Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128382
More Hard Luck for Pridmore 30 l'EARS AfiO... June 17. 1975 The Triumph Tri· dent showed up on our cover. We did a full test on the legendary bike inside. Our only major complaint was the price of the bike - a hefty _ _ $2895... Teenager Jay Springsteen topped a Harley-Davidson sweep of the Louisville Grand National in, you guessed it, Louisville, Kentucky. The win etched Sprinsteen into the record books as the youngest rider ever to win a Dirt Track National... Team Yamaha's Jimmy Weinert won the opening round of the AMA 500cc National Motocross Series in Baldwin, Kansas. Gary Semics was the runner-up, while Kent Howerton complet- ed the podium... Free pitchers of beer were to be given out to the class winners at the Ponderosa Dual Hare Scrambles. if!0 l'EARS AfiO... June 19. 1985 We tested the new 1985 Yamaha VZ250. Overall, we came away quite impressed with the bike. It had everything to offer for beginners and pros alike... It was a close one at the eighth round of the National Enduro Series. Terry Cunningham snagged the overall by just two points over Dave Bertram. Bertram took second by a mere two points over jeff Fredette... Scott Head completed a Hat Trick of the first three National Trials events by winning the third round in Winchester, Ten- nessee. Steve McNeal finished a close second ... Freddie Spencer became the first racer in history to win both the 250cc and 500cc Grand Prix Road Racing classes on consecutive weekends with his victory at round five of the World Championship Road Racing Series in Austria. 10 l'EARS AfiO••. June 14. 1995 CJ:.!_~_~ • ~ Miguel Duhamel won a thrilling race _1..:. _._ _ at the fourth round of the AMA Superbike Series at MidOhio Sports Car Course. He came out on top after a fierce battle with his Smokin' joes Racing teammate Mike Hale. Hale finished a close second, and Fred Merkel was third ... Jeremy McGrath won the 15th round of the AMA Supercross Series in San jose, California. For McGrath, it was his 29th career win, and at the time, it made him the winningest rider in history... Privateer racer Gerald Delepine won the fifth round of the 500cc World Championship Motocross Series in Folkendange, Luxumbourg. Delepine fended off challenges from Daryll King to take the surprise win. There was no other way for jason Pridmore to say it. In his return to racing after a sixweek layoff, a mysterious mechanical problem sent him tumbling to the ground at Road America during a Thursday promoter practice on june 2. The result was a broken right foot and abraded left elbow. Asked for a quote for the pressroom, Pridmore offered, "I'm f"A>#@ed!" The from wheel on Pridmore's Superstock-spec Suzuki GSX-RIOOO inexplicably locked up on the hill from turns five to six. He was on his out lap. "I was literally going 50 mph, I was going 50, I was just putting," Pridmore said in his motor home on Friday afternoon, "and it was my out lap. And I just had had lunch, and we thought, 1\11 right, let's go back out.' We'd made a couple of changes. 'Let's go out and ride around.' That's all I wanted to do yesterday, was ride around and see how my stomach felt last night. And the next thing you know, I'm getting pitched over the bars." Pridmore said that it "started kind of gradual. I was like, 'Oh, what's this?' I couldn't even really think that it was the front brake. I thought the bike was loading up. Something was weird. And it locked up on me so fast. It locked up the front to the right, and then I think what happened was, I put my foot down right away. I thought I was going over. I didn't know what was wrong. That's what broke my foot. And then it flung me up over the top, and I landed on my left elbow and my back, and I got over to my bike and I didn't even pick it up. I went over to it because I saw the big skid mark up the middle of the track. I was like, 'That's so weird.' I tried to turn the front tire and it wouldn't even turn." But when the Suzuki was returned to the jordan pits, the wheel spun freely. 'I\nd then they sat there and looked at it for the rest of the night trying to figure out what was wrong." Pridmore said. "I don't know if I got something stuck up in the disk. There was nobody in front of me. I went down the back straightaway on my own. I have no idea. I went into turn five and released the brake lever and everything was fine, at the apex, and I just started to accelerate out of five and It just locked up on me." The infield medical center offered no care. "I went to the infield care center, and I just wanted to get my elbow cleaned out, and they said, 'We don't have the capabilities of cleaning your elbow out:" Pridmore said. "I couldn't even believe it. I sat in there for IS minutes, and they didn't do anything. Not only did they not clean my elbow out, I didn't get a gauze. I didn't get anything. I was bleeding." Pridmore was driven to Sheboygan by Mark Gallardo, of Pridmore's Star Motorcycle School. The foot was X-rayed Briefly•.. Continued from page I r be replaced with Neeroeteren is completely false, Youthstream says. "There have been many rumors regarding the Grand Prix of Ireland, but Youthstream would like to again reassure all fans that the FIM Motocross Grand Prix of Ireland is confirmed." Youthstream says it will take legal action against the person(s) who created the rumors and sent this false information to the media as it is only made with intention of causing trouble with the stability of the FIM Motocross World Championship and to give damage to the Irish promoter and Youthstream, according to Youthstream. and the film was sent on Friday morning to Dr. Arthur Ting. Pridmore was told on Saturday that he'd need an operation. He was to fly to San jose on Monday morning. "To be honest, it's nothing major major," he said. "I guess coming from where I just came from, it's definitely not major at all. It's a cracked bone in a couple of places. So I'll be more than ready to go for Laguna. "I'm just trying to get myself healthy:' he continued. "I carne back here, and the reason I was riding on Thursday was because I just wanted to make sure I was healthy enough to go on the weekend. I wasn't even trying to go fast. I was just out there riding, and something like that happens, and nobody can understand it." The race marked Pridmore's return to racing after life-threatening injuries suffered at Barber Motorsports Park in May. Emergency surgery was required to remove his spleen. "It's just like I've been telling everybody that it's just to the point that I'm embarrassed," Pridmore said. "This here had nothing to do with me. Our team, we were going to run one class only, Superstock, just kind of get our feet underneath us and then something this bizarre and crazy happens. You sit there and you think, 'What's going on?' It's hard, it's hard mentally. Usually, I'm very strong mentally. Now you sit there and you go, 'What's happening" It's kind of crazy. It's good to see Stevie [Rapp1 going fast. I was happy to see that this morning." Rapp was fastest in the morning's Superstock practice. Pridmore is to return to Road America in a little over a week to teach his Star Motorcycle School. "I guess it just depends on whether I have to have surgery or not," he said. "I love coming up here, and I love teaching my school." Henny Ray Abrams The 12th annual Malcolm Smith Motorsports "Ride to the Races" will be held july 6-11, and the dealership is now accepting reservations for the ride. For more information, call David Rees at 9S 1/687-1300. California State Parks has announced that the Mammoth Bar OHV area will be closed Monday, june 6, through Saturday, june I I, for repair and resealing of the entrance road and for soil-erosion restoration work. Mammoth Bar is located on the Middle Fork American River in Placer County in the Auburn State Recreation Area. The area will be reopened for use at 8 a.m. on Sunday, june 12. "We will be repairing potholes and resurfacing the entrance road," acting park superintendent Mike Lynch said. "We regret the inconven· ience to the public during the closure. However, the road repairs are much needed." For additional information on the Mammoth Bar closure or the Auburn State Recreation Area, call S30/885-4527. BORN: A baby boy, Matthew Evan Caylor, to Team EMGO Taiwan Suzuki's Opie Caylor and his wife, Tracey, on june 3 in Georgia. HIRED: Mike Dougherty, formerly of ATK Motorcycles and Desert Only Yamaha, by Rekluse Motorsports in Boise, Idaho. Dougherty has taken over the manufacturing engineering position for the maker of the Z-Start automatic clutch. BORN: A baby boy, Parker Stephen Hengeveld, to Team Honda's Steve Hengeveld and Karisse Sparks on May 4. Regional Events Go Online With more and more regional motorcycle races taking place across the country every single weekend and not enough pages to do them justice, Cycle News has made the decision to give those events the coverage they deserve - via the Internet. Readers can now log on to www.cyclenews.com/events to find comprehensive racing coverage from events all over the country. More coverage, more photos, more results. The events homepage features a search system that allows readers to quickly find the events they are looking for - either by the date of the event or by the state or region the event was held in. Our nationwide group of contributors will continue to provide us with the best coverage of those regional events, and we look forward to bringing them to you in a more timely and productive manner. Mike Klinger OPENING: RTR Cycles of Washington, Illinois, is celebrating its IO-year annrversary with the opening of its brand-new facility at 120 I Independence Court in Washington. RTR, a KTM dealer since 1995, also announces the addition of Yamaha motorcycles, ATVs, dirt bikes and side-by-sides to its product line. For more information, call 309/444-8109. CYCLE NEWS • JUNE 15, 2005 13