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/125580
~ .., l i ... ~ HOSAKA TOPS EXPERTS AT 1st ANNUAL 100cc GRAN PRIX Story and Photos by B1ll Harmer SAN DIE GO, Cal., Sept. 22 - Trucks, and trailers began to arr1ve early Saturday morn1ng at Southbay Speedway loaded wi th little 100cc motorcy cles and their hopeful pilots, all seek1ng victory in the biggest small b1ke altercation of the year. The entire day was scheduled for practice on the sun baked, pave mentlike course. There were entr1es from S vans, <.J C ~ ... ~ t.:I ...:J U Nevada, Ar1zona and Wash1ngton and fr om such distant California c1t1es as Sacramento, Stockton, Modest o, Bakersf1eld and Monterey, bringing the cr eam of the lightweight TT racers f r om Distr1cts 35, 36, 37 and 38 to meetin motor conflict. Rolo [f Roll s On The Novtce race saw the ll-year-old Las Vegas Brldgestone hotsboe, Gary Wells, shoot to the fore, hotly chased by :... U the leaders to take over tOP spot.a posttion be never gave up for the rest of the race . llaml spilled on late lap eliminating him from what appeared to be a sure second and Wayne Clarke bad engine fail ur e robbing bim of a f1nisb I n the top three. ll-year-old Yamaha jockey ·Earl Roloff and 18-year-old Hodaka pUot Wayne Clarke, of EI Cajon. If it bad been a f1velap event the little flash from Las Vegas would have won handily but at that point he fell momentarUy, then faded rapidly and retired wi th apparent motor trouble. Roloff and Cl arke put on a hub-to-hub battle for 37 laps wi th the lead chang1ng several time s before Clarke dr opped his Hodaka briefly on the switchback and Rol off went I nto a com mandt ng l ead whl cb he never relinquished. The leading Novice f1nisher s were permitted to enter the Amateur event so I t was no surprise to see the fir st and sec ond place r i ders among the leaders but wi th Dave ltaml putting his Hodakaout in f r ont 1n th e fir st laps Suzuki- mounted Dale Hopkins of EI Monte held a steady pace and kept his bike in third or fourth spot until about the 15th lap when suddenly he twisted up the wi ck and shot past Experts trophy to Wayne Houka, pre sented b)' Miss Gall Newcenl. As the Experts lined up to start their 70-lap, 56-mUe affair tile names and numbers of many of them were familiar because of their activities in races involving larger sized motorcycles, but the rider being watched was Kenny Roberts, a 3 year Distri ct 36 Exper1fr om Modesto . Although a 16- year-old M odesto High s chool sophomore, Kenny weighs 95 Ibs, and stands only 4' 8" tall. Hosaka Comes Tbrough Earl Roloff Jr. leads tills hu~tohandlebar dUel with Wayne Clarke. SADDLEBACK PARK! Special Events Dapple-trousered Carol Chiara lIew to 2nd place. TIE FOR SPEEDWAY POINT LEAD By M1ke Capa11te STATEMENT Of OWNOSHIr. MANAGUAENT AND CIllCULATION -t 01,.....1,1. 196'/ ; s..,_ 4 .169 . Till, J9. v.~ SI.In I I Ooool"l! go 'llIl'OO ) ~ CI' MUI • LO(.,&1'ION 0l' '''''''0l'''