Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1960's

~ PROSPECTORS HARE .... .... SCRAMBLES .... .... " .... AT RED ROCK = CANYON eo <0 Q> 00 CI) ~ :i!: ~ ...::I U ' :.. 0 Siory by Dick Wrl gh I Photos by J err Wrlghl Amidst the sagebrush, deep sandwasbes, and big Ascot-type hoopdee-doos, J.N. Roberts, Husky-mounted #2, proved again that be is the man to beat in desert racing, by taking the 66-mile Prospectors Hare Scrll1lbl es Sunday, June 23 in the Mojave Desert. '- '" So-Cal member rlres his new Bullaco 360cc up trail to smoke bomb. Tom Hoyle must have run into trouble, as he didn't make It In. Big Battle and took Fi r st 500 Novice . The fi r st 250cc Novice In was Charles Curnvltt, Jr., who got a good start and was abl e to hold onto It. The fir s t Open Amateur was Harold Mor tensen, #55. Lonl sandy uphill provided a weedlnl out or the top bikes. Competition Is ,ettln, lalrly rlerce as the top riders try lor that number one plate lor next year. Husky mounted J.N. Roberts maintained a &Ood lead to the checkered rlae. J.N. had a rour mlnute lead at the end. The tension was high among top riders on the starting line as they kept their engines warm, waiting for the starting check. After the check, all the engines were cui off and everyone waited for the banner to drop for the start of the combined 250cc and Open Class (the trail bikes had a separate cour s e). There was that dead silence before the storm , and then the banner dropped; all the r iders ,Ired up and took off for the smoke bomb. Three-Way Tussle There was a good battle for the lead at the smoke among the three top desert r iders; Larry Bergquist, #888x on a Bultaco, the 250cc point leader and holder of five overall wins In the desert; Roberts on the Husky tuned by Tracy's of Burbank; and Mike Patrick, #7, the Open Class point leader. But Rober ts had a wheel's lead over the other two. After a rough and hot twenty-two-mUe loop which took thirty-five minutes , the riders came In for the gas chec k and were to go out for two more , loops. Roberts had a full minute's lead over the now-second-man, Steve Staats, #95 on a Bultaco. Bergquist had run Into some trouble and didn't make It around, and Patrick had to pull Into the pits with a flat tire. Steve Kirk, #27 on a Triumph was third (he's running second In the point standings), and Tim Smith, #069, " was fourth. The places didn't change much on the second loop, but the heat was starting to - get to some of the r iders; the race was fast becoming a matter of the leaders being able' to keep up the pace. Roberts Stretches It Out On the third and final loop, Roberts came In with a four- minute lead. Staats was s ec ond; James Martino, also Huskymounted, was third, and Tim Smith held on to fourth. Jack Byers, #3, was First Open Exper t on a Rickman, and Dlve Brewer, #46, was the second Open Expert In. The firs t 250cc In was Ph1llp Bowers, #139x, after a good battle with Dennis Torgerson, #9x, as the two r iders wer e _ really getting with II on the fastflre r oad com ing Into the finis h. Gary Schuelke, #79x, was the first 250 Amateur In. Steve Haladay, 1I'? 1~, ha4 . a , g~d day .. The three-loop race took an hour and for ty- five minutes , resulting In a lot of hot and tired rider s . Rober ts has bee n riding moto-cross lately and Is not In the top point standings, but he can cer tainly wheel that Husky around In fast ti me when he does come out, to show that he Is still the Desert Ace. ThlrlHn-year-old Jell Wrleht captured socond Amateur trallblke aller a erut ride behind the lop trail bike Exports. Trail Bikes ORANGE COUNTY Story and Photo s AI Mark The hotly contes ted trail bike race, with the lead changing many times, ended up with the two leaders, Eric Jensen, #7 on a Hodaka, and Jack F r oeli ch, #2 on a Bultaco, fini shing In a dead heal! The start was at the bottom of a sandy hill; at the drop of the banner all of the 130 r iders fir ed up and dropped It Into low, speed-shifted to second, and hoped that they could make the hill without bogging down. At the smoke bomb, Tom Hoyle, #31 on a Hodaka, had a 100-yard lead and was flat making it on the wide, sandy trall; Jack Morgan, #1, and Eric Jensen, #7, were running second and third, both on Hodakas . After the second check, the leaders overshot a turn off the fire road onto the r ough trail, allowing Morgan to take the lead, and Jeff Wr ight, #76 on a Cr owell Intensified Hodaka, who hadbeenrunnlng filth, dropped Into second. The cour se then made a r ight turn after the third check Into a field of small bushes In very deep sand, and it was here that the lead again change d all around, with Mark Rader #608, coming into the pi ts with the advantag e. Erick Jensen was r unning s econd ... ith Morgan In third, and Bob r Bell, on an SSHodaka, fourth. Jac k Froelic h, #2, had moved into fifth pos ition, trailed by Fred MacDougall, #199 on a Hodaka , ,s !xlh ,an. Je!f \\):lght .~en1h . .. d GROWING INTEREST AT by On the second and last tim e around on the fifteen-mile course, Mor gan, Jensen, and Fr oelic h had a real battle, with Belt close behin d. There was also a fight for the Fi r s t Amateur spot between Mac Dougall and Wright. In the ro ugh area four mil es fr om the fini s h, Mor gan blew his shocks , leaving Jensen and Forelich to dice It out r ight up to the finish line to a dead heat. Belt ca me In third, I\lacDougal1 pulled In four th to take fir s t Amateur honors, and thlr teen- year- old Wright was just a wheel behind, grabbing fifth and second Amate ur . Monte Lee, #43, was next In line for third Amateur. Terry Clark, #395, came seventh and took first Novice. And so the excitement reigned from beginning to end at the Pr ospec tor s Hare Scrambles, but as the season progresses, you can bet the riding will get hairier and the compe tition even more thrilling as the Experts race toward the Number One plate, and the Amateurs and Novices go for top man In their divisions. P ,S, We desert r iders are really getting sophisticated now thai we have our Res cue Team #3 plus the helicopter of Jim Lasley for those emergencies back In the boondocks wher e the trucks can't get through. Lasley's chopper Is also available for run r ides before the events he cover s , and any clubs or other organizations Interested In contacting him can reach him at (213) 765-93 05. His expenses are heavy and his services gr eatly appreciated by all motorcycle enthusiasts. Let' s give him all the help we can and thus enable him to continue SuPPlying his mos t worthwhile services. (Res ults on page 20) Clear skies and a war m night greeted fans and r iders Friday, J une 14 as the ACA cycles took to the tight turns of Or ange County Speedway for their weekly short track bash. The cr owd Is growing and many more bikes are showing uP as we move Into real summer weather and school vacation. Eddie McGregor , sidelined for a week due to a cut leg , was back and made up for lost ground, winning the 250cc Trophy Dash after leader Stan Rogers tOok a tumble In the south turn. Swapping Gremlins Bullaeo pilot Eddle McGroeor holds Trophy Dash brass. " .) J Then McGregor ran a close second to Roger s In the 250cc Main Event. Rogers, out of the previous race due to mechanical trouble, had his Bultaco run ning beautifully , while last week's winner ; RandY Ellis, was the one the mechanical gremlins bit this time. His Honda never got past practice. Third place went to " Stea dy Chuck" saxton. The l00cc ultra-lightweight events wer e a runaway for La Mesa' s Doy Dlvls, who rides like old Ro yal Carroll, Jr. used to - with his le g straight out like It had a splint on II. DlvlS, on a Hodaka, won his heat, the 100cc Trophy Dash and the IOOcc Main for a clean sweep . The only blight on the eve n!ng's' fes tivltleswas that the sebeculed trophy gir l got sick and couldn' t make It, but a volunteer from the stands saved the sh ow. Game kid; we need mor e like her . (Res ults on page 20)

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