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/125559
... "" Cl> • '>ll c... '" co ... <:c 0> 0 0» '" '" ::;: en i$ r.J Z r.J ..:J CJ :>... CJ Gary Bai ley and his Gree ves look lhe meaSllre of all 500ee Senior competiti on at Casla' Co Third place In the SOOcx: Senior mola-cr oss wenllo Ronnie Nelson (Monlesa), who followed BSA-mounled Chuck Mlnerlln final slandlngs. Wailing alang In Ihe 250 Senior evenl are #15 Russ Darnell (Greeve s) and #33 Bob Bailey, riding mete-eress and Vamaha s ingle for the IIrslllme. Story and Pho to s by John Sbedd Th e monthly ACA moto-cross was hel d Sunday, May 6 at Castaic Park , Calif . under an overcast sky, The air was coo l, but the com petition was stri ctly tor rid. The rider s wer e greeted with a new course, and they all seemed to like It quite well. It was a little tighter In som e spots than th e old one, and by . r ev ersi ng the directions of the race , two ste ep uphills wer e added , which sent man y r i ders back to th e bottom fo r another sta r t . There were only three 100cc Seni ors, so they ran them with the Junior class which was large enough to require two separate series of motos with a final race pitting the top riders of the series. The action started at noon with Gary (Hodaka) Bailey leaping to the lead In the fir st 100cc moto. Junior Tom Rapp was second, and he soon . took over the lead when Gary r etir ed with mechanical woes. Tom and his Hodaka had a cakewalk In all three m ot os, with BaIley out of the way, but I n the fourth and final moto, he had his pr obl em s with Hodaka mounted Rus ty Burkert and had to come from behind to take the win. . - #50 Kurl Lohmeyer (Bullaeo) leads 250 Jr . winner Timothy Harl (CZ). The 500cc Junior and Senior classes were combined with the Open Class and the resulting motos produced some of the closest racing of the day . BSAmounted Chuck Mlnert bounded Into t1ie f r ont spot In the first mota followed by Open Class r ider Gene Smith on a Triumph, Al Baker, out f or the second time on a new CZ , and Malco- mounted Lon Peterson. Gary BaIley and Ron Nelson ( Montesa) got bad starts and were back In the pack but com ing on strong. BaIley mov ed I nto third, and Nel son f ollowed him up to fourth. In the second mo to , It was A l Baker rocketing out In front only to muddy up his tires In the freshly watered mudhole and then lose I t In the corner. Bailey pulled by to take over wlth'Minert chasIng. Nelson killed his engine on the start and \&gain had to fight his way through trattlc , but was unable to get In striking. distance of Bailey. The final moto was Mlnert all the way. Baker was running a close second for a short time, but Nelson came thundering by and chased Mlnert all the way to the flag . BaIley came' out on top when the points were counted wi th Mlnert taking second and Nelson thtrd. (Results on page 16) Formula for Fun ... G rant Van Tech YOUR POWER UNIT, WHEE LS & FORKS Another rapi d Bailey , Gary's brother Bob , took th e l ead out of the hole In th e fir st 250Cc Senior mo to on a Yamaha si ngle. John DeSoto, the latest addition to the Viva T eam , was running a close second on a new five - speed Mon tesa, wi th Greeves-mounted Gary Bailey In thlrd• DeSoto pull ed ahead of Bob to take the lead only to lose It to Gary who went on to wi n th e mo to , DeSoto stole the lead In the second moto with Gr eeves-mounted Russ Darnell , sec ond and Gary Bailey third. After a frantic chase, Du"nell managed to take the lead from DeSoto and Bailey soon followed him to second and then overtook him to win the moto. In the third mota, Bob Bailey again moved out first to take the lead, followed by Conrad, DeSoto and Du"nell. DeSoto seemed to be getting the feel ot the new bike, and Im mediately passed Conrad and pulled In behind Bob Bailey. It wasn't long before he found the way and moved by Bob to win the moto. Gary BaIley had mechanical problems and was unable to finish the final mota; so the class win went to Russ Du"nell. + GRANT VAN TECH CONVERSION KIT PRECISION ENGINEERED HANDLING & RESPONSE Versatility Stylillg Grant Van T ech motorcycle conv ersion kits accep t co mponents fr om H on d a, Yam ah a, Ka wasaki, Suzuki , Bridgestone, H odaka, Moto Beta, Z undiipp ligh tweights (60 to 120 ee). A major featur e of the kits is the ease with which parts bolt together ... the first time! Naturally app earan ce is a matter of personal tast er however, the G rant Van Tech's simplicity of form, d ictated by the necessities of fun ction, is certai n to please the eye of any motorcycle love r. Write for the name of the dea ler in your area who wi1l be happy to show you an assembled kit. Strength DEALER INQUIRIES INVITED Super ior engi neeri ng results in a frame that is very light, yet ex tremely stro ng. Joined sectio ns a re pre-milled to elimi nate excess weld ing material, and the tr iangul ated frame design allows the use of lightweigh t steel tubing with out sacrificing rig id ity. No gussetti ng is necessary. 3b ' O BEVERLY BOULEVA RD TnEPHONE 213:311 -1375 9000' Tall In Ihe saddle, Maleo rider Lon Pelerson, 5th 500 Senior.