Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~. IN THE WIND By Papa Wealey ~ Australians Wayne Gardner and Daryl Beattie (Hon) teamed up to win the July 26 Suzuka 8-Hour endurance road race "in Japan. The winning duo logged 208 laps on the 3.66-mile course for a total of 761.28 miles. Aus~ie Kevin Magee and Scotland's Niall Mackenzie (Yam) finished second, on the same lap as the winners but over a half-minute behind. Third went to Shinya Takeism and Kenichiro Iwahasi (Hon), who were two laps behind the top two, and fourth to American . Freddie Spencer and Japan's Ryuji Tsuruta (Hon), another two laps down. ~ Ducati withdrew their Doug Polen/ Giancarlo Falappa entry for the Suzuka' 8-Hour. Team Police Ducati boss Franco Uncini said the company preferred to wait until next year when the rules switch to full superbike regulations. Ducati has a new 916cc superbike in the works, 'complete with single-side swingarm. Scott Plessinger (KTM) was the overall winner in round five of the AMA National Championship Hare Scrambles Series in New Berlin, New York, July 26. Plessinger edged runner-up Steve Hatch (Suz) at the checkered flag. Third place went to Jan Hrehor (Suz), while National Enduro Champion Jeff Russell (KTM) and Tom Norton (Hon) rounded out the top five. Series points leader and defending champ Scott Summers did not ride due to a wrist injury. Following a crash at the July 25 Oklahoma City Half Mile, four-time Grand National Champion Scott Parker flew to Glendale, California, to have his left knee examined by Dr. Jeff Spencer. Just before press time on Monday, July 27, Dr. Spencer phoned to report that Parker sustained strained ligaments and possible cartilage damage. While the test results were no yet in, Spencer was doubtful that Parker would be fit to compete at the August 2 Peoria TT. Parker holds a seven-point lead over his factory Harley-Davidson teammate Chris Carr, 156-149, but with Parker out of action it seems likely that Carr, who has won four straight at Peoria, will move to the top this coming weekend. Undaunted by threatening weather, more than 6000 motorcyclists celebrated Vintage Motorcycle Days over the July 25-26 weekend at the headquarters of the AMA and the Motorcycle Heritage Museum in Westerville, Ohio. The event, designed to raise funds and generate publicity for the museum, featured a concours show, riding exhibitions, displays by motorcycle manufacturers, a vintage swap meet and a new exhibit in the museum. But the highlight of the weekend was an auction conducted by J. Wood and Co. that saw 202 historic and collectible motorcycles, plus some rare motorcycle memorabilia, on the block. 2 Two motorcycles from the collection of the late Earl Bentley - 1928 and 1930 Indian factory hillclimbers brought $17,000 each at the Vintage Motorcycle Days auction, as did a 1946 Vincent Rapide. Another bike from the Bentley collection, a 1913 Thor, went for $15,000. A 1950 Vincent Black Shadow changed hands for $12,250, a 1906 Indian went for $12,000, and a 1986 Ducati Mike Hailwood Replica /;lrought $11,500. The auction had a 72% sale rate and gross sales of $339,000. Georgian Mike Harth, who suffered serious injuries in the May 2 Charlotte round of the AMAlCCS EB.c Endurance Challenge Series, will return to action at Mid-Ohio over the August 1-2 weekend. ''I'm not 100-percent, but I'm ready to get back on the track," Harth said. "I haven't ridden since the accident, but I've been working out with weights. I'll ride an East Coast Cycle Salvage-sponsored Honda 600 (in the 600 Supersports race), and I might ride the endurance race for Dutchman Suzuki. I'd like to thank everyone who supported me and thought of me while I was recuperating. " AMA membership has topped the 196,000 mark, a record for the 68year-old association, according to AMA Vice President of Membership Mark Mederski. "This figure indicates that the association is right on target for its projected goal of 200,000 members," Mederski said. AMA membership has jumped by more than 8500 members since January 1 of this year. The month of June alone saw a 3456member increase. "America's motorcyclists are realizing the value of the many benefits they receive as members of the AMA," Mederski said. "They're also learning that the AMA is the most cost-effective way of communicating efficiently and successf~lly with lawmakers at the local state and federal levels." To join or for membership information, ca1l8oo/AMA-JOIN. In response to an item that ran in this section last week, Team Hammer's John Ulrich issued a statement which read, "Contrary to what was reported in Cycle News about Donald Jacks' current contract problems, it is not true that ' ... because he had tested the works Suzuki, which uses Motul oil and Michelin tires, he was being dropped from the Team Suzuki Endurance squad ... ' Testing had nothing to do with it, and if all we're talking about here is testing, Donald wouldn't have been in Hungary talking to reporter Michael Scott instead of being in elson Ledges racing with the team he's contracted to, Team Lucky Strike Suzuki wouldn't have put out a press release July 2 stating that Donald was replacing Kevin Schwantz in the July 12 Hungarian GP, and Donald wouldn't have been listed on the entry lists for the Hungarian GP. What we're actually talking about is a no-advancenotice, no-advance-permission-asked commitment to race a motorcycle with conflicting sponsors in blatant violation of very explicit, separate worldwide contracts with Team Hammer, Dunlop and Valvoline. It's a sad commentary on racing today when a team takes heat for actually trying to live up to its contractual obligations instead of treating signed contracts as so much confetti. And it is indeed a sad situation when a rider signs a contract, takes the money, breaks the contract without any warning or any chance for a team to arrange contract releases and then tells a reporter 'I'm a little confused by it all ... ' " Team Hammer fields Team Suzuki Endurance in the WERA Vanson/PM National Endurance Road Race Series under contract to American Suzuki. It's fair time and Stanislaus County Fairgrounds in Turlock, California, is among the fairgrounds hosting motorcycle racing this summer. The annual Rough Scrambles event will take place on Friday night, August 7. Participation is by pre-entry only; call Maryland Coalition formed to save rider education program otorcyclists in Maryland have formed a coalition to save the state's imperiled motorcycle rider training program, reports the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA). The group was formed in response to a plan recently approved by the Maryland General Assembly that calls for elimination of the state's rider-funded safety program, effective March 15, 1993. The program, which is paid for entirely 'by motorcyclists through surcharges on motorcycle registration fees, has trained more than 14,000 riders in the eight years of its existence. During that time, motorcycle accidents in the state have dropped 39% and motorcyclist fatalities have decreased by 45%, . "Proponents of thIS plan say that it's designed to help reduce a mounting budget deficit," said AMA Legislative Affairs Specialist Chris Kal1£elz, "but the safety program hasn't contributed to the debt. In fact, the program doesn't cost taxpayers any money at all, since it's funded entirely out of the pockets of Maryland's motorcyclists. " Under the terms of the elimination plan, motorcyclists would lose the opportunity to get training at state facilities, but would still have to pay the surcharges that fund it. And potential motorcyclists under the age of 18, who are required by state law to complete a training course before receiving their licenses, would have to search for private companies to provide that training. The new group, called the Coalition to Save Maryland Rider Education, has been formed to pull together motorcyclists opposed to the state's elimination plan. The coalition will focus its efforts on drafting and lobbying for passage of a bill designed to keep Maryland's safety program on course. Representatives of motorcycle groups across the state are encouraged to join the coalition, and can obtain more information by contacting Chris Kall£elz, AMA Government Relations Department, P.O. Box 6114, Westerville, OH 43081-6114, or by calling ~ttorney Jay Irwin Block at 800/8,75-6554. M District 36 steward Nita Pedigo at 209/ 545-1445. And back home again in Indiana is the Indy Mile, the Camel Pro Series round that takes place at the Indiana State Fairgrounds in Indianapolis, Indiana, on Saturday night, August 22. Jim Dodd, the owner of Motorcycle Stuff - the Cape Girardeau, Missouribased distributorship, died in a private plane crash in Pennsylvania on Thursday, July 18. A call to (he firm confirmed his death, but Motorcycle Stuff employees 'have been instructed not to discuss the accident. Riverside Supercross, an MX facilitv in Calhoun. Georgia, has been purchased from Rick Young by Guy Odom. The track will be shut down temporarily while Odom makes improvements. A grand opening is planned for late Augusl. Bill "Bigtime" Spencer reports that the 3rd Annual Fiesta for Kids charity auction, which was conducted at northern California's Laguna Seca Raceway on July 12, raised over $10,000 for the Packard Children's Hospital and the associated Ronald McDonald House in Stanford. Wayne Rainey donated a set of his Lucky Strike GP team leathers and they brought $900 from the good folks at Grand Prix Cycles in Santa Clara. The Ungo Box folks donated $1000 and Custom Chrome put in $500 plus more in auction purchases. Bubba Shobert co-hosted the rally with organizer Mike Corbin. Racing personalies on hand included road racers Jim Filice, Rich Oliver, Robbie Petersen and Dave Sadowski. The Monterey County Parks and Recreation Department donated the use of the race track's facilities .with assistance from SCRAMP. Jared Lininger of San Luis Obispo won the drawing for a Honda CB750 Nighthawk which was donated by northern California Honda dealers. Nearly 1200 riders turned out for the event. The fight between GP road racers Kevin Schwantz and Eddie Lawson following their collision in the Dutch GP became an open confrontation at the French GP, and came close to a fistfight in the pits after another near-miss on the. track. The two almost had another coming together during an IRTA test session the day before official practice at Magny-Cours, and they toured back to the pits with much headshaking and wagging of fingers. Then Lawson pulled his Cagiva into Schwanu's Lucky Strike Suzuki pit to continue the discussion along the lines of: "Why do you keep doing this to me?" Schwantz replied in similar vain, remembering Lawson's close overtaking manuever in Hungary a week before as well as their Assen clash, and said: "At least I didn't run into your back wheel." They stopped short of hitting each other, and later Schwanu visited Lawson's motorhome. "We didn't end up friends," the Texan said. "He admitted he'd over-reacted here, but he still blames me for the Assen crash and I still blame him. But at least we've spoken about it, and we should be able to race each other from now on. tt Motocross superstar Jean-Michel .Bayle must have regretted his predictions of success when he was given the wild card entry for the French road race GP. Particularly since the almost unbeatable motocrosse{ earned the paddock nickname: Jean-Michel Snail. Bayle, riding a Rothmanssponsored Honda RS250 SPL, proved well off the pace, and realized that he had a lot to learn about finding the limits of race-quality slick tires. But he was not helped by the quality of his machine, nor the inexperience of his pit crew. He failed out on the track ,three times during Friday's practice and in the end he managed to run within the qualifying time, placing 38th and last. Perhaps he chose the . wrong class for his GP debut. His 250cc time would have qualified him for the 500cc class, where he would have surely

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