Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Cycle News 1999 07 14

Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles

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The 0 Store a ens F ..,.----=== - - - -----, z " r u, u, w -s ~ ~ a. o r m e r SuperCTOSS a nd M oto cr o ss Nati on al Cha m pion Dav id Bailey was on e of several Oakley athletes who were on hand for the grand opening of the firsteve r Oakley retail stor e at the Irvine Spe ctrum in Irvine, Californi a, on July 2. Oakley' s mad scientist and chairman of the board, Jim jarma rd , donned a gas ma sk for this ph oto with Bailey. Tomasz Gollob (Jaw) claimed the victory at the Polish Speedway Grand Prix in Wroclaw, Poland, his hom e country, on July 5. Gollob led Swedes Ji mmy Nilsen (Jaw), Stefan Danno (GM) and reign ing World Champion Ton y Ricka rdss on (Jaw). Gollob now lead s the series standings over Nilsen, 61-56, whi le Rickardsso n is third, with 41 po ints. America n favori tes Greg Hancock a nd Billy Ham ill we re bo th elim ina ted prior to the main event; wit h Hancock slipping from th ird p lace in th e overa ll rankings to eig hth, so me 34 poi nts behin d Gollob . Doug Blackwell (Yam) record ed his third wi n of the AMA Na tional Cha m pio nsh ip Ha re Scra m b les Se ries at Chelsea , Vermo n t, on Jul y 4. The ru nner-up was Brian Garrahan (KTM), followed by Scott McLaughlin (Yam), Pat Garrahan (KTM) and Patrick Timothy (KTM). . Kevin Varnes (H-D) top ped Steve Beattie (H- D) and Da vid Rayburn (H-D) to wi n the AMA National Hot Shoe Champi o nsh ip Se ries ro un d in Frederick, Mar yland , on July 4. Varnes also extend ed his cha mpions hi p points lead over Beattie to eight poin ts , 67-59. In th e 600cc Expert main event, Ken Cool beth Jr. (Rtx) beat Dan Stanley (Rtx) a nd Rick Winsett Jr. (Rtx) to no t onl y take the win bu t also move within six po ints ofStanley in the title chase. Chris Hart (H- D) a n d Cory Ro th (Rtx) won th e Harl ey-Da vid son Spo rtster Per formance a n d 60 0cc Pro Spo r t main eve n ts , respec tively. Spud Walters (Yam) won the Sou nd of Thunder Fou r-Stroke MX rou nd in Ho llister Hills, Californ ia, on July 3, topping Donovan Mitchell and Nathan Woo ds . G FI Ra cin g hosted th e Tea m G ree n You th World Cha m p io nsh ips at Glen He len Raceway Park , July 3-4. Multiple class wi n ners inclu d ed Nic Pal uz z i (Cob) in the 50cc Stock and Modified (46) classes, Bru ce Ruth erford (KTM) in the 50cc Stock and Modified (7-8) and 60cc Modified (4-8) cla ss es, and Mi ke Aless i (Kaw), who pulled off win s in the 60cc Stock and Modified (9-11) and 80cc Sto ck and Mo d ified (7- 11) di vi sions. Ja mes Stewart was the top 80cc rid er , chalking u p wins in the Modified an d Stock (12-13) classes. John Terranova (Kaw) won the Funnybike class d uri ng the third round of the AMA/Pros tar West Coast Drag Racing Seri es at the Speed wo rld Mot orpl ex in Pho eni x, Arizona, July 3-5. Scott Vale ntine (Suz) won the Pro Mod ified class, w hile Scott Lew is (Kaw) won the Pro Stock class and Scott Bu ckley (Kaw) wo n the Pro Superbike class . .,£ - ~ ...., 2 The AMA officially annou nced the can cell ation of the Las Vegas round of the AMA Su perbike National Champions hi p on Jul y 1. The race, sche d u led for Las Vegas Motor Speedway, October 1-3, will not be repl aced on the sched ule, acco rd ing to AMA road race manager Ron Barrick. "We don't have any th ing currently to replace it," Barrick said on Tu esday, Jul y 6. Winfield Suz uki officially announced th e -sig ni ng of recentl y deposed Team . Honda mot ocrosser Mic kael Pichon to a contact that will see the Frenchman contesting the fina l five rou nds of the 250cc Wor ld Mo tocro ss Cha mpion s hip . Picho n's first race will be a t the Polish Grand Pri x on August 1, rid ing a factory Suzuki in the team that is ma naged by Sylvai n Geboers. "It's great tha t I have the chance to race the fina l pa rt of the season," Pichon said . "I have ridden a se mi-w orks ma ch ine in th e pas t few days and straight away I go t on very well wi th the bike. I am sure when I get my own machine set up just the wa y I li ke i t, thin g s will go w ell for both myself and Suzuki." Showtime Racin g Inc., Fox Racing In c. and No Fear Inc. have an nounced that they have reached an out -of-court set tlemen t in relation to the civil action that was filed earlier this year in the Superior Court of California in Santa Clara County. "Through the dedica ted efforts of No Fear and Fox, their involvement in the sport of supercross and mo tocross over the years, as well as bo th com p anies ' ultimate d esir e to su p port th e sports' most success ful racer of all time, Jeremy McGrath, No Fear and Fox have decid ed to tak e co n trol of a d is p u te that ultimately could have dam aged the sport of supercross a nd mot ocross for yea rs to come and have 'ha mmered out' a settlement th at was fa ir to a ll p a r t ie s involved ," sta ted a press release issued by No Fear. The AMA issued a Pro Competition Bulleti n on Jun e 28 stating that the cu rrent Supersport tire regu lations ar e presently in a process of revi ew by AMA Pro Racin g for possible implementation of changes by the 2000 road racing seaso n. "We are a wa re of man y opin ions of riders and tire manufacturers as to wh eth er the current rules establish the tru e technical qu alitie s of the available tires and wh er e Supersport racin g now s ta n ds com pa red w ith eig ht to 10 yea rs ago, " AMA na tio na l technica l mana ger Rob King wrote in the bull etin. "Ou r staff is re-eva luati ng many aspec ts of tire ru les, incl uding we t-weat he r perfo r ma nce, enforceability, an d marketing issu es. It is AMA Pro Racing' s desire to main tain the excellent com petition tha t exists in Supersport racing, and this can only be accomplished by the careful con sideration of suc h critical ru le adjustments." Cha ng ing numbers dept.: While Ant hony Gobe rt wi ll wear hi s cu s to ma ry number 95 in the World Superbik e race at Laguna Seca on July 11, his teammate Ben Bostrom w ill wear 'n u m b e r 90. Am eri can Honda 's Eric Bos tro m will sw itc h to number 91, with Yamaha 's Jami e Hac ki ng keeping his usual number 92. M ik e Sm ith will race with th e number 89 o n h is W hite End u ra ncebacked Honda RC45, with the Georgian repl acing the team ' s form er rider, JeanPierre [e an d at , Those are th e only five 'AMA Superbike racer s compe ting in the Ll.S. round . Tony Doran and Brian Parriott, meanwhil e, have been g ra n te d wild-card entries for the World Su pe rspo rt round at Laguna Seca. wi th both ridi ng Honda CBR600s. extended periods of high-level focus . The race lasted for two hou rs and it was very demanding. " With co nsig n me n ts co m ing in from across the country, the 1999 AMA Vin tage Motorcycle Days auction is sha ping up to be one of the best eve r, according to the AMA. The auction gets under way on Friday, July 9, from 8 a.rn. to 5 p.m . wi th registration , bik e d rop-off and viewing . The actual auc tio n begins on Satu rday, Ju ly 10, a t 4 p.m ., wit h bike pickup slated for Sunday, Ju ly 11, from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. For specific que stions about the motorcycles scheduled to be auctioned , call Jerry Wood at 207/5674250. Th e Sou th w est Vintage Racing Group w ill present th e CZ Wo rl d Champ ions hips a nd th e SV RG MX Seri es on Sund ay, July 25, at Ca rlsbad Racewa y in Carlsbad, Californ ia. Ten percent of the entry fees will go to the Craig Ande rson Benefit Fund. For more information, call 760/744-8052. Anyon e who is anyone in road racing will be at the Blue Fin in Mon terey, California , o n Thu rsday, Ju ly 8, one day prior to the start of World Superb ike actio n at La gun a Seca . Tro y Corser, Colin Edwards, Ben Bostrom and several other top stars wi ll be on hand for Sport Bike Night from 7 to 10 p.m. For more information, call FS Productions at 714/585-2930. American Suzuki will be giving away a limited-edition Kenny Roberts Jr. poster titled 'The Son Rises in the East" at the Suzu ki disp lay tent during th e World Superb ike Cha mpionship ro un d a t Laguna Seca Raceway in Mo nterey, California, July 9-11. In addition , members of Yoshimura Suzuki wi ll be signing au tographs at the Suzuki disp lay on Satu rday, Jul y 10, fro m 2 to 2:30 p.m . and on Sunday, July 11, from 10 to 10:30 a.m, Accordi ng to a let ter from s ix- time Wor ld Cha mpion Jim Redman that was accompanied by a Team Obsolete press release, the former Hon da factory rider has res ubmitted his forma l disciplinary complai nt aga ins t A HR MA's Jeff Smith, based on a n ea rlie r incid en t a t Daytona In ternational Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. Red man 's compla int is based on AH RMA rule 6.1.1I tha t prohi bits " p hy s ica l violence or abuse" and car ries a mand at ory o neyear suspension and a $500 fine, accord ing to Redman's letter. "Smith assau lted me and tried to ph ysicall y drag me off th e Team Ob sol et e Honda Six while I w a s being interview ed o n pit row," Redman states in his lett er. "Myaccusation is supported by written eyewitness s ta te me n ts fr om Da yton a Speed w ay staff an d by state me nts from other ind epend ent w itnesses." Th e letter closes wit h the follow ing sta tement from Red man : "Again, I request that an independent cou nsel be appointed to prosecute Sm ith. AH RMA will n ot bring him to justice. Smit h should not escape justice: He has esca ped justice for too long:' AMA Pro Thund er road racer Shawn Higb ee recently competed in his firstever AMA Na tiona l Ha re Scrambles and the Californian won the C class on his Kawa saki KX250 , topp ing 37 o t h er entries in Ot tawa, Illinois. "This was a g reat expe rience an d good ph ysi ca l t rain in g ," Higbee said. "T he H a re Scramble is a grea t way to prac tice for Cy cle Gear, in conjunc tion with Suzuki., Ar ai a nd Off-Beat Productions, will be giving away a new 1999 Suzuki GSXR cus to m- p a in te d in Kevin Schwantz 's replica paint sche me . Th e bik e will be taken to vari ou s eve n ts through out the remainder of the season, including the Lagu na Seca round of the World Superbike Series, July 9-11. For more inform a- . tion , call 707/747-5053. DP Brakes will have bo th brakes and technical ass ista nce available during the Amateur Nationa l MX Cha mpionship at Loretta Lynn'S, August 2-7, in Hu rr icane Mills, Tennessee. For more information , call 716/68 1-8806.' The International Trials School w ill hold a seven-event series at Perris Raceway in Perris , Ca li fo rnia , a nd th e y wo uld like to offer a vin tage trials class if there is eno ugh in terest. For more in fo r ma tio n, see th e ITS we b s ite a t www.itstrials.comorcaIl909 /637-0934 . The AMA has annou nced th at espn2 w ill br oad ca st se lec ted ro u nds of the AMA Grand National Championship. Five h a lf - h ou r s ho w s wi ll be aired, beginni ng wi th the already-a ired Harrington rou nd . The next show is schedu le d to a ir on August 9 a t 6:30 p .m . (Eastern), featuring the Springfield Mile tha t was held on May 30. Check your local listi ngs. T he third a n n ua l AMA Road Race Grand Championships wi ll be h eld Se p te m ber 24-26 a t New Ha m psh ire Int ern at io na l Speedway in Lo u do n , New Hampshire. The even t will featu re six Exp ert -onl y classes, including Middl ew ei ght Su pers port, Hea vywei ght Su pers port, Hea vyw ei gh t Su perb ike , Unli m ited Super bike, M idd le w e ight Grand Prix and Heavyweight Thunderbike. Ano ther 16 N ation al cla sses of co m pet i tio n w ill b e he ld . Pre-e n t ry dead line for the event is Sep tem ber I. Fo r more info rma tio n , ca ll 508 /339 4673. Acco rding to CMC, the Ama teu r p or tion of the Summercross eve nt , scheduled for July 11, features a change. All classes with the exception of Pee Wees and 60s will use the Peristy le portion of the ra ce tra ck . For more informa tion, call 949/ 367-1141. Former Grand Na tional Champion Gary N ix on wi ll high ligh t th e big gest -ever AHRMA field for th e Ju ly 9-11 AMA Vintage Moto rcycle Days a t the Mid O hio Spo rts Car Course in Lexin g ton , O hio. Ni xon will race a Heritage Honda in the Form u la 750 class and AH RMA reports that pre- entries fo r th e VMD have topped 1998' s record en tries with 562 each da y for the road races, 401 for the motocross, jus t over 100 for the d irt track and 94 for the obse rved trial. In Ca hoo ts in Sac ramen to, California, wi ll host a Wo rld Superbike Pa rt y at Spo rt Bike N ig h t on Ju ly 12 fro m 7 to 9:30 p.m. Among those slated to appea r are World Su perbi ke con tenders Troy

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