Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1960's

RUSS POWELL DAZZLES SAN JOSE S.T. OPENER Gordy Williams AaIIlGrlud Dealer SUZUKI CYCLE CITY • ~~ ~~I. (415) 939.49" story & Photos by W.H. Spencer SAN JOSE, CAUF., Nov. I, 1969- Russ Powell rode bis Bultaco r1ght by Triumph mOlDlted Butch Corder on tile n1ntb lap to take a comma!!dh~ lead and Ylctory 10 the San Jose short track opener. The 15 lap MaIn was one of tile few events that was relativelY accident free Saturday n1gbt. Powell ftn1sbed second to Corder 10 tile Semi, but both riders rode tbe1r races 10 great style. Powell showed ......................... +.NIGHT MOTOCROSS TraCk~ ~::,. • • . 0 ~ :-~~ EYIIJ Fri., "1&IIt 125 - 250 - 500 • (/. ~\1~' ~1 :~~:L~a:~~S • i, ...•.•••••••........•.• :\f~Grossl f.-ttl ~t ss. - PIts 0peII - , ..... • :f First Rac. - 7:30 .... : 1..\__010 Daft NaOMo JI. F.II, Brace T.lxelra (415) 278-3154 Offlce 15591 E. 14th Sl. Sao lA8adro • (415) 447-7727 • Tr. • 17801 IIll1n, Rd. • Uv_ Chal DeCcco, liS, 8111 V.bl.elo, #29. and Jolin Sliva, #10, lean 10 ...1_ ...... SlIn sboat• .ad to talle tbe but. out Greg Hoaps 10 a qaal1fy1ng beat and great lmprovement, and this win qualltles him for the run-elf event at the last was second 10 bis beat 'liIaen be sP1DI out• Cow Palace sIIow. That 25 lap feature He remo1D1ted tllereby losing two SPOts, will pit all MaIn Event winners for a but tile scorers bad b1m a lap down, and be didn't make the consolation. $500 winner-take-all-purse. PbU H1nkJe bit the fence during prac(Results on PIP 17) tice and was taken to the hospital with a back Injury. Mike Yarn tangled 10 tile second beat with Nick Theroux and was taken away for x-rays with a poss1b1e rib lojury. The n1Cbt's eYents _re marred with 8J' Bob Cudle many falls such as tile consolation race where three starts resulted 10 three black WINNEMUCCA, aJEV. New. I, IH9- The flags becaue nobody could get by tile tamous UbI fam1],y at Idabo came to the flrst turn witbout fall1ng off. Ron W1sJer Ssrv'blpsterS M.C. liue scrambles and led tile fourth restart and was never sbowed everyone tIIere jlJ8t 8l18Ctly wby beaded. they 1IOD tbo8e medals at tile SIx Day Newcomer Kr1s Barke bareJ1 edged Tr1a1s. BW UbI_ flnItoverall without ever being bard ~ and Herb UbI was second 10 the 125 class and tenth overall. First l2S . . Aaron Jeppson wIlo deflnllely 11&8 eett1nC It on. OnlY fUt;y riders showed to see U they could outlast tile rocks and dust. Tb1s was somewbat of a let down lor tile Sandblasters as tbeJ bad pat forth a tremendous effort to make tb1s event a success. TbeY bad a e-dDe hosPital ambulance and crew there throughout the entire event and a few of the other niceties such as a rest room. conces- W._(CII Hare S(r••61e5 T. "., sion stand, etc. The Sandblasters aatd tbe1r course wollld have every type of riding 1mag1nable from a tr1als course to a flat out grayel road and that's just what tIIeybad. 'Ibe only gripe &BY of tile riders bad was the rocks. As one member of the sponsoring club satd, "the rocks are there to separate the men from the boys." But even with tile rocks everyone bad to admit tile course was a fun one. A LeMans start _ used for tile flrst time 10 this area at a desert event and it worked marvelously. The dash to the bikes was only about s1xt;y feet and although a few riders were d1sgrlDltled about the start before the eYent, after tt was over even they bad to admit It worked quite 1be eleven mUe loop started wllb some tough bone-jarrlni sagebrush and onto a fast pole line road for a marl distance and then turned down a mile and a half soft sandy tr1al. All the riders really dug this tratl as it was plent;y wide for passing and JUSt sandy enough to make everyone work al1ttle. Leavtng the flrst check the riders faced some more rough desert, some w1nd1ng cow-trans and UP a rocky b1l1side and Into the second check. At the second check some of lbe riders stared 10 disbelief that they were going to go down a hwtdred and fUt;y foot bill that was steep, spr1nkled with sagebrush and covered with po1nt;y rocks about the siZe of basketbel1s. But motorcycle racers are a hardy bunch of 1nd1vtduals and they just bounced from rock to rock bend1ng various parts 01 their mounts unt1l they reacbed lbe bottom and a nice smooth salt flat. Bending around the flat the riders went through a series of small wboop-de-doos and loto lbe third cbeck. 1.eavlng the tblrd check the riders went across some salt grass and through a shallow water crosslng. One unlucky Montesa rider was wallowing 10 the mud trying to drag b1s b1Ite UP the bank wben along came a Maico rider and used bim for traction wblch caused some unsavory remarks and fist sbaldng. After the mud the course turned onto a fast road and loto the finish. 'Ibis road wasn't as fast as It looked as some riders found out the flrst lap, there were some bBd cboppy sections that cansed tile n1ghtmarlsh feeling of the front end going from stop to stop and the back end try1Dg to replace it. After seven times around this the fUt;y percent that finished def1nttely knew they bad ridden a tough race and were justly proud. (Results on page 17) -a r------ COVER GE ------- ----------, suhscrlhe CYCLE NEWS WEST (VIA 2nd CLASS MAIL) $7.50 1 year 0 $12 for 2 years 0 Get Cycle News West & Cycle News East CYCLE NEWS EAST 1 Year for 59 (VIA 2nd CLASS MAIL) 2 Years for $16 o o $4 lor 1 year 0 57 for 2 years 0 NAME _ ADDRESS _ CITY _ STATE o o o o Via 1st class mail for one year 518. Via Air Mail for one Year 526. This i.s a new subSCription This is a renewal 1 enclose check or money order 0 please bill me later 0

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