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/125718
By Kevin Hill MONROE, WASllli'lGTON, March 7, 1971 - The Bothell Stump-Jumpers picked one of the wettest days so far this year to put on their third in a series of four motocrosses. The rain began to fall Saturday night and continued in a steady drizzle throughout the day with a little snow thrown in for good measure. The eourse was well prepared and, except for a few spots that bore a striking resemblance to the Okeefenokee Swamp, held up quite well. Actually, this course is a bit too easy under normal conditions to really challenge the ability of the hard core motocross rider and the extreme mud conditions made up for this shortcoming by making it a real chore just to stay on. The top three riders in the 125 class each managed to win one of the three soggy motos. Bob Harrison, riding a Sachs, was unstoppable in this series with a first, second and third. Bob was second to Rick McCaffery in the first moto and third to John Haynes and Steve Curnutt in the second. In the third moto he finally got it all together and charged through the slop to a solid win over McCaffery. McCaffery, on a SuzUki, had had trouble in the second race and was forced to settle for third overall behind Yamaha mounted John Haynes, in spite of his frrst and second placing. Gordy Ochs looked invincible in the 250's as he scor.ed easy wins in the first and second motos. In each case Gordy put a lot of distance between himself and second place Melvin Sowards on a neat looking red Rickman. The third and final moto looked for a wile like a replay of the first two until Gordy's Bultaco failed him and he was unable to finisb. This left Mel Sowards with the overall win and Gordy in second. Copping third overall and putting on a good aggressive race was another of the Sowards clan, Glenn. He was a little too aggressive at the starting line however, and was caught several times trying to anticipate the staning light, a new and effective system that the Stump Jumpers introduced today. Jim Pomeroy brought his Bultaco all the way over the snow-covered Cascades from Yakima to have a go at the big·bore gold only to fold up in the second moto and retire for the day. It looked like he had it wired in the first moto when he won with a tremendous margin over Larry Wescott. At the start he leaped in to the lead and, coming by the pits at the end of the first lap, looked over his shoulder and found himself completely alone. Instead of taking it easy though, he just screwed it on and piled up his lead. Wescott didn't slack off either and came in a solid second over young Mike Budschat, riding an AJS in his first big bore moto. The second moto belonged to Larry Wescott after Pomeroy's Bul gave out. He- took the win over a hard charge by Budschat and Don Babcock. Conditions were so bad that these three were the only riders running at the end of the race. Larry's Maico was strong enough to carry him to a third moto win also and enabled him to take the overall aM Motor NEW BULTACO DEALER SST - Mini Trials Access. - Parts & Ser. All makes and models. 17 Main Martinez cal. 415 229-0754 COLISEUM CYCLE MAIL and ORDER .ACCESSORY CO. ~KAWASAKI ~ MOTORCYCLES 3958 E. 14th ST., OAKLAND, CAL. (415) 534-5461 94601 .... CD victory. Dan Ritchie on a Husky was second in the third moto and took fourth overall behind Budschat who dnf'ed that one. Babcock, Maico mounted slogged in for third in the final, giving him enough poin ts for second overall. Once again there were only thee riders at the fmish and, while not too exciting, it was inspring to see those brave souls forcing themselves to splash around out there, exposed to pneumonia, cold feet, and rider's cramp (that peculiar condition where your fingers freeze solid to the handgrip and have to be pried loose with a tire iron). (Results on page 30) Lantz Gains Overall Win BEND, ORE., March 7, 1971 Forty-two riders lined up waiting for the banner to drop to start another hare scrambles presented by the Cascade Motorcycle Club of Bend. The silence is deafening. The starters are waiting for some late entries and some guys on the line are complaining about the delay. At exactly 1 I a.m. the banner is dropped. The riders charge off across the sagebrush raising a dust cloud behind them. The course is 18.5 long and consists of the rock·free sagebrush starting area, some little used desert roads with 'rocks hiding in wait for an unsuspecting wheel, them climbing higher they find snow and pine trees and then mud and finally dropping back down on to the desert again to find dust. At the end of lap one, it was 360 Yamaha mounted Larry Ulrich of Bend in the lead. During the second lap Ulrich was passed by eventual overall winner, Tracy Lantz (250 Maico) and a 125 Sachs piloted by Ray Ruppel who drove all the way from the San Francisco area to take home first place 125 and the honor of taking 2nd place overall. Ulrich managed to stay ahead of the other open class riders for first in that class. Overall winner Tracy Lantz went home smiling with $25 and a nice trophy. He completed the three laps in less than two hours. (Results on page 30) M '" '§ . " ~ w Z W ..J U > U Bill Ehrems 169) holds inside advantage at Winter Scrambles. Winter Scrambles Turnout Drops By N.A. Williams WOODLAND, WASH., March 7, 1971 The smallest tum out of riders all year raced on a good track this race. It rained some during the day but not enough to make much mud. The 125 riders included only two open machines so there was no open class races this time. The two big machines (one 441 cc BSA and one 400cc Husky) ran in with the 360cc class with the riders approval. The day's events were marred somewhat early when Wally Brosamle (CZ-mountcd) went down in the second heat of the 360cc class. Another rider went over him and fell and the motorcycle came back down on top of Wally. He got up and finished his race but was sent to the bospitallater with a badly cut leg. It needed some stiches as the ambulance attendants said it was a deep cut and bleeding enough to need attention. One other injury occurred during the day. Tbat was in the 250cc class C Main. Ron Moser (Suz) went over the high side in the sweeper and was hurt badly enough for the ambulance to take him in to the hospital but no one knew the type or extent of injury. A few other riders went down during the day but no one else needed assistance. Suzuki mounted Bill Ehrens made a clean sweep in the 100cc class, taking both the Trophy Dash and first in the A Main. Bill has only been out to this track a couple of times and has done well both times. (Results on page 30) GILLESPIE ROBBED Frank Gillespie, National No. 22, had his Triumph 650 Flat Tracker stolen on March 2 in Hayward, Calif. A substantial reward is being offered for information leading to the machine's recovery. The engine serial is DU25304 and some of the accessories on it include Road Race Ceriani forks, Barnes Spool Wbeels, rear disc brakes and K70 Dunlap tires. If you know anything regarding the whereabouu of the bike, contact Jim Partridge (co-sponosr) at 415{871-8100 during the day or 415{845-6833 during the evening. Your name will be kept confidential. • .aJa Wins again! '1I.EIE6C'8I.E' Sole U.S. Distributor Prices and information on request Orangevale Distributors 9198 Greenback Lane Orangevale, Ca. 95662 (916) 988-4725 Co. rrail Y.r a a fllOUIO SPIOCIETS Sandblasters M.C. Hare & Hound March 7, 1971 Trailbike Class 1st Terry Clark - Baja 100 2nd Larry Roesler - Baja 100 3rd Mitch Mayes - Baja 100 12TOOTH CZCounter Sprockets $9.25 Cal. res. add 5% sales taK. C&M SPECIALTIES-P.O. BOX 717 MOUNTAIN VIEW CALIF. 94040 SU~"~CQ sales setvice parts -, sonnJ kenyon's .S) ~ \!.. cycle IIIItIcI • ,..,. SPECI.UIST 2594 Middlefield Road Mt. View, California 94040 (415) 961-4399 MOST ENTHUSIASTIC OEALER SELBY MOTORS 346 EI C.mino. Redwood City (415136'-4112 the lIaxleyDavidsolJ ~~ ODtpBrfOmJBXS