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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/125533
BUZZARDS
HARE SCRAMBLES
Story and Photos by Dick Wright
Everytbing went just rigbt for Bill HiI1IIIer, an Amateur with the maber
14 on his big Trillllph Twin, as he took lie overall win of the 9O-mile Hare
SCrambles race beld Sunday, November 19 in 1IIe rain-swept desert north of
Adelando, Calif.
personal duel that lasted throughout the
race, while some of the other riders got
off on the wrong trail again coming out of
the pits. The second time around, Belt
dropped back with plug problems, and
Jim Smtth, an Open Expert on a Triumph,
was moving through the pack.
Hammer Heads Pack
Anlat.r rI der Bill Hanuner (84) took the
Buzzards overall win with a flawless ride
on hi s Triumph. And he came 'rom behind
to do It.
It poured all saturday night, but the
rains stopped at 6;00 a.m. Sunday morning, and the desert was just great for
racing; hard-packed sand, and no dust.
The Buzzards M.C. had to go out and lay
more lime before the race, though.
There were two courses. The big bikes
had three laps on a 30-mile course, and
the 100cc bikes had three laps on a 22mile course. The starting banner was on
a fire road, with 206 big bikes on one
side and 138 riders in the 100cc class on
the other side. At the drop of the banner
both lines took off.
At the smoke bomb on the big bike
course, Harry Greeniee on a TriumPh,
was leading a group of riders on a trail
curving to the right, and they found the
lime. There were a lot of low bushes in
this area, which made the lime and the
trall hard to spot, so many riders went
to the left of the smoke. Due to the fact
that there was no dust to follow, these
guys couldn't see the riders to the right
of the smoke on the marked course, and
consequently got lost. Among them, and
leading, was AI Vanderpool on a Husky.
Meanwhile, back on the limed course,
the boys dropped into a big, wide sandwash and were really getting with it.
.Harry Greenlee was sttll in the lead, and
the eventual winner, Bill Hammer, was
running close behind at the first check
point.
Coming in atter the first lap, the leader was sttll Greenlee, and Hammer was
still in second position, and Bob Belt
on a Greeves, was occupying third. incidentally, there is sttll a tighttighttor the
#1 rider of the year in the 250 class
between Belt, Don Watkins, and Howard
Jackson, who was leading by a 114
points at the start of the race, and ali
three were batUing to get those muchneeded points. Watkins and Jackson were
back in the pack a little at the fir st gas
check.
Heading out on the co u r s e again,
Greenlee and Hammer were having a
After about two hours and forty-five
minutes of hard riding, Bm Hammer
pulled in to take first place. He had
passed Greenlee about a mile out, and
turned it on to build up a ten- second
lead over Greenlee, who took second.
Jim Smith pulled in third, to make it
three Triumphs in a row. Fourth man In
was Glenn Thomas on a Greeves, taking
The Buzzards Hare Scrambles near Adelanto attracted a new Novice named Nunnally, numbered
115m. Wouldn't be surprised to see him back, would you1
IRV SEAVER "7~ ~~e
tIf
~"
CONGRATULATES
RUSS ROBINSON -'BSA Vic'or
First American a.t Castaic (prospectors Moto Cross, Nov. 19, 1967)
"1fIe
1Itah
'(t#II,
first 250 ExPert, and fifth spot went to
Mike Burk on a Triumph. In sixth place
was Don Watkins (250 Greeves), who
moved up in the 250 points race as
Howard Jackson was be h i n d him in
seventh on his Husky.
The Open Novice wtn went to Wally
Casperson, and Garry Schuelke was the
first 250 Novice. Jim Martino was the
ftrst 500cc in, claiming thirteenth overall on a BSA single.
The hard luck rider of the day was
Steve Hurd, who is now runntng second in
the Open Class point standings, riding a
Matchless Single. He ha:s set his sights on
#1 now that the pointleader, J.N. Roberts,
is in Australia riding Moto-Crosses.
Hurd had a 11attire torix before the race,
and then got lost with everyone else at
the start. He got another flat tire on the
first loop, but decided to go all the way,
coming into the home check about tenth.
The nat tire had caused him to crash
into a rock and he bent his forks on the
fJ6
~
";a4te4tI"
second loop. He had to change plugs on
the third and last loop, but was able to
finish twenty-first, for those all-important points. That's determinationl
100cc Trail Bike Class
At the drop of the hanner, the 138
trail bikes took off across the dirt road,
in the opposite direction of the big bikes.
The starting area was sprawling, open
territory, with lots of small bushes and a
few dry water-ditches to cross, just to
keep you on your toes (or on your ear,
depending on the ·individual's ability).
The course veered to the right just
atter the smoke bomb, and at this poine
Jack Morgan on a Hodaka, Bob Paxton
on a Honda, and Frank Wheeler were
really getting with it; all were trying to
take over the lead, and by the time they
covered the three miles to the first
check point, Paxton had taken it, keeping
his Honda bUZZing all the way.
After the first check, the course
stayed in the open boondocks for another
couple of miles, then changed to rolling
hills for that added touch of variety,
then down a steep, short, and very tricky
hill. From there we were led into a
tight, twisty sandwash to test our skill,
then made a left turn into a wide-open,
rock-free sandwash that must have been
put there for us to play racer in. It hid
beautiful, wide turns so that' we didn't
have to shut down.
Out of the sandwash, ontoafire road-then into some more tough terrain toward the home check. No place on the
course was there any tie-up of a long
line of riders waiting to get through a
narrow gap; just pure racing all the
way. The course was laid out by trail
bike riders, FOR trail bike riders, and it
was just great.
Coming Into the pits check, Paxton and
Morgan were neck-and-neck, but Paxton
Wlls able to push his fron t wheel in to
take the check first and blast out in the
lead, with the idea of upsetting the
favorite, Morgan.
The second time around, things didn't
change mUCh, except for the fact that a
lot of riders had dropped out. On the
third and UDal lap, atter an hour and
forty minutes of chasing Paxton, Morgan
pulled away from him and came in to
take the lead with twenty-seconds to
spare. PaxtOf' was second, and Eric
Jenson on a Hu ..Lka, took third and first
Amateur honors. Wes Anderson, Jr.
pulled in fourth and Lloyd Taylor took
fifth and first Novice on his Hodaka.
Jeff Wright, a 13-year-old wifh the
number 199, took tenth overall and second Novice on his second time out in
competition. To quote John MacLaughlin,
who pulled in ninth on a sachs just in
front of Wright, "It sure is great to be
young and weigh only 95 pounds - that
little tiger was hard to pass!"
(Results on page 16)
HODAKA
JUST THE WINNINGEST
.,..."-"'""~~'";
HODAKA RESULTS
Forst Ranch, Calif.
International Moto-X
Nov. 26, 1967
FI rst 100cc Class
GARY BAILEY - HODAKA
Fresno Shorttrack
Nov. 26, 1967
First 125cc Class'
MIt