Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1960's

.. AFM to set up Moto-Cross, Road 5 Race Prize Fund d Pacific Nort••est On r.e Line II '69 ~ By J.K. Lacey Pbotos by Abramson and C1a¥ The Pac1t1c Northwest area of WasblIlctoo-Oregon, tile bot-bed 01. Class C TT racing In tile United Slates, wtllODCe again boaSt of several Expert riders wbo In 1969 should alICe again lead tile nation In tile twist and turn department. Nat100al Numbers all, each is truly an aggressive competitor, eacb capa1Jle 01. tile 'big' win. First, and h1ghest ranIdng Experi for tile '68 season In national TT points, 15 Sonny Burres, National Number 69. From Portland, 0 reg on, this 15 tile third straighi year that this 33-year-old, seven-year Expert has heldth1snation-wide ti tle aboard Triumph; Burres says th1s year is his year to go hard with his number. It w1ll be Burres' last racing year. A new National Number comes to Oregon, 70, and goes to the young 20year-old second-year Expert Mark WUllams. WUllams and his Triumph wtllbe tile rider to beat In tile Nortllwest th1s season; he gave warl\Plg of tb1ngs to come when he mixed it UP witll, and often beat, tile Callfornians, when tIley journeyed Into his area. Watch this new National Number, the 'Kid' from Cottage Grove, Oregon. Wasb.lngton w1ll again have their favorite, National Number 80, the popular Emil Ahola from Tacoma. Emil's ride for 1969 w1ll be Harley-Davidson, having switched In mid-season '68fromNorion; we predict good things for Emil In h1s next season. Another well-known Washington rider, Don McLeod, also from Tacoma, w1ll carry the National Number 83 for the first time. Don was sidelined much of the '68 season with a leg problem but we hOPe all 15 well now and we see much of him In '69. McLeod and Ahola will be team-mates, both on Harleys. Back in Oregon again w1ll be seen tile gentle National Number 14, belonging to the Portland steVedore, Gary Davis. Triumph-mounted, Gary 15 al_ys a ci"owd favorite, soft spoken, but dead Do. McLeod DESE·RT WINNER >. CJ Sonny Burres serious when tile race is on. None try harder than Gary Davis. From MUwauldee, Oregon, again on Triumph, we have National Number 97, Dick Jagow. ThirtY-year-old Jagow, father of four, is possibly the best allaround rider Oregon has, adept at cross, country racing, excellent at Mota-Cross, and strong at tile TT. It's back to Washlngton for tile last of tile Nortllwest National Numbers. From Kennewick, National Number 91,Rolland Hall, Injured In mid-' 67, might return tb1s year aboard Triumph. Vancouver's National Number 67, Glen Adams, is no more. Ob, Glens' stlil around, says he's w1ll1ng to race, but 15 Wldecided. The number 67 will not be seen in th1s area. It has been taken and awarded elsewhere. These are tile National Number hopefuls from the Pacific Northwest, each with potential, each ready and waiting for the 1969 season. Aggie Gins Up Gall Noted race promoter J,C, Agajanlan Is recovering from a gall bladder removal at Daniel Freeman Hospital at 333 N. Prairie In Inglewood, Callf. NORTH HOLLYWOOD, Cal., Jan. 13- A national ~-racing and motocrOllS tuDd will be setllPbytlleAmericanFederatWa at Motorcyclists th1s year. The money will come from entry fees - $1.50 from road-racing national points meets, $1 from mota-cross national points meets. Based on tile number of riders expected, th1s fund would add uP to $2700 for road-racers, $1800 for mota-cross. Based on these figures, the national points w1nners would receive $1050 and $720, respectively. National classes for mota-cross will be Senior 125, 250 and 500cc; national road-racing classes will be 101-1'15, 250, 350 and 351-1000cc, plus 2501300cc sidecar. Sidecar road-racing w1ll have a separate system. This point fund will be extra; the usual prize money wtll be paid at every AFM points meeting. The minimum purse at an AFM points road races will be $750. Tom FIn1a¥, AFM secretary, said $1000 will be paid whenever possible. 10 1969 road racing licenses till be issued on a Junior and Senior basts, as In moto-cross. 0rilY Seniors wtll be allowed to compete In the four solo championship classes at a points or pratessional meet. All new riders, and those witll 1968 Production licenses, will be Juniors. They can make Senior by JuI7 if they pick '" 24 points. Last year's top points winner was Pete Glordanengo In the 125cc class, witll 94. Finlay reports that AFM by-lawcbaDges, announced at tile Jan. 12 meetiDC w1ll allow tile offices to be m0ged to Los Angeles COImty, and pecJPle will be hired for publicity and bookkeeping. He urged members to vote on the proposals. "But for those who don't llI

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