Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

II{ THI WIIID ByPapawearey a H trt E H B C\t O) O) i C\ cn b,l Motocrosser Damon Bradshaw, 20, has re-signed with Yamaha for 1993. "We are proud to have Damon riding for Yamaha again next year," saidJim Gentz, senior vice president of Yamaha Motor Corporation Motors- ports Group. "We are confident that with Damon and the new YZs we will have a championship team in t993." Bradshaw won a record nine Camel Supercross Series events this year. Informed sources say the contract is for five years and will pay Bradshaw $450,000 per year. Timmy Ferry (Kaw) was the big winner at the August ll-15 AMA Amateur/Youth National MX Cham- pionships at Loretta Lynn's Dude Ranch in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee. Ferry won the 125 and 250cc A Mod- ified classes to notch his sixth and seventh career titles, surpassing Jimmy Button's previous record of six. COrey Keeney (Kaw) won the 250cc A Stock class and Damien Plotts (Hon) topped the l25cc Stock category. Other class winners included Kevin Wind- ham (Kaw) in the 85cc Stock and Modified (14-15) classes, Brock Sel- lards (Kaw) in the 85cc (12-13) class, Ricky Carmichael (Kaw) in the 85cc Modified (9-13) division, and Nicho- las lVey (Kaw) in the 85cc Stock (7- ll) category. Four-time Grand National Champion Scott Parker is well on the road to recovery from injuries he sustained to his left knee at the July 25 Oklahoma City Half Mile. "It gets better every day," said Parker. "I can walk on it now, and I've been going to therapy every day and riding about seven miles a night on a bicycle. I'm getting a CTi knee brace for it, so I'm not worried about it hurting at the (August 22) Indy Mile." When asked what his feelings were about his title chances, Parker replied, "There's five races left and I'm l3 points down on Chris Car. Uy work is written on the board, I know what I have to do. I feel I can do the job, and if I do, there's not a thing in the world that Chris can do about it. " Sam Ermolenko and Rick Miller qualified for the World Speedway Final, set for August 29 in Poland, with strong performances in the August 15 World Semifinal II at Wiener Neus- tadt, Austria. Ermolenko finished second to Dane Gerd Handberg, while Miller was fourth. Ermolenko and Miller will join fellow Californian Ronnie Correy in Poland. Correy advanced to the World Final with a fifth-place finish in the August 9 World Semifinal I in England. Only one former champion will compete in the World Final and that will be Swede Per Jonsson, who won the World Championship in 1990. Defending World Champion Jan O. Pedersen of Denmark is on the mend from a broken back and is not able to compete. Only two Americans have ever won the World Speedway Final, Jack Milne in 1937 and Bruce Penhall in l98l and 1982. In 1990, Shawn Moran tied on points with eventual champion Jonsson, but lost the title in a sudden- death runoff. A round of the 1993 AMA National Championship Road Race Series will take place in the Los Angeles metro area, according to Jim lVest of American Motor Sports. "The race, which will be called the Los Angeles Grand Prix, will take place at the Pomona Fairplex," said West. "We're ^ going to do a uack test on the 2.I-mile Z circuit this week and the AMA's Merrill Vanderslice will be on hand to approve the circuit for the National." Texan Colin Edwards qualified fifth in the rain in his international road racing debut in Fuji, Japan, on August 8, but he failed to finish the race when his pre-production 1993 Yamaha TZ,250 seized. Edwards and his Southwest Motorsports teammate Chris D'Aluisio are set to compete in the Solo Moto-promoted Superprestigio international road race in Spain next month. The duo will ride the same 1992 Yamaha T7250s on which they competed in the AMA 250cc Grand Prix Series this season. Edwards and D'Aluisio will be up against 250cc GP stars such as Loris Reggiani, P.F. Chili, Massamiliano Biaggi, Carlos Cardus, Alberto Puig and Doriano Romboni, to name a few. The Sep- tember 20 race at Jarama will also mark the international race debut of Kenny Roberts Jr.. Noted four-stroke tuner Mike Velasco and Two Brothers Racing have ended their relationship, accord- ing to Two Brothers team owner Craig Erion. Velasco, who tuned the team's Honda RC30 for Freddie Spencer, is reportedly planning on pursuing other interests. "He had told us that he was burned out and that he would be leaving," Erion said. "We couldn't keep somebody here that was going to be gone next year. This is a business for us, not a hobby. It was a mutual deal and it just came to a head at Mid- Ohio." Erion added that Velasco may be at the final round of the series at Texas World Speedway on October l0- ll. "He may or may not be at Texas World. Freddie (Spencer) and Mike are a team, and needless to say, Freddie wants Mike to be there. He was supposed to give us a price yesterday (August l0)." Nobody knows exactly what plans Freddie Spencer has for next sea- son. The three-time World Champion is obviously hoping for a GP ride, but that doesn't appear likely, at least with Honda. With Michael Doohan and Daryl Beattie set to ride the Roth- mans Honda NSR500s, there isn't room for Spencer, who prcved with his Suzuka &Hour qualifying times that he may again be worthy of such a ride. World Superbike racing is a possibil- ity, although whether or not the new RC30 will be ready in time for homol- ogation is still unclear. There is also talk that Spencer will field his own AMA Superbike team, since it is unlikely that he will stay with Two Brothers Racing. Stay tuned. Dan and Kathy Rouitt invite dirt track racing fans to stop by their Flat Track Museum in Clovis, Califor- nia, on Saturday, September 12, theday before the nearby Fresno Mile round of the AMA Camel Pro Series. They request that visitors call ahead. You can reach them at 209 / 291 -2242 or 2A9 / 297-8090. Rae Tyson, staff writer for USA Today newspaper, is the latest recip- ient of the AMA's Hazel Kolb Brigh- ter Image Award. Tyson received the award recently for stories he has written about various aspects of motor- cycling for the 2 million readers o[ the national newspaper. In particular, he was honored for a feature on the sport of observed uials riding that appeared in the Lifestyle section of the news- paper and a profile of dirt track racing champion Scott Parker that appeared in the Sports section. Coin- cidentally, during the week that Tyson received the award, his feature on vintage motorcycle collecting was printed in USA Today's Business section. The Hazel Kolb Brighter Image Award is presented to individ- uals and companies who help portray motorcyclists in a positive light in the public media. Donnie Hansen, the l98l Trophee and Motocross des Nations World Champion and 1982 National and Supercross Champion, will be con- ducting a one-day MX school on Saturday, September 12, at Silver State MX in Carson City, Nevada. The school is being held in conjunction with that weekend's CMC TransCal Series round. For more information and/or to register for the school, contact Donnie Hansen Motocross Academy at 916,2338-2888. The AMA/CCS Pro-Am Series road race scheduled for September 19-20 at Texas World Speedway in College Station, Texas, has been replaced by a car race. American Honda has announced that its CBR9OORR Challenge Series race scheduled to be run at Texas World Speedway will instead take place at a WERA/CMRA race at Oakhill Raceway on September l2-r3. The Airfence Safety System will make its Grand Prix road,race debut at the Brazilian GP at the Interlagos Circuit on August 23. The Airfence Safety System, designed and manufac- tured in Ausualia, replaces the tradi- tional hay bale to absorb the impact of a fallen rider, and automatically re- inflates immediately after the rider returns to his feet. The system has been homologated by the FIM and IRTA (International Road Racing Teams Association). Multi-time National MX Champion Bob Hannah will be signing auto- graphs and presenting the new 1993 Suzuki RMs atan openhouse hosted by Hansen Motorcycles in Mani- towoc, Wisconsin, on Saturday, Sep- iember 5. The open house is being held in conjunction with the Labor Day Fall Classic MX that will take place at nearby Road America that weekend. For more information, call Jim Neph at 414/732-3553 or Mitch Hansen at 4t4/684-0237. Gene Boere, a member of the Tacoma M.C. who owns 19 motorcy- cles and competes in AHRMA and local races, is seeking election to the Washington State House of Represen- tatives. Boere, a Republican, is run- ning for position #l in the 26th Legislative District which represenrs Gig Harbor, Port Orchard, and sur- rounding areas including parts of Bremerton and Tacoma. Boere, 38, is married, has two children and has lived in the Peninsula area for the past l0 years. If you live in the area and would like to know more about the candidate, you're invited to attend his weekly meetings with his steering committee. The meetings take place Thursday evenings, at 8:00 p.m. at the Harvester Restaurant in Olympic Village in Gig Harbor. Boere can be reached at'206/ 85r-6606. The 18th Annual Southern Cali- fornia Vintage Cycle Rally will take place on Saturday, October 3, at El Camino Cbllege in the Torrance area, at Redondo Beach Boulevard and Crenshaw Boulevard. The 15 motor- cycle classes will range flom pre-1930 to 1967, and will include a special interest class for exceptional newer models. A vintage swap meet will be held in conjunction with the show. For more information, call 805 / 7 7 2-2038. Brad Tietz, White Bros. technical sales director, suffered fatal injuries in an auto accident on August 15 near Cedar City, Utah. Tietz, 30, was en route to North Dakota to visit his parents. He is survived by his wife Wendy, parents Norm and Nyla, brother Terry and sister Nancy. To honor his memory, a fund has been started and all donations will be forwarded to his widow. Donations can be sent to White Bros., 14241 Commerce Dr., Garden Grove, CA 92643. Team Suzuki's Brian Swink elected not to ride the August 16 AMA National Championship l25cc MX at Millville, Minnesota, after suffering a nasty get-off on Thursday's press day. "I was coming down a downhill when I hit a kicker and my bike spit me of[," said Swink. "I hit my head and knocked myself dumb for a while." Swink rode in practice, but when he experienced dizziness, he elected not to partrcrpate. Marc Peters had a weekend he won't soon forget at Millville. His box van l was broken into Friday night and both of his race bikes were stolen. Peters reported the incident to the local police, but assumed that his trip to Minnesota from California had been wasted until he got a call from the authorities at l2:30 a.m. Sunday morning. The police said that they had located his missing motorcycles at the bottom o[ a ravine and would help him retrieve them. Peters enlisted the help of Jeff Dement's mechanic Dan Chapin and they rode the bikes out of the deep ravine. A sleepy Peters showed up at the race. "I've barely slept since Thursday," said Peters. "I thought I was going to fall asleep on the starting line." To cap off the frustrating weekend, Peters failed to score points in either 500cc moto. Kawasaki Team Green's Tommy Clowers was also busy before the Millville National. While most riders took the previous weekend off, Clowers competed at the August 5-9 NMA Grand National MX Championships in Ponca City, Oklahoma, and won the overall title in the motorcycle division. He then drove to Tennessee for the AMA Amateur National MX Championships at Loretta Lynn's Dude Ranch, where he scored a third overall finish in his class. When his racing at Loretta Lynn's ended on Friday, the Clowers family loaded up their box van and drove all night to Minnesota, where poor starts and crashes held Clowers to l8th overall in the l25cc class. CORRECTION: We ran an incorrect phone number for Moto-Liberty in a recent Wind item regarding their renting Honda RSl25s at selected road races. The correct phone number is 2t4/242-6440. CORRECTION: Because of errors in the results sheets distributed by the AMA immediately after the August 2 Camel Pro Series Peoria TT, we reported that many riders were aboard Harley-Davidson XR600s. "ft was a clerical error on our part," said AMA Communications Manager Bill Continued on poge 4

• Cover