (Hon) recorded the overall win at round three of the Grand ationa'! Cross Country Series in Cross Keyes, South Carolina, on March 21. Shane Watts (KlM), the winner of the opening two rounds, finished second, followed by Fred Andrews (Kaw), Mike Lafferty' (KTM) and Rodney Smith (Suz). March 21. Pocorobba won both 40minute motos, while 70,000 spectators looked on. Johnny Campbell and Cole Marshall (Hon) combined efforts to win the 13th annual Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250 in Baja California, Mexico, on March 20. The duo completed the 220-mile race in three hours, 55 minutes and 55 seconds, averaging 58.147 mph. Finishing 19 minutes behind the Campbell/Marshall team in second was Edy Garcia and Tim Staab (Yam). Third overall went to Greg Bringle, Craig Smith and Shad Bodenstadt (Hon). The top three teams were all Class 22 entries. Topping the 250"cc class (Class 21) was Rickey Fernandez (Kaw). The Class 30 win went to Cliff Matlock and Matt Barney (Yam), while the Class 40 win went to Gary Tepner and Vince Skanounas (Hon). Sponsor or not, John Kocinski is going 500cc Grand Prix racing with Erv Kanemoto. "I'm gonoa make the next test and the first race," Kocinski said on Thursday, March 18. "What else can you do? You go until you can't go anymore. There are no sponsors - period. It wouldn't matter if you were winning every race, there's just not a lot out there. We've got a test next week in Montegi (Japan) and then we're going for a few more days in Malaysia; then we'll come home and then go back for the first race. I could end up doing the whole year, just the first race, half the races - you just don't know. I'm not complaining - at least I'm doing what I want to do and now what I have to do." Buddy Antunez (Suz) clinched his third straight AMA/PP ationa! Arenacross Series Championship on Saturday, March 20, in San Jose, California. Antunez won the 125cc main event on Friday night, March 19, and finished second to Jeromy Buehl (Hon) in the 250cc class to set up the clinching of the title on Saturday. In the 125cc main event on Saturday, Antunez won the 12Sec final to take the title. Aftermarket supplier Parts Unlimited has signed a three-year deal to become the presenting sponsor of the 1999, 2000 and 2001 AMA/MBNA Superbike Series. "Parts Unlimited has recognized the value of our racing programs jn reaching a wide-scale fan base," said Merrill Vanderslice, director of professional competition for AMA Pro Racing. "In turn, we have been able to leverage our opportunities to present legitimate marketing and sales opportunities for Parts Unlimited. We believe that the AMA/MB A Superbike produces another such opportunity for both Parts Unlimited and race fans who benefit from their top-of-the-line products. We appreciate the support Parts Unlimited has given the sport, and we look forward to a continued relationship with them in the years to come." Former World Speedway Champion Billy "The Bullet" Hamill (GM) made his return to racing a successful one when he took the Scratch main victory in the Coors Light Spring Classic speedway season opener at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa, California, on March 20. Ed Castro (Jaw) won the Handicap main event, while Ryan Fisher (GM) won the Support-elass main. Team Winston's Angelle Seeling capped off a record-setting drive through eliminations with a final-round victory at the NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway in Gainesville, Florida, on March 21. Seeling set a new national elapsed-time record of 7.212 seconds in the second round of eliminations before advancing to face AnokaRamsey rider John Smith (Suz) in the final round. Smith, who reset the national speed mark to 192.22 mph in the semifinals, gave Seeling a very close race in the finals, leaving the starting line with the holeshot. However, Seeling's 7.224/185.79 was enough to stop Smith's 7.269/189.18 and earn a narrow victory. Tony Amaradio (Yam) topped the opening round of the Sound of Thunder MX Series ( outhwest region) at the Speedworld Motorplex in Phoenix, Arizona, on March 21. Dustin elson (Yam) took second, followed by Robert Naughton (Yam). . The 23rd annual GNC International Motocross Final held at Mosier Valley USA in Fort Worth, Texas, March 18-21, drew well over 1500 entrants. Justin Buckelew (Yam) topped the 125cc Expert class, followed by Ivan Tedesco (Yam) and Josh Demuth (Yam). In 250cc Expert action, Demuth came back to take the win over Brad Woolsey (Kaw) and Matt Walker. Anthony Pocorobba (Suz) won the opening round of the Brazilian National Championship MX Series in Brazil on Scott Meyers (Yam) took top honors at the PACE Off-Road Championship Series round in Vancouver, British Columbia, March 20. Spud Walters (Yam) took second and Brent DeVries (Yam) third. Five-time 500cc World Champion Mick Doohan says he has yet to ride the 1999 NSR500 and that he'll be the only rider getting one early in the season, according to Cycle News contributor Darryl Flack. Doohan's comments were made on a motorsports television show in Australia. "I haven't tried the new bike at all, really," Doohan said. "So far, we've done a lot of testing fo!' Michelin and Showa, but once that's done, there's not much point in burning a hole in the ozone layer just doing laps." The 33year-old Australian wasn't clear on why the new bike had been delayed, but it didn't prevent him from speculating. '1 think one of the things holding up the show is tha t I'm the only rider who's going to have the new bike for the start of the season," he said. "And I think if they had brought it out six weeks ago, then there would've been more pressure from the other (Honda) teams and my own teammates to build a new motorcycle for them. Whereas, if they leave that to within two weeks to the start of the season, the factory can just say, 'Sorry, we've got no time.' That's a bit of a shame, really, because it's just· putting off the inevitable. The other thing is, we don't know if it's going to be a good thing or not." AMA road road manager Ron Barrick said that work was continuing on New Hampshire International Raceway that would allevia te a lot of the riders' concerns about the Loudon facility. The area of most concern is turn one, the corner where both Thomas Wilson and Miguel DuHamel crashed during last Drag Specialties to headline AMA Grand Nationals P erformance motorcycle parts distributor Drag Specialties has signed on as the presenting sponsor of the 1999 AMA Grand National Championship Series. The 1999 series will now officially be titled the AMA Grand National Dirt Track Series presentea by Drag Specialties. "We're glad to be on board," said Jeff Fox, president of Drag Specialties. "We're looking forward to a great season of racing, and we will be inviting our dealers across the country to the AMA Grand National races. Our hope is to introduce our dealers and their customers to Grand National racing and come out the other side with a lot of new fans. I believe it was Scott ~arker who said, 'You only need to see a Grand National race once to be hooked forever.''' AMA Pro Racing director of competition Merrill Vanderslice agrees with Fox. "We look to our sponsors to bring as much exposure to our race series as we bring to their business," Vanderslice said. "Drag Specialties is a national company with a lot of clout in the industry, and when you couple their customer base with the interest in the new SuperTrapp SuperTracker Series - which is introducing new manufacturers to dirt track - the Drag Specialties sponsorship is a real boost for the sport." The 1999 AMA Grand ational Dirt Track series presented by Drag Specialties kicked off March 7 at the Daytona Short Track. The next round of the series is scheduled for May 8 at the Hagerstown, Maryland, half mile. year's AMA Superbike National, sliding up the banking and into a wall and suffering severe injuries. "Where the existing pit lane was, the new race track is part of that pit lane, plus an extension to the inside to make it a normal-wid th turn," Barrick explained. "The old turn one will be torn up and that will be replaced by grass. So, should you crash going in there, you're not going to go asphalt, grass, and then catch on the asphalt again and then grass again after that. If you crash, you'll go off into the grass. And naturally, we'll put some additional barriers along the speedway wall to prevent riders from reaching that wall." Tum two is the same, with a different approach. Turn three, the looping uphill right, which previously had tire and then concrete barriers on the entrance, will be moved back because of how turn 10, the hard right coming down from the hill, has been reworked. The result will be more runoff in turn three, according to Barrick. Trees on the right side of turn six, the left-hand carousel, will be removed from an impact area and more trees will be taken down in turn nine, the fast right at the top of the hill. Pavement added to the right of turn eight will also lessen the severity of the bend in tum nine. "It'll open up the track a little up there, because it really got narrow in that right-hand turn," Barrick said. "It was really not a passing zone, but it's probably going to be a passing zone with the new configuration. That's just a guess." Runoff will be added in turn nine, which should allow riders to get back on the track rather than run downhill into a marsh. Tum 10 has long been considered the most dangerous turns on the he hard right leading to two pavement transitions and turn 11. "It will now be much more of a sweeper as you exit across the speedway and back onto the road course," Barrick said. "Where the grass was on the outside of that turn, paving will go over part of tha t. So in other words, where the grass was, there'll be more paving to make it a smoother, flowing sweeper out of that turn. And if they do it right, you won't have those bumps at the apex of that turn." Barrick expects to visit the facility with Tom Kipp sometime in May. The numbers are out: According to PACE MotorSports, the ABC Sports broadcast of the PACE Houston Supercross on March 14 drew a 3.7 rating. In other words, the race was piped into more than 3.6 million households. Over 300 people turned out for the 55th annual Trailblazers banquet in Buena Park, California, on March 13, and eight riders were inducted into the Trailblazers Hall of Fame. Clarence Czysz and Jerry Fairchild went in as tuner, with Larnmy Lamoreaux, Freddie Ellsworth, Cordy Milne, Eddie Mulder and Don Vesco being inducted as riders. Former Harley-Davidson dealer Joe Walker rounded out the inductees. In addition, Trailblazers president Bill Bagwell presented Chris Agajanian with a certificate of appreciation for his hospitality in hosting the Trailblazers during the October running of the Del Mar Mile. Motor Laverda USA announced on March 16 that it will reintroduce Laverda motorcycles in the United States. The company also announced that Redline Motorsports will be the exclusive Manhattan-based dealer of the new line. Laverdas have not available in the United States since 1983. The lineup will feature four models: the 750S with half fairing; the 7505 with full fairing; the 750S Formula; and the 750 Gho t Strike. For more information, call 212/691-6838. Young Australian road racer Mark Willis is a confirmed starter for this year's 500cc World Championship, riding the New Zealand-built BSLSOO. '1t's a great opportunity for the team and for me," the 22year-old Willis said. "This is all about taking opportunities and making the most of them. I've only done about 40 laps on the bike to date, and only two of those have been quick, back-to-back flying laps. That's nowhere near enough time to know the capabilities of the bike, but I'm hoping to go to New Zealand for some more testing - either at Pukekohe or Manfeild - before the season starts. The first half of the year will be tough for us, for sure. Halfway through the season, when I've done heaps of laps and got more confident with the bike and know better what it can do, we'll start thinking about goals for the year. I certainly won't be setting any targets until·the halfway mark of the season - and those goals will be achievable, not unrealistic." .• ~ ~ 1

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