Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Cycle News 1999 10 27

Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles

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In the Wind J erem y M cGrath (Yam ) w on th e Sheffield Supercross in Sheffi eld , England, on October 16. Larry Ward, making his Kaw asaki debut, fin ished second, followed by Mike Brown (Hon), In his first out ing on a KTM, thr ee-time 500cc World MX Champion Joel Sm ets won a major mo tocross event in Leirop, Ho lland, on October 17. Smet s won bot h motos on th e four-stroke KTM, whil e Husqvarna rider Jacky Martens finished second. . With just 50 cha mp ionship points availab le in th e final two rou n d s, Repsol Hond a 's Alex Criville and Tada yuki Okada are th e final two ri d ers in th e 500cc Worl d Champions hi p with a ma th em ati cal chance of w inn ing the title. Criville lead s Okada by 44 points, and will likely take th e title when the series resumes on Oc tober 24 in Rio d e Janeiro, Brazil. "I' ve suffe red a lot over the last two races ," said Criville. "I hurt my hand wh en I cras hed during practice for the Aus tralian Grand Prix. Then, for the first day of practice in Sou th Africa, I came down with a bad case of flu that lasted until Su nday. I was totall y spent at the end of that race. I really cou ldn' t pu sh any mo re so I preferred to ma ke su re of a goo d finish and some points. Co nsi deri ng how bleak things loo ked a fter my cras h in Aus tra lia, I really don' t thi nk I ca n be u nh appy with th e way they' ve turned out. I d on 't like to talk or eve n think abou t this, but I now have to consider that I might be World Cham p ion in Braz il. It wo uld be gr eat to make certain of the title there. The only rival I ha ve left is Tad y (O ka da) ... and if he wins I on ly need to fini sh 10th to be World Cham p ion. O n paper, the situation looks really sim ple. But I kn ow only too well how quickly things can start to ge t comp licated . The Jacarepagua track was d esign ed for car racin g. I haven't rid de n there since 1996 and that year it was very slip pery. So this track is a bit of an unknown qu antity, but both the b ik e an d th e Respol H onda tea m are w orki n g re all y we ll a t th e m om ent . There's nothing to w Drry abo ut on that score ." Fre nc h Ca na dia n r oad ra ce r Pascal Picotte has sig ned a four-year con tract th at w ill see him o n fac tory H arleyDavid son VR1000s th rou gh 2004. Picotte recen tly comp leted his secon d season on th e facto ry Ha rley , ending the season with a best-ever second place in the seaso n fina le a t Pikes Peak Interna tiona l Racewav in Fou ntain, Colorado , Picotte was also cons idering an offer to join the Vance & Hines Du cati team for 2000. M oto cros s ers Tr a v i s Pre ston a n d Takesh i Koik eda hav e earn ed the TDp Privateer awa rds in the 1999 Ll.S. Tobacco Compan y Pri vateer Challenge for the AMA /Mazd a Tru ck 125 /250cc National Motocross Series. Pr eston ea rned th e award for the U 5cc class by bein g the top p riv at eer in fou r even ts, earni ng a to tal of $10,500 in Ll.S. Tobacco money. Koikeda was the iop 250cc p rivat eer in two races to earn $9000. 2 Grou nd break ing for the cons truc tion of the Ca ribbean's first-ever moto rsports facility took place on Sep tember 28, led by the prime mini ster of Aruba, Ca rlo J.H.A. Eman, and Ralph Sanchez, pr esident of Motorsports Ame ricas, Inc. The 2.7-mi le, 14-turn ro ad cou rse wi ll be built to FlA sta ndards for Form ula O ne cars and is expected to be completed in Septem ber 2000. The tra ck is a joint venture betwe en the Govern ment of Aruba, Colorado Hills, N.V., Sanchez and other in vest ors. "This is the be ginni n g of a new journ ey for Aruba," Eman sa id at the gro und breaking . "This facility will provide new focu s for us on the world stag e, a ttra cting tou rist s from around the globe. We in Aruba feel that the new Aruba Motorsports Comp lex a nd its s u rr o u n d in g area will in crease the a t tra ct ive ness of ou r already famed island by crea ting a fanta st ic d estination for those international ly orient ed people who want to relax, but, who at the same time, enjoy the kind of excitement that only wo rld -class raci ng can provid e." Sanch ez isn' t new to motorsports. He is the ma n behi nd the Miami Grand Pri x and th e bui ld er of th e H o m e s te a d Motors po rts Co m p le x in Flo r id a . Alre ady scheduled for the race track' s deb ut season is the CA RT PPG-Da yto n Ind y Lights Cham pionship final e, the SCCA BF Cood ric h Ti re s Tr'arts- A rn Se ries a nd the open ing round of th e 2001 American Le Mans Series. The Kawasaki road race team is all set for 2000, with forme r Muzzy and Vance & Hines tun er Gary Medley the latest to join the sq uad . Medl ey wi ll serve as the crew chief for Dou g Chan dler, according to team man ager Mik e Pres to n. In a d d itio n to Medley, Cha nd le r's team will consist of mechan ics Nick Allen and Matt Worbes s, while former Mi gu el Du Ha mel tu ner s Al Ludingt on and Joey Lo m ba r do w ill ta k e care of Er ic Bos trom's Ka w asa kis. [un Suga nu ma wil l serve as the team's suspens ion specialis t. Preston is expec ting to be moved in to th e team ' s new fac ility in Irv in e, Ca lifornia, in tw o to three weeks, and th e team has alre ady recei ved a " few new su pe rbikes an d a few new 600s," Pr est on s a id . Prest on a lso sa id th at Chand ler will compete in selected AMA 600cc Su pe rspo rt races, includin g Daytona and Lagu na Seea..The team is also hopin g to test prior to the annua l Du nlop test at Daytona Intern ational Speedway in December . Ernie Beckman, a member of the Ind ian Wreckin g Crew of the I 950s, d ied a t his home on October 17 a t th e age of 76. Beckm an is a member of the AMA Hall of Fame, the Na tio nal Mo to rcycle Hall of Fam e, the Indi an Motorcycles Hall of Fam e and the Cha rity Newsies Hall of Fame. T he 1999 RM Cup Challeng e , h el d rece n tly in Las Vegas, Nevada , will air on espn2 on Sunday, October 24 a t 4 p .m . (Eastern) . Th e one-hour s h o w w ill feature th e epic ba tt le between Paul Currie and Tra vis Past rana in the izs« Pro class. The 1999 GSX-R Cup Fina l wi ll al so b e seen on es p n 2 on Sunday, December 5 at I :30 p.m . (Eas tern) . Gas Gas North America, Inc. has finalized its off-ro ad racing team for 2000. Na tional End uro and Relia bility End uro Series co n te nders inclu de Te rry Cu nningh am (team manager ), Clay Boreing, Matt Stavish, Nolan Knight , and Na tha n Knight. Blair Ber sano will focus on the Grand Nation al Cro ss Co u n try Ser ies . Regiona l rid ers includ e Frank Ramey 1II, Matt [oach im, Dav id Crai n, Steve Van zant, Jay Hall, Craig Hayes and Geo rge WallerJr. Gaeme is now accepting racer resumes • for the 2000 season. Resu mes for bot h roa d and off-roa d competition ca n be m ail ed o r faxe d to th e fo ll o w in g address: Gaerne Ame rica /A ttn: Racer Suppor t, 13640 Imperial Hw y, Su ite 5, Sa n ta Fe Sp r ings, CA 90670, fa x 562/ 404-4809. Vintage Hamill ualifies in Ital C a l i fo r n ia n Billy Hamill trav e led to Ital y for th e most im p o rta n t race of his seaso n, knowing there wou ld be no sym pa thy vote this tim e aroun d s h ou ld he fa il to make th e cu t. But Hamill did n' t need a ny o n e's p it y , becaus e he tra mp led th e oppo si tion underfoot like so ma ny crus hed g rapes to wi n the Speedway Gra nd Prix Cha llenge in Lon igo. Italy, on October 17, in vin tage Hamill fas hio n. Each time he came off the start line, Hamill was read y to d o battl e before the 30yar d mark, his determinati on visible in eve ry shift on the sadd le as he wo rke d and wo rked his bike th rou gh the turns. Mikael Karlsson ended up second , like Ha mill, fina lly findi ng success, and he' s booked a re tu rn ticket to the Gra nds Prix for 2000. Trans ferring alo ng with Hamill and Karlsson was Carl Stonehewer, who rides in the second division in the British League, John Hipkiss So urces in Eu ro pe say t hat GP rnot ocr o ss er Darryll King h a s b een offered a Kawasaki rid e in America for the 2000 season. King's other op tion is a position on the Dave Grant-run Hu sq varna team in the World Ch ampion ship SOOcc MX Series. V intage Iron World Championship update: On Th ursday, October 28, Glen Helen Raceway in San Bernardino, California , the site of the VIWC on October 31, will host "Carburetor Day." This w ill be a Vintage /Evolution-o nly pra ctice on last year's track (also known as the REM tra ck ), fro m 8 a. m . to I p .m . Th e next . day, Friday, October 29, there will be an Open Hou se a t Vintage Iron 's new location in Yorba Linda, Californ ia, until 7 p.m. On Satu rday, Octobe r 30, ther e will be a p ractice s ession on th e Na tio na l trac k, begi nning at 12 p.m., and directly followi ng there w ill be a bar becue hosted by No Fear' s Ma rty Moa tes, the first American rid er to w in th e SOOcc Ll .S. GP, a t C a rls b a d . Gary [ones, Jim Pomeroy , Dann y La Port e a nd Brad Lackey are a lso sched uled to ap pea r. This yea r's VIWC races will be held on Gl en Hel en ' s Na tio na l track, a nd th e event will include a raffle for a restored 1973 CZ 250. All proceed s will go directly to Crai g And erson , who recentl y lost his legs in a work-relat ed accident. FDr m or e in formati on o n th e raffl e , ca ll 760 /744-8052. Als o , free ca mpi ng is available at Glen Helen over the course of the weeke nd . For more information abo ut the Vintage Iron World Ch ampionsh ips, call 714/694-0066. th e magnetic s ponsDr 10gDs fro m hi s truck in La s Vega s recently. FDr mor e informati on , call 540/650-17S9. Th e Sunset Ramblers MX Park in Galion, Ohio, will host its 1999 season's points finale on Octob er 24 with over $1000 up for gra bs. For more info rrna- . tion, call 419/562-6931. Harry Molenaar, 87, di ed on October 1. Molenaa r was a Harley-Davidson dealer for 56 vears a n d a lso owned lIl ian a Speedway in Merrill ville, Indi ana. Pirelli has anno unce d that its new line of mini motocros s tires have been chose n for or ig ina l equ ip me n t fitrn ent on both the Cobra and Ga s-Gas min i bikes for the 2000 mod el yea r. Tom Mueller, th e presid ent o f Sports Manageme n t, Inc., has been included as a contribu ting au thor to 'T V Spo nso rs h ip i n America ," a 22S- page bo o k . M ue ller 's co n t r ib u tio n to th e boo k overview s a sponsorship program tha t bro ugh t Beer Nuts snack food into AMA d irt track racing on esp n2. Ned a Bro kaw, 96, di ed at her home in Co lorado Sp rings, Col or ad o, recently. Sh e a nd her hu sba nd Pau l o w ned a mot or cycle d ealer ship in Iowa during the ea rly post-war er a, and later moved to Sou the rn Ca liforn ia w here Paul was appoin ted edi tor Df Motor cyclist Magazine. Ne da worked a t the magazin e as asso ciate ed ito r. Th e Broka w s la ter ow ned anot her motorcycle dealersh ip in Colorad o Springs. . Dana Bell , th e AMA We st ern s ta tes representa tive, left tha t post o n Oc tober 15 to a cce p t a p osition w ith the National Off-Highway Veh icle Conversa tio n Coun cil (N O HVCC). Bell w ill se rve as the cou nci l's program d ev elop me n t coo rdi na tor , helping off-highway vehicle activ ists' nat ionwid e wor k with gove rn me n t t o d e v el op an d impr ov e o ff-h ig h w a y v ehi cl e progra ms. "Th is op por tu nity is going to a llow me to focu s excl us ive ly on off h ighwa y recreati on, w hich is w he re I reall y ha ve my expe rtise," Bell sa id. "I have th e high est regard for the AMA , in particular ou r govern ment relati on s d epa rtm en t. Th e o p po r tu n ities a nd experien ce I ha ve go tten through th e AMA ha ve allowed me to step in to thi s new job." Bell has se rved as the AMA's Wes tern s tates repres en tati ve for s ix yea rs. Mo to cr os s prof e ssor G a ry Bailey is offering a $2S0 reward for the arres t and con viction of the person wh o rem oved Th e s ix t h a n n ua l Lege n d s o f C hicagola n d Mo to rcyc le Racin g Brunch will be held on No vember 28 at

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