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/125804
co N i ... N .... .... " o Cll .; ~ w Z W ...J (,) >(,) Beneath lowering skies, the 125 Junio~ attack the Carlsbad course. Threatenfng clouds definitely did not damper their spirits. CMC Carlsbad It was Jon Derhammer's day at Carlsbad. He looks happy about it and his father·tuner isn't too unhappy, either. - by Buzz Baty/Creative Images CARLSBAD, CAL., Oct. 8, 1972 -Jon Derhammer never rode like he did today. There was a time when Jon would be rolling right up there with the big names only to shut off first when going into the turns. There was a time when Jon rode his heart out, only to finish second. Third or fourth when he should have won. That was the old Jon Derhammer. Today, those who turned out for the CMC Hif-Performance Series saw the new and vastly improved Derhammer. Not only did he dominate the two 20 minute, dozen lap Expert motos; Jon demolished his foes including Gayton Mosier (Mai) and Bob Haag (Hus). So what happened? First, Papa Derhamr;ner installed a new chamber on Jon's CZ. The boost in the ponies was more than just noticeable; the machine came on the pipe fast and stayed there ...and sO did Jon. Into the first turn they'd go with Jon in fourth ...out they'd come with Jon full throttle pulling away. They toured the European course counter-clockwise (i.e., backwards) and going up that hill that Sylvain Geboers used so well g()ing down, Jon would literally plop Mosier into the ':'leeds as he left him behind. For every lap of each moto, it was a joy just to watch Jon work. Whether he' can continue or not will be left to see, but Jon Derhammer left bis mark on the Carlsbad course today and he justly deserves the applause. On to other things...like made scramble for the overall honors of the Hi:Performance Series (Which has only two events left out of the nine event series). Would you believe it? Four CMC Ascot Ray Lopez took the 125 Expert class in the dark. Chuck Bower, the cat, was away. by Buzz Haty/Creative Images GARDENA, CAL., Oct. 4, 1972 - How often is it that the major story at a race is that a rider does not show up? Tonight that happened and the reason it is importan t is not because Charlie Bower did not show, but because of the reason why: no competi tion. Bower, who has flatly'dominated the 125 Experts here since early summer, says he just plainly got bored riding the weekly Wednesday night CMC Motocross bere at Ascot Park. It is hard to , remember when someone beat Charlie instead of Charlie losing it to them. So, tonight, he didn't show, up and said later that he'll probably ride Ascot every other week until someone begins beating him regularly. With the green machine obviously absent, Monark's Ray Lopez quickly filled the void and won aU three motos while being pressed by the always tough Mark Tyer in each. Tyer kept the Penton name in the results column with second overall while Bob Brooks campaigned a Carabela for third. It was a Honda again taking the 250 Expert honors but it was not powered by Bob Hosford. Instead, his teammate Jim MacDonald outlasted the crashem-bashem exploits of the class favorites in the final two motos to grab the win. In the first run of the "fall down everyone" affair, Jim banged into riders are currently locked together for the point lead. They are: Dan Bridges, David Lasch, Val Schmidt and David Chambers. Both Bridges and Lasch campaign in the 100 Junior class and have locked handlebars more than once during the series. Today, Lasch grabbed the upper hand when Bridges' Penton stalled in thefi~tmoW. • Dan still got enough overall poin ts to take third, giving him his share of the series lead. It should be noted that Lasch travels all the way from Yuma, Ariz. for each even l in the series. So fa.r, those eigh t and 10 hour trips are paying off. Chambers has garnered his points in the 125 Junior class 'and today he walked 'away with the Div. I honors, The other co-leader, Schmidt, propelled ,his CZ to the win in the 500 Intermediate class. Malt Roth led the Penton sweep in the 125 Expert class when he bested Marty Smith and Dave Launiuo. In the other Expert class, the 500s, Chip Howell (Hus) came up on top after his two motos fending off Mark Anderson (CZ) and Roland Rodriquez (CZ). Hard luck honors (?) go W Rick Ruckman. In the first 125 Expert moto, he was nicely tucked in second place behind Roth when suddenly he threw a chain. He struggled for the rest of that race. Then, between rounds, he borrowed another chain. Bang, he got off gre~t, eventually caught and then passed Roth only to lose the chain again. He got the chain back on, took off agail' but lost it, masterlink and all, less tllan a lap later. What do you think Molly Blue is gonna say when she hears about this? _ teammate Hosford who in turn took out Ossa's Dave Pessy. Maico-mounted Billy Payne snatched the checkered with Gayton Mosier ·(Mai) avoiding the mess for second. Line up for the next go and there they go. Into the race, Pessy's bike got a little squirrelly and spat him onto tbe ground. Hosford, running right behind him, purposely slid out to avoid him. If that wasn't enough, Hosford broke to the lead in the final moto and immeliiately dumped it. MacDonald maneuvered his way. around and went on to win it with Mosier second. This gave Jim overall honors with Mosier's steady performance _good for second. Pessy was third. Pessy had to settle for another third overall in the 500 class as it was again the team antics of Tim Hart and Bill Payne securing one/two respectively. The Mike's Racing Team pair played the game of "You protect my flanks and l'U protect you~" while shutting out Dave all three motos. A little note for those of you who want to spot the up-and·comers: Mike Bell, son of Long Beach Honda's Bill Bell, is powering a Maico (What's this, Dad, not a Honda??) to some impressive showings in the 250 Juniors. Well, the going's getting tough and so is Mike. Watch for him to make Intermediate soon.