Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Award after the weeklong AMA Amateur Motocross Nationals a t Loretta Lynn's in Tennessee, August 2-7. Pastrana won the 250cc Open A and 125cc A National Ch ampion ship titles by winnin g five of six m ot os. " I was really as tonished whe n I found ou t that I won the Horizon Awa rd," Pastrana said. "It's d efinitely a n hon or. I' ve been training my who le life to be a motocross racer, bu t in the last three years I've been hurt and unable to race much . Ne xt yea r I'm focus ing on racing." M ore ex p la n atio n Dept. : A lt ho ug h w e' ve bee n through this b e fo re , it ' s w orth explai ning again. The AMA has a nnounced that it will be usin g a new numbering syste m for mo tocross and supercross rid ers, begin nin g with the 2000 season. Th e new system, d evelo p ed w ith th e su p p or t of the facto ry team s a n d the m oto cr o s s advi sory board, acco rdi ng to the AMA, a llo w s past cham pions, curren t cha mpions and rid ers w ho have earned a top- 10 nat ion al ranking to select and re tain a national n umber from year to yea r. "Nat ion al Ch ampions and top-10 rid ers will earn the right to keep the same national number, making them mor e recogni zabl e to the fans," said AMA Pro Racing di rector o f co mpe titio n Merr ill Va n dersl ice . "This yea r-to-year consistency w ill also e nab le tea m s a nd spo nso rs to m ore effective ly promo te their riders . Upa nd-coming rid ers wi ll st ill ha ve th e op po rt unity to ascend in th e national number system, and can earn the opportu nity to adopt a nation al nu mber." The new system is as follows: Number 1 will be reserved for th e curren t Na tional Champion in each series; numbers 2 th ro ugh 9 wi ll be reserved for past National Champions in active competition. Under the new system, riders who complete the 1999 season ranked in the top 10 can choose any available national number, which w ill then remain assigned to them un til such time as they wi n a Na tiona l Cha mpionship or with draw fro m co mpe titio n . The current numbering sys tem will still apply to rid e rs finis hing the season ra n ked fro m 11th to 999th. They w ill be assig ne d ava ila ble numbers co rrespondi ng to thei r ea rned National ra nking. Riders placing in the Nationa l top-l 00 w ill be ass ig ne d a va ila ble two-d igit numbers until those numbers have been depleted . "W hile we' ve been in the process of reviewing this new sys tem, there's bee n so me mis in formation floating around," Vande rslice sai d . "I've read letters from fans and riders who mistakenl y believe tha t we were prop osin g so mething akin to NASCAR's system. No thi ng could be further fro m reali ty. This system is very simila r to th e way th in gs a re d on e in other AMA Pro Racing d ivision s." Acco rdi ng to a press release issu ed by Yama ha, the co mpany ha s rea ched an ou t-o f-cou r t se ttle ment w it h former team me mb er Ke vin Windha m . "T he parties ag reed tha n an ou t-Of-court settlement of this disput e was in the best in te res ts o f b o th p a r ti es a nd fo r the spo rt of motocross. Thi s se ttlement w ill allow both Yamaha and Kevin Wind ham to put th is dispu te beh ind -thern. Terms of th e settlemen t a re con fidential ," the release s ta ted . Windham left Yamaha at the end of last year to join Honda ' s mot ocross Zsu percross team , despite the fact that he was still und er contract with Yama ha . In ju red Cana dia n roa d ra cer Kevin Lacombe was sched u led to fly home to Granby, Quebec on Monday, August 16 to con tinue his recover y fro m inju ries suffe red during qu alifyin g for the O pen Spo rt Bike event at Atlan tic Motorsport Park on Augus t 7. The 16-year-old was treat ed at the Qu een Eliza be th Hea lth Cen ter in Halifax. Lacombe awo ke from a light coma the mo rni ng af ter the crash a nd he und erw ent su rgery th at a fte rn o o n to s tabili z e h is b roken p el v is. Lac ombe al so su ffe red a di sl o ca ted sho u lder and a cracked rib in the acciden t.-A full recovery is expec ted to take three months. The frames from the top thr ee finis hers in th e AMA 600cc Su p ersport race a t Brai nerd Int ern at io n al Ra ce w a y o n Augus t 1 wer e impounded during po str ac e tech in s p ect ion a n d w ere taken ' back to the AMA Pro Racing head qu arters in Picker ington, Ohio, for detail ed inspection. The frames of the Yamaha of race wi nner Ja mi e , H acking, and th e H on das of ru n ne r- up Ku r tis Rob ert s and third- place fini sher Nicky Hayden were ch eck ed u si ng a fiv e-axis, highprecision coord inate machine, wit h the resu lts co m pa re d to legal dimen sion s deriv ed fr o m s toc k h om o log a ti on frames. All three of the frames pa ss ed the inspection. The stock homologati on frames were taken from com plete production motorcycles tha t were supplied to the AMA bv the factories at the start of the season. He re is a list of the Club riders who will be rep resenting the Un ited States at this yea r's Int ernation al Six-Day End uro in Combra, Portugal, next month: Jeff Fredette, Drew Smit h, Terry Cunningham, Steve Si lvest ri, Brian Sp e rl e, Pa u l Krause, Mark Stevens, Alex McElyea, Mark Miller, Dave Ne umeister, Jeremy Ketch um, John Burgard, Michael Sigety, Mar k Spence, John Ross, Ron Schmelzle, Brian Storrie, Ma tt Stavish, Jim Thomson, Ma rk Adkins, Curt Wilcox, Noland Knight, Blake Plonsky, Zach Ivey, Steve .Swension, Mike Wind ma nn, Mike Monroe, Bill Rush, John Beal and Jim Conner. Southland Cycle Center will be displaying th e 2000 S u z u k i RM250 a t G len He len Raceway in San Bernardino, Californ ia, on Au gu st 22. For more info rmation, call 714/893-5091. The Vinta ge Dirt Trac k Racers Assoc iation d irt tra ck even ts sc hed u le d for Playfair Raceway have bee n cancelled . Rou nd s 14 a nd 15 of the VDTRA AllStars F1attrack Racin g Series were set to take place a t the Spokane, Wash ington , faci li ty Augus t 27 and 28. The facili ty h a s re por tedly been in o p e ra ti o na llim bo for the past eight mon ths whil e leessees and facility owners wo rked ou t th eir cond itio ns fo~ ope ra tion wi th the raci ng commission . N o a rrangemen ts cou ld be worked out by the d ate sa nction ed for the VDTRA All-Stars Na tional. Plans are underway to resched ule the VDTRA events for yea r 2000 if the facility once aga in becom es ava ilab le. Duncan Farley, 34, was killed in a ro ad race at Ca ldwell Park in Engl and on Au gu st 7. Farley was the TV and mar keting di rector of the World Su perbike Championship. Ja ck Turner of Sh awnee, Kansas, ha s be en chose n by AHRMA' s Board o f Trus tees to repl a ce ret irin g execu tive di rector Jeff Smith later this year. Turne r , 55, h a s se r v ed as d ir ec tor o f AHRMA' s Na tio na l road raci n g p rogra m since 1991. "We are very pleased to have Jack Tu rner as ou r next executive direct or," sa id AHRMA chairman Fred Mork. "AHRMA enjoys the reputation of havin g one of the best-run roa d Crafar tests the Aprilia RSV Mille fter a miser ab le 1999 season in w hich h e was fired fr om th e Red Bull Yama ha 500cc Grand Pr ix tea m , New Zeala nd er Si mo n Crafar is trying to rebuild his career. He took another step tow ard that by testing the Ap rilia RSV Mille Superbik e at Mugello in Italy, August lOl l. . Crafa r tes t ed tw o b ik es fr om Apri lia ' s Reparto Corse, the same m achines rid d en b y test ri der .A les s a n d r o An to nell o during th e M onza , It a ly , rou n d of th e World . Superbike Champions hip . With team rid er Peter God da rd's resul ts improving as Apri lia's debut season in the World Superbike Series conti nues, Aprilia is seeking ways to acce le ra te the bik e' s d evelop men t. Crafar is an ex perienced racer who has ridden Du cati s, a factory Honda RC45 and a factory Kawasaki during his World Su perbike career that we nt from 1993 to 1997. The Kiwi has raced in 116 World Su perbike races, but is still wi tho u t a win. He did, how ever, win the British 500cc Grand Prix last year on the Red Bull Yamaha. Cra far spent the first d ay of the test ge tting the bik e fitt ed to his liking, and he turned in 30 laps. On the second da y, Crafar comp leted 54 laps with a best lap of 1:57.7. Wh eth er or not that is a ' good time remains unknown , based on the condition of the race track . The supe rbike lap record at Muge llo is a 1:56.305, set in 1994 by Scott Russell on the factory Kawasa ki. Aprilia test rider Antonello lapped at 1:55.5 a few weeks ago and the Du ca ti factory rid ers ha ve lapped in the 55s on the track they freq uently use for testing . "In two days it's im possible to know a bike very well that you've nE!ver ridden before," Crafar said. "Fu rthermore, the track is too hot and too dirty to set good times. It's very di fficu lt to know if my time is good or no t. In any case, I got a good feeling retu rn ing to the Dunlop tires . This season I've had a lot of problem s with the Miche li " Ins. Crafar rode the Yama ha R7 a few weeks ago during pr e-Suzuka 8 Hours testing. "The Aprilia RSV Mille and Yamaha R7 are at same level," Crafar said. "Both bikes need a lot of improvement to arrive at the top . My riding style is very different from (Peter) Goddard and (Alessandro) Antonello, and I need ed to change the set-up a lot. With one or two more days' I know I cou ld do better." Aprilia project leader Giuseppe Bernicchia said prior to Crafar's test that Aprilia will finish this season wit h Goddard exclusively. With three consecutive races coming up in Austria, Holland and Germany, and a long trip to Japan to follow, it would be impossible to add a ride r at this point in the season, Bernicchia said. . Could Crafar end tip at Aprilia for 2oo0? For sure the team will cons ist of two riders next year. In addition, the current team will likely be reorganized with the team going in- house in 2000. Aprilia's goal is to have one rid er who can bring them podium positions and a second rider who they hope will be a rising star . Paol o Gozzi A racing programs anywhere, and this is a testimoni al to Jack's skills as a manager. He ha s bee n in v ol ved w ith AH RMA si nce almost the ver y beginn in g, so he knows the orga niza tion insid e and out. We are confiden t he will do a fine job." Sm ith, 65, has agreed to con tinue as consultantto AHRMA for a year . Bill Rob ertson, 62, di ed at his home in Universa l City, California, on August 7 a fte r a fo u r-yea r b attle w it h cance r. Rober tson rod e the first timed Tijua na to La Paz off-ro ad race in 1962 with Dave Elkins, comp leting the event in 36 hou rs. Robert son also owned Honda of Hollywood and Honda of No rt h Hollywood dea lers hi ps that now a lso se ll Su zuki, Yamaha, Kawasak i, Sea- Doo and BMW. He is su rvived by his wi fe, Pa t, and so ns, Donald and Billy. In terna tion al Speedway Inc," w ill host the You th Motorized Olymp ic s and Adult Mini Cycle Championship at the Orange Cou nt y Fa ir g ro unds in Co st a Mes a , Cali fornia , on August 28 . For mor e information , call 949/492-9933. Charlene Morgan, 45, the wife of longtime Grand National Cham pionship chiro pra ct o r Dr . Dale Morga n , di ed o n August 9 after su ffering a ma ssive stroke. The co up le had ju st returned fro m the rained -out GNC race a t 1-96 Spe edway when the stroke occurred. Cards and let- ters can be se nt to Morgan at 1100 W. University Dr., Rochester, WI 48307. The fam ily is requesting that donations be mad e to the Steel Shoe Fund at 4630 W. Mill Rd., Milwaukee, WI 53218. The Cycl epro Sum mer BBQ, scheduled for Cloverda le, California, on Augus t 22, will donate a po rtion of its proceeds to the Craig Wesner ISDE Fund. For mo re information , call 707/527-8888. EGM Pr omot io ns will be hosting th e Sports R id er s As sociation of Co loradolMazda Trucks SX Series Champ io ns hi p race in Gree ley, Colorado, on Satu rday, Augus t 28. Double points will bepaid out to all classes. For more information , call SRAC at 970/989-7436. AUTOGRAPH SIGNING: By Yosh imura Suzuki 's Jason Pridmore and Team M ot e XXX's Tra vis Pre sto n. sc hed uled to appea r at Honda / Suzuki /Ya maha in Goleta. California, on August 21 from 9 a.m . to 5 p.m. For more information. call 805 /967-9898. AUTOG RAPH S IG N ING: At Honda Kawasaki West in Fort Worth, Texas. on Sep tember 11 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Three-time World Champion Freddie Spencer and three-ti me A MA Grand Na tio na l Champio n Bubba Shobert are scheduled to attend . For more information . caIl 817 /244-5201. CORREcn ON: Ou r coverage of the Yama ha Dealers Series MX from Glen Helen in San Bernardino, Califo rnia on July 18 featured an inco rrect result from the Pee Wee class . Lando n Currier. riding a Cobra, in fact won the race. CN en en en 3

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