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/125858
rnoto, T he momentum of their fight mov ed th em past Wynn to th ird and fourth position be hin d Jones and Za hrt. Kenny took t he win un ch all en ged . When asked how he go t to be so much . faster than anyone else all of a sudde n , Kenny modestl y rep lied , " Well, I' ve always been kind a fas t , b ut I've never been in good enough sha pe to last a race. Two weeks ago I sta rted working o ut an d it must be helping. " 500 National Zahrt (21 getting one of his characteristic hole shots in West Coast action. bac k on Maico af te r be ing let go by Ho nda - th e b ike had never really fi t his riding style. Other rid ers were havin g p ro bl ems o f a m o re imme diate nature . Mar ty T ripes' Hus ky wen t down o n the op en ing lap, was h i t by Pie rre K arsm ak ers' Mon oshock, to o close to avoi d him . The Yamaha's fra me broke whe n more riders pile d i n fr o m be h in d. Ri ch Thorwaldson m oved up on Jone s an d, after a little fender bangi ng, to ok second awa y. The moto finishe d as Tripes pu t o n a ch arge t hro ugh th e p ack to take fifth as Lampp u dropped back an d Pomeroy and Stacy mo ved in behind Gary Jones . Kenny Zahrt had said that he had only planned to finish a ro un d third posi tion in the firs t m oto, but af te r he ran away wi th it, he knew t ha t he co uld do as well in th e next. When th e gate d ro ppe d, Kenny j ust d isappeared from eve ryo ne else. Gary Jones m ain tained a good grip o n sec o nd, followed b y Tony Wynn , Lamppu , Stacy and Pom eroy. Rich Th orwaldson was involved in a first lap crash receiving a n asty gash o n the chin, b ut p icked himself up to finish eleventh. He beat everyone at th e Santa Maria Qualifie r in California, but every time he races a Na tio nal , "There 's a jinx on m e to never finis h better th an sec o nd s: ' he says. Ro n Pomeroy and Fran Stacy co ntin ued to battle throughout the Mike Har twi g was obviously psyched up to win t he 5 00 class. Hal f an h o ur before the firs t mo to he was walking th e pits full y su ited up : helmet , gloves, and goggles on. Between fiddli ng with h is Yamaha, he 'd walk out and inspect th e starting line . Michi gan is Mike's home state and his family an d a lo t o f fri end s we re th ere to watch him. He w as not planning to le t them d ow n . After the starting area received Mike 's upteenth inspection, his mechanic pl aced th e Yam ah a o n the exact spo t that Mik e had calculated wo ul d get h im o ut of the gate an d thro ugh the firs t tum ah ea d o f eve ryone else. When th e ga te dropped, it was a Mike Har tw ig show as he power-slid ed around t he. first turn ' and dis appeared in o ne fluid mov e. He was either o n th e throttle, or on the brak es. Ther e was no in between as he flew around th e hilly course to easil y cap t ure both motos . un ch all enged. Bac k in th e pack, it was a rather boring race as the sma ll field quickly spre ad out over th e m ile-long co urse. On e of the few rid ers who co uld have mad e th in gs difficult fo r Mike was Rex Staten, bu t his 4 00 H onda had seize d o n the sec o nd lap of th e first m o to . Tony DiStefano and .S teve Stackable h ad a little race going fo r sec o nd place, but it soon dissi pated as Steve d ropped b ack an d Jim Weiner t m o ved into third, followed by Bry ar Ho lco m b an d Gar y Sernics. T he remainder of th e first rno to , an d th e sec on d , played out as the top 10 riders usually didn't get within 50 feet of ea ch other. The only major change was Wein ert, who ran seco n d th e entire last moto in place o f DiStefano; this time back in third. Despite a cr ash and a th rown chain, Mark Blackwell fini sh ed 12 th in .his rust big race since breaking his leg at • Day tona. Results 2,50 OVERALL: 1. Ken Zahrt (Bul) 1·1. 2. Gar y Jone s ( e -A) 3-2 . 3 . R o n Po m eroy (Bu l) 3 -3 . 4 . Fra nk Sta cy (OSS) 4-4. 5 . Pete r La m p p u ( M on ) 6-7 . 6. R ic n Thorwal dson (Suz) 2·11. 7. Bob Harr is (Ma i) 8 -6 . 8 . T o ny Wynn (N ag ) 10-5 . 9. Wayne Welzion (Bul ) 11 ·8. 1 0. Bob Grassl (Husl 13 -9. 1 1. Jim Wicks (Mal) 14·1 0 . 1 2. A lc n Walswort h ( Pen) 15-13. 13. DeWayne B o nnett ( M al ) 17-1 4. 14. J oh n Fran klin (Pen) 1 2· 1 9 . IS . T ed F ol tz (Bul) 18-16. Oan Fraley (CZ) 19·18 . 17. Gaylo n M o sie r (HOn) 22 -2 0 . 18 . John Willia ms (Hon) 21·22. 19. BOb Ta yl or (Hus) 2 0- 2 3. 2 0 . D on Goss ( Kaw) . 33-12. O PE N C L A SS: 1. M ike Hartw ig (Y am) 1·1. 2. J i m We ine r t (Kaw) 3 -2 . 3 . T on y D IS te fano (CZ) 2 -4 . 4 . B ryar H o l co mb ( B u l ) 4 · 3. S. Steve Sta c kab le (Mai) 6·5 . 6. Gary Semlcs ( Hu s) 5-6 . 7 . T e r ry Cla rk (Hu s) 8·7. 8 . wy m an Pr iddy ( K a w ) 7 -8 . 9. Doug Wil son (Yam) 9 -9 . 10 . Scott J o rdan (Bu l ) 10-1 0 . 11 . John Un t iedt ( Ma i) 1 3- 13 . 1 2 . Mark Blackwell (Mai) 17-1 2. 13. B ar ry M agi o (Y am) 14 -16. 14. Geary Pr lchs (Hus ) 14·1 6 . 15 . M i chael Gr i f f in (Bul) 16- 15. 1 6 . Mi c h ael John son (Ya m) 2 1- 1 1. 17 • .Way ne Case (Han) 15·17. 18 . Robert Baer ( M ai ) 22·1 4. 19. D avid Doerschuk (Kaw) 1 2- 2 4 . 2 0 . James Anglin - (Bul) 18-20. Andrews wins French Trials round, Whaley first American / Mick Andrews earned a second World points win for himself and the works monoshock Yamaha. Also in the hun t for p oints is Spanish Round winner Ulf Karlsson (Mon) with a second. Mar land Whaley (Mon), gathering expe rience in his first long-term Eur op ean stay , rode to eleve n th o verall righ t b ehind Malcolm Rathmell. • , . / Marland Whaley - 19 73 Trial de Espania In. Meet Marland. If yo u' re considering taking a shot at t he Trials Champ ion sh ip , consider Marland Whaley. He 's the man you 've got to beat. He likes to win. And win. Not on ly has he ta ken th e ' 72 & '73 Califo rn ia State Trials Cham pion sh ips, but all in dicat io ns po int to h is winn ing again in ' 74. Again. Tha t 's the magic word. Becau se yo ung Marland has o nce again chose n th e Montesa Cota 247. And th at's so me t h ing to thin k a bo ut. Winn ing is every bo dy's goal. But winning again is ours. I V 4 montesa IV For the name and number of your nearest VIVA dealer, call (213) MON-TESA 27 ,