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A.C. Bakken (Husl was a very happy first Open Expert and second overall. He's starting to move
lately.
,
..
by Alice Rhea
RED MOUNTAIN, CAL., Sept. 17,
1972 - "Wow! Look at that lead,"
screamed the excited spectator, jabbing
his finger at the dust streaks heading for
the smoke bomb.
A.C. Bakken, mounted on a Malcolm
Smith·tuned 400 Husky went blasting
by followed several seconds later by an
Amateur who deserves mention, but was
too far away for anyone to get his
number; then came Jerry Jones (Hus).
The pack began swarming by so
closely bunched that it took a mother
or good friend to note who was where
in the throbbing noise and rolling dust.
Forty minutes later, the Novices
came crashing across the desert Jed by
Ken Evans (Hus) who was making his
third attempt at desert racing. Ken led it
right up to the pits, but Bryan Bennett
(Yam) got by him while he was stopped
for gas and about five more riders got
by him during the second loop. Ken
finished sixth Novice overall.
When Tom Muto (Hus) managed to
get a fiat and get back to the smoke
bomb before the Novice start, we got
the feeling that the course might be a
little rocky .
As soon as we were sure all the
Novices were on their way, we headed
back for the pits and arrived just in time
to see young Tom Brooks (DKWJ, who
had been running about 20th at the
bomb, charge through the pits pursued
by A.C. Bakken. Brooks managed to get
around Bakken halfway through the
first loop when the course got rocky
and tigh t and he managed to stay pretty
well in front for the rest of the race.
The course was a little tight for big
bikes but it had a lot of everything in it,
including a little fire road and two'
down-hills, one of which was bad
enough to rate men tion in the riders'
instructions.
Both hills were rocky and so steep
that riders slid down even if they
wanted to stop. Some of the more
fortunate, or skilled, riders did manage
to slide in to one of the larger rocks
which 'allowed them to stop for a quick
breath of air before picking their bikes
up to continue the race. After the
second hill, came the one lane
twisty·turny sandwashes where riders
could test the cornering ability of their
bikes. There was even some virgin
territory!
Tom Brooks' 125 DKW was first
across the finish line. Tom was pretty
quiet, but I guess he was tired after
riding WFO for about 80 miles. Pop was
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