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/125567
t MES IN AROUND Mike AT MESA SPEEDWAY Story and P hotos by Bill Hanner The typical morn ing coas tal over cast cle ared Into a beautif ul sunlit day In time for the J une 23 pr ac tice runs at Mesa Speedway, located high a top Otay Mesa, so utheast of Chula Vista, Cal if. The spr inkler had lai d a li ttle too much water In some spots and there was a layer of slippery goo beneath the dry cr ust but the spots were located In the practice laps and the sun baked them out before the se c 0 n d sertes of motos started. At the start of the first 100cc Expert moto, It was noticed tha t current NuHl~ ber I plate holder, Jim McGuire was not H the li neup. Upon Hiquli'y, Il Wi§ I disclosed that the populilr Hodaka jockey was 1JCl.dir burned In an Industrial accident and Is 10 serious conditlon lh the hospital. His many fans and friends wish _ him a speedy recoVery but tn the meantime they're trying to iake advantage Of his absence by bUIlding up a few points , DOy Ol.vls, slight of stature bilt " savvy" In the saddle, took full advantage ol. his weight advantage and jockeyed his reii~ therwelght Hodaka custom to Impressive wins, capturing top points In the rocee motes , Mickey Chiara (Hodaka), who hils been threatening of late, beat out Har~y Hayes and his Suzuki 10 a close 1JCl.ttle for second poslUon. Roloff Roll s h On An ll-year-old speed merchant, Earl Roloff Jr., handily won his heat race to qualify for the 100cc Novice MaIn Event wher e In spite of the near ImposslbiUty for him to touch the ground from the saddle of ' his little Yamaha, he got off the line 10 front and never rellnqulshed the lead, finishing 75 yards out 10 front of the r es t of the pack. Inct dentatly, one of the most closely contested races of the pr ogram was for s econd place In this event. Doug Maloney, who had gone tal l over teakettl e 10 his heat r ace, made the MaIn Event by virtue of a win In semi and entered his hot Hodaka Into a hub-to-hub conflict with Eric c rtppa, who was again r ldlng Dick Slm' s Van Tech Ya maha . The r esult was In doubt until the flnal flag as both men slammed their mounts across the finis h so close that you c ould cover them both with one sm all handkerchief. Maloney was finally declared the winner. , Exciting Open Experts Fans wer e anticipating a slam-bang affai r In the Open Exper t ser ies and they were not disappointed. Myron Carter , pr es ent holder of the Number 1 badge was smarting from a defeat at Dehesa two weeks ago and had br ought his As cot -rigged Triumph, which Is better geared for the Mesa 5/8- mile track, and Wayne Hosaka , rldlng Mike Garrett's BSA Gold star and givlng away 200cc' s felt confident. Al Fi nan riding Earl Roloff's cus tom Triumph was lookIng towards a repeat of his clean sweep of two weeks ago. John Fishburn was back af ter se veral weeks abs ence reminding all that he had won his last effort on a san Diego area track. Jim Harmon was mounted on Earl Roloff's big Norto n twin, s till looking for his' fir s t wln In the big bike class. The firs t moto found three of the top contenders out with mechanical fallure - namely Hosaka, Harmon and Finan, As Finan was pus hing his wheel back to the pits with a glum look on his face, he noticed that his " kill s witch" was shorted out so he corrected It and got back on the track but all he could do was finish the race to keep 10 contention. The second moto Saw Carte r get off to an early lead with Finan and Hosaka in hot pursuit. On the thir d lap, Finan showed mas terful r iding by s neaki ng by Carter only to lose his advantage by missing a shift at the s tart of the s witchbac k, allowing both Carter and Hosaka to pass him. For the rest of the moto Carter and Hosaka put on a hub to hub exhibi tion with Hosaka disp laying s ome of the most spectac ular , crowd-p leasing riding seen here In a long time . 650cc power pr oved better than 441cc, as Carter took the check er first. Gatrett of Mllre's Shop in Sprl~ Suzuki_ace Don Ernde here leads Yamaha mounted Ray Vanderpool. Doh 250ec Expert win with Ray taklna Second place brasS. Spi!i!a TtiIiiiii V811ey put lip i. $10.00 merchandise order for first and a $5.00 order for second, when Urty Colle ,pos ted a dislance of i 26 yards it iooke