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/125841
rn EI DIll Jii!: DIll g • ;... g ..q- r- O'l l !'l ....; >- I-. ro ::l C ('j ~ Fastest Po wder Puff Leslie Klug. What style, what grace, what a recovery . Unfo rtunately the course goe s straight off to the righ t. What will he do when he f inds that out? .. - - - - - ' -- - - - DRA four-race season finale By Terry Rezek CALIFO RNIA CITY, CAL., DEC. 30 Desert Racing a no-poin t fu n was the same o ne used for th eir Silver Cu p Invi tation al Race held th e previo us day a nd fea tu red. two loops, o ne of 14 miles a nd o ne of 9 mi les. They w ere laid out in a figure 8 pa t tern and had the first two miles in com mon. Sin ce both loo ps co nsisted mo re of ju mps than wh oo p-de-d oc s. in tersp er sed wi th many na rrow, twis ty sec tio ns, it was like a 30-40 mile m otocross. T he di stance was variable sin ce D RA vari ed th e number of times you went a ro und the second loo p . The first th ree ra ces, c onsisti ng of beginner s and n o vices, w ent arou nd loop 2 tw ice whereas the last race, all amateurs and experts got to go fou r ti mes. T he first gro up hav i ng the op port uni ty t o face t he 8 a .m. ch ill was the 0 ·200 Begin ners an d included the Ml n i ts and anyone racing as a Powderpuff (no engine size limit). Firs t one thro ugh the course fork after the start was John Lawson on a 125 Elsinore, a posit ion he held righ t to the end and an easy win. I say easy because , a t the start of the third loop, with at least 7 m or e mil es to go, he had a full tw o m inu tes lead over Mark Lyn ch ( 100 Hod), wh o even tu all y t o o k second . Filling o u t the t op five sp o ts wer e Pet e Wallace ( 175 Suz}, David Sanc hez ( 125 Ric ), an d Karl Haas ( 100 Pen) . Finis hi ng Bob Herman looks for a wa y a round Leonard Sims. 6th overall, a spot she held right from the start, was Le slie Klug o n a 250 Elsinore. (Her h usban d , John will ho ld DRA 's No .2 plate for 1974 in th e 25 0 division and their son entered his first race to day .) Finishing first Mini was Bob Bence on a well-worn Honda. Race 2 was for the 250 and up Beginners. Four of the first five riders at the course fo rk were in the same rela tive positions at the end. Steve Moerke and Den nis Tipton had a good race goi ng , with Dennis gelling the lead briefly in th e middl e of th e first lo o p. How ever, Steve got back by before the start of the second lo o p and, a lt hough Dennis really kept the pressure on , he had to se ttle for secon d. Paul Piper , Steve Ro gers, and Steve Dragus closed au t th e to p five. in that order. The firs t four Novices j uggled around fo r aw hile and then sett led down to the order in which th ey finis he d. Mar k Zo ller (Yam ) picked up a well-earned win and was follow ed in by David Tay lo r (Ya m ). Ed Ron d in e (CZ ) got third while Do n R o tund o (Ya m), ap parently experiencing so me problems while lea ding in the first lap, had t o sett le for fo urth . T he fo ur th and last race of the day (and of 19 73) was th e co m bined Amateur/Expert go, It could be b illed as the " Revenge of the Pie-Plates." Lurking behind the winner's tape and cardboard was Art Knapp. Art was heard to tell another rid er at th e finish that "you're usually better off in a highe r gea r." Jim Irb y go t a good sta rt and led the first loop but apparen tly m issed t he double bridesmaid spo t so he let Art and th en Heath Hibbard by so he co u ld have the third p lace to hi m self. Art led fro m there to t he finish, a lt hough Heath alm ost caught him in th e play riders on the co urse near "Rattlesnake Canyon". With Art, Heath and Jim solidly in p lace, Mike Johnston took a good fo urth, havin g pitted his 175 successfully against the O pe n-class b ikes o f th e big three. Craig Ker dus fin ish ing off th e top five. Tommy Brooks was see n mixin g it up with th e lea ders on th e firs t loop , but his mach in e gave u p on the uphill abou t half-way aro und. • Results : 100 Beg : 1. Mar k Lynch (HOd) ; 2 . Karl Haas (Pen) . 125 Beg : 1. John Lawson (Hon) ; 2 . Davi d Sanc hez (Ri c). 1 7 5 Beg : 1 . Pete Wallace (SUZ) . 250 Beg : 1. D en n is Tipton (Hon) ; 2 . Paul Pi per (Y a m ) ; 3 . S t e v e Rogers (Yam) . O pe n B eg: 1. Steve Moerke (Yam ); 2 . Steve Dragus ( Ya m ). Powde r Pu ff : Leslie K lu g (Hon) . M ini : Bob Bence ( H on) . 100 Nov : 1. Denrus Greene (H -D ); 125 N o v : 1. D av Id Taylor (Yam) . 2 . Willie A m ar ad i o (Hon) . 175 Nov: 1. Pat Jones (Bu l) . 250 Nov: 1. Mark Zoller (Yam); 2 . Ed Rodi ne (CZ) . O pe n Nov : 1. Don Rotundo (Yam) ; 2 . Steve Hei nze (Yam) . 125 A m : 1. Steve Cox . 175 Am : 1. Mike Johnston (Yaml ' 25 0 A m : 1. Craig Kerdus ( V am ; 2 . John Fisher. O pe n A m : 1. Jim Irb y (Ya m) . 1 0 0 E x : 1. J . C has h ma n . 1 25 E x : 1. D . C lar ke . 115 E x : 1. R. W alla ce . 2 5 0 E x : 1. R a m o n Lowe ; 2. Tom Sc he l l. O pen E x : 1. A r t K n app (Hus) ; 2. Heath H i bb ard ( H us) . Mark Zoller o n his wa y t o t he Nov ice overall wi n . ... 16 L- .. --l - - -- - - -_._ - - - --