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/125855
Mike Hartwi g (Vam) won th e Open class after Weinert broke and Sta ten got knoc ked do wn. Open By John Ulrich BAYAREA BULTACO ,mB o) r0'fj~ ~ SA LES SERV ICE Weldin g Porting Accessories 1352 Centinela. W. Los Angeles Corner of Santa Monica Blvd. & Ce'l@ela Ope n 9 to 6 Tues-Sat 9 to 9 o n Thursday ~ 1X1 -;; e c ~ u Sa nta Mon ica Blvd . N ~ W+E lD S >. ~u. 0 '" ~ C c ~ III Sa nta Monica Frwy . U~8Z6.78S6 Rocket Rex Staten (Ho n) , Gary Semics (Hus), Bryar Holcomb (Bul ), and Jammin' Ji m Weinert (Kaw ) blasted aw ay from the start ahead of the masses in th e first Open mo to, but it was Staten into the first tum. Se mics wa s second and Weinert passed Holcomb right there t o ta ke third. A t th e start o f the second lap Weinert aced Se mics, who had taken the lead from Staten. Stat en fo llo wed, Holcomb got Se mics , an d Mik e R unyard (Suz ) m o ved up to dice with Semics. Staten an d Weine rt got into this t rem en dous side b y side d uel. One lap la ter Staten jus t flew past Weiner t on th e downhill after the starting area. I With Staten an d Weinert in p osit ions one and tw o , t he stage was set for the best Open class battle of the day , one that had spectators flas hing back to the Grossi{fripes duel they had seen moments befo re . Staten and Weinert were riding so fast it was incred ib le. DiStefano just kept on charging, taking thi rd as Holcomb slowed o n his new blue Bulta co Runyard went with DiStefano when he passed Holcomb. It took the announcer three laps of Staten leading to fin ally say "Maybe Staten has the lead now." Staten did have th e lead, six seconds worth of it, and Weinert was 17 sec o nds in front o f now thi rd place DiS te fan o , Ru ny ard , Sem ics, Mike Hartwig (Yam ), and Holcomb. As Staten came around th e ne xt lap , the announcer was so engro ssed in pointing out "Dick ' Bugsy' Mann, from Ric hmond, Ca lifo rnia" fo r the fo urt h ti me, (as Mann ra n about mi d-pack o n a T rium ph, t hat h e com ple tely m issed Staten and the fact tha t suddenly Weinert was not co m in g aro und ' at all. Wit h one lap to go it was Staten , DiStefano, Ha rtwig, Se mics, an d Run yard on the t rac k, and Weinert pushin g through t he trees alo ng th e back side of the co u rse . T hey fin ish ed j us t that wa y . Hit just quit," said \Veinert aft er the moto, HI think some dirt got on the points o r so mething, becau se it just went blahhh . " Fo r Hartwig, his finish in th ird had a . special significance r: he wa s third fr om last after a star t crash, an d passed abou t 15 guys o n his firs t lap . Even the announc er such as he was , co rrec tly figu red o u t th a t Har twig had d on e so me serious racin g durin g the mo to. How se rio us Hartw ig was w ouldn't be co m ple t ely obvious until af te r th e next and las t Open moto. Crashes littered th e s tart of th e second Open rnoto. Lars Larsson (Hus) had a just pl ain b ad day. Starting a lap d o wn in th e fir st moto, he had quickly given up and pitted. At the start of the second moto, he hit Rex Staten an d knocked hi m in t o a tremendous tan k slapper. Mike Runyard was also kn o ck ed off in the pileup. Lar sson mo tored aroun d th e track an d in to th e pits ' a fter being picked up, a gash showing 'in h is ye llow jersey, an d State n I rode in to th e pit s t o ge t a ne w p ip e grafte d o n his fac t ory Ho nda. Runyard hung it up fo r th e da y . . Two lap s later S taten was on th e course again, but it was to o late . Steve Sta ckable (Mai) was left holding th e firs t place spot. By th e th ird lap , when Staten had just go tten cir cula tin g agai n, Hartwig was running hard in pursuit, followed b y Holcomb an d Semics . On e lap la ter Hartwig had the lead, which he never gave up, and with Staten ou t, the Overall wi n as well. While Stackable still held second, Holcomb and Semics were doing the dicing rou ti ne with Di Stefano fi fth. Semics gained a li t tle on Ho lcomb, who then had to contend . with DeSt efan o 's drive. Both DiStefano a nd Weine rt passed Rex Staten (Hon) rocketed until Lars Larsson (Hus) bumped him in the second moto start.