Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Pleasanton Marathon by Patrick Neil PLEASANTON, CAL., Sept. Ill, 1972 - Three classes were staged to compete at the team Marathon Race; 125cc 250cc, and Open. Along with som~ stamina, it took two hours to ride, and. only a strong bike and rider or riders made it to the end. It appeared that Kris Willems on a CZ, in the 250 class, and the team of Lou N orman/BiU Sanders also aboard a CZ .in the Open class, made the most laps in the two hour punishment test. At this time the official results aren't known. For almost two hours the cou.rse, mostly flat like a scrambles along with a few small variations and one infamous jump, was being ridden at a very fast pace by two motivated guys. Kris Willems and Mr. Carter, throughout the race, passing riders five at a whack, in and ouJ of the many comers, played hide and seek in the heavy traffic until Carter was finally nowhere to be seen near the end. Willems made a throttle cable change, losing two laps time doing that, hut he was over three laps ahead of the group anyway, so it was calculated that he probably won. Scoring this kind of even t has always been the big problem, so who knows what the official results will look like when they ·come out? The next physical test, the Open class, found Lou Norman aboard a CZ taking over the aggressive role early in the race. After the fifth lap, he was out in front and climbing. All through the miles of dust, and arid desert like terrain, that team of Bill Sanders and . Lpu Norman kept the machine steaming. They were clocked at 2.48 lap times "(ith the average riders hitting it about 3.05 per lap. It looked incredible and some were wondering how long the unit would hold up to that kind of riding. The answer came about three laps from the finish. With Lou aboard the CZ, a rider being lapped feU in front of Lou causing a routine spill. Upon making his getaway from the scene, it was noted that several spokes still remained in the back wheel. So ended the short lived career of Norman Sanders racing team. With the CZ out, I couldn't tell who was in the winner's position: (It must be noted that Norman/Sanders were probably several laps up on most and perhaps won or at least finished in the top runners.) 1n the 125cc class, .the only facts for sure are that there were one hell of a lot of bikes (about 80 or more) entered; it was super zero, negative visibility, and you couldn't see very well either! The course wasn't exactly what one could call good shape when the smaller cc's took to it. And with all the dust, you could sometimes see the riders. The 125s bursting out of the cloud banks on the comers, created a misty effect for the spectators. A regular Baja dust trip. I t appeared everyone gave it their best try, but I couldn't keep up with who was doing what to who, and so I have • no idea what the results should be for this final race of the day, at "pleasant" Pleasanion. .... M ~ ~ 0- N .... '" w' N C- " '" s: '" w Z w ...J U .> U SPINNERS SCRAMBLES by Jack Roberts TULARE, CAL., Aug. 26, 1972 - In spite of the hot muggy weather, a large crowd of spectators turned out to watch the scrambles put on by the Porte'rville Spinners at the Tulare Fairgrounds. There were several spectacular pileups but no injuries. There were two fir~s: one caused by a lighted cigaret dropped on some gas spilled by a rider. There were no damages. Jim Keener's 650cc Triumph caught fire during the Heat race and he was unable to get it running for the Main. The 125 Novice class was a race from start to finish with Ron Henson (Yam) and Jim Conway (Bul) battling it out for first. Henson finally got a big enough lead and took first with Conway coming, in second. Steve Wenn (Yam) brough t up third. • Newly transfered Darrin Schmidlkoffer (Yam) ran away with the 125 Junior class. Spencer Gilbert (Yam) an'd Richard Horton (Yam) tried their best to catch Darrin but he held them off and to'ok first. Gilbert took second and young Horton took third. The 250 Novice class was h'air-raising, as always, with a big pile-up just before the jump resulting in a restart. Jerry Winn (Bul) took fitst with Greg GaddIe (Suz), coming in second. Roger Yost (Suz) took third. There were 280 riders with a total of 60 trophys given out. WSRA MX --------'""""":=-~__:_---.:.....-~by Cheryl HeUer FERNLEY , NEV ., S ept., 1972 4 Survival of the fittest, would be the caption that best described the Fernley motocross, Nasty spills marred a good many of the heats due to the extremely rough course. If a ride could walk away from a crash he cons.idered himself very lucky. The ruggedness of the track didn't seem to slow anybody down, though, especially Truman Casey and his Penton in the 125 Novice Div. Without his nemesis of the week before, Kin Adamson, there wasn't anyone who really gave him any concern. Another rider that kept showing up with surprising regularity was CharHe Marshall. The surprising thing about him was that not only did he take first in two out of three heats in the 125 Amateur class, but did the same thing adding one more moto 'to the list in the Open ,Amateur division. The only reason you don't notice his name in the results of the 125'cc class is that in the second moto his exhaust pipe feU off, and he was unable to finish. Another flashy little rider worthy of mention was Darr01 Brown on a 250 Honda. He set the pace for the first group of 250 Novices. Although Bob Ralston didn't exactly set th.e pace for the second bunch, he didn't allow anyone to make any mistakes without being right there to take advantage of them. The only one that was able to get aWjlY .frO'll, ~irn for a whole moto was Phil Bernitandt. ACK PRODUCTS, The Fernley motocross wound up three days of races all sponsored by the W S estern tates Racing Association. - 676 Auzerais Ave., San Jose, Ca 95125, KLAC to Carry Champion Spark Plug Motorcycle Classics The "Racing Station" will again this year cover the Champion Spark Plug Motorcycle Classic from Ontario Motor Speedway. KLAC's Jay Lawrence and motorcycle racmg authority Larry l Huffman will team up to bring speed fans a complete and concise four-day coverage of the classic, originating for that entire period from 'the "Big 0", On Thursday, September 28, day for combined qualifying, Jay will be on the air from 3:00 to 7:00 PM. [twill be the s'ame hours on Friday covering in particular the 125-mile (39 lap) Junior race. On Saturday Jay broadcasts 1 :00 to 6:00 PM from the infield at Ontario Motor' Speedway for the Motocross races that start at 2:30 PM. On Sunday, October [, KLAC will join the Motor Racing Network at 12 noon to carry the climax to the Champion Spark Plug Motorcycle Classic, the Expert National championship race for heavyweigh t (750cc) machines. The event will consist of two 125 miles heats and KLAC will cover them both. Jay Lawrence will have pre-race coverage starting at 11: 00 AM and will continued with post-race coverage from Ontario Motor Speedway until 6:00 PM thit evening. • Cow Trail Your a a ENDURO SPROCKETS 2 TOOTH CZCounter Sprockets $9.25 Cal. res. add 5% sales tax. 408-293-5111 C&M SPECIALTIES-P.O. BOX 717 MOUNTAIN VIEW CALIf. 94040 COLISEUM CYCLE MAIL and ORDER ACCESSORY CO. ~ KAWASAKI ~ MOTORCYCLES 3958 E. 14th ST. OAKLAND CAL (415) 534-5461 946

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