Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~ IN THE WIND By Papa Wealey ~ Billy Liles (Hon.) scored the overall victory in round nine of the World Championship 500cc MX Series in Valkenswaard, Holland, July 19. Liles recorded 1-1-2 moto finishes, which moved him into second place in the series point standings with three rounds remaining. Defending champ Georges Jobe (Hon) was the runnerup, while Kurt Nicoll (KTM) finished third. Jobes heads the series points standings with 418 points, followed by Liles with 380 and Nicoll with 373. . "' ~ C'.f >-- ~ ;:s ~ Raymond Roche (Due) won both legs of the San Marino round of the World Championship Superbike Series at Mugello, Italy, July 19. Doug Polen (Due) finished second in the first leg and third in the second leg and moved into the championship lead ahead of Rob Phillis (Kaw), who crashed in the first leg and finished fifth in the second. Giancarlo Falappa (Due) finished third in the first leg and backed that up with a second in race two. Polen leads Phillis in the point standings, 1'99-189, Roche is third with 185, and Falappa is fourth with 173 points. Gene Naumec (Kaw) scored the overall win in the 250cc UIt.racross race at the MTEG Off-Road Gran Prix Series round at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, July 18. The runner-up was Ryan Carlisle (Kaw), and rounding out the top five were Lance Smail (Yam), Ray Crumb (Kaw) and Scott Myers (Kaw). Motocrosser-turned truck racer Rick Johnson scored his first MTEG OffRoad Gran Prix Series win at the Los Angeles Coliseum on July 18. Former National MX Champion Johnson, competing in his fourth MTEG race, won the top-billed Grand National class main event. He drove a Chevrolet mini-pickup to victory over the likes of series leader Rod. Millen, Roger Mears Jr. and Ivan Stewart. It's official, this year's U.S. Trophy team at the Australian hiternational Six Days Enduro in August will be made up of three-time National .Enduro Champion Randy Hawkins, 1987 National Enduro Champion Kevin Hines, Jon King, Jimmy Lewis, David Rhodes and Rodney Smith. The U.S. Junior World Trophy Team will consist of National Hare & Hound Champion Danny Hamel, Steve Hatch, Kelby Pepper and Chris Smith. The 27 other riders who qualified for the ISDE and will represent the U.S. on club teams in Australia are David Bowers, Ken Brown, Stephen Chapkovich, Jason Dahners, Kevin Davis, Phil Douglas, Tom Ebersole, Bruce Field, Jeff Fredette, Jim Gray, Dan Harte, PauIKrause,ScottLathrop,Todd Mathwig, Scott McLaughlin, John Moody, Dan Nielson, Alan Randt, Bruce Rust, Darren Sanford, Donnie Simone, Drew Smith, Steven Smith, Dwaine Taylor, Tom Webb, Curt Wilcox and Chris Willbanks. Rick "Gunny" Claypoole will be the "overall" U.S. team manager at the Australian Six Days, while multi-time ISDE gold medalist Dave Bertram will oversee the Trophy and Junior World teams. Dr. Rick Hill will serve as the team's physician, and the Jury representative will be Hugh Fleming. 2 The Auto Cycle Union of New South Wales, promoters of the Australian ISDE, has announced that Lithuania has entered a team of six riders. Receipt of that entry from the country that was previously part of the Soviet Union brings the number of countries that will be represented Down Under to 23. If you're planning to attend the opening round of the AMA National Championship 500cc MX Series at Washougal, Washington, over the August 2 weekend, be aware that the 17th Street bridge on the main road to the track has been closed due to construction. The best detour route is as follows: From Highway 14, take 6th Street (rather than .17th Street) north to t4e .first.stop light and turn left on N.E. 3rd Ave. to Shephard Road. Turn right, go north to Washougal Springs Road and follow the signs to the track. Durin~ the recent flooding in central Ohio, Debbie Morrison, AMA coordinator of off-road competition, had a rude awakening. At 1:30 a.m., Morrison's house in Centerburg, Ohio, was struck by lightning. "It was scary," said Morrison. "My brand new satellite dish blew up, all my TV sets exploded, my toaster and waterpump were fried, plus a bunch of other stuff melted, including the transformer on the telephone pole. Luckily, my house didn't catch on fire. Thank God for homeowner's insurance!" Road America, the previously allroad race facility .in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, will host motocross racing for the first time on Sunday, September 7. Billed as the Labor Day Fall Classic, the event is being promoted by Cycle Sports Promotions of Cato, Wisconsin. For more information, call 414/732-3553. Stopped by a toad! U.S. Forest Service District Ranger Trinidad Juarez has withdrawn his decision of December 6, 1991, which would have resulted in the re-routing of a portion of the Snowy Trail where it crosses Piru Creek in the Ventura County £ortion of the Los Padres National Forest in California. In explaining his action, Juarez cited the acquisition of new information about the Southwestern Arroyo toad from the public and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service which culminated in the identification of another alternative for re-routing the trail. Snowy Trail, a popular OHV route, has been closed for the duration of the environmental analysis which produced the December 6 decision. It will remain closed while the analysis process is re-initiated. A 'new public input period will be announced. Papa is looking for pretty ypung ladies who are willing to go to Piru Creek and kiss toads. Perhaps one of them is a prince who would no doubt like to go trail riding. According to promoter and racer Ronnie Jones, the July 25 Oklahoma City Half Mile should be an even better show than last year's event.· "Things have gone a lot smoother this year," said Jones, who along with partner Keith Brewer, promoted last year's race for the first time. "This year we have a little experience under our belts and know who to call and what needs to be done." When asked if he felt any additional pressure after sweeping last year's race, Jones replied, "Oh, that pressure is there, but I can only do the best I can. I cracked a bone in my lower back at the (June 7) Peoria 600cc TT, and it's been bothering me ever since. But I think my hometown World Sunercross Series no-go in U.S. A s reported last week, the U.S. round of the first-ever World Championship Supercross Series has been scrapped. The event was to have taken place on October 31 in Georgia's Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. Bill Amick of the AMA said, "Basically we needed more time to put a good solid package together. There were too many unanswered questions and we couldn't guarantee a good TV package. So it was decided not to qost a World Supercross Series round in the U.S., at least not this year. We certainly wanted to." Bill West of SuperSports, who was to have promoted the event, agreed with Amick. "We didn't feel it would be in anybody's best interest to promote the event this year. We have an existing supercross series, the 16-round Camel Supercross Series, which is very successful. So, if we want to have a World Championship round, it has to be as successful as' the one we have now. But we don't see that happening, at least not this year because there isn't enough time to do it right, mainly not enough time to put on a creditable TV package." Bob DeYoung, a Dutch TV producer, bought the TV rights of the World Championship Supercross Series from the FIM, but has yet to firm up any TV' deals. "We've contacted the (factory) motocross team managers in the U.S. and they said they would support the series if every round was featured on American TV. And since we can't guarantee that right now, we just have to wait," said West. That wait, however, shouldn't be too long. "It's full steam ahead for 1993;" said West. "We hope to produce three (World Championship) events, one in California, one somewhere in the Midwest, and one in the Southeast. But that really depends on how well the 1992 series goes. We urged the FIM not to run this year so everyone involved can put a better package together for the following year. But the FIM does things quite differently than we do here." crowd cheering me on will pump me up and get me going." tracks, where they tear up the corner approaches. " The Laugh-In Trophy Trials, an event open to members of the motorcycle industry, will take place at southern California's Glen Helen OHV Park on Wednesday, November 18. The American Trials Association (ATA), a council of five southern California trials clubs, will again host the fundraiser from which all the proceeds go to the National Motorcycle Safety Fund and the ATA. Each entrant will receive lunch, refreshments, a commemorative T-shirt and a raffle ticket (for prizes donated by sponsors). The Laugh-In is an informal social event where the emphasis is on relaxed, fun-loving participation and good old-fashioned bench racing. It took place at Saddleback Park from 1970 to 1982 and was revived last year, mainly through the efforts of Gary LaPlante. Pre-entry is urged and entry forms are available from The Laugh-In, 7951 Moonshadow Circle #4, Huntington Beach, CA 92647. Although participation is limited to industry members, spectators are welcome. An odd complaint was that the Hungaroring track was too clean. Riders complained of a lack of grip because the track had been scrubbed clean of all rubber laid down in previous races. In fact, there seemed still to be detergent on the track, and some riders observed trails of foam left by other bikes in the first wet sessions. The first Hungarian Road Race GP two years ago came close to cancellation after a threatened riders strike because of the poor condition and safety o( the track. The second trip to the Hungaroring, outside Budapest, on July 12, was less controversial than the first, after work to the circuit had improved safety aspects, if not the overall layout of a track with far too many tight corners. The whole track had been resurfaced, though; rather surprisingly, it seemed almost as bumpy as before, as though the new tarmac had simply been laid down on top of the old. The dangerous high curbs had been removed, while the controversial bridge abutment, which lay right in the high-siding "A-zone" of the first corner exit, had been cut right back out of harm's way. Many riders still complained about the bumps on the Hungaroring circuit. "It's unusual, because there are stutterbumps in the middle of the corners and the exits," said Doug Chandler. "I guess with all the downhill corner exits the cars don't brake so hard as other Trouble in the ranks threatened the last two races of the Grand Prix road race season, after the growing fight between the riders and IRT A teams broke into the open at the Hungaroring. The riders, through their new association International Motorcycle Racers Association (IMRA), threatened to boycott the last two races, . scheduled for Brazil and South Africa, saying that IRTA had turned down a general request for a number of' changes for next year. But IRT A denied that, and by Saturday evening the threat had collapsed after Kevin Schwantz'and Wayne Rainey told another riders' meeting that they were obliged to attend the races after all. _ Meanwhile, riders' representative Didier de Radigues was claiming a victory for their new association IMRA, and that IRT A had agreed to find solutions to all the problems. With so many conflicting stories about ::: it was hard to make heads or tails of the affair, but the riders' demands were mainly to restore the status quo before the TWP/IRT A takes over in a number of matters. They want prize money to be paid to them instead of their teams, a restoration of three timed practice sessions, as well as championship points down to 15th place, all as last year. They also complained about the allotment of guest passes. IMRA was founded earlier this season, with Wayne Rainey as a prime mover, after it was perceived that the influence ~ of riders within the new regime had shn:wk considerably. Ex-racer de Radigues is the full-time riders' representative. WERA F-USA racer Donald Jacks had cause to regret the day he got the chance to try a factory Lucky Strike Suzuki. All he got for his works bike try-out were a couple of laps in wet

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