Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Cycle News 1992 07 01

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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the day after the Saturday night race. Adams suffered paralyzing injuries in a racing accident last year, and proceeds from the tournament will help defray his medical expenses. Many of the top Camel Pro Series competitors are scheduled to participate. If you'd like to, call Jones at 405/721-6600. Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings and Johnny Paycheck will headline an all-day, outdoor concert which will take place on August 5 during the 52nd Sturgis Motorcycle Classic in South Dakota. The concert will be held at the Bentshoe Ranch three miles north of Sturgis, and begin at 12 noon. Advance tickets are $20 each and are available through Ticketmaster, 612/ 989-5151. The bikes and cars of yesteryear will share southern California's Willow July Springs road race circuit over the J ul y 4-5 weekend in a combined AHRMA/ VARA vintage road race meet. The event will be the third round of the AHRMA Pacific Coast Series. The VARA will host a barbecue and fireworks display Friday night, July 3. Entries will be accepted at the track. For more information, call Fred at 510/ 228-5117. Our apologies are extended to Mike Young, who we're told misunderstood the editor's comment following a letter that ran in the Voices section last week. Having seen Young win the Hilltoppers Itoppers Grand Prix at Carlsbad, California, aboard a four-stroke, the letter writer asked, "Who is this kid?" The comment stated that he was a professional motocrosser and he had finished 20th overall in the Hangtown National. That was ·intended to be a complimentary remark. Considering the large number of riders who compete in MX events across the country each weekend, and that only 40 riders are on the starting gate for a National MX, we feel that a 20th place overall finish in a National is something to be praised, particularly when the day includes a DNF in one of two motos. Young's father tells us that his son hadn't ridden a 250 in the six-week period prior to Hangtown, and that he is negotiating with several firms regarding a four-stroke ride for 1993. has been paranoid in their secrecy over their new engine. The new Suzuki engine sounds very much like the Honda, with a deep bass exhaust note, and seems to have similar performance, pulling very strongly and smoothly at lower rpm. Kevin Schwantz said, "It seems to come off the corner about twice as fast, and is much less like riding on a knife-edge. The older engine revs more freely." But there's no pleasing everybody. To Doug Chandler, with a different riding style, the smoother power made his wheelspin problem worse rather than better. Ironically enough, Schwantz chose the old higher-revving (and shriller) engine at the Hockenheimring, while Chandler was obliged to use the new engine because of trouble with the old engine installed in his other bike. The details released by Suzuki showed that they had closely followed Honda's pattern. They confirmed that they now have two cylinders firing simultaneously, with both pairs timed to fire very close together. This increased torque, leaving the engine externally identical, but of course requiring major changes to the internal balance-shaft. Spanish road racer Carlos Cardus seems to be flailing around madly as he tries to put his Repsol-Honda 250cc Grand Prix effort back on course. After breaking with tuner Kel Carruthers, he has now split with longtime allies Dunlop tires, moving to Michelin midseason. In this he is emulating 500ccclass countryman Juan Garriga, but with less apparent reason, for the tire wars are much more evenly balanced in the 250cc class. Dunlop accepted the "divorce" with good grace, saying: "Although we have agreements in writing, in racing there is not much point in trying to stop people doing what they want to do, and it is always difficult to enforce contracts legally from either side." Dunlop still supplies 250cc-class tires to the top Aprilia riders Loris RegReg· giani, Massimiliano Biaggi, PierPier· Francesco Chili, Andy Preining and Alberto Puig, as well as to Yamaha's Jochen Schmid and Honda's Masahiro Shimizu. Wayne Rainey to Honda in 1992? The rumored link between the double World Champion and the Campsa Honda squad gathered strength at the German Grand Prix. Rainey is known to be distressed at how uncompetitive the Yamaha is, and finally accepted that his World Championship defense had failed after a third crash and nonfinish of the year at the Hockenheimring. The well-financed Campsa team is run by former rider and two-time World Champion Sito Pons, with technical preparation by former constructor Antonio Cobas, and is currently fielding Alex Criville in the 500cc class. The former 125cc champ has one third and one second place to his credit in an impressive class debut on the potent new Honda NSR. Pons admitted that they were contemplating a two-rider team for next year, but would not comment about whether he expected one of them to be his close friend Rainey, nor whether (as is rumored) John Kocinski is also on his shopping list. The sidecar teams arrived at the German GP still without having been paid for their previous GP at Jerez but on the day before the German GP the FIM handed over an interim payment {layment of $50,000 to Lee van Damm, head of the sidecar drivers Damrn, association. This was enough to give the crews $2000 apiece, and to keep the lid on outright rebellion from racing's reject class, but does not solve the problem. Neither the FIM nor Bernie Ecclestone's Two-Wheel Promotions want to pay the sidecars, and because they were not part of the original contract with IRTA the matter has not been specifically dealt with in any specificalIy other contracts. The fight simmers on, and the hapless three-wheelers are caught in a bind: if they "go on strike" and don't turn up to race, they will rapidly be forgotten and kicked out rapidly ou t forever; but if they do turn up and race they must be prepared to do so at their own expense. Suzuki put Honda to shame at the German Grand Prix at the Hockenheimring, releasing details of their new 500cc engine that was delivered to the Lucky Strike team for tests in Britain earlier in the week. Honda, as always, of the new International Motorcycle Racers Association (IMRA), just two weeks after top riders said they had failed to reach agreement with the retired Belgian racer. "It was me. who me didn't agree with them, not the other Retired road racer Didier de Radigues is back as general secretary way round," said de Radigues, as he prepared to take a stand on behalf of all alI the riders, with particular reference to safety matters, in his role as general secretary of the association. They also announced a new president - Italian Halo lawyer !talo Minguzzi. IMRA had been recognized by IRT A, and was part pan of the new professionalism in bike racing, he told a press conference. The new freedom to choose your own number plate color in Grand Prix road racing has seen some strange combinations - but none more so than the choice of Michael Doohan for his spare bike. The front number was DayGlo orange on yellow - making him distinguishable because you couldn't read the number. More details emerged on a Spanish plan to take over the role of the European championship as a nursery class for GP racing, confirmed by Australian GP guru Bob Barnard, now working for Kenny Roberts and indirectly associated with the plan. It is backed by the promoters of the Superprestigio race as well as the Spanish federation, and is intended also to revive the Spanish National Championship as an important series, by opening it up to riders from alI over all the world. Spain has a number of suitable circuits, as well as good weather and communications, and is seen as an ideal venue for a more economical training ground than the current Europe-wide series. Top Spanish riders at the GP level have agreed to take part on production motorcycles, and it is hoped that American riders as welI as Europeans would join well in racing of sufficiently high standard that could take newcomers directly to GP level. The involvement of Roberts is two-fold. Firstly, Kenny would like to enter teams in the series, most likely including Kenny Roberts Jr. as well as other American riders. Secondly, he is working on founding a racers' training school in Spain, with the new series an obvious way for graduates to test what they have learned. Yes, Freddie Spencer definitely is returning to international racing. After weeks of rumors, it was confirmed at the German GP that the three-time World Champion will race a works Honda RVF with Ohioan Tom Kipp in the Suzuka Eight-Hour Torn endurance race this year. It is not yet certain how many GP riders he will be up against. Kevin Schwantz and Doug Chandler may share a Suzuki in the race; Honda certainly wants Michael Doohan and Wayne Gardner; while it seems likely that Niall Mackenzie will be sharing a Yamaha with Kevin Magee. Spencer's return follows growing rumors that the once-dominant American will make a GP return next year, riding a Honda again for Erv Kanemoto. While this seems unlikely, even the mention of it puts in jeopardy the position of Daryl Beattie with the Rothmans Honda team. Former multi-time road race World Champion Phil Read was at the German GP, and while· watching practice at the stadium section he recalled a race here with Jarno Saarinen. "He passed me on the inside of that little kink by running right off the track onto the grass," he said. An irony of IRTA rules meant that Nobuyuki Wakai, the part-time replacement for Wilco Zeelenberg on the Lucky Strike Suzuki 250cc GP team, was obliged to ra!=e in two classes at the'German GP. Because leelenberg Zeelenberg was injured, the Suzuki team was allowed (indeed virtually obliged) to replace him. But because their choice, Wakai, was not injured, his 125cc team, Moto-Bum Racing, was not allowed to replace him, even though they had another rider lined up. It made a busy schedule for the spectacular Japanese rider, who is far too tall for his own Honda 125, but fitted leelenberg's bikes (and the Lucky Zeelenberg's Strike leathers he borrowed from Kevin Schwantz) perfectly. Dutch 250cc GP rider Wilco ZeelenZeelen· berg was at the Hockenheimring, sporting a heavy cast on his injured left leg, complete with a pair of machines with flashing lights that wirh produce a magnetic field to make the bones knit more quickly. A similar pair on his broken collarbone were out of sight under his shirt. "In the past when I've been hurt I stayed at home and relaxed," he said. "It was easier to come here this time to continue treatment with Dr. Claudio Costa, and just to live in my motorhome. I also wanted to watch the race." wan ted leelenberg, who broke bones in his Zeelenberg, ankle and leg when he ran into the bike dropped by Masahiro Shimizu at Catalunya, hopes to return in time for Assen, and plans at least to test the bike in practice. "The doctors say it will be another six or seven weeks before I can stand, but I hope I'll be able to have a special boot made so that I can ride in my home GP," he said. Team Slip-It will once again chalSlip·It lenge all comers at the Trask ISDE Two-Day Qualifier in McMinnville, Oregon, June 27-28. Former Six Days riders Carle Cranke and Fred Cameron, founders of Team Slip-It who both ride 80cc Italian enduro bikes, have won the Team Challenge five of the past six years. Free signup Friday, June 26, at the Team SlipIt motorhome in the pit area. With just two months to go before the start of the 1992 ISDE in Australia, the organizers have reached their targets for entries and participating countries. The Auto Cycle Union of New South Wales has received over 400 entries from riders representing 20 cou'ntries, including entries from 34 countries, American riders, for the event which will take place at Cessnock, New South Wales, August 25-30. The Aussies are offering several ISDE tours, including a $pecial ISDE/ special Motocross des Nations package. The Motocross des Nations will take place on Sunday, September 6, a weekend after the ISDE concludes. For IS DE more information, call Maritz Travel Company at 213/536-7200 (West Coast) or 212/309-7400 (East Coast). Larry Roeseler, who is the rider of record of the Class 22 (500cc) Kawasaki Team Green team in the SCORE International Desert Series Championship, has been disqualified from the four-race series points chase. According to SCORE's race .director Paul Fish, Roeseler was disqualified for an illegal rider substitution. "A team must ride intact throughout the series," said Fish. "In this case, Roeseler is the rider of record with teammates Ted Hunnicutt and Paul Krause. That three-man team must remain together in all four races. If a rider can't make a race, that's okay as long as he's not - - - - - - Continued on page 4 3

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