Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

ca n be se n t to Kaw asa ki Team Green, 9950 jero nimo Rd ., Ir vine, CA 926 182084, a tt n: Craig Martin (motocross), Re id No rdi n (off- roa d) , Ron Heben ( rOad racing). !Show case Bike Nigh t will play host to [H ond a Riders Club of America Night ion Thursday, Oc tobe r 7 from 7-10 p .m . 'Among the featu red guests w ill be newl y 'crowned 1999 Formula Xtreme Charnpi:on Kurtis Roberts. Honda w ill also d isplay its new RC51 at the Speedway Internati onal Racing Bistro & Bar in Newport 'Beach, Califo rni a, the hom e of Sho wcase Bike Night. For more information, call FS Productions at 714/585-2930. '' fhe 1999 Del Mar Concours d'Elegance 'a n d Mo torcycle Expo , sched u le d for ctober 9-10 in Del Ma r, Californi a, will ave a new look, accord ing to event proo ters . The Concours has been moved from th e in field to th e gra ndiose foyer ar ea, utilizin g th e surro und ing gardens ,and fountains as backgrounds for display. I Evel Knieve1 w ill se rve as Gra nd Ma rs hal of thi s ye ar's Del Mar Mot orcycle Wee ke nd . Knievel wi ll lead a lap of leg en ds , fe a turing so me 50 m o torcycl e -grea ts, includi ng m u lti-time speed way .World Champion Barry Briggs. I 'current [r on Bu tt participant and fo rm e r road ra ce r Fran Cran e died on Se p tem ber 12 fro m in juries suffered in Ia si ngle-vehicle acciden t near Ceda r 1:::i ty, Utah . Acco r di ng to r e p o r ts , 'C rane was mi stakenl y given an inco r-rect [V so lu tio n in t he hospital th a t pro m p ted e me rge ncy s u rgery. tlthough C ra ne survived the su rgery, cons iderable brain damage caused her 't o fa ll into a co ma fr o m w hic h s he rever recover ed. And now for so me thing completely dift.ere nt : Sha ne T ri ttle r ca lled to let us know abo u t his upcoming Wakecross. T h e midweek event, w hich featu res both wakeboarding and motocross po rt ions, is sche d uled for Se pt ember 28 at :H u ng ry Va lley, Califo rnia (MX) and ,Sep tember 29 at Pa radise Lake, California (wa keboa rdi ng) . Contestan ts incl ude to p M Xers Da m on Hu ffm an, Casey ,Lytle, jim my Button, Ph il Law rence and 'Bob Moore, and top wa keboa rde rs Scott Byerl y, Ricky Go nzalez, Co be Mikacich 5'nd Mike Weddin gton . For more inforIma tion, ca ll 661/ 294-0020. Rick Doughty le t us k now in a recent 'p hone co nversa tion th at a special one 'hour practi ce session an d ba rbeque wi ll RC45: End of the road "I t d oesn't d o anything, anywhere. You ca n' t p ush it or you'll bu st yo ur ass. It's just a big mix -up rig ht now, bu t we'll get it sorted out and ge t it closer." • Those were th e ini tia l impressions an d predictions of Australi an Kev in Magee after he go t off th e Smokin' joe's Hon d a RC45 at Daytona in 1994 - th e ina ugura l year of Ho nda's long awa ited RC45. Five years lat er, the Ho nda RC45 tu rn ed a wheel in ange r for th e final tim e in AMA Su per bik e ra cin g at Pikes Pea k Int ern stional Raceway on Sep tember 19, as next yea r will ma rk the racing debu t of the RCS1, - endi ng an up-and-down career for the RC45. Altho ug h Doug Polen was able to finish fourth in the RC45' s AMA Superbike d ebut a t Da yt ona o n h is W o rl d Su perbike mount, the Smo kin' joe's tea m su ffered through a misera ble season. Teamst ers Mi ke Sm ith an d Magee fin ished seven th and ninth, resp ectively, at Daytona, and things didn't ge t mu ch better fro m ther e. At the end of th e season, Smi th's fourt h- place finis h at New Hampshire Internat ion al Spe ed w ay was all the tea m could han g its hat on . Th e res t of the year was filled with ninths and TOths, a gearbox fail tire here, a crash th er e. It w as a fa r cry fro m the superbike d om inat ion many ha d predi cted for the RC45. The fo llowing yea r didn't sta rt mu ch better. Po le n aga in showe d up for a one-off AMA ride on the RC45, and he finis he d fifth in th e Dayto na 200. New Smo ki n' joe's riders Miguel DuHamel and Mike Hale both crashed out of the rac e - with Hale st ill aboard the '94-model RC45. But th en Honda wen t on a ro ll. It all began on a pa rki ng- lot course in Pomona, Ca liforn ia, on April 2, 1995. That's when Ha le gave the RC45 its first AMA Superbike victory, ending a threeyear losin g streak for Ho nda. Ha le was now riding the '95-model, an d he was impressed . "It's a lot faster," Ha le said at the tim e. "It's a lot quicker, it stops bett er ana it co rners faster. It's a better bike." A far cry from th e Magee qu otes of a season earlier. At th e following race at Lag u na Seca, Du Hamel finis hed third wit h Hale fourth. Then the team sudden ly tu rned into the most do mi nant fo rce in AMA racing. DuHamel won six straight races, wit h Hal e finis hing second in two of th ose while also mixi ng in so me fourths and fifth s. Th e championshi p would be decided between th e two. At th e final round in Phoeni x, the pair was again 1-2 - with Hale wi nning in his farewell ride on the bike. But DuHamel was rig ht behind him, and that was all he need ed to take his o ne and only AMA Su perbike Na tio na l Cha mpionship. The frustrations of a year ago we re now a dis tant memory for those in the team be offered the day pr ior to the Vin tage Iron World Championship s at Glen Hele n Raceway in Glen Helen, California. The Yama ha-presented race (w hic h just picked up Sidi as a sponsor) takes place on October 31, a nd the practice session will be from 12:00 to 1:00 p.m . on October 30, followe d by the "f irs t" -the rned barbeque. Invited guests (most co nfirmed) incl ude fir s t America n GP wi nne r jim Pomeroy, first American U.s . GP ",'inner Marty Moates, firs t 250cc Nationa l Ch ampion Gary jones, first A merica n 250cc and those ba ck at cor po ra te headquart ers. After all, this ma rked Ho nda's firs t AMA Superbike title since Bubba Shobert rod e his VFR to the cha mpionship in 1988. Al tho ugh th e RC45 did n't win th e ti tle in '96 or ' 97, it w as close. Real close. Du Hamel wo n four tim es in '96 (including the Daytona 200) and lost the title by five point s to Dou g Cha nd ler a nd h is Kawasaki. In '9 7, Du Ha mel ag ain won fou r tim es a nd again lost the title to Cha nd ler, th is time by 12 poi nts. . In 1998, the Honda RC45 was cha m pio n once again - this tim e in th e hands of yo ung Ben Bost rom. DuH amel ha d won fou r times prior to breaking his leg, and the bike won two more races af ter t h at when th e younger Bostro m , Eric, took over for Du H amel and wo n Nationals in Bra inerd and Pikes Peak . Ben Bost rom won the title on the team's ot her RC45 despite not winning a race. The 1999 season started on a promisi ng note with DuHamel wi nning the Daytona 200 in his first race back fro m leg in jury. U nfor tu nately, th at wo u ld b e th e RC45 's fina l victory a s DuHamel broke his leg again and Eric Bostrom failed to rekindl e the magic fro m the season befo re. It would have been, fitti ng for the RC45 to win its fina l race wi th Du Ha mel in the sad d le. Inst ead , Du Ha me l was still on the sidelines as the series concluded in Co lorado. But the bike ended its career on a high note, tha nks to Nicky Hayden. Th e yo ungster put the bike on the podium w ith a third-place finis h, m ar kin g the end of the road for the RC45. DuHamel a nd H ayd en , how ever, will be back for more in 2000, hopin g tha t the RC51's his tory wil l begin on a brighter no te than did th e RC45. In all, th e RC45 won 23 AMA Su pe rbike Na tio na ls, one AMA Superbike National Championship and two Daytona 200s. World C hampion Da nny LaPorte, and first American 500cc Wo rld Champion . Brad Lackey . For more info rmatio n, call 714/694-0066, or check out Vintage [ron's website at www.vintageiron.com. BORN: judson joseph Guirey, to roa d racer Rick Guirey and his w ife, Tonya, on September 4 in Camden, Sou th Carolina. RESIGNED: Pat Sch utte as media rela- . tio ns ma nager of PACE Moto rs po r ts , effective Sep tember 24. Schutte w ill take a simila r position wi th Daimler Ch rys ler, working as media relations m anager for the Dodge Vipe r racing program. RESIGNED: Scott Heath, from the public relations depart men t at Yama ha Moto r Cor poration U.S.A., effec tive immed iately. ' BORN: Kasey Rae Koh ler to AMA Hare Scra mbles series contender Erik Kohler an d wife Kerrie on August 19, in Sacram ento, Ca lifornia. CN . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - , r5 : ~It U z:J SUBSCRIPTION ORDER FORM ~.~.III!I. I : Name -'- _ I I Address I I Cit y _ _ __ __ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ Stat e _ _ Zip _ I ,I I Ord er Date _ 1 Please start my subscription to Cycle News: 1 1 1 o Every w eek fo r on e ye ar (50 issu es) fo r $42.00 (can be billed 2 monthly pa yments) _~ 0 Every w eek for two years (100 issues) for $75.00 1 0 Six m onths se cond .class (25 issues) for $22.00 lOne year (50 issues), 2nd class Canada or Mexico and all other foreign cou ntr ies 1 $86.00 (Ll.S, funds). 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