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D RA Hare-Scrambles V.P . Corcoran lead s R ick Calahan an d Gary LaPlante in the 250 mota. Riverbottom GP By Geo Thermal Gassing it with ORA. TEMPE, ARIZ., JAN. 20 The running of the Second Annual Riverbottom Gran Prix and Funny Run was more successful than last year's (We ran one in December). Good weather and a totally freaked tum-out made the day. The water truck, as provided by Dennis Kimball, made the track, . 32 in the opinion of many, better than the local MX·only track. Three motos of five laps each were run over the demanding terrain. VBA/Premium gas mix was provided for th e racers by Rob Evans of Evans Standard Oil Distributors (Mesa, AZ), as was solvent and air cleaner oil for preventative maintainance. During practice, it became obvious that the Run had attracted many of the Vallee's best riders . The soft, damp trac k had several very good berms building and dust, for a change, was no problem. Feelings that this would be a quick event were substantiated during the initial 125 race, where perennial favorite, John Elsinore was unable to hold off hard-charging Ted Williamson (Valley Cycle Center Husky) and David Coffer. In fact the combination of the Iight and quick 125s and the tigh t track presented a formidable challenge to the bigger bikes. Comp et ition Dynamics-sponsored Robert Watt pulled a well-earned third 125 by vitrue of running all three motos; many good riders missed otherwise high final standings by arriving late. When the race is scheduled to stan at 10:00 SHARP, you can be certain it will stan before 12:00 (maybe)! The 250 class started with a full field and the expected happened when starter Pete Wekell dropped the flag: a bad pile-up at the 90-degree tum on to the track. Greg Philpot and William Maulding tangled and forced the entire pack wide in to the tires. Luckily no one was injured other than fragile pride. In fact the entrance onto the track after the starting line straight took the largest toll of any portion of the course, being an off-camber through a soft berm. Rick Calahan won motos one and two but did not run in number three, forfeiting the victory to John Scott after Ron Whi ttington was disqualificd. Amongst all the brouhaha T. Williamson slipped into 1st overall via two thirds and a second. Mystery rider 21 was second amid his anonymity. Open was indeed wide open, as the d ass allowed all size motorcycles, making it more like a sweepstakes race w uhout handicaps. The final moto saw 17 en tries with two brother acts : Gary an n Eddie LaPlante (Huskys) and Rick and l larr v Calahan (also Huskys). The Suzuki side hack of P.Wekell{f. Tellier was running dead last when the swinging arm broke resulting in a cataclysmic crash: DNF. Running one of his best races in quite some time was old-timer Phil Steckner, who had little trouble holding off fast-but-inexperienced Bill Scott (Yam). MX Amateurs Ron Whittington and John Bacher finished quite well, which is attributed to sufficient time spent at the refreshment area. Thanks are due to a variety of people without whom this event would not have been necessary . Thanks to John Luna (trophy), Ron Jackson (trophy), Sandy Bach man (scoring/flags), Lori Corcoran (sign-in}, Jay Linehan/Valley Cycle Center (publicity), Little Richard/Yamaha of AZ (publicity), and many. many others too humorous to mention. Trophy prescntation will be determined at a later date and all will be notified via the usual chan ne ls. Thanks again for all the help and the fine tum out. Another event will be held in the "near future ." • Resu lts Open ; 1. Ted W illiamson (HU S/; 2 . Phil Steckner jMal); 3 . R o n Whittington Bul) . 2 50 : • Ted Will iamson (Hus); 2 . Alan Jeffress (Mystery Rider 21); 3 . JOhn Scott (Sao). 1 25 : 1. Ted Williamson (Hus) : 2 . David Coffer (HOn); 3 . Robert Watt (Hon). Buddy Race : 1. Ron Jackson/Dennis Kimball (BSA); 2 . Ron Whittington/John Bacher (MZ) ; 3. Ron Crain/Bill Scruggs (Bul). Alan Jeffress wa lks it around the Riverbottom course . By T. W. Rezek RAND MOUNTAINS, CAL.,JAN. 27 The Desert Racing Association held its second hare scrambles 0 f the year under ideal conditions in the ' mountains northeast of California City. I had hoped to be able to narrate more of the incredible adventures of your "Ace" rep orter and sometime mo 'sickle racer. You know the type of story : first overall, 100·yard wheelies across the finish line, feats of derring-do, and other B.S. (Bult aco Sweat!). I was psyched up for this one ; high as the price of gas ; really stoked by my good fortune of last week. However, Father Nature (He's the bike freak in that ethereal family, doesn't car e for butter or margarine) brought me back to reality by infesting my front tire with a life and an appetitic of its own. It promptly ate its own inner tube, stem and all. The little glutton! I became dimly aware of this condition about the fifth time I fell whil e checking out the run to the bomb . Each fa ll was on a very easy tum and, while some have charitably described my riding style as "spastic," I ca n usually manage more than 200 yards between crashes. I finally decided, lying there under the bike, that I might as well check things out as long as I was down here. It was then that I noticed the severely t wo -d im en s io nal appearance of my front tire. It looked like the remains of a snake on the Santa Ana Freeway. Cleverly deducing that such a condition might be due to a pronounced lack of air, I stumbled back to the pits to borrom some. A ttaching the tire pump was quite a job since the stem had disappeared and then the darn thing wouldn't hold air . Since my riding ability is highly dependent upon ideal conditions, I opted for discretion and bowed out. The rest of you DRA riders will never know how lucky you were. Since I couldn't play, I got back to work. I had spotted a neat drop-off into a sandwash about a milc past the smokcbomb, so I floundered back out on the course to watch the fun. What I saw of the course was pure fast fun . This was later supported by other rider's opinions. One, in fac t, demanded that I describe it in capital letters as "BITCHIN!" Butl don't think I will use su ch language. Jim Irby, a staunch member of the DRA faithful, said it was the best course yet. Leslie Klug, p e ren nially pretty Powder Puffer, agreed cnthusiastically. In fact, her description of a sweeping uphill turn was so an imated that I missed the turn mentally just listening to her. Incidentally, she would like to ap olo gize to the two riders she used for traction when they fell directly in front of her. C'est la guerre, fellas ! Back at the sandwash, all the cats were diggin' it! I had expected some spectacular bobbles as they went over the edge but the good traction and lack of dust produced no disasters. It's hard to build lurid, gory stories when no one co opera tively crashes. The first three riders arrived almost together with Heath Hibbard having a sligh t lead over Wes Anderson, Jr. and David Taylor. Then the pack arrived and I ducked behind a tree. I waited for the start of the beginners and saw Dennis Kerr, Dan McGugin, and Craig Kinnaman out in front, then it was back to the safety of the tree. After the traffic cleared, I jumped on my wounded Bul and limped back to the pits to catch the halftime show. Out on the co urse, Heath Hibbard wcn t ou t with problems and Dave Taylor took over about 18 miles out. Riding a 125 Yamaha for Crown Cycle, Dave built up a 20 second lead coming into the halfway mark and continued to run strong in first all the way to the fin ish . An excellent showing for the 16 year old Novicc! Mike Kcen shook off an entanglement with his handlebars to come in first Open Expert and second overall. First Amateur and third Overall was Jim Irby. Three is jim's favorite number. Don Rotundo was the next Novice in at fourth, while fifth and sixth were both 250 Amateurs, Bob Sands and Ken Brown. Another 125 Novice, Willie Amaradio came in seventh followed by Gus Paull . Eighth is an unaccustomed sp ot for Gus who earned DRA's Numb r One by being No. One the most. Closing out the to p ten were Mike Cummins (also first 250 Expert) and Vincent Andreoli. Things get a little crowded when the first Beginners start arriving, but I have Pat Collins as first Beginner at about 93rd Overall. The next four Beginners were Dan McGugin, Dennis Kerr, Craig Kinnaman , and John Fransway. Positions six through ten were held by Joe Zieman, John Glass, Steve Coleman, Dan Workman, and Mike Real. Leslie Klug was first Powder Puff and 28th Beginner and Duane Mapes was the first Mini. • Results O pen Expert : 1. Mike Keen (Hus) ; 2. Gus Paull (Hus): 3 . wes Anderson, Jr. (CZ) . 2!)O Ex pert : 1. Mike Cummins (Yam). O pe n Amateur: 1. Jim I r b y (Yam). 250 Amateur: 1. Bob San ds (Yam); 2. Ken Brown (Han). 125 Amateur: 1. Steve Cox (Han). O pen Novice: 1. Don Rotundo (Yam); 2 . Vincent Andreoli (Yam); 3 . Steve Kot5ay (Vam). 2~0 NOVi ce: 1. Ron Williams (Hon): 2 . Roger Jense:n (Han): 3. B . Burkhardt (Yam). 17~ NOVice : 1. Phil Stumbo (Yam): 2 . p. Jones (Bul): 3. Fred Collins (Yam) . 12~ NOVIce : 1. DaVid Taylor (Yam); 2. Willie Amaradio (Han) ; 3 . J . Roth (SUl). 100 NOVice : 1 . C . Creene (H·D). Open Beginner s: 1. Pat Collins (Yam); 2 . Dennis Ker r (Yam); 3 . Craig Kinnaman (SUl); 4 . Oan Workman (Yam) . 250 Beginners : 1. Dan McGuglO (SUl) ; 2 . Jonn Fransway (HuS); 3. John Gla ss (Bul); 3 . Steve Coleman (HUS! . 12~ BeglOners: . Joe Zieman (Yam): 2 . Mike Real (H od).