Cycle News

~ ~ By Maureen Lee Io:l t3 ;:.., (..) Come July it looks like we'D be wavlDg goodbye to anotber ooeolourscramblers bead1Dg for some European riding uperieace. JolIn Rice sc:hedu1ed to depart for tile ISDT ID Germany wbere be'll be riding a Sacbs. Just wait 'W the otber side of tile pond gets a look at our brORdslldlng Jobn with b1s Red Baroo scarf blowing ID tile breeze I He's sure to be a blt, but to ride tile ISDT we'll sead him a sign to tape 00 bls tank. "Keep un zee feets 00 zee pegs WId nelD 00 zee brORdslldenl" All kidding aside. Sacbs bas picked a good ooe ID Jobn to sbow tbetr product and he did a good job ID Tucsoo. '!be little bike bas proved Itself ID tile rougb but lotsofpeopletbougbtitcouldn't back it 011 a TT scrambles course and Jolin proved it can. He'd let 'em all off tile 1IDe and then work b1s way up through the PICk to the front. We were impressedl PersooaUy. we're tickled to bear how weD Russ Darnell IsdolDgback"home." As we've said before, he was, by some people, an underestimated rider because he's so smooth he doesn·t look like he's doiDC IUIYtbIDg and off the track he's not tile flamboyant type everyOlle notices, but Is SPECTATOR LIABILITY ANO PARTI· ClPANT INSURANCE FOR TRACK OWNERS. PROMOTERS AND CLUBS ~ BUSINESS PACKAGES- MOTORCYCLE & AUTOMOBILE - LIFE & ACCIDENT. s. HARRIS· PINSKY OF IIICHAEL BUDER &. ASSOCIATES. INC. 5225 WILSHIRE BOULEVARD. Suite 711 L.A.. C.III. t003i (213) '37·2011 BROKER INQUIRIES INVITED. OnlyBUL TACO Steve's Bultaco Op.n 6 days • we.k Mon. &. Fri. 9-9 oth.rs 9-6 7627 V.n N"ys Blvd. - V.n N"ys, C.I. (213) 180-6300 KEEP ·lHEAD"witha provenw:nner... DAYTONA HELMETS Sead SOt lor TWO R.n.cllv. D.ytona QeQh .nd D.scrlptlve Brochlll'll DAYTONA SPORTS CO. 7030 Darby A..... 1'.0. BOI 661 Res.d•• C.llfornl. '1335 tile talent ts sure tbere. Dlstrict 37 can be proud of him and If you're new to tile scrambles scene you can be too,1twasn·t so long lICO that Russ carried the number one lIgbtweigbt scrambles plates_.bet a lot of you didn't know that! It was 1964 and be's put ID a lot of track time since then. Tucson was very enjoyable again tbls year, It's neat to be able to ride a real fast track like tile old Prado ooce in a while and our group of Californians sure enjoyed themselves, especially 011 Saturday wben just a few 01 us were out tIIere playlDg. B1g practice sessions can scare you to death and are dangerous when every size macblDe ts 00 the track at the same time but with a small group It'll a gasl We say a personal thank-you to David Aldana, even though be passed us at least three times a laP we still got aroWld the half-mUe sweeper faster than ever before by following bls 1IDe! And let's face it. If you want to learn to ride, try and go with the big boys, If you pull a no-no you're safe but If you're in close with someone wllo's only as good as you are or maybe worse, a spill Is all too oIten the end result. The ViewflDders results are out and hasn't It been fun sitting down and figurIng out how many points you got for flDisb1ng? We would like to see every club list the number of entries (not just finishers) on results so that we can keep an un-official count of our earned points ourselves. Wb1le we're on the subject of the Viewfinders, the office was deluged with letters from riders wantlDg to thank the anonymous people who hauled them out 01 mud holes and got tIIem golDg again and tile paper just couldn't prlDt them all. I'm married toaGreevesrlder who got stalled and bad two guys pop out 01 the crowd, helP b1m and vanisIl before be could say thank you but he owes a cold one to wboever you arel So ID closing we say we bet tbere's not anotber sport where everyooe helPs each other out as much as motorcycle racers do, even If tile guy In trouble Is your worst enemy, and that's where It's really at. Tucson Wrap Up By Maureen Lee TUCSON, Arizona. April 13, 1969. Practice starts early for· the Arizona State Championship TT, nine o'clock, giving you ample time to check tblngs out (or blow It up) before racing starts at noon. But whatever, there Is plenly of track time for everyone. So many 0-125 Novices showed up this year that IDstead of running motos. they were put Into two elimination heats, eight from each one going on to rllD In motos. The 125 Yamabas looked awfully good, but It was Don Sherman from Tempe on a Kawasaki who emerged victorious over two Yamabas manned by Phoenix'S Danny Croyle and Yuma's Roy Frank. It was a fight to the finish In tile 0-125 Amateur-Expert go between Californian's John Rice, proving tile Sacbs ts a TT rig and Mark Kruse on a very fast 11 ttle Kawasaki, with young Mark winning. Jobn R. turned the tables however in the Sweep and beat out Kruse. Rick Wllllams (still wearing the sharpest jumper ever seen) took charge of the 500 Novice class 011 a Harley. He was scheduled to ride a C- Z but a loose wire put him off that and although tile rest of the class gave it a try it was Williams all the way, maIdng the drive from Yuma to Tucson worth his while. The 250 Expert class saw the Californians triumphant, as they were in a1most every class. David Aldana (ossa) won with Ted Longwith second and Stan Rogers (Kawasaki) third. Longwlth, who has really settled down in the past season and since changing to Ossa, went on to win the 250 Sweepstakes. "The Jones Boys" Gary and Dewayne took first and third In the Open Expert ~ Temple (ity Kawasa-'i Area's leading volume Kawasaki Dealer Compl.t. Paris &. Accessories 5663 N. Ros.mead Blvd., T.mpl. City (213) 216·7504 - - Torslen Hallman Racing, Inc. West Co.st DlsL lor PENTON Motorcycles Torsten Hallman sp.ci.1 clesicn leathers &. racine equipment U.s. DisLlorTr.lI.bore 1I0to-Cross IIres For d.,"'r info. writ. or c.II 5345 Timk.n SL. La II.... C.I. 92041 (714) 460-1402 with Robert Boaz sandwiched ID between them, takIDg !bose three tropbles back to CalIfOl"Dia, with Boaz taIdng additiooal gold with bls wID ID the Open Sweepstakes 00 bls Triumph. Odds 'N' Ends The track ts fast, fast, and holds up beautifully•••it got slick toward tile end of the day with quite a few slide-outs 00 the first torn•••the rider who fell and then ran out 011 tile track to signal otller riders was lucky he didn't get killed wben another guy bad no choice but to hit him, If he'd stood still It wouldn't have happened•••tIIe spectators bad a good time and there were plenly of them, naturally cheering the loudest for their home town favorites but not ignorlDg tile Californians either•..probablY three-quarters of tile entries ID some classes were from out-oI-stale•..Randy Ellis proved that a tuned machlDe Isn't the only tblng that makes a wIDner •• .his clutch went out on b1s 'Taco so 00 a borrowed box-stock 'Taco with 41 races on It be demolished tile 250 Amateur class •••David Aldana really went down earlY In the day with considerable modifications foliowlng on bls Ossa but got It all fixed before the racing started••.Jim Foxe and Ike Mizzen bumped and went down in the ()pen Exper go but both were able to make the re-start•••two Van Tecbs thatlooked awfully good were ridden by E.C. Blrt (Hodaka) and Carroll Skov (Kawasaki) they were FAST..•the two American Eagles ridden by Jobn Rice looked good but the wrong tires didn't helP and on that track tile froot ends appeared to have too much travel._they are a motocross machIDe. Grumbles for the day? Not many••• ooe Arizonan didn' t like getting wbomped by a Californian on a lIgbtwe1gbt ID the heavyweight class so the Californian wltbdrew but not after doing tile same thing ID the correct class to tile same guy•• .raclng rules are much more relaxed tbere tban ID DlstrIct 37,- so bikes do move intodlfferentclasses••.fuellsn't a potnt tbere, ODe little Honda could give you a mUd drunk If you stood beb1nd It! ••• didn't do b1m any good though_.some thought tile tropbles didn't justify a championship race (you should have seen them two years ago, gorgeous!). Happy thoughts on the weekend? In spite of the long drive the track is just great and you get all the riding you can handle. It's worth It and when the track opens up again In the cool weather, If you haven't ridden a Tucson TT, try It! BOISE Continued from page n the out-of-towners packing, and the track had never been in worse shaPe. Such It Is In racing. Trophy Dash Thriller The Expert Trophy Dash must have thrilled every blade of grass on tile beautiful hillside track. The fans went insane aiId when "Bugs" Mann slipped by for the wID there was no doubt ID anyones' mind that there was one heck of a race yet to come. Four National Numbers came to the lIDe: 80nny Burres (69), Dlck Mann (2), Mert LawwIU (18), and Gene Romero (20). ott tIIey blasted with Burres (Tn) putting a hole-shot OD the others opening a three bike lead. while Lawwlll (H-D), Mann (BSA), and Romero (Tri) followed. Mann began to move and soon zapped LawwIU while out front poor Burres seemed to find every hole the track offeree!. Mann cloSed In, eagerlY seeking the $50 T.D. money, and pulled along side Burres up tile front straightaway but the Triumph sang louder and yanked Burres back in front by a length. Burres was slow tbrough the rlghbander and Mann was again along-side as they swept onto the banked half-mile corner where ooce again Burres found anotber hole that bounced blm good. Side by side tbey cbarged. Burres down low ID tile hard groove, Mann up b1gbspraying a big rooster-tall, and tile fans were 00 tbetr feet. Using bls flat-track experience Mann dove off his b1gb groove and oDder Burres with a drive that Sonny couldn't match In tile loose stuff, took the lead, and went 00 for tile wID. That was racing! The Expert MaIn brought these four togetber again along with National Numbers 77, Jim Odom (ElSA), 70, Mark Williams (Tri), and last years winnerS1dp Van Leeuwen, 59, (Trl). Three rows ~ four made the start; fast time setter LawwIU OD the front row pole, Burres, Van Leeuwen, and WashIDgtons' flrst year Expert Jimmy Jones made up the front four. Clutches banged homeand again Burres takes tile lead followed by Van Leeuwen, Mann, LawwUl, Romero, Jones and Odom. now s1xtb. Burres still leads OD laP three but loses his front wheel midway through the big banked corner and to this day he'll never know what picked It up and saved blm some bruises. Van Leeuwen bad repassed Mann meanwhile and took over the lead Romero third, Burres now recovered and In fourth, Lawwlll fifth, Odom sixth. LawwIU began to pressure Burres on laP five, RomerO's englDewentdead wben tile battery wire shook lose. and Skip began to stretch out bls lead. At tile half-->, point Van Leeuwen bas a wide, lead, but ID tile pack the passlDg and repasslDg was furious. LawwlUgotby Burres tben Mann, but Mann wasn't playlDg that game and repasSed. LawwIU again out horse-powered Mann, "Burrito" Romero foWld b1s loose wire and got go1Dg again, and Van Leeuwen began to laP tile slower riders. Skip Tumbles was forced off b1s 1IDe while laPplDg Jim Rice coming out 01 tile 180 degree left-bander. With his right band taped to the throttle (injured from a trallIng crash the day before) be missed a shift while cbargIDg towards the fast right-bander, got into some bad holes that led to some tank slapping wobbles, tIIen UDlORded as tile bike went over the elgbt foot bank tile right hand turn Is built upon. Such a sight you've never seenl S1dpper and bike sailed tbrough the air towards the pits and tbIngs were happening so fast that not a soul there was moving. There wasn't time if you'd wanted to to move. Head over heels he went, finally coming to rest on Mert LawwiU's tool box, while the screaming Triumph slid some twenly yeards on its side then jumped in the air ten feet and continued end over end down through the row of parked racing machIDes, coming to rest by itself in a broken hulk, never once touching any of tile other equipment. Luckily, Van Leeuwen was unlDjured. LaWwtll now leads but Mann isn't about to let It go at that so immediately goes after first place. These two mU It up for the next six laPs then Mann's clutch slips and he is forced to drop back. Mert went 011 for blsflrst b1gw1ninbisformer hometown, the same track he'd ridden years ago OD Gold Stars, and a might proud wlUDer he was. Mann was second, Odom third for tile secODd stra.1gbt year, Jones fourth, Burres, who bad thrid all wrapped up unW he ran off tile track some ooe hllDdred yards from the finish was fifth, and Mark W1llIams sixth. What a Spring Opener It was! They say tt's harder to win tbls Boise race tban a National because It's the first big one. I don't know about that, but I do know that when they say no ooe wins two years ID a row here tIIey've got to be right. Add Boise '69 to the blstoryboolcs and wait'll next year! (Results on page 20) On the etghteenth tour S1dp

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