Clipboard
Clipboard
RACE WATCH
Elmer Trett, 1943-1996
Drag racer Elmer Trett, known as the “Father of Top Fuel,” was killed during an exhibition run at the NHRA U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Clearly at the top of his game before the run, Trett had set world records for low ET and high mph with a 6.06-second run at 235 mph two weeks earlier. Ironically, Trett, 53, was just .07-second away from retirement. Rumor had it that once he broke into the 5-second bracket, he planned to quit racing.
The soft-spoken Georgian began drag racing near his boyhood home of Keavy, Kentucky, almost 30 years ago. An innovator on the strip and off, he was the first man in motorcycle drag racing to break the 200-mph barrier-way back in 1976.
“It was a tragic loss for all of us,” says Terry Vance, who raced against Trett in the early ’70s and ’80s. “You can’t even imagine what it’s like to go that fast until you do it. He was going 30 mph faster than I ever went. Elmer was a great racer-more importantly, he was a great guy. I’m going to miss him.”
Trett is survived by wife Jackie and daughter Gina-who served as his pit crew-as well as five other children and 14 grandchildren. Contributions can be made to the Elmer Trett Memorial Fund, 1125 Sutton Rd., Demorest, GA 30535.
Clinton to send Smokin’ Joe packing?
Recently, President Clinton issued restrictions on the tobacco industry that may eventually affect the cigarettesponsored racing community.
Calling cigarette smoking “the most significant public health hazard facing our people,” Clinton wants to prohibit makers from sponsoring sporting events with caricatures for fear that their cartoon-like presence will tempt minors to smoke.
“With this historic action we are taking today, Joe Camel and the Marlboro Man will be out of our children’s reach forever,” said the president.
The guidelines say that companies may still sponsor events (and presumably teams, as well) with their own names, but not with the cartoon personalities they’ve developed.
The American motorcycle industry has enjoyed a long association with the tobacco makers-from series and team sponsorship to event-program and magazine advertising.
Martin Adams, who has a contract with Honda to operate the Smokin’ Joe’s roadracing team, thinks Clinton’s move is just a bait-and-switch tactic aimed at securing votes in the upcoming election.
“The real problem is drugs,” Adams stated. “So the president decided to create a distraction-tobacco advertising. His proposal denies a company’s constitutional freedom to market legal products, a violation of the right to free speech.
“We have a contract in place with American Honda through the end of 1997,” said Adams. “Implementation of Clinton’s program is supposed to begin in August of next year. So, as far as the term of our contract goes, we’re fine.”
Honda’s Ray Blank shed some light on the big picture. “We don’t think that it’s good for motorsports in the long term,” he said. “We’d hate to see the premier sponsor of motorsports for the past decade go away. Frankly, the loss of any sponsor is devastating, but more importantly, we’d lose a major supporter of the industry. That would be tough.”
As no official legislation has been passed on this issue, the concerns expressed here may be a bit premature, especially considering the mighty lobbying efforts of the tobacco industry. Stay tuned.
Foggy flip-flop
From Ducati to Honda and back again. That’s the path of defending World Superbike Champion Carl Fogarty, who has signed a letter of intent to ride a Ducati in 1997.
Just eight months after he left the Italian marque for “a new challenge,” Fogarty succumbed to the frustration of trying to adapt to the factory Honda RC45. Foggy claims his 250type riding style, where mid-corner speed is all-important, suits the Italian V-Twin, but just doesn’t work with the come-in-hard, point-andshoot Honda V-Four.
Ironically, Fogarty made his decision public just before winning both legs of the Dutch WSB meet—on his Honda. He now sits third in points, behind teammate Aaron Slight and Ducati-mounted series leader Troy Corser, with four races remaining.
Ducati factory team manager Virginio Ferrari confirmed his one-year deal with Fogarty and shed some light on the future of current rider John Kocinski. Apparently, reports of a rift between the American and his boss are true: “I think we look at things 180 degrees apart,” says Ferrari. ‘Tt is impossible to continue this relationship. I am very, very sorry. The problem with John is simple: He doesn’t take responsibility for his (bad) results. We’ve had many problems. He’s told many lies to the press. My chief mechanic, Franco Ferme, even left the team because of his disappointment in his relationship with John.”
The former U.S. and 250 GP world champion says the Castiglioni brothers, who own Ducati, have offered him an open invitation to return to World Superbike on their Twin for 1997. And while nothing is final yet, Kocinski says if he doesn’t complete a deal by the beginning of October, he’ll come back home.
“To hell with it. I’ll go back to the States, water ski and ride for Eraldo Ferracci’s U.S. team,” he says.
Ferrari revealed that his WSB team will be racing Ducati’s next-generation Twin in mid-1997. Based on the existing design, it will be more compact and have stronger crankcases and gearbox.
What about Cagiva’s long-awaited F4? “We’re waiting to hear from Cagiva when the Four will be ready,” he says. “But I don’t think it will be at the beginning of next season.”
Emig upsets McGrath in 250 MX showdown
Finally, a 250cc championship Jeremy McGrath can’t call his own. Team Kawasaki’s Jeff Emig clinched the AMA 250cc MX crov/n at the series’ last round in Delmont, Pennsylvania. With a scant, two-point lead going into the final race, he made no mistakes,
even with tremendous pressure from McGrath and Suzuki’s Greg Albertyn, to take the overall win and the title.
Emig, the man who stopped McGrath’s supercross win streak in April, was 46 points down to the defending champ in August and took advantage of a rare McGrath bobble and subsequent injury.
Besides making the most of McGrath’s bad luck, Emig claimed a new attitude helped him nab the championship.
“I changed my way of thinking,” he says. “I just rode 100 percent every weekend and was happy with that. If I didn’t win, I wasn’t so hard on myself. I figured I was making a good living doing what I love to do.”
As McGrath fought to score a second consecutive 250 MX title, Honda and Kawasaki were involved in an off-track tussle to secure his services.
Rumor has it that Kawasaki offered McGrath a cool $700,000 for his signature on a twoto three-year contract. But sources say Honda clinched the McGrath deal with some “auto racing incentives” to help him make the transition to four wheels when he hangs up his leathers.
Bound by confidentiality agreements, Honda personnel could only confirm that they have indeed signed the four-time supercross champion.
Duhamel rules 600cc Supersport-again
It’s no surprise that Honda’s Miguel Duhamel won his second AMA 600cc Supersport title with one round to go-he was the winningest 600 rider of all time when the 1996 series began.
The real surprise was seeing the AMA zealously enforcing its supersport rules.
Amid early-season rumors of special parts and illegal, factory-built engines, AMA Pro Racing’s Merrill Vanderslice decided to prove the AMA is serious about its technical regulations. “We bought a radar gun three years ago,” he says. “As a rulesenforcement tool, it’s been quite helpful. In addition, we rely very heavily on tips from racers-we really keep our ears to the ground.”
Vanderslice, who oversees teardowns of bikes at every race, admits, “We’ve had to take a different approach because we’ve gone as far as we can onsite.” So, the AMA seized a Honda cylinder head and sent it to a coordinate-measuring machine lab-equipped to determine, store and accurately compare dimensions among similar objects. Honda’s Dunlop tires, required to be off-the-rack, DOT-approved items, also drew criticism. They, too, were seized and sent out for analysis.
While the test results found no foul play, enforcement’s spotlight remained focused on factory teams.
Honda’s Gary Mathers called the resulting situation a tinderbox. He said factory bikes were receiving special scrutiny not applied to private entries. For example, while the Smokin’ Joe’s fairings were required to be stock width, inch-narrower aftermarket bodywork was being tolerated on privateer bikes, enabling them to cheat the wind and the rules.
Vanderslice doesn’t agree with that notion. “Currently,” he says, “we’ve got a disqualification pending on a top privateer, Todd Harrington, for cylinder-head modifications.” He also pointed out that there is a simple reason to closely scrutinize the factory teams—they finish up front more often than the privateers.
What is “stock?” There’s no easy answer. Without a doubt, there is small but useful variation in stock parts. Engine builders measure all the parts they can get, keeping the ones that will produce the most powerful package. Still, the question remains: Do the factories build special race motors?
“We build all our own engines over here,” Mathers confirms. As to selective assembly, he says, “We look at parts. There’s nothing wrong with that.” He admits that special factory engines have been produced, but adds, “When we looked at them, they were definitely borderline. And they were never used in competition.”
Duhamel is happy to have taken his second consecutive championship but says, “It is frustrating and disappointing to see people try to tear down the things we’ve done. But now that the facts are in, people will calm down and stop whining.”
