Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~~ Ted Wilkins (Rtx) won the 540cc class at th e ei ghth rou nd of th e AM A National Hillclimb Series in East Palest in e , Oh io , on August 29 . Wilkins topped John Hamilton (Tri) and Pau l Pinsonnault (Hon) to win the clas s. In 800cc action, Bobby T em pleton (H-D) wo n his third race of the yea r, topping Glen Pett y Jr. (H - D) and Ro dne y Williams (Tri). Geo Roeder II (H -D) w on the 750cc Expert class d uri ng the AMA National Ho t Sho e half mile event at the Dar ke County Fairgrounds in Greenville, Ohio, on August 27. Roede r was joined on the p od ium by Ja son Sente ll (H -D) and Robert Knapp (H -D). R icky Winsett (Rtx) won the 600cc Expert class, whi le Domine Beaulac (Rtx) won th e 600cc Pro-Sport class and Ph ili p Palmer (Ho n) won the 250cc Pro-Sport class. Three-time World Ch ampion Kenny Rob erts suffe red injuri es in an off-roa d mot orcycle accident on August 25 nea r his ra nch in Montana. Roberts cras hed and suffered a concussion , bro ken ribs and a broken han d in the inci dent. He was kept in the hospit al for observation for a few days, but was scheduled for release on Saturda y, August 28. Accord ing to a re p o rt in A u stralian Mo torsport News las t week, five -ti me Wo rld Champion Mi ck Doohan is unlikely to return to Grand Prix racing this year and he is well on the wa y to form ing a Shell Advance super team for 2000. Referri ng to a source from within HRC , co m plica tions with da maged nerves in his lef t arm that p revented him fro m returning on schedule at the Czech GP wil l almost certainly bri ng an en d to Doo han 's racing career. Accor ding to Cycle N ew s con tribu to r Da rryl Flack, th e story wen t on to sa y that along wit h h is par tne r in the Shell Adva nc e 250cc G rand Prix team, Jeff Ha rd w ick , Dooh an is es ta blishi ng a fou r -ri d er te am fo r 2000 wi th Colin Edwards II and Toh ru Uka wa lead ing th e assau lt with four wo rks NSR500s. Incu mbent team ro okie Anthon y West w ill have a works NSR250, while his chief nemesis in the 1998 Australian 125 cc Champi on ship , Ja y Taylo r, is tipped to make his move to the World Champ ion ships w i th a TSR250 . A month a g o , Ha rdwick to ld a publi c gathering that Doohan will retire at the end of the yea r and that they had $10 million to fo rm a Shell team fo r next year, dwarfing riva l Reps ol which is rumored to be paying just $3 million for spo n sors hip of its fo u r-r ider te am . Adding credence to the $10 million figu re that Hardwick mentioned is th at Ferrari has accepted a $20 million offer fro m Ag ip to unsea t Shell (w h o had been paying $10 million) as the Scu deria ' s oil s ponso r fo r 2000 . "T he re's a lways a lot of specu lation of w ha t' s goi ng on," Doohan said. "When I was injured , I mention ed Colin Edwa rd s, who had tested our bike at the start of the yea r, and he actually did qu ite well on it. He wasn' t spec tacu la rly fast, but he was quite good and the way he went abo ut it was qui te goo d ..So I tho ught he goes well in Eng land on the su pe rbike, so perhaps if they pu t him on m y bike for Don ington it' d be good for the team. He's an American, and we need more of the m - ev en thou gh Kenny Robert s is goi ng good again - to bring so me new blood in , and tha t transl a ted in to m e wanting to sign him for some team I'm ap pa rently p utting together for next yea r." Doohan reportedly approached Valentino Rossi at the British Gra nd Prix with a p roposal to join h is 2000 team on a Honda , which the Italian rejected along with severa l other offers to stay with Aprilia for at least two more years. "I'm not sure what Valenti no Rossi's actu ally u p to there," Doohan said. "I think he just wa nts to p lay wit h Aprilia a little bit to get his own contract fee up for next year. He's apparently been talkin g to a bu nch of different peo ple abou t a bunch of different things. At the mom ent, in all hon esty, I' ve really got to get my own. car eer on trac k befor e I sta rt tr yi ng to wo rk out ot hers' . I'd like to stay in the spo rt in some way or another. But at the 250cc MX GP Shake-u/2 "I t has not been a very good weekend for me," was the huge understatement by Winfi eld Kawasaki rider Pit Beirer following his home race in Gai ldorf, Germany, August 30, the penultimate round of the series. Setting up a dramatic co nclu sion to th e 250cc World Ch ampionship Mot ocro ss Series, Frenchman Frederic Bailey (right) grabbed the lead in the points stand ings from Beirer, who led the title cha se for the bul k of the season. The Radson L&M Hondamounted Bolley blit zed the da y' s op ening moto by pa ssing holesh ott er and ea rly race lead er Josh Coppins on lap fou r, then go ing on to win comforta bly ahead of teammate Stefan Ever ts on a rain-soaked, hardpack track covered in d eep , slip pery mud . French Yamaha rider David Vuillemin comp leted the mot o-on e podium, follow ed by Pam o Honda rider Ryan Hu ghes, Joshua Co ppins and Mickael Pichon . As for Beirer, luck was anywhere but on the Germ an's side. Involved in a big tangle on the first turn of the opening mot o, Beirer rem ounted d ead last and wit h no rear brake. Despite a desperate charge, Beirer finis hed a d istant 19th - ou t of the poin ts. In one fell swoop, Beirer's slim thr ee-point lead was tran sformed to a '17-point d eficit. In the secon d mot o, a Rads on L&M Honda once aga in dominated : this time wit h Evert s d oing the honor s. In only his third GP of the year (a serious knee injury sidelined him for mu ch of the series), Everts led the race from start to finish , taking a comfortable win over a fast-finishing Vu illemen. Bolley was third over the lu ckless Beirer, who now trails the Frenchman by 19 point s. Pichon was a second- mota sixth after Mark Jones, while Ame rican Hu ghe s finished ninth. A 2-1 score gave Evert s the overall win over Bolley' s 1-3 and Vuill emin's 3-2. "I could no t be happier," said Everts after the race . "Of course I'm ha ppy to win , but to me it feels like it' s on e event too early, as my goal was to win the final rou nd in the USA. It is there tha t I wis h to prove a point that the European GP rid ers are still the best mo tocross riders in the world. No longer do the Americans come to Europe to race motocross, so I really believe they are real cowa rd s, and that Eu ropea ns are the best a t mo tocros s." Coming in to the final round in Bud ds Creek , Maryland, Bolley now leads Beircr, 428-409. Andrew Clubb In the Wind Emig arrested fired orm er AMA Supercross, 125cc MX, and 250cc MX Na tional Cha mpion Jeff Em ig (rig h t) w as arrested for public cons umption of alco hol, possession of marijuana, an d possession of drug paraphernalia in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, on August 22. Emig was subsequently fired by Team Kawasaki. According to the police re po rt, Emig was approa ched b y police fo r wa lking dOV>"11 the street with a beer, and then patted down when a bulge was noticed in one of his pockets. The bu lge was created by a bee r can that had holes punched in it and what was believed to be marijuana resid ue . A mo re extensive sea rch revealed Emig to be hold in g marijuana. Emig was book ed , and , af ter a Sep tember 24 co u rt da te was set, released on bail the sa me d ay. O n August 27, Kawasaki Motors Corp. USA iss ued the follow in g brie f pre ss r e le a s e : "A r e ce nt in cid en t inv ol vi n g 'Kawasaki mot ocross racer Jeff Emig has . prompted the com pany to immedi ately term inate the contract between the two parties. - The com pa ny regr ets its relation ship wit h Jeff must en d on this note." Kawasaki motocross tea m man ager Bruce Stjernstrom preferr ed not to provide any additiona l any info rma tion when contacted by telephone, and Kawasaki pub lic relations manager Mel Moore would only say the followi ng: "What happened was very unfortunate. We like and respect Jeff a lot, and are impressed with his perfo rmance for Kawasaki." Emig, who was just completing the first yea r of a new tw o-year contract with Kawasaki, was not in attendance at the August 29 AMA National in Bingham ton , New York . When contacted by telephone on Thursday, August 26, Emig preferred no t to spea k on the record, but he later issued the following sta tem ent , titled "An open apology from Jeff Emig ," on August 30. "I want to apologize to Kawasaki, to my other sponsors who have su ppo rted my racing efforts, to my family, my sport, my friends, and most importantly, to my fans. I made a huge mistake for which I take full responsibility. The consequen ces of m y actions have cost me more than I could ever explain here. My career and my life are one and the same; I have put them both in jeopa rdy. . "This was no t pa rt of being a professional athlete. I am expected to perform well on the race track and set a good exa mple everywhere else. In this case, I failed myself, my team, my fans and my sport. I knowingly put myself in a situation that put to ris k every thing I have wo rke d my entire life to crea te. I now must p ay the price of my actions, which the racing community wi ll exact. "The most public of the p roblems I have created for myself is the termination of my contract wi th Kawasaki. Whe n I received the official news that I was fired, it was the wo rst feeling that I have ever had . The har d est thing I have ever do ne cam e next, the phone call to tell my da d wha t I di d . Boy, have I learned a lesso n! "Beginn ing right now , I will redeem myself and rebuild my life. I have allowed too ma ny d istractions into my life. I have begun taking the steps to restru cture my life and to focus my mi nd , m y time and my energy on bei ng a professional mo torcycle race r of whom my fans can be prou d . " I wa nt to thank Kawasaki for givin g me the op portunity, the eq uipment and the sup port to be a cha mpion. I would like to thank all the individuals within that organization for the years of excelle nt effort and dedication during which we acco mplished so much. ' "The initial respons e I ha ve received from my friends and just abou t everyone in the industry has been very supportive. I am extremely gra teful for them . Now it is time for me to make a positive ou t of this situation . I will start by forgiving myself, (and wi ll) put my life in order and my career back on the right track. I hope to ea rn the forg iveness of all the people I let down by making the best p art of my life be the part that is yet to come. See you at the races!" As of.Aug us t 30, the AMA had taken no official position on the matter othe r than to say, through di rector of professional com pe titio n Merrill Vanderslice, "We are concerned wi th anything that directly or indirectly represents the spo rt of motor cycling." When as ked whether th e AMA co u ld or w ould suspend or fine Emig (s ho u ld he at temp t to race as a pri vateer or for a d ifferent team), Vanderslice sa id tha t the AMA has "qui te a bit of flexibili ty along those lines." According to AMA comm u nica tions man ager Bill Nordquist, in all d isciplines of pro fessional racing , the AMA randomly tests from three to five rid ers for drugs once every three to eig ht rounds. F m oment, runn in g a team isn't one o f those unl ess we achieve the rig ht sort of b acking . A t the momen t, w e h aven't ' really been putting too mu ch in place, so the likelihood of that happening is pretty small." Ma t Ml a d in may b e le a d i n g th e AMA /MBNA Superbike Na tio n a l Championshi p, but he hasn' t earne d the m ost pu rse and con tingency money , accord ing to the AMA. Tha t honor goes to Van ce & Hines Ducati 's Anth on y Go bert. The Australian has pocketed $72,200 thus far in 1999 - with $40,900 in race purse winnings, $5000 in Interstate Batte ri es Pol e Awa rds , $16,000 in MBNA /Parts Unlimited Pod ium Bonuses, and $10,300 in AMA Bonus Awards. Mlad in has earn ed $68,150, with Ben Bostrom, who is second in the champion shi p, taking home $63,800 thus far in 1999. . Th e Pasadena Rose Bowl round of the 1999 World Supercross Championship will go off as planned a fte r Speed visia n Productions, the p romoter of th e Continued on page 8 '" '" '" 'E. C> en 5

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