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/125545
ELSINORE ECSTASY By J ohn Shed d J us t t he ide a o f racing a motor cy cl e th rou gh town and co untry instills e xc ite ment , but only a jam -up good ra c e can ho ld it, a nd Elsinor e fill ed t he bill. If a fi rst ra ce is e ver a determining fact or in th e makin g of a c la s s ic , th e Gri pste rs M.C. ' s E lsinore Grand Prix last we ek en d made the grad e . The ra c e day atmo spher e which e nve lo ped El sinore , s pread as far a s th e town of C orona ,20 mil es away wher e coffe e s hops e ve n ha d ra c e d ay s pe c ials on the menu . Spe ctator s lined the s treets , and many re sidents were ab le to watch the rac e from the ir front po rch. .For many loc al s , it was th eir fir st motorcycl e ra c e, a nd as they pe ered f rom roo fto ps an d from behind hay bal es a lon g the stre ets, they c oul d hardl y believe the ir e yes . It was diffi cult to te ll for s ure what the avera ge to wns peo ple thou ght of mo torcy cle s' roari ng p arade along the normally qui et city s tree ts, but thos e who c a me to ta ke a look a ppear ed to be sw ept up by the e xc iteme nt, T he other hal f'o f the motor cycl ing sport , the road- rider s , who se ldom go to s ee spo r tsma n e ve n ts wer e th er e in ab unda nc e . Th er e we re hun d red s o f them , ri din g e ve ry thi ng from full-dress e d Harl ey s to 50c c scoo te rs and e ve rything betw e en . Their mac hi ne s lined t he s tree ts o f town and fi lle d service s t ations, wher e busine s s ha d s toppe d whil e e very body witnes s ed the race s , lik e bus y Los Angele s parking l ots . The 15-minute co urse had a tr emendous variation of s urface co ndi tio ns . T here was grass , sandwas hes , rock s, mud, mo untain roads , city s tree ts a nd hi gh s pee d highway c urve s . Just to compe te a t El s i nore re qu ire d a blendi ng o f many varie d rid in g talents , a nd to win demanded th e fus in g of many fin ely hon ed skills, with the st urdies t of mac hine ry . On e of the most ama zin g th in gs ab ou t the E ls inor e Gr an d Prix is how th e Gripster s e ver mana ge d to s wi ng a rac e of s uch ma gn itude in cor por atin g c ity s tree t s of a s er en e touri st to wn lik e Elsinor e. Th e work a nd s alesm a ns hip involved was no do ubt stagge ri ng, but the ra c e it s e lf justified the means . For men in th e position of Mayor T .R. Yarbrough a nd t he City Co uncil of E lsinore , it tak e s' pure wisdom to give the O.K . , a nd may the gods of mo torcyc ling 's mi le on them for e ve r. HANDLES THE WINNERS! M-B - BMW- HODAKA KAWASAKI - HONDA BSA - BULTACO HODAKA lOO ee Class winner at El sinore Grand P rix ! KAWASAKI 250ee Class winner at Elsinore Grand Prix ! BULTACO 1st Overall (1s t 500ee class ) winner at E.G.P . HONDA 1st SOOee Grand Prix winner at W illow Springs ! 15745 Lakewood Blvd. Pa ra mounl, California (213J M 0-4313 E. 224 N. Anaheim Blvd. Anahe im, CalHornia (ll4J 535-3647 N U TFOR SEATTLE MOTOR-CYCLE SCRAMBLES OD S sto ry and Ph oto s by Vic E bbutt It al most can be guaranteed that any sc r ambles held in Febr uary , in Washington, will not be bothered by suc h terrible things as dust, heat or sand . Thus, in answer to the sc rambler s ' pr aye r s, there was no r a tn on Sunday, Feb r uary 4, although until mtdnight Sa tur day night , it pour ed the proverbial "ca ts and dogs ." We in the grea t Northwest lead charmed Uves as far as weather and r acing ar e concer ned . Tacoma' s EmU Ahola, National Number 80 and United Sates TT Champion for 1965, proved again to the satisfaction of everyone concer ned that he is the Scrambles King of the Nor thwest. Fir s t off the Une on a BSA, instead of his usual Ma t c h i e s s , he was never s eriousl y thr eatened as he plowed through mudholes , s mall lakes, woods, and s lippery mud to take first in the 650 Main Event. In second place was Gary Hamilton of Renton, also BSA mounted . Placing third was Kevin Lloyd of Tac oma on a Trimph. Veteran Tony Schatz was first in the 500 A Main on a new 360 Greeves with Myron Speidel second, r iding his 500 9536 E. Fires lone Blvd. Oowney, California (213J 869-0600 BSA. Right on Myron 's rear wheel the whole dis tance was Ken Peter s on a Maico and it was anyone' s clam bake until the las t foot. The 250 Clas s was captured by Dave Clift, on his Kawas aki , followed by young Jim Eins a rsson who is rapidl y developing into a rider to watch in the future . Seventeen -years-old now, he will be a tige r by 1970. Rovin Wilson, aboa r d his trusty BuUaco, was third . Dean Geisel man was Sunday's her o in the 200cc Clas s for ' his first ma jor scrambles win. Second man to the chec kered fl ag was Cr aig Johnso n and " Handsome" Hal Parks (who swears he is 85 yea rs old) took thir d place, which is pretty good for an elder ly pers on. Perpetual winner Bill Langley took first place in the 100cc Class an d second was won by Dick Rhodes, who took two spills, re mounted both time s and s till r ode to second. The trophy for thi r d place was taken home by Chuck TravagHone . Spons or of the event, the Seattle Motorcycle Club, has not been noted for their effi ciency in the past, but this race on new land was very well r un. If this event was a samp le of things to come , the club should be com mended for an excellent effor t. Several comments were hea r d by this cor respondent about the trophies presented . All agreed they were outstanding. (Results on page 20) Emil Ahola, 1967 Natio nal TT Champ. nonchanlly puffs his way 10 vlclo ry i n the 650cc A Mal n, B5A-mounted. -- ' Holy cow!", thinks Larry LInde of Tacoma, 'II's not a mirage, it's real water!" And imagine what the others are thInking. : ~ • .JU..llOoli- . ' Seattle M.e. scr ambles found riders di splay ing a variety of slyles, but hey, man, this is no time to rest. Gary Ragen (77) seems 10 have fig ured out how ro remain re lativ e ly clean while splatter ing his opponents.