Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

(Lett) Despite the ab sence of several top AMA r iders, the GP featured some surprisingly close racing on a wellprepped track. (R ight) In h is . home country for only the second time th is yea r, Ryan Hu ghes showed his heart with a thirdoverall r ide, He fini sh ed the GP season in fourt h , (2:29 .n&H; 17. Ma miq Bcrvoets (2:29.69 4); 18. Phili ppe Dupasqui er (2:30.01Q) 19. Brian jo rgensen (2:30.232); 20. ; Ma rk E"..lwlIUd (2:30.869); 21. Pau l Cooper (2:31.092) ; 22 . Go rdon Crnd...nd (2 :31.179); 23 . Iu st m M orrfs (2;31.-153);24. Ah."'!'oomJro Belometti (2:31.9l'57); 25. jason ~ cCorm ick (2:32.0211; 2b. Tak ......h i Koik ed a (2:32_0291; 27. To m welch (2;33.007); 2B. I,b ,o n Thoma.. (2:33_'J09) ; ; 29. Peter lve n (2:."-1 .301); 30. Kevin Cone (2.:35.169) 31. Bovd Karsmakcrs (2:3i.8hht . MO TO 1: 1. Sh,·f Eve rts (lion); 2. Ryan Hughes .1I1 (Hen): 3. Kevin windha m (Hon): 01 . Pit Beite r (Kaw): 5. Micka el Pich o n (SUI) ; b . Sebastien Torte tli (Hen): 7. Greg Albertyn (5u;l.) ; 8. Fredenc BoI1~' (Hon); 9. Brian Briefl jorgensen (Suz): to . ju ~u., Coppi ns, (SUI); 11, Da v id Vu illcrmn (Yam); 12. Rob bie Rey n ard (SU;I.); 13. Marnicq Bervoct.. (Ka w ): 101_ Alessandro Belonwu i (Yam); 15. Cordon Crockard (Hen): l b. Leon Giesbcrs (Sur.); 17. kiln Sebastien Rov (f 'h 1n); 18. Is-on McConnick (HUll); 1Q. Kevin Crinl.:(S uz) ; 20 . Pa ul Cooper ( Hus) : 21. Ta kes hi Koikeda (Y.lm); 22. jason Thomas (Y.lm); 23 . Tom welch (Sud. . Time : 016 min.• 38.631 sec . Dist...n cr: 1953 miles Average Speed: 27.0116 mph M..q;i n of Victory: 3.5S& ~'C . F....tes t up: Pit Beirer , 2:26.%5/29.007 mph ••• Despite a shortage of factory AMA ride rs . the U.S. team truck dri-' ve rs didn't get the week off. In the pit area were the factory semis of Kawasaki (servi ng Prt Beirers' W infield Kawasaki team). Yamaha (hel ping Dav id Vu illemin's Yamaha France effort). and Suzuki (assisting both the U .S. Suzuki squad and Wi nfield /Bieff e Suzuki). FMF's truck housed St efan Evert s' Radson Honda team. wh ile Planet Honda looked after Ryan Hughes' Pamo Honda crew. Team Honda 's Kevin Wi ndham was the f a stest rider in Friday' s timed qualifyin g sess ion. pos ting a fast lap in two minutes. 25 .4 19 seco nds . Robbie Reynard was j ust 266-thousandths o f a second slower in second . To p Eur opean s we re th ird-placed M ick ael Pich on , who called Bu dd s C ree k his favonte U .S . trac k . and Sebast ien Tort elli in fourth: bot h ride rs have quite a bit of U .S. racing under thell belts . Fast lap of the GP was set by Pit Beirer. who pos ted a 2:26 .965 in moto one . AMA fans accustomed to the occasional 'b i g -b o r e f our-stroke on the track With the 250cc two·strokes noticed the thumpers' absence this weekend . FIM rules restrict such machines to the 500cc class . Fort unately, the opening round of the Eastern Four· St roke National M X Series ran between mo tos . satisfying many thumper addicts. Also. only one European bike (Englishman Paul Cooper's Husqvama) contested the GP, No Eastern European riders were on hand . but had they shown up. they would 've felt right at home . Everywhere around the facili· ty we·re fatigue ·clad members of the Marylan d D e f e n s e Force , a state guard that helped out with event organization and secunty. N u mbe r nu mbness: Race fans were scratching their heads w hen It came to iden tifying the riders on the track. Last names aren' t requi red on jersey bac ks for the GP series. nor are race numbers mandatory on the side panels (electronic transponders are strapped to the fork legs for sco ring) , The lesser·known Euro· peans were predic tably anonymous, but since the AM A regulars were spo rting diffe rent numbers than they had all year. eve n they we re diffi cult to pick out. An example is G reg Albert yn. The Suzu· ki ride r wore num ber 8 all season long. but tha t 's the W orl d Champ ion ship number of Frenchman Mi ckael Maschio. What with Alb erty n's National ti tle the previous week. many already think of him as number one, but his front n umber plate was ado rned w ith the digits 108 at Budd s Creek (his jersey still wo re an 8). Oh . yes. and the number on Al by' s bik e in th e eve nt program ' s cove r phot o? Why. 208 . of co urse. Don 't expec t the AMA to adopt electron ic sco ring any ti me soo n. thoug h they may do so at some point in the future . M otocr oss manager Duke Finch said that the system will be utilized in the PACE Supercro ss Series, but only for on· site purposes, and not for the o ff icia l scori ng . Accoro ing to Finc h, the tran sp onder s MOTO 2: 1. Ke vi n Wi ndha m (H (ln); 2. G rl',!; A lbcr tyn (Suz); 3 . S tefa n Eve-r t.. (Hem) ; -I. Da vi d Vu jllemin (Yam) ; 5. Ro b bi e Rey na rd (S Ul); 6. Rya n Hu ghes tHonl. i . Sebastien Tort ell i (Hen): B. Mami q Bervoets (Kaw): 9. Bria n lo rge nsc u (Suz): 10. Fred eric Boll,'}' (Hen): 11. lea n Sebastien Ro y (Ho n): 12. L ~.1n Cicsbcrs (Suz); 13.T.lkl'Shi Koikeda (Yam); H . I' it Beirvr (K.1W) ; 15. Cordon Crockerd (Hon): lb . Mark Eastwood IHon): Ii. Kev in Cri ne (Suz) : 18. Phili ppe Du p.oquier (Ho n): 19. M.lTko Kovalai ne n (Hen): 20. j., so n Tho ma s (Yam); 21. Tom welch (Suz) . T ime: 4n min .• -I7.tW7 sec. D istance 19.53 rnilc-, Aver..ge Speed; 27.3..10 m ph M.lrg in of Victory. 2585 sec . F....te..1 up: Kevi n Windham . 2:27.17-t/28.96ft mph O /A : 1. Kevin Windham (Hon) USA ; 2. Stefan EVl"l1S IHon) Belgium; 3. Ryan Hughes (Hcnl USA; 01 . Cn,; Alberryn

• Cover