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/125835
.... "1 • t 11II ..:I HOPETOW Saturday By T od Rafferty Photos by Dick Wright & Rafferty HOPETOWN, CAL., NOV. 10 Over 15,000 people showed up for the first day of the fifteenth annual Hopetown Grand Prix. The epic Corriganville Carnival, hosted by the Dirt Diggers M.C., mayor may not have written its last chapter, depending on whose opinion one listens to. But regardless of its future, the Hopetown weekend this year was a great gathering of racers, watchers, drinkers, bicycle MXers, lovely ladies, dust, mud and general good times. Saturday's racing began with tbe 100 Novice event, which saw Mark O'Neal put his Cycle Products West Hodaka in the lead on the second lap, displacing Mike Carter's Penton. After a mediocre start, Steen-mounted Bob Kline began working his way swiftly through the pack. The Alsport-sponsored Kline overtook O'Neal at just past the half way mark and pulled ahead for the win. The semi-official results show Jeff Drummen (Hod) taking second and O'Neal fmished third. Larry Watkins. Cordis Brooks and Carl Cranke went to the front in the 100 Amateur/Expert race, with Watkins pushing his Tyran-Sachs-Birt scooter into a healthy lead. But an early shunt with Brooks alledgedly tweaked the Tyran's frame enough to loosen the swingarm nut, and Watkins retired after working up a good lead. Brooks also broke and Cranke took over in front and won it. Gene Cannady on a Hodaka was second and Amateur R. Sanderson (Hod) was third. The 125 Novice win went to Steve Merrifield (Suz), sponsored by Jawbone and Friends. John Hartel rode his Yamaha to second place, followed by the Kawasaki of Mike Beanway. There were some migh t1y quick Novices. A number of heavy duty names appeared on the roster for the 125 Amateur/Expert round: Gene ,Cannady, Jeff Wright and Mark ~dent ridin.g for Hercules Distribu ting, John and Mark HateJey under the Steen's banner; Carl Cranke and Danny LaPorte, Penton and Mettco; Kawasaki's AI Baker, and well known names like Russ Darnell, Larry Roesder, Rob Morrison, John Rice and Jim Connolly. It was the first of several weekendshowdownsbetween the desert riders, the motocrossers and the several AMA national circuit riders. This round was spli t fairly evenly among racer-eategories, witb Riverside SCORE International winner ("the richest off-road race ever") AI Baker. takinR the victory, followed by Mettco MXer Danny LaPorte in second and ride-anything-with-two-wheels AMA Expert John Hateley in third. It was a Larry Watkins, out of fint place and the race with a loose swingarm. heavy anxiety race, and was finally flagged away with a hand-on-helmet start after numerous flue beginnings. (Author's note: Apologies to the fellow whose bike I ran over at the start when he was knocked off in front of me. My only choices were you or the bike. And very bad Karma to the two Experts and one Amateur who ran into me unnecessarily when there was plenty of room to get by.) The 200/Expert/Amateur/Novice combined free-for-all went to Vincent Clark (Suz) with Novice George Corcoran (Hon) splitting the tust two Experts with a second place. Bruce Jones (Puc) was third tmisher. The 250 Amateur event was highly populated, and when the increasing dust settled it was Bultaco rider Tim Lamar at the flag. Second was Jeff Jennings on a Honda, followed by the Maico of J im Gappa. Carl Cranke had some carburetion problems with his 125 earlier, bu t in the 250 Expert race he put in a fautless performance. Cranke had to really hook it to catch early leader John Hateley on his immaculate Trackmaster Triumph 250, the fastest Cub ever seen by anyone at anytime, anywhere. Little John had some brief problems at the mudhole, and Carl was soon on him and by as the pace increased, or seemed to, with every lap. Cranke had the 250 Pen ton cooking, setting the fastest times of the day to take the victory. Hateley was second, followed by none other than his brother Mark in third place on a Kawasaki. The legendary John R rode smoothly to finish well up in the standings, and a number of other notable names will appear in the tally of fmal results. Scott Smith (Hon) won the 250 Novice final over several million contestants.' Bill Coburn put another Honda in the second place spot, with Bruce Butler finishing third on a Bultaco. Hopetown is just a stone gas, especially for a trrst-timer like this reporter. We hope it goes on forever. The fuD results will run we get them. Sunday By John Huetter Photos by Marica Holley and Huetter HOPETOWN, CAL., NOV. 11 I t is really incredible. With fantastic organization, some money, a run-down old movie set and a sense of history, the Dirt Diggers M.C. have taken a narrow, cobby, tree-lined seldom-used course and created a motorcycle competition classic. This weekend. the Dirt Diggers M.C. 15th Annual Grand Prix (They dropped the "and International Motocross" part) was just abou t the biggest thing happening in the West. Saturday had been nice; the second day of competition and socializing on Sunday was super in a mellow sort of way. The environment: an increasingly dilapidated Western movie set amidst big rocks and oak trees. There is a race course flagged in it. The people: dozens of Southern California's smoothest ladies, young and old, who cruised the area with wine bottles in hand exposing the right amount of skin, never having bothered to stop by the lingerie department; hundreds of sportsmen . racers of all skill levels from D-37 Novice to National numbers like Terry Dorsch and John Hateley; spectators, lo~ of spectators who paid real money John HatIIley on the world's fastest 250 Triumph. 6