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/125800
o N Tripes, RDdgers, '" 2en Lackey... en ~ w Z W ...J U >U WhafsNew? Pete Maly came off the jump a good eight feet high with this leap: by John Bethea TRABUCO CANYON, CAL., Sept. 10. 1972 - Poor Marty Tripe.s is going to have a tough time at school this week. You all know the teacher's favorite first assignment of the new school year: an essay on what you did during the summer. Can you imagine what kind of grade he's going to get on that one when the teacher 'finds out this 16-year-old has earned more money than he has? Today he added a bit more by winning the 250cc Pro class at E.scape Country in the first running of the Premier Helmet $4000 Invitational Motocross. The nearly unbeatable Yamaha rider who does unbelievable things while standing on the pegs, didn't win without controversy, however. In the second moto of Div. A, a rider went down hard, causing a great deal of confusion out on the course. The flagman, attempting to secure medical attention, began waving the red-cross flag. Another person waved Marty off the track and he followed the instructions, only to find out that the race had not been stopped. Dismay turned to anger and Trfpes re-entered th,e race in seventh after Marty Tripes wasn't often crowded like this. heaving led. He was too upset to try and never caught up or was passed for the rest of the race.. That was a far cry from the first moto in which he had gotten off the line miserably and began to work up as he did at the coliseum against the E.uropeans. Two laps into the 12-1ap race, Marty was 13th with Rex Staten (CZ) pulling away from everyone. Tripes hung in there and steadily passed the likes of Gaylon Mosier (Mai), Mike Runyard (Mon), Texan Steve Stackable (Yam) and Tracy Oswell (CZ) to move into second. An almost unsurmoun table lead for Staten faced Marty and he was equal to the task. Final lap and he inched closer and closer. Two turns from the checkered he 1:0t side-by-side with Staten only to miss a shift, bogging the engine slightly, allowing Rex to pull it out. When Marty pulled out and eventually finished seventh in moto two, Rex won again. In Div. B, though, CZ's Jim Wilson was also smoking his way to a pair of hard-earned wins and he, too, transferred to the th ird combined mota Jim Wilson is up to his old tricks: two firsts and a fourth equalled second. and the showdown. Prior to the final race, however, track officials asked the 250 riders if they would agree to give Tripes first place points while not denying anyone else thier earned points in that second moto mixup. The riders agreed. Marty jumped to the poin t and couldn't be caught, winning overall. A protest was filed after the race, however, questioning the action in giving extra points to Tripes and the vote taken at the line. Promoter Earl Gross took an individual tally again of each rider and again the vote was to give Marty the poin ts. They did and Marty won overall. Jim Wilson, by virtue of a fourth in the final race, took second with Staten third. The Open Divisions were not so confusing. Kawasaki teammates John DeSoto and Brad Lackey each convincingly won their first two rounds to head in to the final to square off. On the firs.t lap, howe"er, John got into a hassle past the big jump and went down 'hard, possibly breaking a leg. ~ Bill ... .a..n~e. ra JP,;P".J~ u r Clements (Hus) with him. Neither could shake nor catch the other, so Lackey won with a fair margin despite not having a rear brake the entire race. Tripes, who had led one of the Open motDs earlier, crashed and then, depressed about his 250 mixup, pulled out of the second. He still had qualified for the third but opted not to race since· the crash had taken a toll; he still took seventh OA. Clements rallied for second OA with DeSoto's two firsts good enough for third overall ahead of works Husky riders Jim West and Bob Grossi. Dave Rodgers (Bul) simply wanted the 125 class more than anyone. He broke the close battle in the final round by pulling away steadily to pick up the win. Ray Lopez, who had won his two motes 'while qualifying, took his Monark to second after finishing sixth in the final round. Chuck Bower's (Pen) thrid was good enough for third overall. Murray Hoffman (DKW) and Bob Haag (Hus) rounded out the first five positions with five different bradd's:"