Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

'Fo r me r World Sp e ed w a y C ha m p io n Billy Hamill won the second a n nua l AMA National Speedway Cha mp ionship at Fas t Frid ays Speedway on the Gold Cou ntry Fairground s in Auburn, California, on September 3. Ham ill wa s joined on the podi um by runner-u p Charlie Venegas and third -placed M ike Faria . Jeff Annen (Rtx) wo n the 600cc Expert class a t rou nd 10 of the AMA Hot Shoe National Series at the Cas tle Rock Raceway in Cas tle Rock , Wa sh ing to n, o n Sep tem ber 4, thus co m p le tin g th e marath on Washington Speed Week dirt track series in the Pacific No rt hwest. Eli Price (Rtx) was seco nd, and John Hlebo III (Rtx) wa s th ird. Sonny Bur res wo n th e Over 50 class a t rou nd 12 of th e AH RMA /C lassic Bi ke Maga zi ne N ati onal Di rt Tra ck Se ries at Ca stl e Rock on September 3. John Proto won th e 750cc Spo rts man class, a nd Brad Spencer won the 600cc Spo rtsma n class. Belgian Joel Smets (Hbg) a nd German Willie Van Wessel (Hus) trad ed mot o wi ns a t the final round of the FIM 500cc World Cha m pio nshi p Mot ocross Series in Lierop , H oll and , o n Se p te m be r 5, with Smets ge tting the nod for the over.all wi n. German Jochen Jasinski (Hon) w as third overa ll w it h 7-3 pl a cin gs . Recently cro w ne d World C h a m pio n Andrea Bartolini cou ld on ly mana ge 114 finis hes on the sa ndy track, but th a t was good eno u gh for Yamaha to wrap up the Manufacturers' title. Dustin Nel son (Yam) wo n bo th mot os en rou te to the overall win at the AMA Western Four-Strok e Na tional at Albany Mot ors ports Pa rk in Albany, O regon , Sept embe r 5. The runner-up was Spud Walters (Ya m) , w ho w e nt 2-2, w hi le third wen t to Ryan Leach (Yam), who tallied 3-3 moto finishes. Grea t B~ita in ' s Dougie Lampkin (Bet) co n tin ued his d om inance in th e FIM Wor ld Cha mp ionship Trials Series, wi nning both rounds of the Biasca, Swit zerlan d , stop on Sep tember 4-5. Lampkin, w ho had alread y clinched th is yea r's title, bested cou ntryman Jarvis Graham (5-5) on Satu rday, and Japan's Takah isa Fuj inami (Ho n) on Su nd ay. Steve Col ley (GG) and Kanichi Kuroyama (Bet) were the third -place finishers. Lam pkin has wo n 16 o f the 18 ro u nds run thus far, and only one sto p re mains. Vet eran m ot o rcy cl e a nd land speed racer Do n Vesco reset his own reco rd fo r w heel-d riven ca rs d uring Sp eed week '99 a t the Bonneville Salt Flats in We ndover, Uta h , whe n he d rove his Team Vesco Tu rbinato r strea mliner to a two-way ave rage of 417.529 mp h. Vesco a lso h o ld s t h e all- ti me moto rcy cle recor d at Bonneville, wit h a 318.598 ru n in his Kawasaki-p owered s tream line r, and he becam e a mem ber of the prestigious Bonnev ille 200 m ph Club in 1963. Vesco's terminal speed at the end of the five-mile course was 435.780 mph. Also in Bon neville, Larry Fors tall of Westchester, Pen nsylvania, rode his '99 Suzuki H a y abu s a t o th e p ro d uctio n cl ass (1350cc) record of 196.838 mp h to rese t the previou s reco rd of 180.312, w hich was se t by H a rry Fair on a Kaw asaki zx-n in 1994. 2 Steve Martin (Due) took ano the r step tow ard sea ling the Aus tra lian Superbike Cham pio ns hi p w he n h ep os ted th e ove rall w in in the penultima te round of the series a t Oran Park Racew ay on September 5. Mar tin now holds a 45-point lead over Andrew Pitt (Kaw) head in g in to the fina l round . Team old -timer: No one is eager to confirm it, but it looks like Team Kawasak i has' signed Larry Ward and John Dowd for next seaso n. At 29 and 34, respectively , Wa rd an d Dowd a re n ' t e xa ctl y spring ch ickens , but with ma ny o f th e sport's yo u nge r rid ers not livi ng up to their billi ng, the pair's consis tency can always be counted on. Also u nconfirmed - but likely - is Yam aha's mo tocro ss team for next yea r: After m ak in g th e pod ium in th e la st four ro u nd s of th e ou td oo r se ries , Jimmy Button shou ld ge t resi gn ed , a nd w ill join YZ250-mou nte d Frenc hman David Vuillemin. Thi s just in dept. : Team Hond a's Kevin Windham w ill now com pete in the Ll.S, Gra nd Prix at Budds Creek on Sep tember 12. Windham 's teammate Sebastien Tortelli is also sla ted to make his comeback from injury in the Ll.S. GP. Michael Taylor (Kaw) w on th e fin al round of the Toyota Ca nada Superbike Champion ship a t Sha nno nville Mo torspo rts Park in Sha nnonville, Ontario, on September 5, bu t Francis Martin (Kaw) wrapped up th e se r ies titl e with hi s fi fth-p la ce finis h on th e da y . Ma rtin topped Jordan Szoke (Hon), with Frank Trombino (Kaw) finishi ng third. Owen Weichel (Hon) won the fina l rou nd of the 600cc Spo rt Bike Series an d Trombino won the Open Spo rt Bike final. Speed vision Pro mo tio n's Da n Murph y has reached a verba l fiv e-ye a r ag r.eement with Laguna Seca Racewa yin Monter ev, California, to continue hosti ng t he 'W o r l d Superbike Championship at the facility. The FlM's Claud e Danis recentl y inspected the track and an agreem ent has been reached wit h the facility to make the necessa ry cha nges to meet homol ogation, according to Murphy. The rough ly $150,000 in cha nges w ill include a gra vel trap on the insid e of the ent ra nce to th e Co rksc re w, and ad ditiona l ru noff areas on the ou tside of the Co r ks cr ew a nd o n the o u ts ide o f turn five. "The change prop osed is that we ex tend the am ou nt of ru noff at the top of the hill, wh ich is not an easy task a nd is fa irl y ex pensive, beca use rig ht behind that ru noff is basica lly a d rop off of a pretty significant amount," Murphy said. "Th e proposal right now is to take o u t th e ' tr e e a t th e bottom of th e Corkscrew , open the whole area up, and basica lly ru n fill from the top, w here it' s currently the end of the runoff area , and extend that - ru nnin g it d own the same gra d ua l slope th a t you wou ld see the Corkscrew go down." There won ' t b e a n AM A Supe rb ike Nation al a t Lag una Seca Raceway in Ap ril , according to Dan Murphy, but the race wi ll inste ad be a part of World Superbike weekend a t Laguna in Ju ly . Whether or no t the race will be ru n separ ately from the tw o World Superbike legs or integra ted d irectly int o the two World Superbike ra ces ha s yet to be decided . It now appears tha t road racer Eri c Bost rom will sign a deal to race factory Kawasakis in the 2000 AMA Superb ike Nationa l C hampions hip a n d 600cc Supers port Series. The two-time AMA Superbike Nationa l w inne r will likel y join three-time AMA Superbike Nationa l Cha mpion D ou g Cha n dler on the two- rider team. Bostrom recently completed a success ful three-d ay test on the factory Hond a RC45 end ura nce racer a t the Paul Ricard Circui t in the so u th of France in pr ep ar ati on for the upcoming Y2KMX he AMA has an no u nced the tenta tive sched ule for the 2000 AMA Mot ocro ss Nation al Champ i? nship Series - and it may look famili ar, as it' s virtua lly iden tical to the 1999 sen es sched ule. The 12- rou nd series again kicks o ff on May 14 at Glen H elen Racew ay in San Bernard ino, Californ ia, (yep, Mother' s Day agai n), and wi nds up on September 3 at Steel City Raceway in Delm ont, Pennsylvani a. The com plete sched u le is as follows . , T May 14 May 21 Ma y 28 June 11 June 18 ..: Jul y 2 : Jul y 16 July 23 Jul y 30 Au gu st 13 Augus t 27 Sep tember 3 , Glen Helen Raceway, San Berna rd ino, Ca liforn ia Prairie City SVRA Park, Sacra mento, Ca liforn ia High Point Racewa y, Mt. Morris, Pennsylvani a Motocross 338, Sou thwick, Massachusett s Budd s Creek Motocro ss Park, Budds Cree k, Maryland Red Bud Track 'n Trail, Buchanan , Michiga n Unadilla Valley Sports Center, New Berlin, New York : D&D Motocross, Troy, O hio Washougal Motocross Park , Washo.ug~l, Wa~hington Spring Cree k Motocross Park, Millvill e, Minnesota Broome-Tioga Sports Center, Bingh amton, New York .Steel City Raceway, Delm ont, Pennsylvan ia Bol dOr 24-h our. Bost rom stayed in Eu ro pe follo w in g th e test an d was a specta to r at the Au st rian round of the World Su perbike Cham pions hi p at the A-I Ring, on Aug ust 1. W ho th e seco nd r id er w ill b e on the Vance & Hines Du cati team rem ain s to be see n, though the three choices appear to be Pascal Picotte, Larry Pegram and Steve Rapp. Picott e is the front-runner to join Ben Bostrom on the team, but he is al so s till be ing cou rte d by HarleyDavidso n to again lead its team for 2000. It now looks as though Anthony Gobert will race a 500cc MuZ for Team Biland in th e Aus tr a lia n a nd So u th Afr ica n ro u nd s o f th e 500cc Wo rl d Cha m p ionship, a nd there' s a cha nce th e Au stralian might sign with the team for next year' s 500cc Gra nd Prix Series. According to reports from Europ e, Gobert may not have a deal to race factory Ducatis in next yea r's Wo rld Su perbike Cha m pio ns h ip as origi na lly th ou g ht. Go bert w ill , howev e r, race a Vance & H ines Duca ti for the fina l tim e a t th e Pik es Pe a k ro u nd o f th e AM A Su p e rbik e Series on Sep tember 19. WERA, Will ow Sp rings Raceway and Toyota will presen t the WERAlWillow Springs 2000, a 24-hour road race a t the Rosamond , Ca liforn ia , racin g facility. The end ura nce race will be held September 25-26 a nd will feature the likes of Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki. Parapalegic road racer S tewart Go ddard suffered serious inju ries in a cras h a t Poco no Int ern a tion al Speed way in Long Po nd, Pennsyl va nia , on Su nday, Aug us t 30 in the Aprilia Cu p Challenge eve nt. Goddard, wh o races using hand controls on his specially ada pted Aprilia RSV250, cras hed and suffe red a broken right femu r, lef t tib ia a nd fibu la, tw o bro ke n hips and a broken C-5 vertebra. Go dda rd was transported to Geis inger Medica l Cen ter an d placed in in tensive care . He has since und ergone su rgery to repair his inj uri e s a nd is hop in g to re tu rn to Californ ia shortly . A Web site has been established to assist Stewa rt, as his med ical bills and on-going rehab ilitat ion cos ts will be im me nse. The sit e (www .s tewa r tgod da rd.com) fea tu res the la tes t upd a te s on hi s co ndi tio n, rep rints of articl es featuring God da rd, a ge t-well mes sage board , a nd area s to con tribu te to his med ical fun d . An onlin e au ct ion ha s been sc he d u led a n d products and memorabilia have alread y been d onated . Those who wou ld like to make a don ation to the auction can contact Frank Steeves at 714/585-2930. Drag ra cers Rickey Gadson an d Steve Rice were bot h presented orig inal drawings to comme mo ra te their drag racin g identities by legendary hot rod design er "Big Daddy" Ed Roth a t the sixth round" of th e AMA /Prostar Series. Roth, the crea tor of the famou s Rat Fink character: also sig ned autog ra phs in the Kawasaki, display ar ea at Ind ianapolis Racewa y in, Indiana. Th e FIM ' s In te rn a tio na l Dis ciplin ary Court has suspended Dutch motocross-r er Marco Stallmann for s ix m on th s, begin ning Augus t 25, for test ingpositive for mari juan a in a drug test follow.' ing the 125cc World Motocross Charnpi-' ons h ip ro u nd in Foxh ill, Eng la nd, on ' Ma y 30 . A cou n tertes t confi rmed the results of the origi nal test, and Appen-~ d ix 0 of the FIM Med ical Co d e sta tes u n d er chap ter 11, le tter B, M a rijua n a : ~ "Marijuana is forbidden, bu t du e to the p ossibility of in voluntary passive con -' sumption , a maximu m cut off level of 12 ng per ml is tolera ted ." Both of Sta ll-" mann's samp les registered more than 40 ng / ml. In add ition to being sus pended ,5 Stallmann has been disqu alified from all) . the races he has participated in since the British round, and he mu st also return all prizes earne d in those rounds. A me r ica n H o n d a is ex pec te d to anno unce a t their Sep tember 8-10 dealer ~ conve ntion in New O rlea ns, Lou isiana; that they hav e sig ned Miguel DuHamel to a two-year contract. The Fre nch Ca nad ian will ride bo th AMA Supe rbike and 600 cc Sup e rs po rt - a lo ng wi th n e w teammate Nic ky Hayden. The FlM has also d isqualified sidecar i racer j org St einhausen from the Brands Ha tch round of the Sideca r World Cup on Aug ust 1. Steinha use n's sidecar was found to b e u sing ill ega l fuel a fte r a I post -race sa m p le was tes ted . Th e German finished fifth at Brands Hatch. j Boye s en/Tw in Ai r w ill be a cce p ting rider res u mes beginni ng September I for the 2000 season. Resu mes can be sen t to Jere my Ga rges at Boyesen / Twin Air, 8 Rhoades Rd., Lenhar tsville, PA 19534. Race Tech is seeking he lp from 2000mod e l moto rcycl e o wners . Wit h the a rrival of the ne w mod els, Race Tech will be looking for selected mod els in order to perfor m R&D for its season of suspens io n services . In re turn for the use of the mot orcycle, Race Tech will set u p the bik e, including va lving, springs an d labor , at 50 percen t off re tai l. For mor e information , contac t Jason Lewis at Race Tech, 909/594-7755.

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