Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

In the Wind Paul Edmondson (Suz) and Fred Andrews (Yam) scored the overall wins at the McArthur Two-Day ISDE Qualifier at McArthur, Ohio, May 29-30. Each day also counted as separate rounds (six and seven) of the AMA Acerbis ational Enduro Series. Edmondson topped Andrews, Mike Lafferty (KTM), Randy Hawkins (Yarn) and Ty Davis (Yam) on the first day of competition, and Andrews finished ahead of Davis, Doug Blackwell (Yam), Edmondson and Destry Abbott (Ka~) on the second day. Davis heads the National Enduro Series points table with 163, followed by Hawkins with 123 and Lafferty with 118.• Tommy Ahvala (G-G) won both rounds (six and seven) of the AMA NATC Observed Trials Series in Washougal, Washington, May 29-30. On Saturday, Ahvala finished ahead of Geoff Aaron (Bet), Ryon Bell (Mon), Raymond Peters (Bul) and Dennis Sweeten (Mon). On Sunday, Ahvala scored the win ahead of Peters, Bell, Aaron and Sweeten. Aaron, however, still holds the series points lead over Ahvala, 168-150. Bell is third with 1138. Wataru Yoshikawa (Yam) won the Suzuka 200K race on May 30 in Suzuka City, Japan, the fourth round of the AllJapan Superbike Championship. The victory was Yoshikawa's first of the year and sent a clear signal that Yamaha's new YZF-R7 superbike is ready for the Suzuka 8 Hours on July 25, the most significant race on the Japanese calendar. Second place went to Makoto Tamada (Hon), with championship leader Keiichi Kitagawa (Suz) finishing third. Honda's Shinichi Ito, the 1998 All-Japan Superbike Champion, crashed out of the race unhurt after passing Tarnada for second on lap 32, three laps from the end. Kitagawa leads the Japanese Championship with 67 points, Yoshikawa moved up to second with 57, and Suzuki's Akira Ryo sits third with 46 points, no im provemen t after crashing in the Casio Triangle chicane, unhurt. Grand Prix racer Regis Laconi -finished sixth on a Yamaha YZF-R7, entering the race for superbike experience at Suzuka prior to the 8 Hours race. I I ; lii o • - I ai GI § .., 2 Is Makoto Tamada destined for greatness? Maybe, according to Cycle News contributor Tracy Hagen. The 23-yearold rider is in his fifth year of road racing and his first year on a superbike. Tamada, riding for a Honda satellite team, earned pole at the Suzuka 200K with a time of 2;09.313, three-tenths better than second-best Shinichi Ito, the HRC-sponsored rider with an RC45 that is believed to be equal to the World Superbike Castrol Hondas. Prior to the 200's one pit stop, Tamada rode flawlessly and had a 2.9-second lead on the field. However, the satellite Honda team's pit work was significantly slower than the works teams, particularly Yamaha, and Tamada lost eight seconds of track position. Last year Tamada finished a respectable fourth in the All-Japan 250cc Championship on a Honda RS250. On May 29, 36-year-old Jack Miller died when he crashed while practicing at Glen Helen Raceway Park in San Bernardino, California. A memorial service for Miller is scheduled for Saturday, June 5 at 2 p.m. at 3630 Brianhurst Dr., Riverside, California 92507. For more information, call Glen Helen Raceway Park manager Laurie Yarnell at 909/384-9342. The Suzuka Circuit press department announced the preliminary teams for the Suzuka 8 Hours on May 28, and there are tentatively four Americans scheduled to participate. Colin Edwards II will ride with his World Superbike teammate Aaron Slight on the number11 Honda, historically the number of the premier Honda team. The two-time defending event champions, Shinichi Ito and Tohru Ukawa, are also entered for Honda, with Tadayuki Okada and Alex Barros on a third factory RC45. The biggest buzz, though, was Honda's shocking announcement that Freddie Spencer will come out of retirement for this year's 8 Hours and will race an HRC-prepared RC45 on Dunlop tires with John Kocinski. The fourth American entered for the race is Doug Polen. Polen will ride a Kawasaki ZX-9R in the X-Formula support class with Moto-Liberty racer Takahito Mori. The Yamaha entries of significance for the Suzuka 8 Hours are World Superbike factory rider Noriyuki Haga with Red Bull Yamaha Grand Prix rider Regis Laconi, and All-Japan factory riders Wataru Yoshikawa and Takeshi Tsujimura. According to Suzuki spoke man at the Suzuka 200K, Suzuki will field only its four All-Japan superbike riders in the endurance event. At present, Suzuki has no intention of calling their Grand Prix or World Superbike riders over for the race. Kawasaki has announced just one of their factory teams for the 8 Hours, and the lead rider is Shinya Takeishi - the superbike lap record holder' at Suzuka - and Tamaki Serizawa. Kawasaki plans to announce the second factory team later, which should answer the question regarding World Superbike rider Akira Yanagawa's status for the race as well as the status of Kawasaki's third All-Japan factory superbike rider, Hitoyasu Izutsu. The final item of note from the Suzuka 8 Hours press release is that Honda plans their first public demonstration of the "Honda Humanoid" during the race weekend. The Honda Humanoid is a robot that can walk erect on humanlike legs under its own control, including up and down stairs. The exact duties of the Honda Humanoid for the race weekend are still to be defined, but a Honda spokesman indicated on May 30 that the Humanoid might present the checkered flag and trophy to the winning team of the 4 Hours support race. Former motocross and supercro s champion Jeff Ward finished second behind Kenny Brack in the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday, May 31. Ward followed Brack across the line and was one of just three riders completing the full race distance. Ward also led three laps. The Californian earned $583,150 for finishing second. Former 500cc World Champion Kevin Schwantz escaped serious injury after crashing out of the Car Quest Auto Parts 300 at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Saturday, May 29. After qualifying an impressive 12th for the race, Schwantz spun and hit the wall on the 71st of 200 laps in his Value America-backed car. He had to be cut out of the badly damaged car and was air-lifted to Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte with what was initially reported to be a fractured pelvis and a brain contusion. Schwantz was held overnight in the hospital but has since returned to his home - bruised and battered, but otherwise okay. According to VP Racing Fuels, Pit Pro will have a special lower-octane gaso- Rees heads Foxhi11125/ 250cc GP doubleheader I n what could only be described as terrible conditions, Dutch rider Remy Van Rees sent the World 250cc elite reeling, as he won the British 250cc Grand Prix round at Foxhill, England, May 30. Heavy rain caused the British GP to be a muddy mess, and it wa the rider from Holland on the Kawasaki who showed that he can ride not only the sand but the mud as well. Van Rees, who had never won a 250cc moto before, took the overall with 1-2 results. Van Rees took full advantage of the misfortunes of Yamaha France's David Vuillernin, who was leading the first moto easily when his bike's motor blew. '1 felt really good on this track," Vuillemin said. "I had no problems and was leading easily when my motor stopped." VuilIernin came back in the second moto, passed Van Rees for the lead, and ran off with a seemingly easy win. '1 showed that the championship is not over," Vuillemin said. "I proved that in these conditions, I am the fastest guy." Second place in Foxhill went to England's Paul Cooper, on the Husqvarna, with 3-5 results, while third overall went to American Ryan Hughes, on the Pamo Honda, with 2-9 scores. For Hughes, it was a problematic day as he fought through severe pain and the treacherous conditions. "I hurt my knee in the morning qualification," Hughes said. "In the first moto it was not too bad, but in the second it hurt like hell. I'm happy with third overall, though." Series leader Marnicq Bervoets, on the Winfield Kawasaki, could only produce 1310 results, but he still remains in the points lead with 201 points, followed by teammate Pit Beirer with 194, Frederic Bolley with 179, Hughes with 158 and Vuillernin with 144. Italian Claudio Federici, on the works Yamaha, claimed 1-1 results and climbed to within just five points of series leader Alessio Chiodi in the World Championship 125cc MX Series following the Foxhill125cc GP round. For Federici, it was his first-ever 1-1 results, and with Chiodi posting 2-0 results, the series points standings is now 205 points for Chiodi and 200 points for Federici. "1 am very happy, the championship is now alive," Federici said. British rider Jamie Dobb claimed second overall at Foxhill with 6-2 scores, while third place went to Belgian Steve Ramon with 4-5 results. Americans Mike Brown and Jeff Dement both had disappointing days, Brown posting a first-moto DNF and a second-moto fourth place, and Dement claiming 19-11 moto finishes. Brown is currently third in the series with 145 points, and Dement is eighth with 72 points. In Laket, Czech Republic, on May 30, another Italian - Andrea Bartolini - found success at the 500cc Czech Grand Prix. Bartolini, on the Team Rinaldi Yamaha YZ400, scored the overall victory after claiming 1-2 results. "The bike is perfect," Bartolini said. "I got a holeshot in the first moto, and that helped to set up my first-race win. In the second race, I was a little surprised by (Yves) Demaria (who passed Bartolini and went on to win the moto), but I still got the overall, and that's what is important." Bartolini finished ahead of Team Maddii Husqvama's Yves Demaria, who claimed a 5-1 score, with Darryll King placing third place with 2-6 results. Defending champ Joel Smets, of the Husaberg Force team, was unable to score any points in Loket after DNFing both motos, as did the two KTM four-stroke riders Shayne King and Peter Johansson. American Trampas Parker claimed 4-11 for the day for sixth overall. Bartolini is now on top of the series leaderboard with 157 points, followed by Demaria with 113, Darryll King with 99, Alessandro puzar with 96 and Smets with 95. Parker is sixth with 86 points. - line for sale at the Mammoth Motocross . this year, beginning on June 16. A highoctane fuel isn't needed because of Mammoth's high altitude, according to VP. For more information, call 909/6749167. Michelin North America has announced plans to test-market a motocross tire through Sam's Club membership warehouses. Beginning in June, the Michelin M12, an intermediate-terrain motocross tire, will be available at selected Sam's Clubs in Texas, Utah; Ohio and Colorado. Sam's Club will use data from those markets to evaluate customer interest in motocross tires. 1£ the response is favorable, Sam's Club will expand the program throughout its organization, offering motocross enthusiasts a Michelin tire made expressly for Sam's Club. The yet-to-benamed tire would be available next spring and wouldn't conflict with any Michelin mofocross products offered through specialized motorcycle dealers, according to Michelin. "There are a number of recreational off-road riders who don't regularly patronize motor- cycle dealerships and who may not have any particular brand loyalty," said Mike Severide, manager of Michelin orth America's Two Wheel department. "We hope to reach this group through Sam's Club and convert these casual riders into long-term Michelin customers. Independent motorcycle dealers have been and continue to be integral to Michelin's success in orth America. We have no intention of putting our dealers in direct competition with a national retail chain." He added that Michelin will soon be adding several new motocross tires that will be available only through motorcycle dealers. Five-time World Champion Mick Doohan appeared in good spirits during an interview for the Australian Ten Network from his hotel near Silicon Valley, California, despite the heavy bruising he sustained in a practice crash a month ago, according to Cycle Nws contributor Darryl Flack. Sitting poolside, the Australian was upbeat about his rehabilitation and happy for the success of his rival and teammate Alex Criville, who enjoys a healthy lead in the 1999 500cc

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