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DIST. 37 fSl...................... ,,, ..,, ...,,~ JJ.. .J JJ ~ff((11Nfff(1-'f((~ SPORTS COlIITTE E ' I ET G I F 0R APR IL " y Ma ureen L ee The Di strict has take n a big step forward with the news Thursday night, April 4 that from now on a helicopter can be used for transporting i njured riders 10 a hospital from deser t runs . "DBA Helicopters Unlimited" wlll provide the aircrart and have either a registered nurse or qualJfied f irst ald man on board f or approximately the same fee as a ground ambulance would <;ost. The copter will be trallered out to the pit area of a run, remaining for 1 hour prior 10 start until 2 hours after finish. The fee will be paid fr om the r i der s 25 ~ ambulanc e fee plus the fo llowing: $10 per 10th of an hour fiylng time, $10 minim um . The company would need 400 r i ders per r un to br eak even but wlll supplemen t this by fees charged If plcklng up an Injured r ider and from bringing In broken down machlnes In a sling to the pits from Inaccessible areas . No fee wlll be charged for the copter 10 l eave the pit area; the fee starts from the time the man or machine Is loaded aboard for either a trip to the hospital or the pit area. Two Injured can be carried in protected bas kets at the same time. Nelson (Checkers) made the motion that we use this service, duly seconded and carried overwhelmingly with one dissenter. Booklets were passed out from the Bureau of Land Management, Department of the Interior on the use of motorcycles on CalJfornia public lands with President Ron Sloan asking that all clubs give f ull co-operation 10 the Department should any of thei r personnel attend a desert race, as the Investigation Is of Impo r tance to all who ride the desert. Competition Committee New rulings were read. Cl ubs had not been conducting the mandato ry technical Inspections In some cases at sc rambles, so as 10 pu t more teeth into this r ule, f rom now nn the f ollowing peanlty I s that the event wi ll be declared a no-point r un for the day and the sponsortng clu b wi ll be fined SSO.OO. Th e id ea behind tbls Is to make each r i der aware of the fac t that it Is also his responslblllty 10 uphold Di stric t rules by in si s ting that he recei ve an Inspection of his machlne prior to racing; otherwise he could find out that be received no points for tha t day. In deser t events the area between the s tart and the smoke bomb is not part of the marked course so therefore can be sc outed prior to the s tart withou t disqualJflcation. However, from the smoke bomb on out Is the marked course and may not be scouted prior to the s tart. SAVE 011 Sidehack rules as proposed by that Association were adopted as a supplement to the District 37 rulebook. Cancellations and Runs Scheduled The Hawthorne Gophers have disbanded as a District club and therefore have cancelled remaining 1968 runs . The Cali f orni a Gophers have cancelled their scrambles April 28th, as did the Greyhounds for May 30th . The Rams and the Victors M.C. wi ll hold ajointbenefltrun, Thursday May 30th for Ol.ve Eklns and John Stein. The moto-cross calendar was opened for bids with the following clubs r equesting dates: Prospectors , Nov . 24th; Anteloped Ram blers, June 9th; San Bernardino Valley, Oclober 27th; DIrt Diggers, November 11-12th. Gene Romero, Mert LawwUl and Van Leeuwen have all won the one and only race tha t Is run for the money In Idaho. Lawwill traveled back 10 his home town one year 10 compete In the race . This was shortly after he had moved from Idaho to California due 10 lack of professlonals racing UP there . He arrived. all shining and bright with a red hot piece of equipment only 10 "blow" the engine early I n practice. One of Mert's old buddies happened to have a shop nearby and they qui ckly beat a retreat In 10 town to see what was In the back room and available to race. Mert said all that was available was an old cow-trailing machine and it was not even the same brand that he had brought back 10 the scene of the ori ginal accident. One In this posttlon cannot be fussy so Mert swallowed his pride and climbed aboard and of all things - won the Expert maln event! He has since returned many times only 10 have one thing after another keep him from wi nni ng. This year a broken chain knocked him out of action In the Main Event. Of course, right now Van Leeuwen is winning everything in sight when It comes 10 T T r acing so perhaps the chaln got Mert off the hook for another year. Th e Northwest biggle Is fast becoming a haven f or CalJfornia riders even If the lads from the Sun and Smog have 10 race in the Snow. Maybe they really are as good as thei r press clippings say they are. The Boise Boys refuse 10 change the race date although they have fifty-one other Sundays In the year 10 choose from. They stated one time that they had paJd 10 have a weather survey taken and found that the first Sunday in April was ALWA YS a good one. One m ight wonder what a really had day at Boise consists nf? Maybe It Is just the overwhelming desire to hold the first money race of the season. Whatever, theAscotladswill again return In ' 69. BRIDGESTONE lI> "" e, 01 Sales-Semce B ar ne y T illman's SP OR T CENTER 6027 II'hi ttler B1vd, ; E. Los Angeles (213) 7~JS23 INSURANCE THEMOTOR CY CLEINSURANCE WRITER Since 1937 JOHN W. MAYNARD 3447 MOTOR AVE., L.A. 90034 836-5211 FOR FAST SERVICE WHEN ANSWERING WANT ADS - SAY YOU SAW IT IN CYCLE NEWS - - - --·-, r--• t , t ~""P? "n ~~!~mKI ~t Tri umph-Suzuki Motors 1049 West 5th Street Pomona, Calif. (714) 629-8642 , , ~~~~-- ~ - - RONNIE H ALL FLIES ON A BENELLI FOR DEALER INFO RMA TION SELECTED AREAS IN Wri te: Jesse C. Levine National sales anager M COSMO POLI TANt.(JTORS, INC. D A., 5521 W e Ave., epl ayn Philadelphia, Pa. 19144 SOLD T ROUGH H LONG BEACH YAMAH A 35 80 E. Pac . Coast Hwy Long Beach, Cal ifornia 90803 (213) 433-9987 Sales & Service Distributed by 1816 Georga St . Los Anaeles , Calif. 90015 24 Hr. Orderi ng Service (213) 749-5153 Uealer Inquiri es ONLY) YOU CAN WIN ON A 360cc USED HONDA PARTST~~:58 W ilmington Discount Cycle Center 1505 Avalon, Wilmington. Calif. BAIDGESTONE ~ ~ f er lIIe _ Skip Van Leeuwen journyed 10 Boise, Idaho last Sunday 10 again bring the so called" Northwest '17" championship title back 10 So. Calif. Skip reports that the weather was so bad It appeared as though they were trying 10 put the "freeze" on the Cali.ror nta riders. Each year, for some unknown reason, the local club i n Boise holds the event on the first Sunday In April. This Is the second time In four years that snow has fallen on the event. The Nor th west title race brings to mind a few years back when the race was run In the state of Montana. The race Itself was pretty much a well kept secret unUl Eddie Kretz somehow got the word via the grapevine and decided 10 enter . At that time they had a rule UP tha t way that If a rider could win the race three times In a row he could keep the large trophy that was given 10 the win ner annually . Eddie more or l ess was Invited up to the first race. He won that one. Th enext year It ·was somewhat more d!f[1cult to find out when and f the race was to be run _ but Eddie again, through the gr apevi ne, found out and agaln traveled to Montana. The then -young Kretz again won the race and again brought the trophy back 10 California for the second straight year with a promise from all conce rned UP Montana way that he would be most welcome to come back the following year and try for three in a row. Next year came and Eddie spent many hours trying 10 find out when the race would come oft and where It would be held. This was about seven years ago and he Is stlll waiting for that/ong overdue Invitation. In the meantime, the twice-won trophy sets on the shelf, along wi th many others won by the former national '17 champ. Riders, It appears, can wear out their welcome when they travel outside of what was once referred to as the " I r on Curtaln" that surrounds CalJfor nia and I ts own races and rules. r--------- - -, "" of,.., ....... ...... So. c. 1: 1IcC.1_ Dl.tr. Inc. (213) 772-21. t MOTOCROSS BEST HANDLING in the rough stuff. Factory works engine. Your choice of close ratio Dr mediumratio gearbox. Also 250cc and HIGHEST HORSEPOWER with tremendous torque all the way from 1,000 to 7,000 .R.P.M.- and she's built strong and t ough and she only weighs 225 pounds I 350cc M oto Cross and 360cc Enduro models. LONNY PETERSON :r::I~:iPPI C OOPER MOTORS 2815 W .Olive-Burbank, Calif. I MADE IN WEST GERMANY East of Missi ssippi GRAY IN TERNATIONAL 4461 W. Jefferson-Detroit, Michigan