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/125852
.: ~ UJ N UJ '>"''" " UJ to 250 win s in a row , a lo ng with tw o overall wi ns. "There arc so man y fast 250s this year. J t's goi ng to b e in te res ting and very compe titive with su ch riders as Wayn e Cook, Dave Lap rik, Jim Wo tring and several o th ers. I lo o k fo r A. C. to ta ke his share of ove rall wi ns ." T he o nly bone that l\lark ever b roke was a lo co T his is a sign of a natur al rider. In fact th e most serious injuries he ever recei ve d from racin g w ere head pains, th e a fter a ffec ts of t rophy presentati ons. Afte r the Baja race was a good example. Lo oking back to Ad en t 's ac ing ex perie nce in the V ipe rs' race last year; Mark had his 25 0 DK W in t he lead wit h .lim Fishback in second pla ce o n a 400 CZ. Tom Bro ok s' screa mi ng 125 DKW was nex t , wi th A. C. Bak kcn runnin g fo urth on his 4 00 Hu sk y . Sh ortly a fte r the bomb , Fish back pow er ed in to t he lead a nd just p ast chec k one Ad ent lost , the co urse, w it h Broo ks foll ow in g. T he pair wound aro und in the sage brush fo r a while lo ok ing fo r t he cou rse , d oubled bac k an d p ic ked it up long a fter Fishbac k had go ne his me rry way. Hal fw ay aro und, Adent hit a giant rock and while he w as ly in g o n th e ground co n tem pla ting his ruined front rim, wh o should happen along but A .C. wh o , not to be o u tdone by a lightweight, st u b be d his rear wh eel o n the same roc k and thudded to rest b esid e Ad ent, The pair st ud ied th e situatio n for a co nsid erable time, th en d ecid ed th at nobody was go ing to c o me ge t th em , an d it w ould be fun to race until a ) th ey go t to t he pits o r b ) o ne o r b oth wh eels collapse d . On July 3 0 , 1972, th e Masterlinks . and th e Cactus Cats held a dual European Scr ambles at Hi-Vista. Mark was sti ll an A ma te ur in Division II. In th e firs t race he too k second behind Chuck Cartl ed ge , ahea d o f Andy Kirk er. But he ca me hac k o n h is trust y go ld 12 5 DK W for firs t ah ead o f Monte Lee o n th e Ca ctus Cats " co urse . While an A ma te ur in th e 17 5 cl ass , Aden t also won th e 100' s M.C . 100 mile Har e Scram bles in . Fe brua ry o f ' 72 . His first ride o n a 25 0 ca me in Decemb er of "72, the last race o f th at y ear. Mayes, l'Futze n re u te r, T o m Brooks, and , Bill Frian t w ere the o nly rid er s ahead of t he mysteri ous pi e plate number F, wh o was now tryinll: o ut a 250 Yamah a . You can see by these dat es th a t Mark has not been racing all th at lon g. The fact is he st ar te d racing o n ce and quit, a fter be coming disappointed . Then he decided, after a period with out racing, to try it again. After talkin g it over w ith his par en ts , th ey ag ree d . If he was se rio us and willing to give it \ 00%, th ey w ould help him in an y way they co uld under these cond it ions, Their e ffo rts w ere not in vain. Going fro m an unearn ed -number Exp ert to Number On e in th e ' 250 class, in th e mo st dem anding district in the co un t ry, is a go o d ind ica tio n of things t o co me. Let 's hope Mark Ad ent and th e rest of us desert racers w ill have a chanc e to win a few more. When asked wh at he would d o if he co uld n ot race d esert, " I guess I'd h ave t o go b ack to w o rk . Maybe go b ack t o scho ol. " Wha t a bou t m o to cro ss o r speed way, so methi ng w ith money . " 1 don' t think so . I have a problem corn ering. " . Ma rk may ha ve a , problem b ouncin g o ff b erms b ut he sure can fly across th e desert. In th e Dese rt M.C . Har e an d Hound this y ear, Mark wa s running first overall on th e second loop, wh en he missed a tum and went o ff an eight fo o t ro ck cliff. A.C., wh o was running second. passed Adent there b ut sta lled his Husky in th e ro cks, just above where Mark was franti call y trying t o star t his bike. He got it start ed , passing A.C. and wen t on to take th e overa ll win. Mark's new sponsor thi s year, after much careful planning and th ought, looks to be Penton. Since Mark has alread y taken three 250 firs ts since the start of the '74 Distri ct 3 7 d esert seas o n aboard a borrowed Penton, Penton West really isn ' t taking to o mu ch of a risk• Mark rece ived oth er offers. but with a chance to go to th e ISDT and suc h with t he ' rest of th e Pen t on team . (an d looking back at their pas t record s o f win s and finishes), it was Mark's best bet. If every th ing wo rks o ut fo r b oth Mark and his sp o nsor, lo o k for the n ame Mark Adent and Penton to be on the top o f a Io t o f result lists t his year. _ .29