Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1960's

DESERT M.C. HARE SCRAMBLES AT LUCERNE VALLEY .... , Slo ry by Dick Wrlcht The fir s t loop took My-five minutes of solid speed and the first thing you The big Norton twins dynamited the field in the Desert r,f.c. oontest as Mike P a tri c k , 1f7, pnlledin as the winner, with Steve Hurd, #1, taking second. Both riders were mounted on Norton P-U's and had a three-minute lead over the other riders last Sunday. could see was the yellow-and- blue jumper of Mike Patrick coming through the plume of dust, followed by Steve Hurd. Next through the pits was Gary Griffin, N2x on a red 250c c Bultaco . On the second an d last loop, Patrick huffed in the winner after an hour an d fifty minutes, ,,1th Hurd second. Gary Gr iffin was third on the 250c c Bultaco, which was .a good go for the 250 machine as this was a fast cour se averaging 55 miles. per hour . lapping s lower riders was no problem. The pi ts were set ~_n, with the trucks only on ODe side in the roagb. Trail Class Hod At It On the other Side of the road, the l00cc riders were beginning to get with it. Wes Anderson Jr., 114 on his welltuned Hodaka, grabbed the lead at the first che ck, and Jack Morgan, 111, also Hoda1ca-mounted, was second. Anderson held the lead with Morgan never more than a hundred yards behind, but on the last lap Mor gan was able to catch him, only three miles from the finish In the r ough boondocks. Morgan just turned It on and let ' er go unW be bad the lead, an d the n held it to the finishllne, winning in one hour and forty minutes. Anderson pulled in second only a hundred feet behind the leader. Eddie Cr owell, 1IT2 2 on his Hodaka, moved up from sixth spot to take third a t the finis h. Tho mas Hoyle, 1131,. got a good start and was able to bol d on to it to take fifth overall and firs t amateur • Thirteenyear-old Jeff Wright, 1/76 on a Hodaka, moved up from sixteenth on the fi r st lap to eleventh a t the finish an d took fi r st Novice. INSURANCE THE MOTORCiCLE INS URANCE WR ITER \ -c e ~". JOHN W MAYNARD . 144: MOT OR A liE. . L. A. '1,»2 4 336- 521, montt5a Martea BI_ puts iii s lnast jaM ntesa. Congratulations, Desert M.C. • Mike P.trlcll (7) ..d his 750cc Nort... Q " out on top In the Open Expert division, but not be· fore a thrllllnc duel with Hcond pl.ce Steve Hurd, .Iso 750 NorlolMllounltd, down the IonC slralcbt fireroads lucked In .t sJlHds of over 100 mph. Patrlck's hlcllltr cUdnc ( he was H t up for 110 IIIPh IIlIp end) m.J have turned the trlck. There were three hundred r iders lined two loops on the fortymile Lucerne, CalUor nia course. The trail bikes had thetr own course of thirteen miles, and the two hundred and twenty riders were scheduled to go four loops. Both races were started at the same time; steve Hurd led the combined Open and Ughtweight race to thesmoke, and a rider with the blue-and-white colors of the So. Cal. M.C. was second, ~ so fast that no one got his numbe r . Mike Patrick was running an impatient third. Steve Kir k, 1127 on a Trlumpb, pulled in fourth, an d Steve Staats, Triumpbmounted 1/95, took fif th overall and firs t amateur. Bill Bogner, 11170, charged in eighth and grabbed off first 500 amateur on a Match1ess single. Bill Hutton , 1/21 was right behind him and took first 500 Expert on a Husky. Tom Sinner, 1144%, charged up from back in the pack and took eigh1eenth overall an d first 250 ama teur. In the pits after the race, all of the riders seemed happy with the course; It was well marked and long enou gh so that up ready to go , The Desert M.C ., a ne w club with twenty-five members, should be congratulated for putting on a well-planned race for the ir first time around . The points the r iders particularly liked were: ( 1) A s eparate cour se for the trail bikes, which eliminates the problem of too man y bikes on one co urse In the dusty weather, and also helps on the lapping problem ; (2) the pits we r e very safe - out in the rough with the trucks .on one side. Pits on a fire road with trucks on both sides can be dangerous; (3) the turns on the course were marked well ahead of the turn, with the lime thrown three spots close together on the side that the turn was go~ to make. Cycle News welcomes letters with suggestions or other ideas conc er ning desert racin g; just remember that most s ucc essful r aces require a lot of work, an d unfortunately , there are a lot of r iders but not enough hard wor ke r s . It was , definitely, a lot of work for th e Deser t M.C. to lay two courses , but it was worth it! (Res ults on page 16) Marten 811nb mechan ic lor Val l ey Cycle Shop i n A nder son, Cal i lom ia Ra c es Montesa and Wins: 'Montesa is the most relia bl e motor c ycle I e ver rac ed " s ay s Marten. A me chanic reall y k nows. ~\V4 MONTESA MOTORS. INC. Sole U.S. Distributor 3657 Beyer ly Boulev ard LDs Ange les . Califor nia 9000C PROffSSIOIW SHORT TRACI UONG INDOORS AT SAN JOSE AND SANTA ROSA In San J os e - County Fairground s (Expo Buildin g) In Santa Ros a - Expo s ition Build ing on the F airgrounds san Jlse Race Dates JAN. 26 fEB. 2,9,16,&23 Santa Rlsa Race Diles 'JAN. 27 fEB. 3,17,&24 RACES START 8 P.M. SEE YOUI fAVORITE STARS IN ArnON ON THE ASPHALT OVAU 'll ::r " .. 0' ~ e n ... ~ ..- ..= . .. ::r .. m ::: Jeff Wrl&flt, son 01 CJcle News correspondent Dick Wrlchl and a photocrapher In his own rI&fI!' moved up Irom 16th to 11th lor IIrst Novice trallblk, IInl shers, Hodaka mounted. Cycle News writer/rider Dick W riChl bound. Ionc throu&fl the Luceme ValleJ wast.. lands aboard his Molo-Bm In the 100cc div ision. It's no easJ task to compete, lllke pictures .nd write storie s, too. Inc --------------, : Ho.. '.'fer Orr :8 St".".. 8: ~§A I L. I 4t2J .. 391-6217 J I

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