Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

In the Wind Marnicq Bervoets (Kaw) won both motos of the Brazilian 250cc Motocross Grand Prix to further extend his championship points lead "over Pit "Bierer (Kaw), who tallied a 3-6 score on the day, to 17 points, 192-175. Bervoets beat Mickael Maschio (Yam) and Bierer in the first moto before topping David VuiILemin (Yam) and Ryan Hughes (Hon) in the second moto. Hughes finished fourth in the first moto and is now fourth in the series point standings after six rounds, with·l34 points Doug Blackwell (Yam) beat Ty Davis (Yam) and Michael Lafferty (KTM) to win the fifth round of the AMA National Enduro Series, held in Wellston, Ohio, on May 16. Davis continues to lead the championship point standings over Randy Hawkins, fourth in Ohio, by 31 points, 122-91. John Hamilton Jr. (Tri) scored his firstever National win when he topped Ted Wilkins (Rtx) and Mike Livingston (Hon) to win the 540cc class in the opening round of the AMA National HiIIclimb Series, held in Middlebury, Indiana, on May 16. In the 800cc class, Bobby Templeton (H-D) scored the win over Lou Gerencer (H-D) and Greg Williams (Hon). The Honda team of Johnny Campbell, Greg Bringle, Tory Bostrom, Craig Smith, Jonah Street and Ron Wilson combined to win the 24 Hours of Le Fud in Plaster City, California, May 15-16. The six-rider team combined for a new record of 1360 miles to top the Yamahamounted team of Ron Lawson, Gary Jones, Tim Staab and Garth Sweetland by 170 miles. Third place went to the Kawasaki-mounted team of Sal Garcia, Neil Goldsmith, Jason Hunter, Tim Pfeiffer, Andy Stevens and Robert Barnum. Five-time World <;:hampion Mick Doohan underwent 3 " hours of surgery on Friday, May 14, to repair his broken collarbone, left forearm and right leg injuries he suffered during a qualifying crash on May 7 in Jerez, Spain. Dr. "Arthur Ting, Dr. Kevin Louie and Dr. Trig G. McClellan operated on Doohan in Menlo Park, California, using six screws and a metal plate in Doohan's forearm and 12 screws, two plat~ and a bone graft to repair his broken right tibia. I I ; ii Q §! . ~ i 2 Yoshimura Suzuki's Mat Mladin has been fined $1500 by the AMA for his actions at the Laguna Seca round of the AMA Superbike National Championship on May 2, and he also faces the possibility of a one-race suspension, according to AMA Pro Racing's Merrill Vanderslice. "Mat's been fined $1500 and there's ilie possibility of a one-race suspension if he chooses not to write a couple of apology letters," Vanderslice said. "He's in violation of two or three rules: not attending rider briefings and attempting to stop or delay a race. Basically, his actions have been detrimental to the sport of motorcycle racing, with his public display of temperament. We've tolerated this for quite some time now, but "il's time we put a stop to it. It's not what he says - after all, it's a free country - but he's being unprofessional and, just like any other sport, there are penalties. If you yell at a baseball umpire, you get taken out of the game. In NASCAR, they can put you at the back of the grid. It's nothing to do with what he says in print or anywhere else, it's the public displays that are unprofessional." Mladin was adamant that he didn't want the red-flagged AMA Superbike National at Laguna Seca restarted when it was stopped with seven laps remaining, and h was involved in an argument between officials, himself and other riders a t the start-finish line. Following the race, Mladin was a no-show at the postrace press conference. Mladin has been asked to write letters of apology to AMA road racing manager Ron Barrick and to the Laguna Seca media office. Yoshimura Suzuki's Jason Pridmore is also in hot water with the AMA. Pridmore has been fined $300 for "not attending three rider briefings," said Vanderslice. According to the AMA, rider attendance at the briefings is mandatory. Cycle News has learned that PACE Motor Sports is attempting to acquire the Oklahoma City Half Mile roul)d of the AMA Grand National Dirt Track Series, scheduled for July 17, from current event promoter Ronnie Jones. Although PACE officials declined to comment at press time, sources close to the deal confirmed that it is in the· works, subject to review and approval by the AMA. U the acquisition is completed, the event would be handled by PACE Motor Sports' Mike Kidd, a former Grand National Champion, out of PACE's Dallas, Texas, office. Speaking of the Oklahoma City Half Mile, riders wishing to test their Supertrackers equipment will be granted free track time in conjunction with the VDTRA Vintage National scheduled for July 18. For more information, contact Johnny Isaacs at 918/836-6999 or e-mail him at: tprigo@swbelJ.net. The Du Quoin 5O-Miler has been given the green light and will officially. become a big part of the huge dirt track racing weekend schedul.ed for July 24-25 at the Du Quoin State Fairgrounds. "The testing for the 5D-miler went 'exception. ally well," IMDA president Tim Coziahr said. "The riders who participated in the test provided great input. With their cooperation, we put together a format for the SO-miler that is going to have the first pit stops and rolling starts in the history of AMA dirt track. It's going to be a spectacular race." Marlboro Yamaha's Max Biaggi ended up the quickest of the 500cc Grand Prix riders who tested at the new Valencia Circuit in Spain, May 12-13. Biaggi lapped at 1:35.846 on the final day to top· Kanemoto Honda's John Kocinski, who lapped at 1:36.119. World Championship points leader Alex Criville was third at 1:36.331, with Norick Abe, Juan Borja, Tadayuki Okada, Carlos Checa and Alex Barros also circulating in the 1:36 range. Suzuki's Kenny Roberts Jr. ended up 13th after silting out the second day of the test. "I'm tired, but happy," Biaggi said. '1 tried two different bikes, one with my normal setup and the other with a different chassis. It's not a whole new chassis, but one we tested during the winter - that has since had some little modifications. They both seem to work well here. We also did a lot of tire testing, though to be honest, I think the track surface will be very different by the time we come here to race in September." Japan's Shinya Nakano was the fastest of the 250cc Grand Prix riders at the Valencia test, lapping at 1:37.380 on the second day. World Champion Loris Capirossi was second best at 1:37.811, with Tohru Ukawa, Valentino Rossi and Franco Battaini rounding out the top five on the time sheets. Todd Henning is still recovering at the Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital in Santa Rosa, California, after suffering serious head injuries in his crash at Sears Point Raceway on April 18 during the AHRMA/ AMA Vintage Days West event. Henning was in a coma for five days and was semiconscious for seven more before being moved out of intensive care and into the neurology ward. Henning is still suffering from bruising to the front of the brain, and his second type of head injury is known as Diffuse Axonal Injury (OAt), the type of injury suffered by babies with shaken-baby syndrome. Henning is hoping to be moved to the Braintree Rehabilitation Hospital in Massachusetts, though he will have to be moved via air ambulance and his insurance company has balked at covering the cost of transportation. Henning's family and friends are currently trying to raise money to offset some of his medical expenses and to transport him to Massachusetts at a cost estimated to be betweeu $12,000 and 22,000. Donations can be sent to the Todd Henning Memorial Fund, Cape Cod Bank and Trust, 103 Shank Painter Road, Provincetown, MA 02657. E-mail can be sent to Henning at todd454@yahoo.com, or regular mail can be sent to 656 Commercial St., Provincetown, MA 02657. Kevin Curtain (Yam) and Andrew Pitt (Kaw) split wins in the fourth round of the Shell Advance Australian Superbike Championship at Phillip Island on May 16. Pitt scored his first-ever superbike win in the wet first race, topping Adam Fergusson (Hon). Curtain also topped Fergusson in the second race. Rules for the Australian Production Superbike class have been revised after a meeting of the race team managers at the Phillip Island round of the Australian Superbike Championship on May 16, according to Cycle· News contributor Darryl Flack. For the 1999 series, Motorcycling Australia sought to combine the traditional FIM-based Australian Superbikes with the l000cc Production Superbike class that was launched in 1998, in a bid to shore up dwindling grids. After struggling against the superbikes in the opening rounds, the new 1000c Production SUperbike rules allow for the porting of cylinder heads, modification of the original valves, the replacement of camshafts, and the alternator may be removed. The minimum weight for the superbikes has also been increased from 356 pounds to 363 pounds. At round four in Phillip Island, the total entry for the class was 18 - at a round that is traditionally the strongest venue of the year. An AMA Dirt Track Grand Championship warmup weekend has been scheduled for June 4-6, with lawrenceburg Speedway hosting an Amateur short-track event on Friday night, June 4. On June 5, the AMA will hold an Amateur and Youth mile at the Indiana State Fairgrounds. In addition, there will be an AHRMA Vintage National mile at the fairgrounds on Sunday, June 6. Information on the short track is available' by calling 513/662-7759; information on the mile is available at 330/494-8410; and AHRMA event information is available by calling 715/8429699. THQ Inc. has signed on as the title sponsor of the U.S. Open, a supercross event scheduled for the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada, October 810. THQ develops, publishes and distributes interactive software for a variety of hardware platforms, including PC CD Rom, Nintendo and Sony Play-Station, and they are currently developing "Championship Motocross" - an interactive game that features Ricky Carmichael. THQ joins Fox Racing, Mazda Trucks and Maxxis Tires in sponsoring the event that will pay $300,000 in purse money, with the overall winner taking home $100,000. In addition, promoters of the event have announced tha t White Brothers will sponsor an invitational four-stroke race that will take place at the THQ U.S. Open. Opening night, October 8, will feature four-stroke qualifying, mini practice and a freestyle exhibtion, with October 9 and 10 featuring the U.S. Open and the four-stroke and mini-class finals. For more information, call 702/566-1453. Six-time AMA Supercross Champion Jeremy McGrath will appear on "The Late Late Show" with Craig Kilborn on Wednesday, May 19, as the second guest, following supermodel/ actress Heidi Klume. Extreme sports star Shaun Palmer, another Lynch Archer publicrelations client, will appear on "The David Letterman Show" on June 22. Seventy-two motorcycling greats have been named to the Motorcycle -Hall of Fame by the American Motorcycle Heri tage Founda tion board of trustees, bringing the total number of inductees to 196. This year's inductees were chosen from a list of more than 500 candidates representing all aspects of motorcycling da ting back to the turn of the century. The 72 honorees were picked after three rounds of blind balloting by six committees of experts from all fields of motorcycling. The new inductees are as follows: J.e. ~gajanian, Giacomo Agostini, David Aldana, Johnny Allen, Leonard Andres, e.R. Axtell, Speedy Babbs, Bill Bagnall, David Bailey, Gary Bailey, Bill Baird, Steve Baker, Earl Bowlby, Bruce Brown, Max Bubeck, Dick Burleson, Kel Carruthers, Danny Chandler, Russ Collins, William H. Davidson, Willie G. Davidson; Roger DeCoster, Trevor Deeley, John DeSoto, Dave Despain, Tony DiStefano, Dick Dorresteyn, ¥von DuHamel, Edison Dye, AI Eames, Bud Ekins, Don Emde, Malcolm Forbes, Walt Fulton Sr., Paul Goldsmith, AI Gunter, Bob Hannah, Bob Hansen, Rick Johnson, Harry J.R. Kelly Jr., Evel Knievel, Brad Lackey, Eddie Lawson, Ken Maely, Victor McLaglen, Steve McQueen, Chuck Minert, Putt Mossman, Eddie Mulder, Jody Nicholas, Freddie Nix, Bruce Penhall, Jack Penton, Preston Petty, Jim Pomeroy, Wayne Rainey, Cal Rayborn, J.N. Roberts, George Roeder, Larry Roeseler, Roxy Rockwood, Kevin Schwantz, Freddie Spencer, Sammy Tanner, Terry Vance, Skip Van Leeuwen, Don Vesco, Craig Vetter, Jeff Ward, Jimmy Weinert, Leroy Winters, Ed Youngblood. The inductees will be honored at a public ceremony at the opening of the new Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum in Pickerington, Ohio, on Friday, July 9. For the second year in a row, the entire Toyota Canada Superbike Championship will be featured on Speedvision's "Two-Wheeled Tuesday" motorcycle-racing broadcasts. A preview show will air on Tuesday, May 18, at 8 p.m. (Eastern), with the first race

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