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/125719
" '" :. .... '" ~ w Z W ...J U >- U Dave Smith shows good form enroute to his 250 E)(. win. DeBenedetti feats Beat feets In one of those few moments during the CMC action at Saddleback Park Sunday. Chuck "Foots" Minert holds the acivant~ge over Pat deBenedetti. Pat won all three 500 Sr. motos, however. - March 7th .. _ Dehasa, Calif~rnia Moto-Cross .. '. ~ • 1st Powderpuff / Pam Baler / Rickman 100 Micro Metisse March 7th ..... Monroe. Washington Mota-Cross 1st 250 Allcomers / Melvin Sowards / Rickman 250 March 13th ... Elsinore Raceway TT Scrambles 1st 6pen Expert / John Sprague / Rickman Weslake S-valve 1st Special Experts / John Sprague / Rickman Weslake 8-valve 1st Sweepstakes / John Sprague / Rickman Weslake 8-valve 1st 250 Novice / Don Nichols / Rickman 250 March 14th ...Saddleback Park, California - ACA Moto-Cross 1st 250 Senior / Jim O'Neil/Rickman 250 1st 125 Senior / Don Emler / Rickman 125 Micro Metisse March 14th ... Perris, California TTScrambles By John Shedd IRVINE, CAL., March 21, 1971 - It was a sunny day at Saddleback Park, and no one could have asked for a better day for racing. There was a large turn out of riders for a non series meeting and tbe 125 Juniors and 250 Juniors were both divided into three divisions. Action started out with the small bores and progressed up through the big barreled bombs. The 125cc Expert class seemed to belong to Bill Urban (Puch) from the drop of the first flag. Bill had some competition from Pat deBenedetti in the first moto but Pat's shifting probelrns kept him from being a serious threat. Bill to~ k the first moto with Pat hanging in there for second. In the second leg Urban again zoomed into the lead and tbis time deBenedetti was really suffering with a wasted gear box and could only manage a 13th. Pat was unable to start the final moto and Urban really had a field day. He played and wheelied from corner to corner and had no trouble in taking the win. E. Crippa took second place and deBenedetti was third even though he didn't ride the last leg. Hard charging Dave Smith wheeled his Maico to a win in the 250cc Expert class. In the fjrst two motos it was Dave out in front with John Rubcic in hot pursuit on a CZ. Rubcic didn't seem to be a serious threat to Smith but he stayed close enough to take over the lead if Dave goofed. The. final leg of the 250cc Expert-Intermediate combined class was a bit of an upset. Charles Rouse who had finished ninth and sixth in Intermediate standings in the fIrSt two legs, and even farther back in overall positions flasbed into the lead with aU the Experts snapping at his heels. Finally, Smith was able to take over the lead but Rouse remained a solid second until a few feet from the flag on the final lap. At this point Smith lost it and Rouse regained the lead and went on to win the final leg and the 250cc Intermediate class as well. The 250cc Expert win went to Dave Smith who was still able to manage a fourth in the last moto. Rubcic earned second place e specialze iI Jawa/C-Z,] C the specialty machines. The Bike Shop 2021 Via Burton Anaheim. Calif. 92B06 I (714) 635-1450 (On State College Blvd. 1 blk. north of Riverside Fwy.l green by finishing second in all three' matos, and C. Nilson was third. The 500cc Expert race was quite interesting in more ways than one. Mister BSA USA, Chuck (F eets) Minert, roared into the lead with Maico mounted Pat deBenedetti burning up the Saddleback turf behind him. It was a two man race in all three motos with the rest of the pack so far behind that they were running a race of their own. The flying duo churned their tires in a race of many contrasts. It was veteran Ch uc k Minert against young Pat deBenedetti who bas earned bis way to the ranks of the nation's fmest motocrossers. It was the endless battle of the two stroke versus the four stroke, and it was also a contest of two very different styles of racing. Minert pitted his experience against fierce aggressiveness of deBenedetti. Chuck's BSA roared like a lion but not loud enough to drown out the scream of the high pitched Maico. In every corner it was Pat taking it wide and fast and Feets in tbe low groove looking for the shorted way from point A to point B. In the first moto Minert took the lead from Pat by using tbe short way around the corner, but four laps later Pat regained the lead by going wide on another corner. For the first five or six laps it was a wheel to wheel duel but Pat gradually increased his lead and went on to win. . The second moto started out with Feets in the lead but on lap two Pat again found a faster way around a corner and grabbed the lead. The tbird moto was a carbon copy of the second. Minert took the lead and Pat caught up and took over. The BSA thundered from jump to jump and corner to corner in mad pursuit of the bigh pitched cry of the red l\1aico but the rest of the pack was too far behind to hear the cry of battle. When the dust settled and the engines hushed Pat deBenedetti had taken the win by winning all three legs with Chuck Minert second with a second in all three motos. Next week, (on the CMC calendar) will be the Steen's Series wrap-up at Osteen's Park in Pomona. (Results on page 26) r------ YAMAHA ~;.~------, 0;' fONTANA Yamaha-Sach's- 9008 Sierra Ave. Hodaka-Maico- Fontana Calif. p~ _ Se~:I:: - (714) S22-2252 1st Open Expert / Glen Burnson / Rickman 650 M6tisse March 14th ...Carlsbad, California -CMC Mota-Cross Sports. a. lacin, Associ,t;o. 1st 250 Class / Diego Gualdo / Rickman 250 March 14th ... Indian Dunes, California - Optimist Combo Cross ) 1st 100 Junior / Danny LaPorte / Rickman 100 Micro Metisse . ~V~~~[]~ ~ 0 • ~ a ~ _ cyCles, kits and Metlsse·motor· and performance RICKMAN parts & accessories BMW Specialties 411 West Whittier Blyd. Montebello, Calif. 90640 (213) 724-9474 "Formerly.R.V. Enterprises" European Scrambles APRIL 18TH north of Adelanto accessofie, are d"triouled ,n the UnIted States by Steen's and sold through authOrized dealers nationwide. See your local dealer, or send 51.00 for pack of "Supergoodles!" Info. 1&35 WEST VAlLEY BOUlEVARD - ~ro~~: BOX 227& ALBAMIlA, CALIFORIIA 11113 - ~~a.: ij213~ 281-4351 - SACHS DUNSTALL Norton-T riumph-BSA-Honda Wholesale - retail - also mail order SUZUKI CITY 728 So. LaB..a Inglewood, Calif. 9030T (213}.674-1431 $ CYClf CITY ~;j) 34198 Coast Highway Dana Point, Calif. 92629 (714) 496-1001 auZUKI SaUlII Druee Ct." Trl.... H~