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/128623
R IDERS FOR H EALTH Nearly $ 100 ,000 Raised at Day of Champions The 7th annual Day of Champions at Donington Park in England generated a healthy $92 ,000) for Riders for Health (RfH) outrea ch in Africa. RfH funding director Andrea Coleman estimated takings soared to $100,000 during th e British Grand Prix, held a few days lat er at Donington. Giving was painless for the thousands of family bik ers who braved gray skies to attend GP racing's answ er to rock festivals. Attractions included Dutch rock band Simpel Zat , and a tra ditional A frican village (with dance and m usic intense eno ug h to inspire Litt l e Ri ch ar d ) . Th e s u n b r o k e throu gh for a n aeria l dis play o f " wing- wa l ke rs" o n bi -p lan es. and Ma tt "Kan ga roo K id " Co u lte r, p e r for ming un sp ea k ab le ac t s on his tr usty quad. The auction, pack ed with stars and GP good ies, raised about $30 ,0 00 . Maybe the happi est bi dder was the man who paid $3 000 for Mick Doohan 's old p a dd o c k sc o oter . Exp l a in in g t hat z D oo han had sent a heart - w arm in g ~ m essage and souvenirs to his ill son, :I: the grateful buy er didn 't mind that the lil scooter had no key. Why ? He plans to -c encase the icon in his living room . ;Z; cr Fiv e-t ime World Champion (who' d :l! just had th e post-surger y "leq -caq e" c removed ) clowned on th e pillion of the :ii two -sea ter YZR500 Yamaha , and two ~ fans paid $ 1500 apiece to ride th e taxi ::::l from hell behind Mamola around Don~ ington. ~ Clearly enjoying the day were RfH ~ African officials , i nc luding Saaka Du m ba (G hana) and Steve Osag hae ' -_ _-"'"IIL._-' it and Segun Adeyemo (both from Nigeria). Osagha e says the 650 Honda Domin ator he rides in Nigeria is a pretty big bike, but Mamola' s 190 hp 500cc GP Yam ah a got hi s O attenti on . Closing down the auction, Mam ola had emotional words for J oey Dunlop , the 26 -t ime Isle of Man TT winner lost in a I 25cc road race in Eston ia on July 2. The next day , as British GP practi ce got underway, 50,000 fans of Yer Maun pack ed the village where Dunl op was laid to rest. Politi cians on both sides of the Northe rn Ireland divide honored Dunlop, and a sectaria n group cancelled a controversial march. The iro ny th at it took the loss of a roarin g road racer to halt religious strife - if only for a night - was not lost on those who know RfH-managed motorcycles save lives i ll Africa. F \0 . G a r y B a il e y w ill ho ld his fi nal two sc hool s on th e East Coast for the 2000 seas o n in the comin g months. The first sc hoo l will begin on A ugust 31 in Lewi ston , Maine, w ith the second session slat ed fo r Axton, V irginia, November 24 -26 . Fo r more info rmatio n, call 54 0 /650-1759. It all ha p pens under the li g h t s in Las V egas. A track night will be held at Las V eg as M oto r Speedway in Las V eg as, Nev ada, A ugust 5-6 , wi th the track ope n fro m 8 p .rn. to 4 a. m . The sessio n wi ll use the full S uperbi ke road co urse , bankin g include d, and will be spl it into fou r groups, bas ed on rid er ex pe rie nce. The even t is be ing spo nsored by Racers Edge Pe rfo r manc e, USBA, SNSBA and th e Freddie Spenc er Rid ing Sc ho o l w it h a cost of $225 pe r rider. For more information , call 702/257 -3808 . Husqvarna ha s anno unc ed a su pport program fo r the International Six Days Enduro , scheduled for O ctober 31·November 5 in Granada , S pain. In conj unction w ith the fac tory, H usky ' s S pa nis h im po rt e r, M o to s B o rdoy , wi ll have special ISD E-prepared Hu sqvamas ava ilable for rent at the event. For more info rmati on, ca ll Rob Keit h or Curtis Jurrens at C agiva USA, 215/830-3300 . Continued from page 3 World M o to c ro s s round schedu led for the Rog genbu rg circuit in S wi tzerland on Septembe r 3 . The CZs are coming, the CZ s are coming. The CZ Wortd Championships will be held at C arlsbad Rac ew ay in Carlsbad , California, o n July 30 . A ll C Zs are wel come - even new ones, says event promoter Southwest Vi ntage Raci ng . For more informatio n, call 6 19/ 29 1-2462. The Boyesen/Twin A ir race suppo rt van s w ill be o n hand at Loretta Lynn ' s • • Bee mer For Sale? In the wake of its sale of Rover, speculation co ntinues to surround the futu re of BMW, with the Quandt fami ly reportedly considering selling the German car and motorcycle manufa c turer, in which they hold a controlling shareholding, to either VW or Ford - or both . Ford already bought Land Rover from BMW earlier th is year, as part of th e German com pa ny's withdrawal from its disastrous investment in what h ad becom e known int emally as "th e English Patient : and is now reported to be negotiating with VW to jointly pay aroun d $30 billion to acquire BMW and divide up its marques betw een them , with Mini going to Ford , and Rolls-Royce to VW (whi ch already owns Bentley) . Though Ford, which already numb ers Jagua r. Volvo and Aston Martin among its European trophy marques, has the financial muscle to outbid VW for the whole of BMW, there's like ly to be considerable chauvinistic pres sure on the Quandt family from within Germany not to sell BMW to a foreign co m pany, so, for this reason, VW is likely to ..... end up with the main prize. With the younger members of A m a t e u r Nat io nal f rom August 5 to A ug ust 12 to provide product and technical su p po rt to all racers . B oy e se n w ill also help support Camp Loretta's, a c hil d re n' s day camp at the event. Kids aged 5-11 ar e welcome to jo in in t he activit ies . the Qua ndt family - whose fath er Herbert Quandt rescued BMW from bankruptcy back in the late 'SOs, thus prev enting it from falling into the hand s of Mercedes-B enz - appa rentl y eager to switch their investment away from the tro ublesome car industry and into the dot-com and technology sectors, the Munich -based electronics conglomerate Siemens (holde r of more than 10-percent of BMW equity) is likely to be a key player in the sale. In any case, the sale will not happen until 2001, when the current high rate of German capital gains taxes is set to be slashed, and the Quandts will get to keep more of the sale price. But a recent report in a German newspaper quotes a memb er of the Quandt fam ily as stating that the disposal of Europe's last m ajor independent car manu facturer will be revi ewed in the autumn - leading to specula tion that a decision is quite close . Since neither Ford or VW are motorcycle manufacturers, th is raises the question of what will happen to BMW's flour ishing two-wheeled business, whi ch built more th an 65,000 bikes in 1999, an 8- percent increase over '98, which was a reco rd year in its own right. It is probable that the same pressures militatin g in favor of VW keeping the BMW car marqu e in German hands wo uld apply here , so a fo reign sal e is unlikely. But with a cl ean balance sheet -and healthy order book, the finan ces to fuel a man agement buyout would certa inly be available. If this happens expect Deutsche Bank Morgen Grenfell - which already successfull y helped TPG turn Ducati around and is now undertaking the sam e exercise The Motorcycle Safety Foundation (MSF) has produced a new tra in ing video, "The M SF 'Guide to Group Riding .The 17 -m inute video premiered at the Honda Hoot on June 19 and companion pie ces are currently in development. For more information , ca ll 9491727 -3227 . CN itself with Piaggio. where it bought an BO-percent stak e last October - to head the queue of financial houses ready to supply a German answer to BMW Motorcycles' "final solution.- Could BMW's now -thriving motorcycle li ne be e :.:;da :;:n =ng, e red ? ~~= To cast yo ur vot e, log on to http://www.cycl e ne ws. com. cyclenews .com reader poll question of the week nal Six ...