Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

• Voices America's weekly motorcyclenewspaper V o lume XXXVI Sharon Clayton. President Michael Klinger. Publisher Editorial Paul Carruthers. Editor Kit Palmer. Associate Editor Scott Rousseau. Associate Editor Keith Bush. Assistant Editor/Copy Editor Matt Freeman. Assistant Editor Alan Cathcart. European Editor David R. Holther, Copy Editor Advertising Western States (714) 751-7433 Terry Pratt. National Acrounts Manager Mark Thome. Western Sales Manager Forrest Hayashi. Western Sales Manager Rhonda Crawford, Ad Coordinator Bridgett Bobrofsky, Assistant Advertising Eastern St ates (770) 934-7850 Greg Mitchell. Eastern Accounts Manager JimClark. Eastern Sales Manager Carla Allen. Ad Coordinator Marketing & Pro mo tio n Mark Thome. Director Forrest Hayash i, Manager Kory Klinger. Dealer Representatitx New Media Development Kory Klinger. Site Manager Classified Ads Alicia Franklin Graphics and Production Mandv Loo, Art Director Aman-da Wollny. Lead Graphic Artist Paul Fisher, Graphic A rtist Ad mi nistration Judv Klinger. Coordinator Pa~ Klein , Ad ministrat ive As sistant AccountinglData Processing Donna Bryan-Diamond. AIR Coordinator Geneva Repass, Assistant The resa Milburn. Credit Manager Circulatio n Alma Anguiano, Circulation Manager Carol Maggio. Processing Coordinator Joy tau, Dealer Coordinator Donna Sharp, Billing Coordinator Service and Support Shannon Clark. Receptionist Jim Olson, Serviceand Support -~----- National HeadllJlA[1l:J:S 3505·M Ca d illac Ave.•Costa Mesa, CA 92626 5084 P.O. Box 5084, Costa Mesa. CA 92628(71 4) 751·7433FAX (714) 751,6685 East e rn O ff ice 4188 First Ave., Tucker. GA 30084 P.O. Box 805. Tucker, GA 30085-0805 (770) 934-7850 FAX(770) 934-3112 e-mail editor@cyclenews.com subscribe@cyclenews.com advertisin gfscyclenews.com Internet http:/ /www.cyclcncws.com CycJ.II: ..rs (lJ5I'S 141·).10)~ published weekly exCept tho . las!: two weeks of the calendar year forS58..OO per ytW by CycleNews.fnc.•J505.M CadillacAvenue, CostaMesa. CA 92626. Periodicals Pe-tege Paid at Costa Mesa. ~ and at add itional mailing offler. Cmada Post International Publications Mail 15466 15. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Cycle Stows. P.O. Boll. 5084 C(Kb.M~ CA 9262&-50801. . To determine the expiration date of your subscription, check the four numbers on the firsl line of your add ress label, The first two digits indicate the I.lsi issue numb er you'll receive f and the lut two chu.ldrrs indicate the yeM-o the l.aslIssue. Subscription rates: Rates for the United State and tts possess sions for one veer (SO issues), $58.00; two years 000 Issues), S11 1.OO; six months (25 issues), 529.00; trial sub 05 Issues), s) $21. 0, Canada and Foreign, one year (SO issue , $105.00; two 0 )'ears 0 00 issuesl, $195.00; sill months (25 issues), $55.00;trial . sub 0 5 i......ues), $42.00. Cycle NeM welcomes unsolicited editorial material including stories, cartoons, photos, etc. Such material, if published, become the exclusive property of Cycle News. Reprinting in s s whole or part only by permisrion of the publisher. Adverttsing rate and circulation information .....111 be sent upon s request SeeS.R.DS . W/BD'A V 1lTI..r ~ AUDITED CIRCULA TION Printe d in U.S .A. 4 Co~yrigh Cycle N~ws. lnc. 1999 TradeDW'kCycle NfW5 . registered U.s. Patent Offitt. All rights reserved. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Pichon's version . The purpose of this letter is io give my vers ion of the incident that led the AMA to fine me for $3000 at the Mount Morris Mot ocrossNa tiona l, a nd to ask some questions. 1) Is it normal that the professional riders who are providing the show at a National a re not assigne d a s pecific pa rking area for their rental cars? In the absence of so mebody d irectin g the pa rkin g a reas, I e n ded up p arkin g on a wrong (but not signaled) spot in Mou nt Morris, which led to a succession of messy situations and a heavy fine - but who was wrong in the first place? 2) Sho u ld we be th at pen ali zed for not ha vin g h ea rd appeal s throu g h a so u nd system barely audi ble from our pits to rem ove a ce rtain rental car, of which we do n' t know the license-pla te nu mb er by heart anyway - es pecially my dad. who d oesn' t speak Eng lish? 3) Is it normal that the curre nt number-five AMA rider, who has never been involved in a controversial or dangerou s race sit uation in six yea rs of AMA Pro ra ci n g (a nd tw o num be r- one 125cc plates), is heavily fined for a "parking" incide nt? After I have given a pe rson al apology jo Mrs. Coombs. the promoter of th e eve nt. and have raced aft er the incident to poor 10th and 11th finish es in the 250cc class for a total of $400? 4) How d oes this compare to previous $600 or $800 fines given by the same referee, Duke Finch, to othe r riders for dangerous riding or fights on the track in front of the fans? Duke Finch accused me of having T-boned a rid er at the St. Louis Supercross in 1996, on ly to be forced to apol ogize whe n it was proved that he had mistaken ano ther rider for me. At the Atlanta Supercross in 1996, I had to jump off my bike over a 70-foot tripl e in ord er to avoid a rid er who had crashed because the ar ea was not properly signaled by a flagman. I was in the lead of the series an d could have lost it, or broken a leg in the incident. which inv olved the respo nsibili ty of an AMA member. I was unhappy. but my feelin g is that anyone can make a mistake some day an d that the ma tter shou ld not be pursu ed to the "fu ll exte nt of the law" for tha t - as I am today. I just hope that th e amount of m y fine is not related to those oth er old incid en ts, or bec ause of the fac t th at I am French and that I have announced that I would be goi ng back to Eu ro pe at the end of the sea so n. Th e truth is that I en jo yed the fan s and th e ra cin g in America, but any body with a family can und ers tand tha t I can't be happy racing her e while U.S. Immigration wo n' t let my family enter the country in 2000 anym ore - a matt er t hey h a ve al rea dy advised me of. Anybody (riders, spectators . journalists) who has been involved in an overly inflexible; aggressive, non- wan ting-t ou nderstand securi ty-crew incid ent (anyw here, includin g a motocross race) also knows tha t it can be blown ou t of p roportion. America n riders try very ha rd a nd take big chances for a sma ll purse, ye t we ofte n d on't get th erespect th at I think we dese rve. Now, at the las t mi nute, I' ve he ard that Honda has used this incid ent to fire me . T hi s is so rid iculo u s i t's a lmos t funn y. Aga in, I might miss the fans and the racing in Am erica, but certainly not the politics. Micka el Pichon 51. Aubin, France Pichon was fired by American Honda. Tile following is a second letter from Pichon, thi» one mailed to American Honda... Editor I can't think in the history of U.s . factory team racin g of a rid er be ing fired the way I was - althoug h I can remember (incidents) of drugs, hotel d estruction, racers (even team mates) fighting in the middle of the race track . in front of fans and television came ras, and one (at least ) of them bein g a Team Honda rid er with a number-on e plate. I ha ve been supporting the team in tes tin g last wi nter w hen everyone else was hurt, an d hurt in g m y self in th e process. I have ra ced to five pod iums o u t of 16 races th is ye a r, h a ve n o t missed one test , autogra p h sessio n or p ho to shoot ever since I've rid den for Hon da. I might not be the easies t rider to coach , bu t when I have put pr essure o n the team. it a lways was w ith performing better in mind. I feel ready to race the continua tion of the ou td oor se ries if Hon d a was to reconsider its d ecisio n toward me before Ju ne 7, or to discu ss the settlemen t. But I feel th is excep tio na lly h a rs h action agai nst me has not bee n taken fairly and in context. Mickae l Picho n 51. Au bin, Fran ce Pichon vs. Honda Pro Parker I received you r fax and was very su rprised and d isappoin ted with its conI have been going to AMA racin g events tent. Altho ugh you men tion an "investi for manv vears. And wh at I have witnessed f;o~ them this year is a bunch of ga tion," Honda has not request ed m y version of "the Mount Morris incident." crap. Let's take Lima, for ins tance: Scott I am not tr yin g to justify my conduct Parker is a tru e champion and for him to with Mr. ~ yers, but I think it could a t give a trophy away on the victory podileast be put in context. um says it a ll. An d what a bo ut Mat After a promis in g p odium a t th e Mladin alm ost hitting an ambu lance? o pene r of th e ou tdoor se r ies, I have If this is the best they can d o, then let since bee n struggling with an injury. In someone else give it a try - this is getting Mount Morris, I was entirely focused on to be a bunch of B.S. I th ink th ey a re riding my bes t in order to come back in making up the rul es as they go. It's the th e top 10 of the s ta nd ings . Betwe en tw o pra cti ce ses sions. I realize that my dad is ge tting invol ved in a pa rkin g incident. with security wanting to arrest him. He is used to more flexib le se cu rit y back h o m e and does not s p ea k English . Especially consi de ring thei r visa pro blem s wit h U.S. Im migra tion . I am ve ry pro tec tive o f m y famil y because I am the reason they are in this country. Ten minut es a fte r the incident, I am ask ed to sign a $3000 check or I can' t race in the even t. I am enco u raged to do so by the team. I do so, then I hav e to Scotl Parker (right) wasn 't over ly impressed with how a po log ize to th e promoter th ings went down In the Li ma Half Mile. and I do so. INSID E : ISSU #26 JULY 7. 1999 E FEATURES ROAD RACING Round 7 - World Championship Road Racing Series from Assert, Holland........6 Round 7 - World Superbike . Cha mpionship Series from Misa no, Ita ly 10 DIRTTRACK Roun d 6 - AMA Gra nd ational Dirt Track Series from Lima, Ohio .......16 Round 3 - AMA /SuperTrapp SuperTracker Series from Lima, Ohio 20 TRiALS Rounds 13 & 14 - World Observed Tria ls Cha mp ions hip from West Greenwich, Rhod e Island SUPERBIKE FEATURE SECTION Laguna Seca World Superbi ke previe w Anthony Gobert interview A lap of Laguna Seca with Doug Chandler Racer Test: Cas trol Ho nda CBR600 World Supersport bikes Racer Test: Harl ey-David son VRl ooo 30 32 36 DRIVINGIMPRESSION 1999 Mazda B3ooo/4OOO pickup trucks 39 IN TERVIEWS Summercros s promoter Steve Mclaughlin Team KTM's Shane Watts 40 42 22 OFF·ROAD Loretta Lynn 's Two-Day ISDE Qualifier from Hurricane Mills, Ten nessee .........44 26 28 HILLCUMB Round 4 - AMA National Championship Hillcli mb Series from Avoca , New York ..46 MOTOCROSS Roun d 9 - World Championship 250cc Motocross Series from St. Jean D' Angely, France .48 DEPARTMENTS PRODUCT EVLAUATION NEWPRODUCTS EVENTS RESULTS CALENDAR WAf'lT ADS : LEADERBOARD INTHE PADDOCK LOOKINGBACK 47 47 50 66.68 70 .78 94 96 96 ON THE FRONT COVER An thony Go be rt w ill try a nd u p hold AMA Su pe rbike racing hon or wh en he competes in the World Superbike rou nd a t Lag u na Seca . Photo by He nny Ray Ab ra ms . Inse t: Ca thcar t rid es the VR1000. Phot o by Kel Edge.

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