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/125803
.... i c.. N .... en o' u o ;@ w Z W ..J U >- U ~'",••"'.O""" °"jer'ry~G're_"GeiS'~ih'e"Junior The favorite for the Junlor race was Jerry Greene on Ills Irv Kanemoto tuned Kawasakl 500. He ran away with his heat, and in the process. set second fastest qualifying speed of the weekend at 143 MPH. Only Cljff Carr had gone faster at 145. For a while it looked Ilke Greene was going to have trouble when Jeff March on his Motion Enterprises Yamaha out of Elm, New Jersey passed him in tum 10 of the first lap of the heat. But then Greene seemed to gather himself and spring ahead of March to win going away. March was second with Scott Brelsford on the factory Harley in third. The slower second heat was won by Steve Baker aboard a Trevor Deeley Yamaha with Jimmy Chen (Yoshimura Banda) and John Green (Yam) following. Jerry Greene is immensely talented, and Irv Kanemoto had seen to it that his bike was the fastest one in the race. However, Ontario is the longest Junior race all season, and it remained to be seen whether or not the Kawasaki and Greene could go the dlstance. There was also the matter of gas. The Kawasakl is considerably thirstier than the Yamahas that make up the bulk of the Junior class. The stronger members of the Yamaha camp were prepared to try to go the distance without stopping if that would give them the win. As expected, Greene rocketed away when the flag fell. He had flve seconds in hand at the end of two laps and continued to pull away at about that rate. Behind him, Baker, March, and Howard Lynggard, all on Yamahas, were dlsputlng second. Jimmy Chen, Scott Brelsford, Steve Froschauer, and John Green were deciding the following places. Rudy Ramos almost got involved in the dlspute but went on his head and got hauled off to the hospital to have hls legs X-rayed. Still back in the pack after a back row start due to a heat malfunction in his Mel Dinesen Yamaha was Jim Evans, making up ground fast. Baker eventually took a solid bite on second and Lynggard passed March on lap nine for third, Steve Froschauer had taken his George Vukmanovich Yamaha away from the four strokes of Chen and Brelsford while John Green slowed. On about the 15th lap Jim Evans caught Froshauer and began prying on March. On lap 20 Jerry Greene pitted for gas and Baker went by to take the lead. Jim Evans moved into fourth behind Lynggard; that's a long way from the back row. By now the field was beginning to look pretty thin as Greene began to whittle down Baker's lead. Even if he couldn't catch him no one knew if .the Yamaha would go the distance wlthout gas. On lap 25 third place Lynggard rolled into the pits with electrical problems and didn't restart. Greene motored by Baker to take over the lead again, and held it to the fl_ag. On the last lap, Evans who had inherited third when Lynggard broke, • pitted for gas while March moved back into the third slot to hold it to the flag. They finished Greene, Baker, March, Evans. All 19 finishers took home some money. Greene's share was $3,925 plus \ contingencies. The tread was all gone on the right side of March's rear tire. After his recorcl-breaking ride, Greene gave credit to Irv Kanemoto, his tuner. "It's easy when you're on a super bike," said Jerry. "It's reliable" handles exceptionally well, and is smooth. And on top of all that it's a missile. It wen t 165 MPH at Talladega - faster than DuHamel's 500." Kanemoto Motors in San Jose is selllng the bike. It is a shame that they never got the 750 that Team Hansen promlsed them. What about next year? Kanemoto wants to tune for somebody and Greene is "open for offers." Neither one should be uncon tracted too long. Win (Again) This is how Howard Lynggard's ride ended, with mechanical woes. OMS pit man stands by with fire extinguisher. Steve Baker led briefly but was second at the flag. CHAMPION SPARK PLUG MOTORCYCLE CLASSIC Ontario, Calif. sept. 20,1972 JUNIOR RACE Pas. Rider 1. Jerry Greene 2. Steve Baker 3. Jeff March 4. James Evans 5. Scott Brelsford 6. James Chen 7. Harry Cone 8. Scott Autrey 9. Tom Schroeder 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. John Nash Buzz Buzzelli Michael LibbY Terry Kiraly Steve Mallonee Steve Dalgamo George Miller Terry Moriarty Steve Forschauer Dave Burchards Nick Stevenson Make Kaw Yam Yam Yam H-D Hon Yam Yam Yam Yam Yam Yam Yam Nor Tri Yam BSA Kaw Hon H-D Laps 39 39 39 39 38 ·38 38 38 38 38 38 36 36 36 36 36 35 "" 3" 34 21. Bruce Lynd Kaw 3.2 22. Howard Lynggard Yam 26 23. Richard Cassetta Nor 20 24. John Green Kaw 19 25. Rudy Galindo Yam 18 26. Wade Kilen Yam 13 27. Bruce Shoemaker Yam 12 28. Steve Nichols Yam 10 29. John Allen Yam 9 30. Bruce Haugh Nor 8 31. Rudy Ramos Kaw 7 32. Mike Htshiki Hon 5 33. William Judkins Kaw 2 34. Richard Kilgore Kaw 1 35. Bob Endicott Kaw 0 36. Steve Schaefer Yam 0 37. Ron Byrd Kaw DNS 38. Kelly Evans Yam DNS Time: 87:42.0. Average speed: 85.901. Both new r~cords. Irv Kanemoto tunes Greene's super Kawasaki 500.