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/125868
T e Mammoth Mountain adness called otocross By Jay Bodewalt Lampell T HO S E VIV Ar.IO US , ~ IA~I:I>(OT IJ . :l>IO UNTAINS 1:'11 CAL.,J UNE 22 -23 And a hi-hi to all you who have been wondering where I've been this p ast year? Let's say I've been "in to other things." But I was T he lady behind the faceplate is J anene Turton (Bul) who al mo st beat the boys in the 125 J u n io r. more than pl eased wh en Cycl e New s as ked me t o co ver th e An nu al i\lountain Mammoth i\lotocross sin ce it 's been e xactly one ye ar sin ce I'v e Sl'ell a real rnot ocross. How th in gs havc c ha nged ! La st ye ar all I can re m e m b e r is what a sissy eve ryon e but DOU K Grant was co m ing d own th at h orrid who op-d ee-doo hill, Doug w as wonderful o n his Bultaco last year but th is ye a r h e was forc ed to watch from th e sidelines, sin ce a b ad fall on his noggin co u ld sn u ff him in a n insta n t. Well. wc 'lI a lways remember Doug as being on e o f the grea ts. In fact, he did sneak a co u p le of laps in on Dann y Wall er 's Bultaco, then Sunday so rt o f half-raced by pointing Danny toward the ever-changing fast lines with a de man ds good s u s pens io n . it 's Mammoth, Appro ximatel y 93% traction e ve ry w here. W h o opd ie s wi th a frequ e n cy varying fr om two to 30 per 100 feet. A lii tude o f 70 00 feet ge t s a riders oxyge n debt built up fast. S ad pa rt is the riders th emselves : machinery h as im pr o ved tremendousl y sti ck. This yea r th e famous downhi ll wasn't Tracy Oswell (Husl got past Joh n DeSoto (Ya m) t o w in the 250 Senio r f irs t mota on the mountain . Cooling off a hot Expert. .. • Th is lad had enough t ime on h is ha nds , runn ing second in the f irst mota, to stop for a cool one . quit e a s r oug h and e ve ry o ne 's sus pe n sio n was three tim es better, so the re were lots of folks gas sin!: it but ' good . Not very man y cras he s o n S u nday, ei the r. b u t th e o ne s t ha t did happen were doozies. Go od th ing the ~ Ia m mo t h soil is soft. Mammoth isn ' t so much mot ocro ss as social e vent. It sort o f b rings to gether th e class ies t o f th e leis ure-c lassers. It 's getting more co st l y to make t he six- hour dri ve from L.A. or Sar' to . so only t hos e w ho can a fford it. or really wa nt it. or don' t ha ve to he a t th e S al t Lake ( nt erA~IA (motocross) sho w u p. p rohab ly b e c a u se of S t il l . over-ex p osure f rom t he magazine KUys las t ye a r (Who strong ly hin ted that dope, ho o ch, noo kic, a n d nc k kidne ss were in a bu nda nce, hut so help me no thing co u ld be fur the r fro m th e tru t h !) . lo ts of ha ngers-on showed up an d ma naged LO sta rt figh ts at 1I0t Cree k. ge t o b noxiou sly drunk aro u n d ' th e rented co n do mi n iu ms , and pull off th e ir pants o n occasio n to he c u te. Sunday a strea ker did a lap almost un n oticed, Speaking of ma ga zin e gu ys, th ey were there in ab u n da nc e, to over-expose th e ev en t st ill again . Paul Houdreau of H ~ l o l n r ",()ss Action " ra ced two lIondas Satun I but didn ' t do too well, so Sunda h e walked around visi ting h is do zen- -so girfriell d s. Chcl IIcybcrger of "0 Bike" didn't race hut I he ar George 'egn cr di d . " Po p Cyclc" had a hunch . flne -lo o king ladies in th e ir cam p. ·vid Swi ft of "Dirt Rid er" sh owed ) Sunday w ith a smas he d- u p truckfu l . n o t-m o to cr o ss bi kes. Sh ows yo u where his head is a t. th e here t ic. Because of a ll these clever new lon g-trave l rear sus pe ns io n sc i ups. th e mo t() rcY l: I~~ ;l{O m uch fas ter than 1;1., t . Summer heat and rarif ied ai r took the toll of ride rs, both cond itioned a nd u nco nd it io ned . while most rid er s ha ve n' t im pro ve d -o n e io ta, The y go faster because o f better machi n er y but n ot thai much fas te r. '(b e y sti ll pick th e bumpiest lines, play -follow-the -Ie ader. sit down all th e time, a nd haven ' t learned how to jet a bike for alt itude . And these a re th e Seni ors. Not a ll o f them, m ind you. Tracy Oswell , a SoCal youngster who's had the Indian Dunes c ircu it wi red \vith a l l o n d a , bought a Prn to n " Har e Scrambler" (Is that what they really c a ll thern P] rcc ent ly and no one lo o ked finer on t he co u rse, The first 250 Senior mo to sa w him ta il Da nn y La l'ortc , a Penton rider from Nor-Cal, lap a fter lap un t il Dann y wa s worn tu a fra zz le. Osw ell b lc w by him an d won clfor tlc ss ly. Second an d th ird mo to sa w O swell d o in g an even more th orough job of waxin~ everyone u nt i! he unl oaded to wards th c e nd o f th e last hea t. li e Ko t up in fou rth. an d c auKh t th e lea de r. Then. w ith Icss than a half-lap to 1(0 . the Pen I o n "s percoc k brok e, and a 50 0 win , .