Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127987
In the Wind fomia, will be held one week earlier tllls year - on Sunday, April 18. For more ir!formation, call 909/384-9342. Hancock learns that ice is cool Marvin Thome, 84, died at a nursing home in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, on March 17 after a long bout with cancer. Thome owned Honda of Mitchell in Mitchell, South Dakota, the fourth-oldest original Honda dealership in the country. Marvin Thorne was also the fa ther of Cycle News western sales manager Mark Thome. Flowers and letters of condolence can be sent to Wills Funeral Chapel, 210 E. Green Drive, Mitchell, SO 57301. Donations can be made in TIlOme's name to the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation of the United States, attn: Mike Traynor, 315 Ridgefield Court, Asheville, NC 28806, or to tl,e Clayton Foundation, attn: Judy Klinger, 3505-M Cadillac Ave., Costa Mesa, CA 92627. ormer World Speedway Cnampion Greg Hancock recently traveled to the Ice Speedway Grand Prix in F Assen, Holland, with fellow Californian speedway racer Josh Larsen. Although Hancock has devoted his entire life to speedway motorcycle racing, this was the first time that· he had witnessed the spectacle of this exci ting and dangerous ice-based version of the sport. His impression? "More exciting to watch than I ever imagined," Hancock said after the meeting. "These guys are unbelievable. They seem to take no regard for the danger at all. The 'rush' they get must be fantastic." Hancock's interest in the sport was piqued by Eric Stenlund, a fellow member of his Swedish speedway team, Rospiggarna. Stenlund won the World_Ice racing crown·in 1984, becoming the first western rider to break the stranglehold of the Eastern bloc. Russians and Czechs had won the title on every occasion since it was instigated in 1966. "Eric called me last week to say that he had accepted a wild card in the next Grand Prix round, and I've decided to go over to Sweden next weekend to watch," Hancock said. "He has offered to let me try my hand on an ice bike next winter when the Swedish team go to training camp in orthern Sweden. I don't think I would like to race on track with three other guys, but 1'd sure like to have a tryout on the ice on my own." Alex Alexander Continental Tires rep Greg Tysor phoned Cycle News to correct us regarding an item that ran with our coverage of the Daytona Short Track coverage, in which we stated that the Continental tires tha t did not fea ture the raised molding to indicate their compound number were being stamped· at the races. Tysor claims tha t all of the "stamped" tires were done so at the factory - before they reached the United States - and that anyone who may have thought that they saw Tysor stamping the tires at the races actually saw him "grooving" tires with a new tire groover. Tysor also took exception to our calling the "molded" tires as per AMA approval because, according to Tysor, the Continental dirt track tire that was ent to the AMA and approved by the AMA was a "stamped" tire. We have since learned that one of the Continen ta I tires tha t Steve Morehead received from the stock at Daytona had its compound number "stamped with a grooving iron" - this according to Morehead himself. Confused? So are we, but one fact we are sure of: Tysor rode the Daytona Short Track main event on a Goodyear rear tire. And as a postscript to this, we have since phoned AMA dirt track manager Bruce Bober, who has assured us tha t the sanctioning body is investigating the dirt track tire situation right now and hopes to have some new mandates regarding tire eligibility in place in advance of the Hagerstown Half Mile scheduled for May 8. Stay tuned. TI,e AMA and several of the top Grand National Dirt Track teams are getting set to head to the On Quoin Mile to test the feasibilty of the IMDNs plans to run a 50-mile dirt track race at Du Quoin on July 25, the day after the Du Quoin Mile Grand National. The test days, which are scheduled to take place April 24 and 25, will be available to GNC-licensed riders and current GNC-spec. V-twin equipment only. The AMA hopes to be able to sinlUlate races and study pit-stop procedures - and whether or not taking 15 feet away from the inside of the DuQuoin front straightaway for a "hot pit" area will create a safety hazard. According to the inaugural J.D. Power Bailey wins Spanish " 250ccGPMX I series 0 ener III ~ II :iii " • S: ~ _ M s:. l:! ~ 2 Frenc~an Frederic Bolley scored the opening-.round win in the FIM World Championship 250cc MX Senes m Talavera de la Reina, Spain, March 21. The Hondarider won both motos. ~aking his GP debut on the Pamo Honda team was American Ryan Hughes. TI,e Califorman put ill a couple of consistent rides, finishing third in the first moto and fourth in the second. In the first moto, B?lIey took the checkered flag some 12 seconds ahead of German Kawasaki nder Pit Beirer~ who had a 20-second cushion on Hughes. Fourth went to Suzuki nder Joshua Coppms of New Zealand, and fifth was taken by Belgian Marnicq Bervoets on a Kawasaki. Bervoets gave Bolley a run in the second moto but came up three seconds short at the finish. Frenchman David Vuillemin, on a Yamaha, who finished seventh in the opening race, took third. Hughes finished fourth, while Coppins rounded out the top five. . CORRECTION: The e-mail address given for Scott Sampsell in our last issue was incorrect. His correct address is sampsell@pcspower.net. He can also be reached at 1 Glenwood Dr., Montgomery, PA ·17752. OPENED: Pro Line Motorsport'5 home page on the World Wide Web. The site can be found at the follow- ing address: http://www.prolinemotorsports.com. CORREcTION: The actual date for the Indy Cycle 'N' Ski autograph signing in lndianapolis, Indiana, is April 23. and Associates Motorcycle Helmet study, Arai Helmets is the class leader in overall customer sa tisfaction within the motorcycle industry. Shoei was ranked second, followed by AGV. OPENED: KB Racing Promotions' home page on the World Wide Web. The site can be found at the following address: http://www.jps.net/kbracing. OPENED: The Southeastern Trails Riders Association's home page on the World Wide Web. The sHe can be found at the following address: http://www.avana.net/-japi/STRA/index.html. Richard Liebmann, president of AMOL Motorcycles in Dumont, New Jersey, has arulounced his retirement from the sale of BMW motorcycles. AMOL, BMW's oldest retailer, was started by Richard's father, Oscar, in 1950. OPENED: FMF Racing's home page on the World Wide Web. The site cnn be found at the following address: http://www.fmfracillg.com. Although the results from the Clayton Memorial Foundation golf tournament ill Daytona Beach, Florida, during Bike Week weren't released earlier, it was not because the defending champions - Mat Mladin, Chris Carr, Colin Edwards II and Paul Carruthers - didn't win, as some have claimed. The win·ning foursome was. actually a threesome - made up of Jason Pridmore, Thomas Stevens and Mark Gallardo - that captured the win after firing a best-ball score of 61. OPENED: Washougal Motocross Park's home page on the World Wide Web. The site can be found at the follO\-ving address: http://www.washougaLmx.com A parade of Harley-Davidsons led by entertainers Dan Aykroyd, John Goodman and Jim Belushi helped celebrate the opening of the House of Blues, located in the new Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada, on March 2. Canadian motocrosser Martin Vaillancourt, 34, of Quebec, was killed at the Hardrock Cycle Park in Ocala, Florid~ on March 16 after colliding with another rider during a practice session. The GPRA (125cc Grand Prix Riders Association) will run the l:fRC Dealers 12Scc Grand Prix National Championship in 1999. The series will fea ture a $20,000 prize fund provided by the two HRC dealers - Thousand Oaks Honda/HRC and JT Motorsports HRC. The series will fea ture three East Coast events and three West Coast races. There will also be a National Championship runoff in October at Road Atlanta. For more information, call GPRA at 949/496-1634. Reminder: The White Brothers FourStroke World Championship at Glen Helen Raceway in San Bernardino, Cali- NAMED: Brion McHale, as director of operations for FMF Racing, effective immedintely. For more information, call 310/900-5606. • HIRED: Todd Lentz, as national sales mannger of EVS Sports Protection in 5.1nta Monica, California. For more information, caU 310/39Q..7343. SIGNED: A sponsorship agreement between Moose ilnd the New England Trail Riders Association (NETRA), giving Moose the title sponsorship of the NETRA Enduro and Hare Scrambles Series for the next two years. PROMOTED: Clara C0<1tU, to retail manager of the Sports Car Racing Association of Monterey Peninsula and Laguna Seea Raceway, effective immediately. HIRED: Rod Davis, as media and publ.ic-relations coordinator for the Sports Car Racing Association of Monterey Peninsula and Laguna Seca Raceway, effective immediately. CONTRACTED: John Savitsky of Stadium Dirt Design, to construct a motoc.ross/supercross track at the Podium One M.otoPlex in Charlestown, I.ndiana. For more infonnation, caU 888/763-4871. OPENED: The Sage Riders Motorcycle Club's home page on the World Wide Web. The site can be found at the following address: http://www.angelfire. com/~t/SageRiders/ AUTOGRAPH SIGNING, At Yamaha Power Sports New Orleans in Harvey, Louisiana, Friday, April 16, from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. Team Yamaha's John Dowd, Jimmy Button, Chaparral Racing and Yamaha of Troy riders are scheduled to appear. For more information, call 800/748-7883. OPENED: La Forza Sports' hom'e page on the World Wide Web. The site can be found at the fol~ lowing address: http://www.laforza-sports.com. RESCHEDULED: The CCS Mid-Atlantic and Southeast region inaugu.ral Ca.rolina Motorsports Pa.rk event, scheduled for May 8~9, to Roebling Road on June 26-27. For more i.nformation, caIl 818/684-4297. _