Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

• fI.I •M 2. Jim Roberts (SUZ). 125 B egi n n er : 1. Mark Stoner ( D KW) . 2. Gordon Statler (Pen) • 100 Novice: 1. Dennis Greene (H-D) . 2 . Steve Sutton (Hod) . 100 Beginner: 1. Lee Wilson (Hod) . 2. Brad Henson (Yam) . Powder Puff: Leslie Klug (250 HOn}. M ini : Duane Maoes (75 Hen} . IKlI III IKlI ..:II = Elsinore TT g Sto ry and Photos by Christopher -e- r- ELSINORE, CAL., D EC. 16 O'l In finishing out the 1973 season for Sandak points, you would think the guys would relax a little. If what I saw today is any indi cation of what is in store for next year, then look out world! These guys can te ar up more square feet of dirt in o ne aftern oon than Tom Fortune's grader can in a week. ... l !"l >:':I ;:l C :':I "J Light, clean, cool, fast, refreshing and...fun! DRA Hare Scrambles Story & Photos by Terry Rezek CALIFORNIA CITY, CAL. , DEC. 16 Th e w eath er was again superb , th e course w as fun 'n' fast, the champagne was cold , and the rid ers weren 't. With th e light tu rn out, the riding wasn't crowded either. Those who were there had a fine time. In keeping with DRA's intention to put the fun back into 36 desert ra cing, this , the second ra ce of the month, was easy and fast. Was it ever fast! I watched the start from a point about two miles away and it looked like the leaders were on paved roads. The course was pure desert and had a little bit of everything to suit just about everybody. I asked Leslie Klug, first girl (an d on e of the best looking riders in any race), what she thought about the co urse and her reply was most en th usiastic, "I lik ed it; it wasn't hard to ride and I had a lot of fun. I ride every DRA ra ce I can because of the varie ty ." Almost so un ds like a "paid political announcemen t !" Someone who agr eed was th e pilo t of a Citabria (that's an airplane to yo u narrow-minded bike freaks). Showing a resplendent Kawasaki-Green paint jo b, he seemed to be after Kawasaki contingency money but then I realized he didn't have the r ight col or helmet on . He paced the le aders all the way around, pulled a nice wheelie (Or would it be called a wingie?) off the last down hill and zoomed toward the pits, where he landed on the pit road and taxied up. Rumor had it tha t he was first in the Open class but was disqualified for not having an off-road stickie! Actually he was (and will be) there to survey the course for injured riders and to coordinate communications and resc ue efforts. A really great idea! Someone in the plane was taking movies which will be shown the night before the next race. The fastest part of the course wa s the run to the bomb. At the smoke , the first five were Wayne Garrett, John Fisher, Bryan Breker, Kurt Lohmeyer and Jack Orndoff, with Gus Paull somewhat back but moving up very fast. Just past the bomb the course dropped into the first wash and Breker liked the sand so much , he took the lead from here to the finish. Gus Paull alm ost caught and passed Lohmeyer on th e next rock y hill but discovered t ha t passing in ro cks can give you a case o f th e su dde n sto ps. It didn't cause any permanent halts, however, and Pau ll hung in th ere to take a third overall behind Lohmeyer. Wayne Garrett shook o ff th e san d wash blues to finish fourth, foll owed by Jack Orndoff, the las t Expert in the top ten . Three Novices wer e next in , Don Rotunds, Ed R odine , and Bob PulIin followed b y John Fisher, first Amateur. Rounding out the top ten was Robert Sands, Novice. The Beginners started after everyone else and had, in essence, their own ra ce. First Beginners were Chris Kallen and Steve Moerke with a pair of Badgers growling along behind. Of those two , Steve Kotsay took third Beginner with Don Anderson getting fourth . Fifth through ten th Beginners were Bob Coleman , Bill Burhart, J eff May, Mark Stoner , Gordon Statler, an d Gerald Round. You've already met Leslie Klug , Powder Puff winner. Duan e Mapes was first Mini. • Results Open Expert : 1. Bryan Breker (Bul). 2 . Gus Paull (Hus) . 3 . Jack Orndoff IHus} . Open Amateur: 1. Jim Irb y ( Y a m ). Open Novice: 1. Don Rotunds (Yam). Open Beginner: 1. Chri s K allen (Yam) . 2. Steve Moerke (Yam) . 3. Steve Kotsay (Yam). . 250 E xpert: 1. Kurt Lohmeyer (Bul) . 2 . Wayne Garrett (HuS) . 250 Amateur : 1. John Fisher (Yam) . 2. Erik Hermann {Hon) , 250 Novice: 1. Ed Rod ine (CZ). 2 . Bob Pulli n (Yam) . 3. Robert Sand s (Yam). 250 Beginner : 1. Bob Coleman (Hus) . 2. Bill Burkhart (Yam) . 175 Novice : 1. Joe L aPo r te (Pen) . 2 . Phil Stumbo (Yam) . 175 Beginner : 1. S.M . Dyott (Bul). 2 . Elwi n J o h n so n (Yam). 125 E xoert: 1. Jim Franc is (Hon) . 125 Novice : 1. Wil lie Amaradio (Hon) . Gettin' side ways in t he 250 class at Elsino re . In th e 100 Amateur-Expert class it was a clean sweep for Kawasaki (so un d familiar?) with (yup) John Erickson scoring first overall. On certain tracks the dudes that seem to cir culate the quickest are the 125 Amateur-Experts, right? This bit of news may not be too surprising to you, but what proved eye-opening to me was the fact that th ey can go circulating off the track just as rapidly. After almost taking two direct hits on the outside grandstand sweeper my body said it was time to move. My camera agreed. Winning must agree with Mike Tidwell, because that's what he did again today in this banzai class. Proving that his new number one plate is for real, Charles Soderstrom scored convincing wins in the 250 Expert class . In jumping to the 500 Expert class I have just realized that the name Kirk Redding has again showed up in the winning spot. This guy must have Nobod y was backing off in the last TT points run of t he seaso n . invented the word consistent. His machine always looks an d runs well and I' m hard pressed to find any fau lts in his riding style. The question is: Whe re will • he go from here? Results 100 Nov: 1. John Stlemsma (Ka w). 2 . Jeff Nlef (Kaw) . 3. Pa u l McPhe rson (Yam ). 100 Am ·Ex : 1. John Er i c k so n (Kaw). 2. Mike Minnig (Kaw). 3. John B i rd i ll o (Kaw). 125 Nov : 1. Ed die Beeson (Yam) . 2. T o m Volk (Yam). 3 . Calvin Wargreed (Yam). 125 Am-Ex : 1. Mike Tidwell ( Y a m ) . 2. Edd ie Lawson (Yam ) . 3. Jeff Spri ng man (Yam). 175·200 Nov-Am-Ex : 1. Ha l Cheetwoo d (Bul). 2 . Dee Toth (Sul) . 3. Ran dy Haggard (Bul). 250 Nov: 1. Greg Wilkite (Yam ). 2. Clint Pa l m er (O ss) . 3. Ti m T hibo udeaux (Ya m). 250 A m : 1. Dave Westly (Kaw). 2. Don Re mp (Yam) . 3 . AI G lover (Yam) . 250 E x : 1. Char les So derstrom (Bu l) . 2. Scott Sm ith (Yam) . 3 . Scott Nlcat ( B u l) . 350 -500 Nov : 1. Chris Smith (Yam). 2. Fred Scurlock (Ma i) . 3. Ron ny Roder ick (Yam) • 350 Am -E x : 1. Mike Myers (Bul). 2. V ern Ma xwell (Bul). 3 . Richard Pl uegar (Kaw ). 500 Am: 1. T im Melancon (Yam). 2 . Greg Schweers (BS Al. 3. Brian Tolson (Mal). 500 E x : 1. Kirk Re dding (Mai) . 2. Mark Reichert (Yam) . 3 . Dave Perkin (Yam). O pe n E x: 1. Dave Lambert (Yam). 2. R ick Marquis (Yam) . 3 . Dennis Junker (Yam). Saddleback hillclimb . By Ann A. Powell ORANGE, CAL., DEC. 16 The in fam ous "hill in the hole" at Sadd leb ack Park held some surprises for the hillclimbers today. One of the not so pleasant ones was the surprise that cost Larry Williams a broken ankle at the top. Larry had set fast time for the 400 modified class and second fastest time on the hill for the day. Then wh en he m ade his last run for the overall win, h is bike looped at the top, landed on his ankle, and the rest is painful history. Perhaps Williams can take some comfo rt in the fact that his fast time of 10. 10 over the top was bean only by Ed Shaver o n his highly modified 750 Triumph. Shaver ended the day by taking home the big brass. The little bikes don't lik e the big hill, so the firs t competi tors were the 125 bikes. Th at win went to Dave Powell on a Su zuki. Ali ce Hudnall took top honors in the 17 5 class, and made the day look go od fo r the " p re t t ier " riders. She really adds class to th e hillclimbs. The large 2 50 class was dominated by Gary Berg, wh o pla ced first, foll owed by Gary Pe terson and Carl Collier. Th e 250 modified trophies went to first pla ce Kerry Peterson and second p lace Ian Nas cimento. The 3 60's w ere really hot today, but hottest of them all was Craig Mo ck who p laced .first in both the stock and modified class. George Tidwell managed a second in the modified cla ss. Winn er o f the 400 stock class was Kerry Peterson, with Don Wagner taking second. An d, Larry Williams, prior to th e broken an kle, managed to make a near re cord run up th e hil l on his highly modified 400 Suzuki. His time was 9.90, followed by Neal Mackel with a time of 11.8 O. Craig Mock, still on that 360 Yamaha, took first place in the 450 stcok class , with Chuck Peterson placing second. The 500 class was th e biggest of the day , and the competition lasted right down to the wir e. Winner was Frank Breckenridge, with George Sauer taking second and Don Wood placing third. In the 500 modified class, George Sauer took a first , with Ken Miller second and Bob Day third. The 650 stock class also belonged to Ken Miller. Some of the closest and most ex citing racing comes when the big bikes ge t on the line. Today was no ex ception , and there were eight of the big boys competing. The top ride bel onged to Ed Shaver (" Mr. Clean") and his super Trium ph . He made the fast run of th e d ay at 8. 85 . Next came Tom La Rue, and taking third was Neal Mack el. T he "hill in the h ole" may not be th e grea test fo r the small bikers, but it provides so me fan tast ic thrills when the big fir e-br eath ers s ta rt upward. Other than th e single accid ent, somethin g t ha t rea rely happens in hillcl imbing, th ere was ju st nothing to mar a perfect day and a perfect climb.

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