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/125850
the entire race. Klug had the edge until the final half mile when Steen finally found that lost three MPH he 'd been looking for and squeeked by to finish third over Klug. Not to b e left o ut, Ken Brown and Dale Owens had th eir own high-speed dialogue going, wi th Ken topping o ut a t th e fif th sp ot and Dale getting six tho I' m sur e t his so rt of one o n one co m pe titi on went o n all down the lin e, but 1"11 mention a t leas t o ne more. T om Muto , a long-tim e desert rider , was right up fr on t at th e bomb but picked u p Eddie Wat k i n s f or a sh adow a l most im me diat ely. Eddie go t by mid-wa y in th e first lo op and, in spite of a valia n t effort, T o m was n ot able t o regain tha t position. Personal battles extended t o the Beginner ra ce als o. Craig Kinnaman and B . K ransky a r rive d fir st and simultaneously at the bomb but Kransky experienced some difficulty and finished so m ew hat back in th e pa ck while Kinnaman held on to take third. • Saddleback hillclimb By Ann A. Powell ORANGE, CAL., FEB. 24 DRA Hare Scrambles : Three loops and a Le Mans By Terrence W. Rezek CAS T LE BUTIE. CAL.. FEB. 17 The DRA pulled a switch on its usual Hare Scrambles format, much to the consternation of us older riders. The loops were supposed to be short and many of us were anticipating a nice, fast , easy run and an early trip home. DRA officials measured the loops care- 34 fully and decided that twice around 20.5 miles was only a trail ride. To make it a real race, we needed three loops. And, wh at better way to start su ch a race but with a good old-fashioned Le Mans start. This is the same as giving a 100 yar d handicap in favor of the teenagers with the Yamahas that start if you even sneeze near the kickstarter. The run to the burning bomb was a blast. Fla t and fast, it was made even faster since DRA imported (fro m mysterious California City) a ro ad grader to knock the berms off the several road crossings between the start and th e bomb. Experience must have had some basis in fact, since the leaders to the bomb were mostly "older and wiser? " Joe La Porte was first to the bomb with Gus Paull, Bill Carr and John Klug right up there, too. Joe was really flying bu t ran out of runway about a quarter mile past the bomb, where he got off very hard in a series of choppy ditches. He was definitely out of the race. Also starting an early battle were Glade Goodrich and Wayne Moose who went dueling past the bomb and kept up a fight to the finish, of the race, that is. After some broken field running, the course dropped into a high-speed sandwash and then to a higher speed road. This is where the "go-fasters" got to go faster ! The course then went straight into some small hills that offered one nice little jump, lots of bushes to duck, and one small and rocky hill. It was the old desert story : boy meets bike, bike meets rock, rock b ites tire, boy and bike bite dirt. Traveling sideways down a hill at 50 MPH is guaran teed to increase your pucker power. Bill Carr had the lead by th is poin t and streaked past check on e with Gus Paull breathing hot Husky-breath on his rear tire. They chased the course through some fun trails, flat-tracked around a fence, wailed down a sh o rt road, and . headed across some fla tland for the ridge. At least it was the ridge during practice rounds, in the race it was only the ridge. When going slow, the narrow, tw isty trail gave y o u a very clear view of exceedingly toothsome rocks. Going fast eno ugh to blur y our vision was the ke y. I talked to the top six riders and tfi"eyall thought the course was very fast and the raunchy ridge a piece of cake (marb le, of course). The o nly problem was in t ry ing to pass, but if you waited until the last downhill, there was more passing opportunit y than most people wan ted. The hill was short, steep and ro ck y with a sharp left tum immediately a t the bottom that requ ired some concentration. From here to th e home check was a flat out run w ith more smoothed over road crossings and nothing to slow you down ex cept an occasional wandering pick-up. The home check was right in the middle of some real exotics, two well-benned motocross turns! Road graders, it seems, are good for more than knocking off road edges. They can also build up some fair turns. Riders who hadn't practiced found themselves wishing they hadn't passed over tha t magazine article on squaring off comers without rounding off your inside foot . That was only loop one. Three more of the same to go . About this time , Gus Paull had enough dust to eat and got past Carr. The battle continued but Bill .co uld n ' t find more cubes than he started with and Gus' big-bore Husky held the lead from here to the end. The pattern of duels continued into third and fourth place, with John Klug and John Steen compari ng their 250's for The famous Matterhorn Mountain at Saddleback Cycle Park was the scene of one of the most exciting hillclimbs o f the year. The climb was sponsored by the Saddleback Hillclimbers' Association whose hard work paid off in some of the most fantastic clim bing ever t o be seen. Traction was good, the hill w as fast and the weather, although a b it on th e windy sid e, was nearly ideal. The Matterhorn is a favorite wi th the clim b ers, from the minibikers t o th e b ig boys. Minis have a ch ance to really put on a sh o w , and they did just that. Top rider fo r the day turned out to be y o un g Tim Breckenridge on his hot little Honda. This class is dominated by Hondas, Second place went to Steve Stith, with Gary Hall taking third, all on Hondas. Without a doubt, 13 year old Mike Powell has to be the man to b eat in the 125 class. That 125 Suzuki of Powell's went all th e way to the 575 foot mark on the 600 foot mountain, well over the bike killing rock fa ce and 30 feet above his nearest competitor, Ray Bandfield. It looked like Jim Collier and his 175 Yamaha was going to go righ t over the top of the hill , but he was stopped at 590 feet. That was a breath-taking near miss . But, they say , close only coun ts in horseshoes, and these are hot shoes. Jim took home his first place trophy, but missed an over pin today. Pretty Alice Hudnall managed a se cond. The hill was finally con q uered by the 250 stockers, the biggest class of the day. First to get over was Ian Nascimento. He hit the top in a fast time , but that last six inches took him nearly two full minutes to get over. It took a lot of work and near falls , but he Chuck Pelllrson (Mail powering his way to 450 stock dass win. finally inched over the crest. Good as the ride was , Nascimento had to settle for a second place. First place in this class went to Gary Berg. To get it, he had to reach a high mark of 495 feet from third starting point, well up on the hill. In the 250 Modified class, Doug Hall managed a first on his highly modified Bultaco. The surprise in this class came when Ron Sutter on a Honda took second place. Some of the most exciting racing came in the 360 stock and modified classes. . Bill Estes took his first in the stock class by going to 553 feet from the highest starting point of the day. By the time h e made his last run, the starting poin t had been moved up to the 470 foot mark. Just getting away from the start is an amazing feat from this point. Craig Mock, in the modified class, matched Est es and took home top brass. As well prepared as the hill was, the 400 bikes and bigger, had no trouble go ing over from th e bottom. In fact, few had trouble going over from the number two start. Kerry Peterson took first place in both th e 400 stock and modified classes, and teammates Chuck Pet erson and Craig Mock handled the 450 stock and modified. Bob Da y , on a thumping BSA took first place in the 500 stock class, with Earl Whetsell and his Yamaha taking home the brass in the modified. There weren 't enough 650s to : make both a stock and modified class, so they ran together, with the win going to Chuck Key on a stock 650 .Triumph. The Open class, composed primarily of highly modified 750 Triumph fuel burners, always provide a lot of excitement as a climb nears its end. Today was no exception. It has to be exciting to see those bikes move so high on the hill that it takes three or four strong men to get them to the line, and then watch them use pure brute force to gain the few feet they need to win the class. Today many of the rides were exciting, many even spectacular, but one was beyond all that. It could only have been said to be unbelievable ! Big John Bjorkman was on the line. He was starting from 470 feet up on the hill. His first try took him up to an amazing 591 feet, and looked good enough for a win. Then he came back for his second try. This time he got off the line, fought his bike into a straight projectory, and went righ t over the top ! No one, including Big John, thought it could be done. Every spectator went wild, and Big John took home the BIG brass. He won his class, and without a doubt, he was the best, the overall, the TOP eliminator! • Results Mini : 1. Tim Breckenridge (HOn); 2. Steve Stith (Hon): 3 . Gary Hall (HOn)~ 12S : 1. Mike Bancllleid (Suz). 175: 1. Jim Powell Collier (Suz); (Vam); 2. 2. Ray Alice Hudnall (Yam) . 250 Stock : 1. Carl Collier (Yam). 2. Ian Nascimento (Yam): 3. Gary Peterson (Yam). 250 MOd: 1. Doug Hall (Bul), 2 . Ron Sutter (HOn). 360 Stock: 1. Bill Estes (HUll; 2. Craig Mock (Varn) . 360 MOd: 1. Craig Mock (Husl: 2. Bill Estes (Husl . 400 400 450 Graper Stock: 1 . Kerry Peterson (Mal) . Mod: 1. Kerry Peterson (Mai). Mod: 1. Crai9 Mock (Vam); 2 . Joe (Bul) . 500 Stock: 1. Bob Day (BSA); 2 . ClYde Peterson (Yam). 500 MOd: L Earl Whetsell (Varni : 2 . Clyde Peterson (Vam) . 650 Mod : 1. Chuck Key (Tr l). 750 - Open; 1. Jon" Bjorkman (Tri): 2. Bill Correll rrru, TOp Eliminator: 1. Jotln BJorkamn (Tri) .