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/125794
00 ,;, « " ~ w Z W .J U ~ U Ed Unini was open production winner. Mike Wenzell won the 350 GP go and the Hooligan racC. • • By Art Friedman Photos by Dave Schoonmaker VACAVILLE, CAL.,july 30,1972 - A moderate tumou t, moderate weather. and in incredibly rugged racetrack greeted riders today. The potholes are bigger and the bumps, bumpier. A FM North has no alternative, however, and christened this event The Pot (Hole) Luck Race. The track was clean and the bumps and holes· were well marked. The only real problem was the big ch unks of asphalt thrown up by some of the bigger bikes, which made passing a trifle painful. The lightweights weren't very well represented (with only three bikes running at the start of the 50 GP event), but a good turnout of 350cc and larger machinery kept it interesting. The 500.Qpen GP event found Rudy Nolloo many lighlvveighls, bul Ihe heavyvveighls made Ihe pol (hole) luck race a success. Ramos (750 Kaw) take the lead at the start, but very shortly he was joined by Eric Paloheimo (650 Tri). Eric was a little down on power, but he was able to gel around on the back part of the course. Eric was pulling away slightly when Rudy trod on his brakes a bit too heavily and wen t down going in to tum 2. This left Eric with a considerable lead ahead of Mike Lee who won the 500 class on his Kawasaki. Mike Wenzell, on his Yamaha TR-2, ran and hid from the rest of the 350 GP riders, lapping almost everyone. The only problem that Mike almost ran into was a car that pulled across the track in tum 9 as he came through. Mike rode the same bike to first place in the Heavyweight Hooligan race. He finished there with a quarter mile lead in five laps and ran the last two on one Erie Pelohelnio took his Triumph to the.big bike GP ~. . fint. cylinder. He wasn't pressed. The 350 Production race was an all-the-way dice between William Spurlock (Hon) and Bob Crossman (Yam). For a time, there was a third rider on a Kawasaki in the contest, but he was omitted when he ran off course and finally came to rest several hundred yards away in the ditch next to the freeway. He got a free ride in the ambulance. Meanwhile, Spurlock pulled ahead of Crossman to win. Crossman, now on a Suzuki, won the 250 production event ahead of john McNeil. There was a good turnout for the 500-open Production event. At flag drop, it was Ed Unini on a Honda 750, Rich Kochevar on a 750 Suzuki, and your correspondent on a Kawasaki 500 sponsored by California Kawasaki in Santa Monica. Unini and the Kawasaki started pulling away from the Suzuki right away. Until the half way point, Unini led. Then he backed off slightly allowing us to close. When he realized that there was someone on his tail, Unini got back on it again. He was really flying through the turns with a style that looked a lot / ijke Bob Endicott's. Then, in tum nine. he bobbled and was passed. At. this point we began to lap slower traffic which worked against Unini and allowed your correspondent to be first at the flag. In third place, half a lap back, but most of a lap up on the rest of the field was Kochevar on the Suzuki. july Fourth came to Northern California a little late this year, and the 250 mile Production race will be run at Vacaville some time nex t man th. A Triumph 650 lIlld e Suzuki 500 mix it up during the 5QO.Open produc:tion beIIt.