Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Rod Sexton just keeps on do m inati ng the TT tracks. He won two Ex pe rt even ts at Elsinore. Wait ' ll he can affo rd so me non-kno bby tires. Elsinore TT Story and photos by Gary C. Jones ELSINO R E, CAL.. FEB . 16 In the 100 Novice/Amateur th e guys were really movin g to nigh t. Coming out o n top after three motos was J ay Bales on a Yam aha. Paul McPh earson, wh o placed second is find ing out tha t he can no longer o utr u n th e field like .he used to. David Leach placed third to round o ut the class. T he 25 0 Novice class is becomin g qu it e a b attle field, w ith th e o..ler .o f ~h e top th ree changing every w ee k. Find ing the groove a nd w in ni ng wi th co nsis te~t ridi ng abili ty was Gr eg Zamo ra on hIS Maico, Maic os h ave a n ice usa bl e p ower band a nd Greg is starting to p ro ve th at he knows w hat to d o wit h it. Richard Picken s, who has been havin g h is ups and dow ns, m an aged to stay up lo ng enough th is week t o take second place. Ano th er familiar name in the re sul t s co lu m n is R onnie Aguirre, rid ing h is Bultaco to th ird pl ace . An d spea k ing o f b at tl efi elds, yo u sho u ld have se en the 250 Am ateur/ Exper ts go a t it t o ni ght. La rry Bird re ally had his wo rk cu t o ut for h ims elf t onigh t in ca p tu ri ng first place. Gr eg g Wilh ite hounded L a rry con tin uo usly th e first race and w on th e second one outrigh t. • Results MI N I NOV : 1. Darr en Pe n rod (Y am) . 2 . Jay Bales (Yam ) . 3 . La rry Park s (Hon ) . MINI AM /E X : 1. B obby Rey es ( H on ) . 2 . Troy tnccna (lnd) . 3 . Sam s on z (H on ) . 100 NOV/AM : 1 . Jay Ba les (Ya m ). 2 . Pau l McPh ea rso n ( Y am ). 3 . D av i d Leac h (Kaw ) . 25 0 NOV : 1. G re g Z a m o ra ( Ma l) . 2 . R ichard Pi ck en s ( Y am). 3 . R o n n ie Agu irre (BuJk o OPEN.NOV : 1. David Sk in v in ( Y a m). 2 . I va n Odem (Tri ) . 3 . L o n Strom rr u ), SPEC NOV : 1. G r eg Z amora (Ma i ) . 2 . B r ian Webb (Yam). 3. F ran k Herrera (Bul ) . 125 AM/EX : 1. Je ff Spri ngman ( I n d ) . 2. J im Fe lton (Pen ) . 3. Mik e Fe lt on (Pen) . 2 5 0 A M /E X: 1. Larr y B ird (Mon) . 2 . Greg W ilhite (Yam ) . 3 . St eve Fort une (Yam) . 5 0 0 OPEN-EX : 1. Mar k R e ichert ( Yam). 2. ROd sexton (Yam). 3. W illiam Arba ugh (tr l) . S PE C E X : 1. Rod Se x ton ( Y am) . 2 . De n ni s Junker ( Y am ). 3 . W i lliam Arba ugh (T r l). SWEEPSTAKES : M ark R eic h er t (Y am) . SA L ES SERV ICE Welding Porting Accessories 1352 Cent lneta , W. Los Angeles Corner of Santa Monica Blvd. &: Cent inela Open 9 to 6 Tues-Sat 9 to 9 on Thursday . c III an t a Mo n i c a Frwy . Ascot TT & Flat Track By Greg Cain/Creat ive Images GARDENA, CA L. FEB . ~3 Before the races tonight I tal ked to Mike T idw ell th e Yamah a ace, and co ngrat ulate d h im and tea.m· mat e Eddi e Lawson for gettmg their ac t toge ther last week. Stand ing near b y was Mike Minn ig the Kawasaki ace. He gave me o ne of th ose "that was last wee k" lo oks, crac k ed a fu n n y lit tl e sm ile , and prece de d to cle an house in both the 125 'IT and t he under 200 Hal f-m ile , Ed die Lawso n wasn't aro u nd this w e ek to re new the ch al lenge beca use o f a Sunda y race b ut Ti dwell was and d id. It lo oked like Ti dw ell rode the hardest h e has ever rid den the Ascot tr ack . But things j ust-w eren 't in h is favor. In the half m ile main h e w as running second all the way. Every now and then he w ould get a wheel under Minnig but just didn't have e no ug h speed to ge t all th e w ay by. Coming ou t of the last co me r head ing for th e checkere d again with a wh eel und er Minnig, Ti d we ll h it a slick spot on the trac k a nd went d o,,:,n. Mike walked away from the c ra sh with the only ap parent injury to h is pride. Minnig saw h is challenge r go dow n an d neve r slo wed up afte r getting the flag until he was a ll t he wa y around the tra ck an d back to the spot where T idwell had go ne down. As so on as Min ni g saw tha t Ti dwell was a ll righ t h e broke ou t in a b ig vic tory grin an d bo th rid ers h eaded fo r th e pi ts. On th e TT co u rse Ti dwell settled for a third place fi nis h beh ind Min nig and Mat Carlton (Yam) . Here agai n T idwell made th e challenge o n every tu m but j ust co uld n ' t get b y. T he 25 0 TT an d Half-mil e riders go t a break. Tom {R ed Bar on} Berry had d ecided not t o race th is wee k. He is go ing to Daytona a nd did n 't wa nt to risk ge tting hurt just befo re he h as t o leave. With Berry o u t o f the wa y Kawasaki rider Dennis Briggs led th e TT even t all the w ay. He had h is hands full with Bul rider Steve Scott a nd Yam rid er Elb ert Turner. In th e 250cc class o n th e ha lf-mil e Ch as Soderstrom ca me back a n d grab bed the big m oney. T hi s tim e it was a clear cut vic to ry an d d idn't h ave t o b e d eci d ed by th e o ffi cials. Dennis Briggs was second and Elbert T urne r third. Speaking o f Elbert Turner: t hi s man had to be t he m o st co nsist en t rider at the CMC eve nt. T he next race was the 500cc TT which Turner w on , m aking h im a grand total of one fi rst p lace rid e and th ree thirds. In th e 500 TT Turner d id n' t get the lea d until t he th ird la p. Even a fter he di d ta ke the lead he w as challe nge d on every tu m b y Gary Anderson {Bul} wi th Earl Roll o ff ru nn ing a very close th ird. In the 500 Half-m ile, Turner j u m ped to the lead a nd h eld it for several laps . Go ing into the th ird tum Shorty Seabourne o n a BSA Goldst ar go t u nde r Turner an d took the lead. T wo laps la te r wit h T urn er t ry ing d esp er atel y to get the lea d b ack fro m S horty h e got a little too h igh in tum o ne an d tw o an d John Sperry o n a Suzu ki to ok over ~ec ond place. Turner, never a m an to grve up, m ad e seve ral a ttem p ts to get second pl ace back but just could n' t m ake it go o d . • Results 125 cc TT : 1. M i k e Min ni g (Kaw ) ; 2 . Ma t Carlton (Yam); 3 . Mike Tidwell (Yam) . 2 5 0cc TT : 1. Donnie B rigg s (Y am ): 2 . Steve Sco tt (Bu l) ; 3 . E lbert Tu rner (Yam) . SOOcc TT : 1. Elbert T u r ne r ( Y a m): 2 . G ar y And ers on (Bu l ) ; 3 . Ea rl R ell o ff ( Y a m) . 125 cc H a lf - mi le : 1. Mi k e M i nn ig (Kaw ) ; 2 . R o b ert G oodw in ( R & R S pec.): 3 . R obert M icha l i k (Kaw) . 25 0cc Ha tf-m tl e : 1. Chas Sod est r om ( Ya m); 2 . Denn i s B r iggs (Ya m ); 3 . E l b er t T u r ner (Ya m ) . S OOcc Hal f -mi le : 1. S n ort y Se ab o ur n e ( BSA); 2 . Jo h n Spe rry (Su z ); 3 . Elbert T urner (Y arn), R.A.C.E. MX By Tom Blattler CORONA , CAL., F E B. 2 1 Mark Tyer, age 19, rode Penton to three victo ries this season at Corona in t he 125 Senior class. Also Dave William s, age 17, was the victor o f thr ee of the 125 Senio r division rac es at Corona. The two met tonight in the "Super Cycle Combo." The stage was set for th e 125 Senior first mo to w it h Tyer, Williams, Steve Bauer, and Rick Sanders competing for the top p osition. Tyer go t the ju m p, and he proved once ag ain why he is one o f the top 125cc riders in the Southern California are a with an easy victory. Williams followed on his Penton w-ith Bauer third. The final two motos also saw T yer sta n d supreme over Williams, a nd th e Garden Grove rider registered his fourth win of th e y ea r a t Corona. Williams t ook s econd a n d Honda-mounted Baue r w as third. Another rider who is showing his su periori t y is Scott Wallace {Kaw} in th e 250 Junior division. Scott m ade his first visit to Corona just three weeks ago, a nd co n tin ues to improve on the 1.3 mile rough co u rse . In Wallace's first ra ce at Corona, he placed second in .th ~ 250 Beginner class an d to ok th e wm m ~e Beginners a week ago. R .A.C.E. officials then moved Sco tt to th e Junior d ivision for th e T h ursd ay race , and Walla ce topped th e Juniors in his first race. T aking se cond, aboard a Husqvarna, was Bob Skocilich with Mark Clinque placing th ird. In his third a p pearance a t Corona this season, J eff Moore {Suz} took home the first place troph y in the 500 Jun iors. Moore ' s ride was his third win in his three starts this y ear, and h e looks stronger eac h wee k. Ly nn T aylor and Mark Rawley finished sec o nd and third . Little Sco t Tipt on con t in ue s his winnin g ways in the Mini Cycle class. Making his first a p pearance a t Corona, Brian Anders on ca p tu red the 125 Beginners divi sion o n hi s Suzuki. In the 125 Intermediates , Ed di e Clark was the winner, wi th T od d Br eker taking the Juniors in th e 125 'so In th e only other Senior class run at Co r 0 na, Dennis Hazlett rode h is Yamaha to victory in t he 250 Seniors. • Results M IN I : 1. Sco tt Ti pton (He n }. 2 . Vi nce Rag S dale (Hon). 3. Kurt S o fkll (Hon ). 125 BEG : 1. Brian Anderson (Suz) . 2 . Karl K ostetler (Yam) . 3 . Chris M a rks (Kaw) . . 125 JA: : 1. Todd Bre k er (Bul). 2 . MIke McMichael rSuz) . 3. M i k e Luna (Y am) . 125 I N T : 1. E d d ie Clark (Hon) . 2. Rick St ou t (YZ). 3 . E r ic O leson (Pe n). 125 S~ : 1. M ark Tyer (Pe n) . 2 . Dave W ill iams ( Pe n ). 3. Steve Ba uer (Hon) . 250 J R : 1. Scot t Wallace (Kaw) . 2 . Bob sxoemen (H u s) . 3 . Muk cmcue (Hon). 250 SR : 1. Denn i s H azlett (Yam). 2. Floy d Bur k f C Z) . 3 . Charles H an son ( Hon) . 500 J R : 1. Jeff Moore ( $ uz ) . 2 . L ynn T ayl o r (CZ ). 3 . M ark Raw l ey f eZ) . Mik e Min nig (Kaw) c racked a fun ny little sm ile and cleaned house in the 125 cla ss this week.

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