Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/125511
story & Photos by Doug Ricbmond Last year the scrambles track at Fremont, California was tbe typical California coarse - Oat, itty-bitty jump, a good long straight mhuinatiug in a sweeper tbat - deceptively - got sharper and sharper. It was a fast track and popular, with two hundred or just a little more being about par for a Sportsman turnout here. Valve Floater Added This year the track has been improved with the addition of a second sweeper, this one very steeply banked indeed. and several hundred feet added to the lap. It is 'a very fast track now, and gives the bruteforce boys a couple of opportunities to float their valves instead of the usual one. Most ciasse s had thirty entrie s. The 250 Experts and 650 Experts who had been enjoying· all transfer to the Main" conditions suddenly found themselves in the unfamiliar position of having to run heats for blood, just like everyone else. ,And riders who hadn't missed a Main go in a coon's age found themselves spectating when the white flag dropped for their event. Although the plethora of riders meant the competition was severe, to put it mildly. there were no serious injuries. Most spills were the low-slide slide-out variety that cause a loss of e go and a little wear on tbe leathers. Nor-Cal Hotsboes Hot The racing was hotted up by the presence of four of Northern Cali- rornia's top hotshoes - Jim Odom, Mark Brelsford, Ken Dalla and Roger Goldthwaite. The announcer entertained the crowd with an accounting of Jim Odom's achievements hither and yon, in road racing,_scrambles. etc.-'. but either because the motors made so much noise that his competitors couldn't hear tbe eulogy, or simply going on the theory that no man is a prophet in his own bailiwick, Jim wound up with nothing but experience for his day'S racing. Ken Dalla, running the hottest of Howlin' Hot 350 Hondas won 500cc Expert. Jim unloaded in the center of the new sweeper in a fantastic cloud of dust and by the time he got up and turned around it was too late for anything but a sunday afternoon pleasure ride. But he wasn't leading when he got off ••••• According to tbe Script ••. The 250 Expert Main was some more of the same. Jim got a bum start and in that company a bad start was impossible to overcome. Mark Brelsford held the lead for just the number of laps it took Roger Goldthwaite to work his way up from about midships ofthe pack. Roger won and Mark took a hard-earned second. (We have some peculiar announc- RIDl~§A If w,11 FrllllOllt track was too smooth lor Don Brumbelow, who claims thaI his Triumph - ' I .... JI'Operly unless Its coyered wllb mud. Win or lose, his cigar always stays lit. ers up here - a couple weeks ago :It Hayward the announcer was apparently reading from a previously prepared script, because he kept explaining to the crowd just how fast Jim is - and Jim is fast! right up to the minute Mark won the race. So help me, I think that announcer was the only living soul at the track, including the gals serving chili at the lunch counter, who didn't realize Jim simply wasn't catching Mark.) LIGHTNING t",,, 'y1J" BOX 331- 2115 E. HUNTINGTON DRIVE, DUARTE, CALIFORNIA !llla PHOIE (2lJ) 151-1211