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/125670
WHO'S GOING TO PEPPERELL '? '" " '" 01 a, v.> = [oJ ~ [oJ • EAST· WEST SERIES WIDE OPEN ...J U ;:... U Bl' R on Szllagyt Looking lor a Iree trip back East to meet the best motocross riders from t hat area, Jim West shows the determination that moved his AJS to second place In the series behind the Greeves 01 Jim Wilson. MOORPAR K, CALIF. May 3, 1970- With only one event l eft In the East - West Challenge m otocross series, the Senlors are battllng down to the wire f or the si x trips to the east. Tim Hart (Mont) and Jim West (A JS) - trying for a spot on the team - gave a great display Sunday on how to come from behind. In the first 250 Sr . moto, Hart was In thlrd and West was In 5th. Har moved around Jim O' Neal (CZ) and took over the lead. West was like a man possessed, and by the 5th lap he had taken over the lead, with Hart and O'Neal In close pursuit . Hart dropped out with mechanicalproblems; and West and O'Neal finished one and two . In the second moto, John Maroney Jr . held a short lived lead, and Jim 0' Neal, running second, crashed Into the picket f ence, dropping to 6th . Tim Hart stepped In to the lead, with West pressing hard until he over heate d a piston and dropped out. 0' Neal recovered lost ground and moved Into sec ond wher e he checkered behind Hart. In the f lnaI round, Hart r eally got a bad start. T im was In seventh and West was In fifth. Both m oved uP two positions In the first loop, and by the thlrd, both were nudging O'Neal'S r ear wheel. West got around, and that's how th ey finished. 0 ' Neal, recovering from a shattered l eft hand, took f irst place cash, while West was sec ond and Hart thlrd . Hart and West cam e back In the 500 Sr • class to continue the battle. The M ontesa ace took a lead In the first round tha t he never surrendered, followed by West and Terry BUton (Mateo) . On the sec ond go, Hart was turned around facing the f ence to start , bec ause he mo tioned everyone to f ollow him on a parade lap, He st1ll got off the Une In fourth behind John Rice (Mateo) , Jlm West (AJS) and BUl Clemen ts (Husky) . West moved Into th e lead , and Hart m oved Into thlrd behind Rice. Tim found the hole and finished second behind West. With each having a first and second, Hart started the flnaI go by taking the lead with West on his rear wheel. A fe w . laps later it was allover for Hart - his amal carubretor crystallzed and .West won the moto and the class. Grumbles were heard about the mud In the 100cc Novice class Sunday. It seems they always run over the freshly watered By looking at the point standings we s..·t hat several ri ders are leaders In both 2S0 and SO divisions. The trip to the East will take three men In D each class so that means that ri ders like Jim (14) O'Neal and many others have an excellent chance to score enough points In the next series event to make the team. We 'll all know who's going after the May 17 metlt at Bay Mare. course, but 50% trophies smoothed some of the gripes - 1st place In the lightweights was shared by Cr aig Humber ( Hod) and Ron F or eman ( Kaw) . Steve Goldberg ( Yam) won an three motos In the 125 Jr., Divis!on I go, while Jon Miller (Bul) won the 2nd Drv , The points wer e spread thin amon g the 250 Jr' s and when Dfv, I was tallied, Mike Todd (BuI) cam e out on top . Div. 2 went to Bob Rose (Husky) , who won an three motos and was only out of the lead once, when fourth place John Maconey (C Z) beat him off the Une In the sec ond mote. Bob Hershey (M ateo) carried off the 500 Jr. gold with three firsts . 2nd and thlrd were dueled out between Mike Rendich (CZ) and Mike TUlman (Mateo) , With only one event to go the eliminations f or the trip back east are shaping uP. The flnaI event I s set for Bay Mare on May 17. The point leaders to date are: East /West Series 25 0cc Jim WUson Ji m West Tim Hart Ji m O'Neal Bill Payne Ji m Dawson Bi lly Clements 1200 791 652 600 427 264 225 5 00cc Jim Wilson John DeSoto John Rice Jim West Billy Clem ents Tim Hart . Ji m O' Neal 1100 700 690 625 469 225 222 Desert Rats Hold Team Motocross By Bobbie Hedges HOLIDAY, CALIF. April 19, 1970-Hlgh winds, lack of sun and a more than adequate amount of dus t added to the excitement of the Desert Rats M.C. team motocross Sunday . Teams wer e In two classes, each consisting of a Junior and a Senior rider. Class I was open bikes, 250cc and up, and Class II was tran bike plus open bike. The Senior rider had to split the two-hour race with the Junior rider . There wer e 28 teams, all r acing at once, whi ch pr oved to be quit e exciting. Miller & Cannady (team #26) on Bulta co-Sachs made It l ook pretty easy f or the whole tw o hours, taking f irst In class II and firs t over all . Th ey were only challenged once · when team #7 MUler & Mallett, also class II, on a Yam ahaSachs took the l ead for one Iap , Th en t eam #7 fe ll back and battled It out wi th team #23, B. Jones & L. MUler of class 1 on Greeves- T r iu mph f or second In class II. Tea m #4 Chester & Herrington on Montesa-Bultaco was right In there throwing up dust with the rest to grab second to #23 In class I . Some of the finest ridi ng of the day was shown by L ee Haas e & son, team #29, sharing a Mat eo. They seemed to be passing up other team s right and l ef t but couldn't quite get out In f r ont . When all the dust cleared, they had ta ken fifth In class I behind team #8 Page & Hi cks on Bultaco- Yamaha and team #14 Thomas & Potteet on Yamaha - C Z. Pierce & Holbr ook (team #17) , on Yamaha-Sachs, hung In there and took thlrd In class II, with Cox & Kiml ur ( team #28) on twin Hodakas f ollowin g In fourth. T wenty-six out of 28 tea ms finished the 2- hour race, and consi deri ng all the blowing sand, it was amazing that th e bikes (not to mention the r i ders) kept on running. . (Results on page 19) ..