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
;;; ,...: ::; o ~ UJ Z UJ ...J (,) > (,) Baldwin Motocross - -_ _....;_ Arizona Desert Raceways - - - - by Lyle Fergus LAWRENCE, KAN., Sept. 24, 1972 There was 'Luite a battle in the 125cc Senior. The first mota had Marvin Whitham out of the hole followed by Danny Ackan. Danny took over on the. fifth lap and kept the lead until a bad crash on the next to the last lap. Tom Doherty who had been Jollowing the leaders was second, ahead of Tony Martin. Second moto Tom lead for the first two laps then Tony slipped into the lead for the rest of the mota. Tom moved down to third with Wes Patterson in second, but on the last lap Tom moved back into the second spot. The third moto it was Marvin all the way with Tony in second. Patterson moved in to third On the fourth lap and stayed ahead .of Doherty to the end. The real star of the 300 and Open Senior was that super speed merchan t from Wichita, Gary Witt. He did not win any matos, bu t he proved to be the fastest rider of the day. Brad Emery dominated the first mota from the second lap on. Gary was about 14th on the first lap and just keep moving up until rhe fifth lap when he grabbed second. At the checkered flag Gary could almost have touched -the le'ader Brad Emery, Second mota again had Brad out front from start to finish. Gary was moving up after a crash in the first corner (first lap), and took second on the seventh lap only to lose it at the finish because of a flat tire. Last mora it was Gary Witt for the first 5 laps until his Yami turned sour and he dropped back in the pack. Wfth Witt out TOl)y Martin took over for the win followed by Brad Emery. First mota of the Open Senior had Gary off inro the lead until about the fourth lap. When he was beset by trouble, Rick Donham look over for the win followed by Charles Browning. Second mota it was Gary all the way with Charies taking second and Tony Martin third. Third moto it was Witt again with Tony second. Dick Young won all three motos in the 100 Junior (the only rider to do so). Tim Barrett lead the first three laps of the first mota and rhe first lap of the second mota, all the rest of the time it was Mr. Young. 125 A Div. had Kurt Janish winning the last two motas for the overall win. Second overall Joe Stidham won the first moto and got two thirds. 125 B, it was Tom Woods all the way in the first two motos but dropping out in the third moto, to give Ron Ely the overall with one win one second and one fqurth. 300 A Div., Randy_ Duvall won the first mota followed by Mark Hodges and' Barry Hill. Barry went on to win the last two for' the overall leaving ·second for Randy. IN B Div., Leo Butell managed to win the first two motos and the first overall leaving second place for the winner of the last moto, Bob Searing. The first moto of the Open Senior was like a train with David Kirts leading followed by Ron Williams. The second mota had John Embry out front with Williams and Kirts playing catch up. Third mota it was David taking the lead on the last lap from Ron Ray Bryan t. by Mike MUlphy PHOENIX, AZ., Oct. I, 1972 - For the past year Maico mounted Bob Wharton has dominated the 250 Expert class at Arizona Desert Raceways. His only defeat was to California rider Tom Rapp. Today saw the end of his winning streak. Chuck Lampe (Mai) Was the leader all the wav but for the first two laps of the third ~oto. Wharton had the lead for rhis short time while Lampe recovered from a poor start. Wharton could gamer only second overall and Darryll Tussing (AJS) took third. Tussing had a tired bod as he pick,d up his second overall trophy in the I25's. Mark Mo~her (Yam) finished the day with a J-J-J for fjrst overall. Scott McAfee (DKW) earned rhe third spot. The 250 Amateur class was a duel between two top riders: Neal Chamberlain (Suz) and Don Bulitta (CZ). These two racers have been the Dueling Duo of the day in past meetings in the 250 Novice class. But the clash didn't materialize as Bulitta's CZ developed mechanical ills that weren't cured before the day was out. So Chamberlain took home first gqld with a 3-1-1 record. Second was Greg Dagget (Yam) with a 1-2-2. Another CZ rider, Scott Bums, walked off with third. Last season's top 250 Novice was Suzuki rider Don Stephenson. This se"ason began with Stephenson on a new mount, a Maico, but still taking home the number one trophy. Jack Doverspike (Yam) managed a well earned second overall with a final record of 5-1-2 against Stephenson's 1-2-1. They were followed by Brad McNutt (Suz). The big guns of motocross h-ad some of Arizona's top riders Danny Croyle (Mai) and Brian Ross (CZ) topped the 500 Expert class (they were the Expert class). They rode with the 500 Amateurs. Croyle finished first overall deSpite a bad second mota coming in behind Ross and six Amateurs. Ron Crowles (Suz) finished with aI-I-I ahead of David Anderegg (Hus) and Bill Meyer (CZ). Testing the rear w ee. One of the more spectacular events in ADR's history was the day that a leaky gas tank, a stuck-wide-open throttle and a wild ride through the boonies ended with a rider with flaming gas on his leathers and jersey. Today that same rider captured the numero uno trophy for the 500 Novice ctass. Tom Hooker (Spr) finished ahead of Ev Emerson (Hus) and Mark Madaio (CZ). Although not A.vlA ,.lllcti0ncd. the Minibikes and Powder Puffels provl ed some fast action. These classes are steadily growing with nine riders in the Mini's and seven lovelies in the Powder Puffs. The next race will be on the 15th of October, a Sunday. the UTE CUP trial by Stuart Hawkins PIKE'S PEAK, COLO., Sept. 3,1972 Top' riders from six states battled it out in the beau tiful forested area behind Pike's Peak in the Rocky Mountain Trials A'ssociation's annual Ute Cup Trial. Trialsmasters Bill Brokaw and Bill Dunham laid sections that presented enormous variety along two twenty·mile-long loops. Much of the trail had to be built by hand. This was no small feat considering some of it was scraped-out shelf trail that would give a mountain goat a case of vertigo. . On the first ')'lorning, the riders left the camp site at 9800 feet where well-wishers stood shivering in an early morning- rain. The first cluster of traps consisted of hill c' and steep descen t5 on a peat gra un tainside. The trail then cli through a fantastic series of swi k traps to some slabs of granite mountain top that were a supe. lenge. The climb through the S"dld>back traps produced enough gain in elevation for the riders to burst through the top of the cloud bank and to look out over the plains of Colorado for more than 100 miles. The mountain top was descended via a different set of hair-raising switchbacks. Following the descent, the riders had to really wail over the next ten miles of narrow trail. The nex't group of traps was a continuous set, -up a torrential stream which crashed down over 50. yards of slippery melon-sized rocks. Following this· traumatic experience, the riders resumed their mad dash over the wild higt> country trails to the next traps. ~ pressing time schedule made fourth fifth gear power slides a common e results of the first day's rid'e in teresting. Everyone expected Leavitt to be in the lead. At the of the Ute Cup, Leavitt was on the , ~ leg of a seven-week journey ,riIIiItg with Rob Edwards all over the UDited States. He had to his credit the amazing record of having beaten all the Americans on their home ground. The surprise leader after the first day . was a Colorado master, Wiltz Wagner. Recent Colorado transplant, Bob Nichelsen had been intently coaching Wagner for the last several months and it all seemed to come together for him . that day. Wagner finished with 26 points, Leavitt with 31, Nichelsen and Kevin Walker were tied at 36. and Doyne Bruner of Colorado Springs rounded out the top five riders with 39 points. , The second day began with brigh t , sunny weather. This day's competition consisted of two laps of a sligh t1y longer loop. The second day's terrain was completely different. It was characterized by slippery organic mud which coated rocks, logs- and other bits of slippery organic mud. Leavitt was on form. On the toughest trap, a serpentine monster that climbed over slime encrusted roots and roc'ks, he dropped only one poin t - the best ride of the day. Bob Nichelsen, however, rallied to tum in a ride which would have done credit to any Eur,opean Expert. His superb performance on the second day won for him the coveted Ute Cup. The nine three-man teams were led by the Ossa team consisting of Kevin Walker (California), and Colorado Experts Jim Walt and Dick Hedwall with an overall total of 303 poiFlts. The sough t after first team awards were Navajo rugs for each of the ride,rs. The Bultaco mounted second place team - consisting of Nichelsen, Leavitt, and Ed Crouch of t:olorado Springs were close behind at 305. The third place team also on Bultacos (D. Bruner, W. Wagner, and M. Stokes) were not far off the pace at 311, The last of the riders came back to the pits amidst a stinging hail storm which left better than an inch of pellets on the ground. It was some hours later before all of the staunch Colorado observers had made their way back to the campground.