Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

prize at the com pletion of the ser ies. For more informa tion, visit their Web site at http:/ /www.fantasyracer.com. The fou rth annual Yamaha AMA California State MX Championships will be hel d at G le n H el en Rac ewa y in San Bern ard in o, California , Oc to ber 16-17. For, m ore info rmation, ca ll 909 /3831488. Th e Pro Circuit Race Support Team will b e o n h and a t th e 18th a n n ua l Lorella Lynn's Amateur National MX in Hu rricane Mills, Tenn essee, Augu st 1-7. Th e tea m will be se tt ing up bikes and answering any questions rid ers ma y ha v e . For m o re infor matio n , ca ll 909/738-8050. Rad io h os t Walter " Walt" Gla tthaar, 71, di ed on Ju ne 27 a fter su fferi ng a he ar t a ttack a t his home in Belleville, Illin ois. Glatthaar host ed a mot orsports show on KMOX rad io in St. Lou is and cons istently carried reports, int erviews an d results of motor cycle events on his progr am s. Former Cy cle ' Wo rld magazine as sociate edi tor Paul S eredynski was seriously inju re d when h e was ru n over by a p ick u p t ru c k w h ile ri ding a mountain b ike nea r hi s home in San Diego, California, o n Wed nesday, Ju ne 30 . Se re dy ns ki, 30 , s uffe re d broken ri bs, femu r, hip and ankle and und er wen t s u rgery to re m ov e a rup tured s pleen. Get-well wishes can be se n t to Scri p ps Memorial Hospita l, Room 400, 9888 Genn e s s e e Ave., La Jolla , CA 92037. Ge tting better all the tim e d ept.: Pro ud p apa Da ve Bos t ro m ca ll ed th e Cycle Neuis offices on Monday afternoon with a n in teresti ng fact regard ing 'h is son Ben Bostrom 's v ic to ry in th e World Su p e r bi k e r ound 'a t La gun a Seca . Bostrom remind ed us that the wi n follo w ed a p a tt er n : Bos tro m fini sh e d fourt h in the first leg las t yea r, thir d in th e second leg last yea r, second in the first leg this year and the n won the second leg this yea r - thus going 4-3-2-1 in his fou r-race World Superbike ca reer. Not bad. . World Enduro ' Cham ions crowned he 1999 staging of the A M World Enduro Cha mpionship Series came to a close Ju ly 10-11, with rou n d s 13 and 14 being played out in the Czech Repu bli c. . Held at the sma ll village of Dvur Kralove, north of Prague and near the Polish border, the Czech event saw Finnish riders confirm the ir ranking as the leading force in World enduros by ca pturing three of the six Wo rld Championshi p classes. The Finns were led by Petteri Silvan , on a Gas Gas, w ho claimed the p remi er 2S0cc Tw o-Stroke Cham pionship, backed by fellow country men Juh a Salminen, on a KTM, in the 125cc Two-Stro ke class , an d Vesa Kyton en , on a Kawasaki, in the 250cc Fou r-Stro ke division. ." It is an ecsta tic feeli ng to be crowned World Cha m pio n," Silvan sa id af ter the Czech event, in w hich he finished with scores of 2-5 in class in the two d ays of racing. "All season long I have pla nned to be cons istent to have the best cha nce of victory at the finish of the series, an d today I am so happy to be the World Cha m pio n." Silvan 's World title came ahead of New Zealand-born Au stralian Husqvarna rider Stefan Merriman, w ho in the opening four Wo rld Tw o-Day Cha m pionship rounds had fired his WR360 toa stu nning sev en wi ns in eight starts. A practice cras h in the lead-u p to the fifth event in Sweden, however, left Merri man severely concu ssed , which hampered his performances at the Swedish event and .the following weekend race in Finlan d , wit h Silva n streaking to victory and the title lead . Merriman , however, returned to top form and fitness in the just-concluded Czech Rep ublic event, sco rching to the outright victory in the first d ay of competiti on. While looki ng to repeat on day tw o, however, he cras hed heavily in the final test of the even t, which d ropped him to ninth in the da y' s stand ings . . In the 12Sec Two-Stroke class, Juha Salminen pla yed it safe in the Czech eve nt, bat tling most of the time wit h Italian ace Fau sto Scovolo, on a Yamaha, an d local hero an d TM rider Rom an Michalik, who even tually too k the round wi n. Like his co u nt ry men, Kyt onen w as also delighted by his Wo rld titl e wi n. The Finni sh rider kep t his KLX250 wrung ou t all season long to ultimately take a comfortable cham pionship win from Italian Honda ace Gian mar co Rossi. At 33 years of age, Kyton en ad mitted his Wor ld title victory cou ld be his first and last. In the remaining classes, Italian Giov ani Sala, on a KTM, eme rged victo rious in the 400cc Four-Stro ke division after a seasonlong tussle wit h teammat e and countryman Mario Rinald i. Th e Ita lia n d uo were moun ted aboard 400cc ve rsions of KTM's new 520EXC thumper - complete wit h electric start - and main tained their d ogfight throu gh ou t the Czech event. Rinaldi en tered the Czech round with a l a-po int lead over Sala, an d the pair set d own to knu ckle it out on the greasy trails and loamy tests of the Czech Republic cou ntrys ide. And after tw o days, Sala - wit h four World Cham pio nships alread y to his name - had pulled the cat from the bag to win each d ay and leave the pa ir tied on points, with Sala clai mi ng the cham pionship by virtue of the bes t score in the final round . "Mario is my tea mmate an d my friend ," Sala said, "and we have raced so hard all year long, and now to be tied on po ints makes it d ifficu lt for me to describe the way I feel. Still, I am happy an d, of course, so is KTM. For the new four -stroke, it is very, very good ." Finally, Swedis h ride r An ders Eriks so n, of the Hu sqvarna team, claimed the crown as SOOcc Four-Strok e World Cham pion by protectin g the 19-point lead he held going int o the eve nt. Eriksson spe nt the entire Czec h even t locked in heated battle wi th the title runner -up, Finnish KTM rider Kari Tianen - who eventually took the rou nd wi n and Slovakian Vertem ati rid er Jaroslav Katri nak. Eriksson's victory , how ever, was somewhat ma rred , as his father was struck by a competitor as he was crossi ng a special test cou rse on day two an d wa s hospitalized with a broken leg. Roddy Brooks T Bolley wins Czech 250cc Grand Prix renchman Fred eric Bolley of the Rad son Ho nda tea m scored the overall win at the Czech Republic Gra nd Prix at [inin on Jul y 11. In rainy an d m uddy cond itions, Bolley finished third in the first mo to, behind wi nner David Vuillemin and Mickael Maschio, bot h of Team Yama ha, but Bolley came back to record the win in the second moto. Vuil lemin, however , crossed the finis h line in second place, whi ch would have given the Yama ha rider the overall. But Vuillemin's YZ failed a sound test immediat ely following the second moto and was assessed a oneminute pena lty, which d ro pped him to fou rth in the moto and secon d overa ll. Yamaha Mo tor France, the team for which Vuillem in rid es, su bmitted a counterprotest. For now , how ever, the results stand, with Bolley the victo r and Vuillem in the runner -up. The Ne therlands' Leon Geis bers of the Winfield Suz uki team was credited wi th second place in the second rnoto, followed by Beirer and Vu illem in. Neit her Geisbers nor Beirer finished in the top 10 in the firs t rnoto. Ryan Hug hes put his Rad son Ho nda into seven th and sixth places in the first and seco nd mote s, respectively. After 11 of 16 rounds of the AM World Cham pionshi p 250cc MX Series, Beirer still "leads wi th 304 points to Bolley's 291. Vuillemin is cu rre ntly third wi th 275 points, followed by Marnicq Bervoet s (267) and Hu gh es (252). In m uch wa rmer conditions, Swed e Peter Johansso n put his four-stroke KTM into the wi nner's circle at the 50Dec British Gra nd Prix at Haw kston e Park, also on Jul y 11. Johan sso n wo n bo th motos - the first with a 22-seco nd cushi on over Husqv arna 's Yves 'TM's Shayne King. Demaria, and the second wi th a smaller six-seco nd ga p ov er Jo.. Great Britain's Ch ristia n Bu rnh am put his Honda in to third in the first moto, followed by fellow Brit Rob Herring, also on a Hond a, and American Trampas Parker, on a KTM. In the second moto, Dem aria too k third behind Joha nsson and King, while Alessandro Puzar, on a Yamaha, and Willie Van Wessel, on a Husqvarna, rounded out the top five. Parker finished out of the top 15 in the second moto, Series lead er Andrea Bartolini on ly scored points in the second rnoto, in w hich he finished eighth. After seven of 13 rounds, Bartolini, however, still hold s on to the AM World Championship 500cc MX Series points lead , with 188 points to Demaria's 177. Johansson is third with 149 poi nts, followed by defending cham p Joel Smets with 130 points. Smets scored jus t two points on the day with a 14th place in the first moto. Husqvarna's Aless io Chiodi extended his series points lead in the AM World Championship 12SecMX Series after po sti ng the overall win at the wet Austrian Grand Pri x at Lau nsdorf, on Ju ly 11. Chiodi went 1-3 for the d ay, edging out Belgian Hond a rider Patrick Ca ps' 3-2. The Netherlands' Erik Egge ns, on a Suzuki, took th ird overall via 2-4 moto finis hes . Second -mote wi nner Claudio Federici, on the factory-backed Yamaha, was reduced to fourth ove rall on the day after a first-tum crash in the first moto relega ted him to 10th. Tennessee's Mike Brown d id not fare well at all in the Au stria n m ud . The Honda rider finis hed 11th in the firs t inoto and went pointless in the second moto. After nin e of 13 rounds, Chio di con tinues to lead the FIM Wo rlq Cha m p ionshi p 125cc MX Series point stand ings with 280 points. Federici is secon d wit h 249 poin ts, followed by Brown wit h 165. F it was a nnou nced a t Lag u na Seca that Kawasaki had nam ed M ik e Preston as its road racing team mana ger for the 2000 season. Kawasaki recentl y took the team in-ho use, ending a long relationship with Rob Mu zzy. Preston has been Kawasaki 's personal wa tercraft racing team manager since 1995. The California n wi ll be at the n ext AMA ro un d a t Mid-Ohio as h e begins to prepa re for the coming season. Pres ton not only has to asse mb le a team, but he also has to hire rid ers. "We will be moving quickly to acq uire the necessary equipment, confirm rid ers, hire all necessa ry sta ff and p repare a/?gressively for the 2000 season ," Pr es ton said . "T he Muzzy racing organiza tion will be a tough act to follow, but we are charged up an d eag er to go racin g." Team Yamaha's Rich Oli ver was hoping to be fit eno ugh to com pete at Laguna Seca, but he will now have to wa it un til the Brainerd Interna tional Raceway rou nd of the AMA Series to make his return to racing. Oliver, who suffered a broken arm at Road Atlanta, will also miss the Mid Ohio Sports Car Course round next weekend on the advice of his doctors. A lITOGRAPH S IGN IN G: At Kaw asaki Vist a in Wilmingt on Park, in Ke- tering. O hio, on July 24 , t from ] 2 to 1 p.m . Team Kawasaki's [eff Emig and Dam on H u ffm an , an d Team Sp li tFire / Pro C ircu it/ Ka w as aki's Rick y Ca rm ic ha el, N ick Wey , N athan Ramse y and Scott Sheak are sched uled to appea r. For mo re info rmatio n, call 937 / 298-0 100. OP ENED: Rich ie Morris and KMe Telec om Raeing 's hom e page-o n the World Wide Web . The site ca n b e fo u n d at t he fo llowi ng a d d ress : http :/ /richiem orrisracing.com . HIRED: Mike Zc nt. as a designer at So Cal /De Cal Works, in Syca more, Illinoi s. Zon t can be reached at 815/899-9289. BO RN : Katherine Michelle Tho mpson. to Noleen suspension techni cian Jake Tho mpson and his wife. Daisy. o n July5. in Los Angeles, California. BORN: A bab y boy, Max No rd qu ist. 10 AMA Pro Racing co mmunications manager BilJ N ordqu ist and his wife, Kendr a, in Co lumbus , Ohio, on July 11. HIRED: Bill Silv a, as product specialist for Parts Unlimit ed , effective-immediatel y. Silva was form er Iy em p loyed by FMF. OP ENED: B Line co ntrol's hom e page on the-World Wide Web. The site can be found at the followin g add ress : http :/ / www.blinerontrol.com. OP ENED: The Harley Owners C ree p's hom e page on the World Wid e Web. The s ite can be fou nd at the following ad dress : http:/ /www.hag .com . N A M ED: Brant Russe ll. .15 d irector o f operat ion s: Stev e Perry, as nat iona l sales manager; and Laura Brant, as executiv e adminis trati ve a ssi sta nt , fo r Yos himura R&D o f America, effecti ve immedia tely. N A M ED: Andy Price. as the o fficial repr esent ativ e of the Honda RC30 Own ers O ub. Pri ce is the assistant director of security at Laguna Seca Racew ay. CLOSED: Slater Bros. the longtim e di stributor of Marcheaini wh ee ls a nd Brembo bra kes. eff ect iv e immed iately , accord ing to owner Roger Slater . 3

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