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/125867
Ascot Hockie-Hateley battle By Bob Read GARDENA, CAL. , J UNE 28 Ascot aces took a final tuncup last Friday before th e half-mile at Ascot this Friday night and th e Nati onal mile at San J ose on Sunday. Gene Romero. J ohn Hatcl ey and Eddie Wirth returned from the eastern Nati onals and all three Quality products for the rider who knows the difference SALES SERV ICE Welding Po rtin g Accessories 1352 Cent inela. W. Los Angeles Corne r of Santa Monica Blvd. & Cent inela Open 9 to 6 Tues-5at 9 to 9 on Th ursdav finished in the first five in the fifteen-lap Expert final. Hatdey became the first Expert this year to win the Main event on two differe nt brands of racing eq uipment. He did it first o n a Triumph la te in May but came back fo r his second win on a Yamaha last week. Prior to the start of the Main event, R o x y Roc kwood annou nced tha t America's leading hal f-mil er, Corky Keener of F lint, Mich igan, was comi ng to Ascot t his Fr iday . It may have had a definite effect on Hate ley and Da nny Ha ck ie. The re d flag came out on the first start of t he Main when Tom White and Charlie Seale cr ashed in the first turn at the start of the second lap . Seale went into the hay bales and the wall and was hospitalized with a fr actured leg. White walked away and came ba ck for the second attempt. Rob Morrison jumped into the lead on the re-start. Mo rr iso n held off Hateley the first seven laps, the n dropped to second an d was pushed by Hackie and Wirth with the fro nt four a U con te nd er s for the win until the last two laps. Then Hackie, turning in h is best ride of the season, moved by Mo rr iso n to grab second . Morrison he ld onto third by a squeak ove r Wirth. The race fo r fifth went to the finish line with Rom ero ho ld ing off J o hn Gennai by inches. For Ha teley it was a close ca ll. In time trials he had crashed in th e No rt h tum bu t got right b ack u p to record fast tim e ove r Wirth. Both were in t he middle twenty-two second b ra cke t. T he re st of the Experts we re far bac k in th e twenty -threes. Hateley to p ped Morrison and Ha ckie in the first heat wi th Romero. after fouling sparkplugs twice on th e line , finally getting unde rw a y t o win the second Heat ov er Gen n ai an d To m Horton. A scot's top tw o J u niors, Skip Aks lan d and Alex J o rgensen , were both mis sin g Fri day nigh t and it left the d oo r wid e ope n fo r T om Berry to p ick off h is sec o nd win of the season. Berry , J eff Colem an and Walt Foster came: up as th e three Heat ra ce winne rs , with Foster chasing Berry in the final fro m start to finish . S teve Eklund marked up anothe r victory in th e Novice class final, ho lding off the challeng es of Elbert Turner. Season point leader Dan McWhorte r had traffic pr oblems all t he way and finis hed d o wn in fif t h place this ti me ou L T he Sjdehac ks showe d up in fo rc e for a ten-la p race on the short IT co u rse with the comb ination of Mike Haller an d Ch arlie Swen son on a four-cylinder Honda taking over the lead and goi ng o n for the win in the final three laps over Dave Ro esch and Bob Stick ler on a H-D Spo rtster. This Friday featu res Corky Keener, the ace from Mich igan who won over forty hal f-mil es las t year and is again th e leadi ng rider with more than twen ty eas te rn half-mil e wins thi s seaso n. Keen er also won th e recent Louisville Na tiona l ha lf-mile. It will be his on ly ap pearan ce a t Asco t this year. • Results a nta Mon ica F rw y. Ex pe rt F i n al: 1. J o h n Hatetey (Yam); 2. Da n n y H a c k le (Yam) ; 3 . Rob M orr is on (NOr) ; 4 . Ed d ie Wirth , (Tr i) ; 5 . G en e Romero (Yam) ; 6 . J o h n Gennal ( H -O) ; 7. Tom H o r t o n (Ya m ) ; 8 . Tom White ( H ·D) ; 9 . Bob Sa n d ers (Non ; 10. Pat M cCau l (Ya m ) . Junior Final: 1. Tom B erry (Ya m) ; 2 . Walt Foster (Tri) ; 3 . Ryan Giff or d (Tn) ; 4. Jeff Co lem a n (Yam) ; 5 . R i ck Kra tt (N Or); 6. Dennis Br igg s ( SUZ) ; 1 . Tony D~lI (N or ) ; 8 . Randy Roderrick (Ya m) . N OVIc e Final : 1. Steve Eklund ( Y a m ) ; 2. Elbert Turner (Yam) ; 3. Br ian GarCia (Yam) ; 4 . Mark Mitche le (Yam) ; 5 . Dan M cWhorter (Yam) ; 6 . Scott Pear son \KaW) ; 7 . M ike Tomsen (Yam) ; 8 . E ric Gi f o r d (Ya m) ; 9 . Little Jo hn Hateley comes up fo r air after trophy win k iss. Here Hateley hangs in closer to th e pole while Edd ie Wirt h drifts o~t.