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'" Redwood Acres Drops '71 Flag N f lL ,... -' " .., '" c: ::l ~ W Z W ...J <.l >- <.l Whitey Marx (38F~ awaits an opening to get by Dan Ginsford. Marx won the 250cc Expert Main at Redwood Acres on opening day, By James W. Shipley EUREKA, CAL., May 8, 1971 - About 1700 people filled the stands for the first of a series of eight races to be held at Redwood Acres this year. There were over 100 riders on hand and a nice tum out from the Redding, Calif., and Oregon areas. The track was a little rough but otherwise in good shape and dust free . The two big races of the evening were in the 250cc Expert and, of course, the Open class. . The 250 Experts found Whitey Marx and Gary Thompson battling it out far abead of the rest of the pack. Throughout the race Thompson kept the pressure on Marx, till on the last lap when he made his final bid for the lead. His bike slid out from under him on a Hayward FinaUy Opens Season By Bill Spencer HAYW ARD, CAL., May 8, 197.1 - Cool and ,foggy was the wea~er but hot and heavy was th~ action the Hayward M.C. finally got the opener off the ground after a rain-out last week.. Th~ weatherman had been playing games on everyone as the springtime of the first part of May closely resembled January's rain and cold. The entry was a mere 420 riders and the final event wasn't over until after 1 a.m. The 250 Expert Main Event went to John Gennai, tonigh t riding his Bu1taco. The change appears to be permanent and John rides like he wants to trade his number 3 in for the number onespoL The point leader at that time was Mike Renslow, but Mike had crashed very hard the night before and may be out for as long as six weeks with a separated collar bone. This combined with Jim Foley's not getting any points in the 250 competition puts Gennai and Bill Budde right up there for the high point lead. Gennai had complete as command of' the 'race from ,tart to fmilh. Second went to Budde with Cnug Fimer rounding out tb,e top three. In 250 Jr. competition, Nick Nazzisi b1uted his way into the lead at the go MId held off a large pack of ciders to take home the gold and enough points to make him an Expert. This Sonny Kenyon racer has made the upward movement quite fast and should give the Experts a good ride when he turns in his red and white plates for the green ones. In the 100 Novice run, Mike Allen continued his domination of that class with yet another wire to wire win. Second place went to Randy Gibbs and third to Carl Slach. Bill Hardesty overcame some definite handling problems on his heavyweight machine to win the 175 Novice class over Ed Jacques and Wayne Hains. Hardesty is a toulll> competitor and likes to ride all kinds of machines. Jim Foley may have had a bad night in the 250 class but he had everything go his way in the 500 run. The ational Scrambles Champ dialed in the troops and led for the distance over John Silva on a e-Z and John Hall on his ever faithful Honda. Ernie Vick held back just slisbtly at the start of the 500 Novice Main but then slipped under the pack that went wide and had an easy winner. In the 650 final, it was Bill Budde the winner' over Fred Cziska and Dan Hughes. Bill is definitely in the running for high point man ~ the distri~t and one of ~e f~ that IS competltJ.v~ 'on both a lightweIght and a heavywelghL (Results on page 26 turn and Man< went on to win followed in by Gerald Bergquist. Marion Matlock mounted on a 360 Maico really showed the big boys he could get around the track in the 350cc.{)pen Amateur-Expert. Pressured by Stormy Winters on a Harley, Matlock was still able to stay well abead of the pack. He went on to win followed by Bruce Riley (360 BuI) and Ed Neilson (650 Tri.) There was a mishap during the 350cc Novice heat when Alan Maboney collided with Jerry Arnold and was taken to the hospital hut released with only minor injuries. Mounted on a 650 Yamaha, Clarence Oliver took the lead and hung on to it till the end in the 650cc Novice class. This was Clarence's last race as a Novice. Not only did he advance to Amateur but he also won the 250cc Novice event. The flat track held for the fust time here at Redwood Acres this week will be a regular feature here for the rest of the season. . ' (Results on page 26) EASTSIDE NIGHTS M.C. TO FRIDAY The Eastside M.C. will move its events to Friday evenings starting May 21, and repeat every other Friday night for the remainder of the season. The racing will be short track style and limited to lightweight motorcycles up to 250cc. Ugh ting for the Alviso, Calif. facility is currently being installed and will be read for the season. Roberts Sets Record S1 Pace By Bill Spencer SACRAMENTO, CAL., May 14,1971National Novice Champ Ken Roberts is looking like a strong contender for National Junior Championship in '71. Roberts easily won tonight's 15-lap main over the likes of National No.2 Jim Rice, No. 18 Jim Odom and Rice's fellow BSA teammate No.4 Dick Mann. Roberts has consistently been the fastest rider at this \4-mile dirt track, although this was his first main event ride. The opener was rained out after the heats, then he was doing his thing at Road Atlanta, another rainout at Cumberland and last week a rainoul for the main. He thought he was jinxed; tonight's performance dispelled that. He led wire to wire with Rice' dosing at the checkered. Odom, Mann, local favorite Joe Henry and Mike Yam, San Francisco Indoor Champ, rounded out the top six. The Yamaha ace now holds the track record in all categories. Mike O'Brien took over t1te point. lead even though he DNF'ed as his rival, Bob Scally, didn't make the program. Other top racers out of the main included Dave Hansen (54), Dan Haaby (40), Mark Brelsford (7) and rookie flash AI Kenyon who was on his way to a berth in the main when his steel shoe came away and he headed for the infield. (Results on page 26) BIKE REGISTRATION A total of 444,373 motorcycles have been registered in California during the fust three months of this year. VAN TECH lEADING LINK FRONT SUSPENSION (Tomorrow's Idea Today) WillI a leaditllinl fnInt faR, the .... is aot fGrted up and ..... ill a slraigld liIe, IIat lither it piIIts 011 the fork link axis, causing tile froIIt wheellD float lIIeI' bumps and obstacles. The torsional strength pnMded by the Van Tech design gives extremely precise con· trol over the roughest terrain and the hazard of obstacles is greafty reduced, MIl at hip speeds. Ifs the sys. tem of the future. The 350cc·Open Amateur-Experts got off to a tight race as winner Phil Ray (161 took over the poinl followed by evenlual second and third place finishers Bruce Riley (39FI and Bob Bellino (9AI dice for secopd. Marx Aced in Willow Creek Opener By James W. Shipley WILLOW CREEK, CAL., May 9, 1971 - The track was in great shape for the opening of TT's in Willow Creek this year. Most of the riders that had raced Redwood Acres the nigh t before were on hand and some members of t1te Los Gatos M.C. as well. The 250cc Amateur-Expert class beld a few surprises. During the heat Ed Tltayer (BuI) held off Whitey Marx for seven laps to win, but the trophy dash was started over three times as Whitey just couldn't seem to stay on his bike. On the third try, be won ouL But, being the good sport, be gave the trophy to Thayer who could have won it the two times Whitey was left sitting on the track, but waited for him and allowed him to make a race of it. Another upset cam.e during the main when John Davis (BuI) blew off both Marx and Thayer by a considerable distance. Whitey was having some real tough luck and couldn't even keep up with Ed. He finished the race far back in UL.T=C, MAIL ORDER BIG BORE 360cc to 410cc, 100cc to 133cc 3M. gal Sherpa S·T/PurSang tanks & skid plates CUSTOM ENGINE WORK STOCK BULTACO PARTS SPEED EQUIPMENT WRITE FOR FREE PRICE LIST Now available by fast mail order exclusively from Suzuki Fun Cellter. Shipped post paid, each set comes with complete instructions for easy installalion. Include make, model, year and displacement of bike when ordering. Write: "Home of the fastest dirt bike in the USA" Call or write for details - mail order O.K. ~ 6' To U5cc $99.50 l60cc up $124.50 • ~(NIf~ 515 North Victoly Blvd. Burbank, california 91502, (213) 849·7295 21819 Sherman Way. Canoga Park (213) 887·7696 PUMFR EY BULTACO third. This is really unusual for Whitey as this is bis home track. The 350 Open Amateur-Expert found Phil Ray, who made black plate last year, taking and holding the lead throughout. A duel took place between Bruce Riley on a 360 Bultaco and Bob Bellino for second with Riley managing to win out. Triumph mounted Ray was also way out in front during the heat but was beaten out in the trophy dash by his partner Bob Bellino. The rest of this year's six scheduled races are to be held on Saturday nights with the ne.xt one planned for June 5. (Results on page 26) Husqvarna 'enton 'oe'ers Sa'es & Ser.;ee 6624 At,..Uc,••II,C•• (2'3)5"·3983 • •sqva..na Choice of ChampioDS Eastern Dislributor: Penlon Imports, 1354 Colorado Avenue, Lorain. 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