Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

GIN THE WIND By Papa Wealey ~ C\.f 0"') 0"') ~ "' C\.f C\.f ~ ~ ::s Trampas Parker (Hon), the defending 250cc MX World Champion, scored the overall win at round eight of the World Championship 250cc MX Series in Maracay, Venezuela, July 12. Parker tallied 1-5-1 moto finishes, while Donny Schmit (Yam) finished second overall via 2-2-3 moto scores. Rounding' out the top five were Bobby Moore (Yam), Edwin Evertsen (Kaw) and Marniq Ber· voets (Yam). Parker leads the series point standings with 61 points, followed by Schmit with 49 points and Moore with 37 points. . ~ Ryan Young (Apr) clinched a record fifth consecutive National title by winning both round five and round six of the AMAINATC National Championship Observed Trials Series at Soda Springs, California, July 1112. Sunday's victory was Young's 16th straight National ,win, three shy of the recQrd set by Scott Head. On Saturday, Oliver Clamagirand (Gas) finished second with Mark Manniko (Fan) third. Geoff Aaron Apr) finished second on Sunday with Manniko again finishing'third. At the July 12 round four of the AMA National Championshp Hillclimb Series in Logan, Ohio, Tim Frazier (BSA) won the 500cc class with a 7.0036-second time and Greg Willi· ams (Hon) topped the 800cc categoiy with a 6.139-second run. Paul Pin· sonnault(Hon) was second and John Hislap (BSA) third in the 500cc class, while Wade Williams (Hon) was second and'Tom Reiser (H-D) third in the 800cc class.' Team Suzuki Endurance (Suz) completed 920 laps to win the red-flag interrupted 24 Hours of Nelson Ledges, a round of the WERA Vansonl PM National Endurance Series, in Garrettsville, Ohio, July 11-12. The team of Kurt Hall, Michael Martin, Wes Cooley, Steve Paterson and Chuck Graves combined to top DAK Racing (Suz) by 25 laps. Team Pearls (Hon) Protect Green Sticker fund, write Governor Wilson s of July 9, the legislativ~ pr?posals regarding the CaliforI?ia OHV ~udg~t have been more or less fmalIzed. If they are approved as IS, we are m bIg trouble. Originally the budget committees proposed to loan $15.4 million from the OHV (Green Sticker) Fund to the Department of Parks and Recreation to help them through this recessionary period. The original proposal had strong repayment provisions. A legislative conference committee on the budget scrapped these provisions last week and have proposed the following: ' 1. The loans to the Department of Parks and Recreation will no longer be loans, they are takings. 2. Another $10 million, which was earmarked for the U.S. Forest Service and BLM, was cancelled and that money is proposed to be transf~rred to the state's general fund as a taking, no repayment. 3. In addition, a proposal has been advanced by the Resources Agency to eliminate the OHV Commission; merge the OHV Division into the Department of Parks and Recreation, thus eliminating its status 'as a separate operating unit within the Department; and transfer $2.5 million each and every year from the OHV Fund to the Department of Parks and Recreation to be used for nonOHV purposes. , At this point the Conference Committee proposals (1 and 2 above) are incorporated into the proposed budget bill. The merger proposals (number 3) will have to be incorpora,ted into something called a "trailer bill" to the Budget Act. This has not been formally adopted by the legislature as yet, but in a hearing yesterday the OHV community representatives blasted the proposal and it was not well received by' the legislators at the hearing. It still could become part of the final Budget Act proposal. When that happens, it will happen suddenly. It is 'important to note that Governor Pete Wilson has not signed off on any of these proposals. Last year he refused to go along with a similar proposal to cancel legitimate OHV projects and transfer the money to the General Fund. He promised off-roaders in a letter to CORVA during his election campaign that he would not steal from our fund. So far, he has been faithful to his promise, of the $20 million vetoed in last year's budget, $9 million was the proposed OHV transfer. In a statement quoted in the July 10 Sacramento Bee, Wilson stated that one of his objections to the current budget bill is the transfers from special funds to bailout the general fund. At the July 9 hearing, it was made clear that although the merger proposal originated with Doug Wheeler, Wilson's Secretary . for Resources, the Governor has not yet signed off on it. It is critiCal that we contact Governor Pete Wilson immediately and request that he veto the OHV Fund transfer. Call (916/445-2841), FAX (916/445-4633) or send a card or letter (Governor Pete Wilson, Governor!s Office, State Capitol, Sacramento, CA 95814). , 1. Thank him for his ongoing support of the OHV program. 2. Tell him that we understand that the state is going through a particularly tough time financially and th,!t we had reluctantly agreed to "loan" any unused OHV funds to the Department of Parks and Recreation to help the state through these tough times. ' 3. Make sure he understands that we are vehemently opposed to any proposals that amount to an unrepaid taking of the OHV Fund. We want him to once again use his "line item veto authority" to reject these takings. . 4. Tell him that the trailer bill reorganization proposals should also be rejected. They do not save any money. They only make it possible for the Department of Parks and Recreation to revert to their old pattern of diversions of our fund that existed prior to the creation of our watchdog OHV Commission. The OHV Commission does not cost any significant amount of money. It has saved the state millions of dollars by questioning and rejecting Park Department proposals for unnecessary overdevelopment at OHV facilities. 5. Let him know that many of the projects which the legislature canceled were designed to protect the environment and public safety for people recreating on federal lands in California. These projects should be restored A 2 Lawson gives Cagiva its first GP win F our-time World Champion Eddie Lawson gave Cagiva its first-ever 500cc Grand Prix win as he parlayed a correct tire choice into victory at the wet Hungarian GP on July 12. While the others chose full rain tires, Lawson and his team used a Dunlop intermediate frontl cut-slick rear tire combination. The Californian was back in the pack early in the nice on a wet race track, but as the track dried he dramatically worked his way through the field to take the lead from Lucky Strike Suzuki's Doug Chandler just a few laps from the finish. The win was the 31st of Lawson's career. Chandler held on to finish a career-best second, 14.194 seconds behind Lawson, after securing his first-ever pole position during qualifying. .Budweiser Yamaha's Randy Mamola finished third, his best result since 1989. Chandler's teammate Kevin Schwantz finished fourth, only two weeks after breaking his arm and dislocating his hip during the Dutch GP, while defending World Champion Wayne Rainey and the Marlboro Yamaha finished fifth. The first nonAmerican was Wayne Gardner, who rode the Rothmans Honda to a sixth place finish ahead of Marlboro Yamaha's John Kocinski. French Canadian Miguel DuHamel finished 11 tho Despite missing the Hungari'Ul GP with a broken leg, Australian Michael Doohan holds a 43-point lead 1'b the championship over Schwantz, 130-87. Rainey, meanwhile, holds third, only one point ahead of Chandler, 73-72. At presstime it was not known whether or not Doohan would return for the French GP at Magny-Cours on July 19, or if he would make his return in England on August 2. Rothmans Honda's Luc;i Cadalora can wrap up the 1992 250cc World Championship in France on July 19 by beating Unlimi~ed Jeans Aprilia's Loris Reggiani. Cadalora extended his championship lead to 58 points by taking his sixth win of the season in Hungary, topping Reggiani and Ducados Aprilia's Alberto Puig at the Hungaroring, Cadalora leads Reggi,ani, 155-97. Pier-Francesco Chili, who crashed in Hungary, is third with 72 points. The 125cc GP was won by Aprilia's Alessandr.o Gramigni. The Italian topped the Honda of German Ralf Waldmann with Fausto Gresini finishing third on a Honda. Waldmann leads the championship, 101-88, over Gresini. finished third, another six laps behind the winners. According to a press release from Team Suzuki Endurance dated July 6, 19year-old Steve Paterson has' replaced Donald Jacks on the Valvoline Suzuki for the rest of the WERA Pro Series, and on the Team Suzuki Endurance bike for last weekend's Nelson Ledges 24 Hour and for the 24-Hours West at Willow Springs on September 12-13. Jacks, who according to Team Suzuki Endurance has separate contracts with Team Hammer, Valvoline and Dunlop, signed to ride a Michelin and Motul-sponsored Lucky Strike Suzuki for the Hungarian GP oli July 12. Jacks, 22, was scheduled to fill in for the injured Kevin Schwantz, but Schwanu returned earlier than expected, thus leaving Jacks without a ride. Jacks', though, did test the Suzuki 500cc ~GP machine at a test session in England on July 1. Road racers Jason Pridmore and Tommy Lynch will be teammates in the Suzuka Eight-Hour endurance race in Japan on July 26. The two Californians will be aboard aT-Bird Tsukigi Kawasaki ZXR750RR, along with a second bike to be ridden by Indigo Sports' Richard Moore and a Japanese teammate. John Choate is another American who will be riding at the Suzuka EightHour. Choate will replace an injured Japanese.rider on the Yamamoto team, riding a kitted Honda RC30 with June Maeda. Yamaha of Jacksonville has signed Robbie Petersen and Jacques Guenette Jr. to ride on their AMAI CCS' Endurance Challenge team for the rest of the season. The Craig Crumpler-owned team may also compete in a few WERA National Endurance Series events. A Ferrari F-40 for Eddie Lawson? Reportedly, the four-time World Champion had it written into his contract with Cagiva that if he ever won a 500cc Grand Prix on the Italian V-four he would be presented with the exoti~ Ferrari. If that's the case, then Lawson's win in the Hungarian GP on July 12 earned him more than the 20 championship points. Eddie Lawson and Cagiva's victory in Hungary was the first for an Italian 500cc GP bike since Michel Frutschi won the French GP at Nogaro on a Salivenero on May 9, 1982. However, that race will be remembered more for the fact that the top riders refused to race because of poor track conditions. The 'last 500cc Grand Prix victory by an Italian motorcycle in a full grid of 500cc machines was on August 29, 1976 at the Nurburgring in Germany, where Giacomo Agostini rode an MV Agusta .to the win. Agostini and the MV beat the factory Suzukis of Marco Lucchinelli and Pat Hennen. It was the 68th and final 500cc GP win for Agostini and the 139th and final for MV Agusta. Both Team Honda's Jeff Stanton and Yamaha's Damon Bradshaw have said that they will not represent the, U.S. at the Motocross des Nations in Perth, Australia, September 6. They both said that they want to "give other people a chance" to compete on the U.S. team and try to win the Motocross des Nations for the 12th straight time. The three riders most likely to form the U.S. team are Suzuki's Guy Cooper, and Kawasaki's Mike LaRocco and Mike Kiedrowski. The August 2 Brazilian .125cc MX GP has been canceled and replaced by a Dutch GP which will take place in Mill, Holland, on the same date.

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