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/125815
by Ron Schneiders Photos by Ron & Ellen Schneiders' BARSTOW, CAL., June 24 - The fifth round of qualifying events for the American ISDT team was held this weekend in the Shamrock's desert country east of Barstow. It produced a very close contest in several catagories, but there were no major upsets: Eastern U.S. Penton riders won the most important Manufacturer' Trade Team Award, Best tndividual performance award and three out of the five disptacemen t classes. The Manufacturer's Team award was won by the Penton HB"' Team consisting of Tom and Jack Penton, and Billy Uhl. all of Ohio, with a score of 116. Next in line was the Kawasaki USA team 'consisting of Mike Patrick, Eric Jensen and Ron Bishop who were riding prototype large displacement Kawasakis in the open class. The California riders took the first three places in the Open class and had a substantial lead on Saturday eliminated their victory hopes. Their final team score was 185. (In ISDT competition, the scores are time-based and the lower numbered scores are bener). All the riders on both teams won gold medals. The club team award was won by the Desert M.C. team consisting of Stan Baldwin, Jim Wells and Lin Pickins. They had two fmishers as opposed to the Prospectors M.C. Team which had only one, Allen Lund. The Desert M.C.'s score was 200 route marks lost and 1411 in the special tests, vs. 402 rou te marks and 706 in the special tests for the Prospectors. There were four other club teams, two from California, one from Oregon and one from Texas. 'one of them had any finishers, and are listed in the results in alphabetical order. The Best Individual Performance is not regarded as very important in the International Six Days Trial where the team is everything, but in the U.S., Quali fying rounds best individual performance is highly valued and merits an award equal to the team awards. In the Shamrock's event the contest was extremely close between Jack Penton and Lane Leavitt who fmished 1st and 2nd in the 350 class. Jack had 2642 bonus points to Lane's 2644. Since bonus pain ts are accumulated not only on speed tests and acceleration tests but also (in small quantities) as penalty points for such things as too much noise and non-working lights, this very close can test was really a measure of total effort. Lane Leavitt, riding a Bultaco Pursang sligh tJy modified for trials use, had a healthy lead of 58 points on aturday and was taught to be uncatchable, but it was discovered that the scorers had made an error of one minute in Lane's favor (60 points) and on Sunday, Lane and Jack Penton tied, accumulating 1310 pain ts apiece. The real and very slim two-point margin of aturday was the deciding factor. Lane Leavitt's reputation is as an English trials rider so when his core in the special tests, which were eight-mile cross country speed dashes, came up better than uch well-kno'vn racers as Lars Larsson, Mike Patrie ,Scott Haislip and Eric Jensen, a lot" people were more than a bit shor ed. They weren't completely recov.,ed when Jack Penton caught and passed him. The fact that thi was the first time in the desert for both Leavitt ,nd Penton did nothing to ease. the astc ....ihmen t. This tri:... was without a doubt one of the most difficult events to have been held in recen t history. The temperature on the desert on Saturday was well over 100 degrees most of the day and may well have been as high as 120 degrees in some of the deep canyons and blow sand areas. The course took over 8 hours to complete at average speeds of 28 and 24 MPH and the course was characterized as similar in overall difficulty to the Barstow-to-Vegas race but with a couple long stretches of much more difficult terrain. The entry list for the event revealed practically no Novices and at least 50% of the riders have a reputation in one competition field or another. In spite of this, however, more than' 60% of the entrants were out of competition at the end of the first day. Of those who dropped out, at least half had machines that were still running. Fatigue and heat exaustion did them in. Rescue Three treated about a dozen cases of heat exaustion several of which were quite serious. Lynn Wilson, one of Californias most determined girl racers and the only girl entered in the trial was in quite serious difficulty in an unreachable canyon al approximately the 140 mile (Continued on page 40) . '". 1 .... M ISOT QUALIFIER '" ~ w Z w -' U >U Jack Penton was tied with Lane Leavitt and the Special Test made the diHerence. The CZ motocross is made for one purpose. To go faster and easier over rough terrain than any other bike. And to do it weekend after weekend, year-in and year-out. At CZ. we don't make changes just to say w~ have a new model. So for 1973, we have made refinements that will help you go even faster. A 5 speed gear box for the 250. New, improved' carburetor for all 3 bikes. A"sunburst" head for increased cooling for the 250 and 400. New Grand Prix tank and styling. And an engine that puts out enough "out-of-the-crate" horsepower to win every moto. A frame that is virtually unbreakable. Oesigned to get around corners quick, but great stability when you're hooking it in the rough. Waterproofing and dustproofing keeps the CZ engine running strong and ignition dry. And the dual-coil ignition that fires both plugs simultaneously so you won't be left stranded. Precision part ; chains. sprockets, gears that seem to last forever. Welded levers. Barum tires and a new light and flexible fiberglass front fender. At CZ. we build for speed. strength, handling and durability; for motocross, cross·country and desert ... we'll let our 32 world's titles speak for themselves. CZ is built for the rider. That's why it's not only a better dirt bike, it's a better CZ. So much better that when you ride one, you'll see why our changes are all for the right reasons. Check one out at your nearest CZ dealer today. 125 MX, 250 MX, 400 MX JAWA·CZ AMERICAN JAWA, LTD. WEST: 3745 Overland Ave., los Aneeles, Ca. 90034, EAST: laS Express St., Plainview, lone Island, N. Y. nl03 CAPlAOA, Skoda & J.w. Motors c...d. ttd. 7600 Trans..c,nada Hwy., Montreal 377 Ca. ~