Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Riding in the Open class, Destry Abbott (Kaw) moved one step closer to winning his first AMA National Hare and Hound title by winning round five of the series in Johnson Valley, California, on April 25. Defending series champinn_ Ty Davis (Yam) finished second, with Brian Brown (Kaw) taking third. Both were also competing in the Open class. Russ Pearson (KTM) claimed 250cc honors by finishing fifth over.aU and Dan Richardson (Kaw) headed up the Vet class in sixth overall. Team 23 rider Antron Brown (Suz) made his first appearance in an NHRA Pro Stock Bike final round count, as he defeated number-one qualifier Angelle Seeling (Suz) after Seeling red-lighted during the third annual NHRA Castrol Nationals at the Texas Motorplex in Ennis, Texas, on April 25. Brown's Suzuki is owned by Philadelphia Eagles football player Troy Vincent. Billy Martin (H-D) and Jeff Johnson (TrO claimed the Open A and Open Vintage-class wins, respectively, during the opening round of the West Coast FIat Track Series at Perris Auto Speedway in Perris, California, on April 24. Martin got the better of a racelong sideby-side battle with runner-up Ronnie Bro~n (Yam) in the 16-lap Open A main. Mark Corsetti (W-R) was third. Johnson easily won the Open Vintage main, followed by Art Fredenburgh (Yam) and Jim Rosa ( or). Australian Troy Bayliss (Duc) won both rounds of the British Superbike Championship at Oulton Park on April 25, topping Sean Emmett (Duc) in race one and James Haydon (Suz) in race two.. Chris Walker (Kaw) and John Reynolds (Due) split third-place finishes on the day. Bayliss now leads Walker in the series standings, 113-] 05. If you want to watch Jeremy McGrath race an outdoor AMA 250cc National, you'd better go to Glen Helen Raceway on May 9 because that will his only outdoor race of the season. McGrath, who was originally going to do the first two rounds in California and some selected races back east, has had a change of heart. 'Tm just going to do Glen Helenthat's my only one," McGrath said on Wednesday, April 21. "I was going to do a couple, but I've changed my mind. I really wasn't going to do any because I've got a busy schedule planned for the winter with some supercross races. I was just going to go ahead and take the whole time off, but I want to do Glen Helen because it's my local race and it's the home race for Chaparral and I can take care of Dave (Damron - the owner of Chaparral) over there." Dan Murphy, the promoter of the July 9-11 running of the World Superbike Series round at Laguna Seca, was on hand at Sears Point Raceway for the AMA Superbike National - further fueling rumors that he was there to check out the facility for a future round of the World ·Superbike Championship. "We're looking at it," Murphy said. "We'd like to go back to Laguna Seca, • but they're going through some changes. They are limited to five events a year and we're not sure that they want World Superbike to be one of those events." Murphy is currently in the fifth year of a five-year contract with Laguna Seca, but he recently. signed a new five-year agreement with the organizers of the World Superbike series, the Flammini Group, that will see him promote a round somewhere in the United State for another five years. ''It makes sense for us to stay in a market that we've already built up," Murphysaid. According to a press release issued by Todd Henning Racing, Henning awoke from his coma on April 23 but is still unable to speak because he is on a respirator. Henning suffered serious head injuries in a crash at Sears Point Raceway on April 18 in AHRMA's 500cc Premier event. Henning was involved in the accident with Adam Popp, whose injuries were limited to severe bruising. Henning is currently in the Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital in Santa Rosa, California, and his wife, Miriam, has joined him there. The Hennings have asked that no phone calls be made to the hospital, but cards and letters of encouragement can be sent to them at 656 Commercial St, Provincetown, MA 02657, or to the hospital at 1165 Montgomery Dr., Santa Rosa, CA 95405. The state of Tennessee will name a stretch of highway after a state senator who killed a motorcyclist in a traffic collision near that highway, according to the AMA. The AMA calls the legislation an outrage and is urging motorcycli ts to help stop the further callous in ult to the motorcyclist's family and friends. On April 7, Tennessee Governor Don Sundquist signed into law a bill to designate a section of Interstate 140 near Knoxville - stretching from Interstate 40 in Knox County to U.s. Highway 321 in Blount County - as the "Senator CarlO. KoeIJa Jr. Memorial Highway." Signs bearing the new name are expected to be erected this summer, according to the AMA. AMA member Terry Barnard of Huron, Ohio, was touring on his motorcycle along Highway 321 in Blount County in October 1996 when an oncoming van bearing state senate license plates and driven by Koella turned left directly in front of him. Barnard struck the van and was killed. Witnesses reported the van driver briefly stopped, got out of the van, then got back in and drove off. Despite descriptions of the van and its special license plates, and the fact that Koella lived just up the road where the van had turned, police waited for nearly four hours after the accident before they interviewed Koella. When a grand jury determined he should face felony charges, Koelta pleaded "no contest" in May 1997 in a plea bargain to a misdemeanor charge of leaving the scene of a fatal accident He was fined $2500 and ordered to perform 30 days of community service. KoeIla died in January 1998 following emergency heart surgery. "Naming any highway a,fter the late senator is offensive to Terry's family and all sensible people," AMA vice president of communications Greg Harrision said. " aming a highway for Koella that ends on the very road where Terry Barnard was killed is nothing short of an 'in-your-face' action to his family and many friends." Team DeCecco's ApriIia World Superbike team has denied rumors of Andrew Stroud making a surprise appearance as the team's second rider in 1999, according to Cycle News contributor Darryl Flack. Aprilia is currently running just one rider, Australian Peter Goddard, although there have been suggestions that Stroud, who rode an ex-Muzzy Kawasaki in the ]998 World Superbike Series, has been approached to ride a factory RSV1000. "Who is this rider? Who is he riding for now? We are a one-rider team - that is our plan for this year," Aprilia team spokesman Gianluca Mont- Summercross slated for the L.A. Coliseum oto Motion·Inc. will bring Summercross to fhe Los Angeles Coliseum on July 10 - a supercross event that will feature Jeremy McGrath, who has already signed a contract to compete. Moto Motion is a company owned by former superbike racer Steve Mclaughlin, who in recent years has promoted Pro Superbike (a European road racing series) in ad di tion to several Grand Prix road races in Europe. More details on the even t will be released in the upcoming weeks, but tickets will be on sale as of Monday, April 26 from Ticketmaster, according to Mclaughlin. McGrath filmed a 3O-second conimerdal for the race that aired on ABC's coverage of the Indiana I'o'1is Supercross on April 25. M Jeremy McGrath and Summercross promoter Steve Mclaughlin pose tor a photo during a break from a television commercial they shot last week at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. iron said at the Australian round of the series. "We have a test rider, Alessandro AntoneIlo, who is riding in the Misano and Monza World Superbike rounds, but we have no plans to run a second bike. Aprilia wants to win the World Championship and we have definite plans to achieve that. This does not include a second rider this year." Stroud, meanwhile, is reportedly taking it easy on his brothers property in New Zealand and has no immediate racing commitments. Honda has put the venerable (and unchanged for '99, save graphics) XR600 back into its lineup after the much-anticipated, reputedly liquid-cooled/aluminum-framed replacement has seen delays in its development. "It's not a big secret that we're developing a replacement for the XR600," a spokesman said. "The good news is, when it comes, it will be fantanstic; the bad news, if any, is that we're not quite ready yet." Honda has indica ted it will officiall y announce all of its "new" new models in September at the dealer show, though we'll try to bring you information about the new bike sooner. Continental Tire conducted a test of its new dirt track tire on the asphalt half 'mile at Myrtle Beach Speedway in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, on April 9. The analysis came at the behest of MARS officials after Continental's eMS and CM8 tires were approved for AMA dirt track competition. The results of the test on the asphalt were positive, and MARS has approved the Continentals for its upcoming doubleheader at Myrtle Beach Speedway, which is scheduled for May 14-15. Malaysian Grand Prix winner Kenny Roberts Jr. and his Suzuki teammate Nobuatsu Aoki were each given a hero's welcome at the company's Hamamatsu, Japan, headquarters after traveling from Malaysia to Japan. Osamu Matsuoka, Suzuki's managing director and executive general manager of the motorcycle division, welcomed the two riders to the head office. "I have to thank Suzuki and all the guys in my team for the win at Sepang," Roberts said. "Suzuki has been great - they've given me everything I want. My final goal for this year is to try and win the World Championship. Winning the first round is merely the first-step. 1 will certainly be trying for the double at Motegi. (the site of round two of the series in Japan)." A series of interagency off-highway vehicle planning and management workshops will be held at Western Montana College in Dillon, Montana, the week of May 17-21. The workshops are being sponsored by the Forest Service, BLM, Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks, and the National Off-Highway Vehicle Conservation Council (NOHVCC). A group of speakers, consisting of the most-experienced OHV managers in the country, will outline several objectives, including understanding user needs, successful planning and management strategies, becoming better acquainted with research data available to aid in analyzing and mitigating impacts, and to observe equipment that is available for constructing and maintaining motorized trails. The first workshop is designed as an overview for decision makers, such as district rangers, forest supervisors, BLM field managers and state parks managers. The second workshop is more in-depth and is designed for district recreation managers, planners and resource specialists. There is also limited space available for interested OHV club members, OHV users and enthusiasts. For more information, contact Kim Ryherd, 800/348-6487. The fourth annual Porterville Motorcycle Rally will be held in the Southern Sierra Mountains in historic Porterville, California, May 28-31. Some 120 motor. cyclists from around the world are expected to take part in the event. Entry forms are now available for the 1999 Aprilia RS250 Cup Challenge Series. The four-race series will be held during the summer and will feature a payback purse structure for each race. To obtain an entry form or for more information, call Zero Gravity Racing at 805/388-8805. 1

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