Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

lawyer has a good ear fo r lis te ning t o pr oblems of a ll h is cons tituents an d despi te ha vin g voted agai nst motorcycle issues, a n d no t be in g o n very fri end ly te rms with the offices of Ru ss Sanfo rd an d l\I.O .R.E.• h e s tiU feels that h e has done righ t by the motorcycle people. T he Sierra Cl u b m em be r may be best kno wn fo r hi s gas tax bill that now takes some 7% o f the collec te d highwa y tax m o n ies an d se ts th em aside for off road vehicle land that m ay well ad d up to 5 2 million for this next year. This mo ney wi ll p robabl y be. m ost n o tably used in the local area if the sta te agrees to buy the Holl ister Hills for green st ickie use . P.I.T.S . President Lee Do dge a n d member AI Bygdness told of the newly elected Coun cilman wh o was to assist in so me re creation devel opm en t . lie als o W .lS going to c heck in to so me q uesti o ns on rai n groo vi ng . T h e - ov era ll discu ssion left th e maj ority o f the 50 o r 60 assem ble d in a better frame of mind. see in g th at there are poli ticians th at wi ll listen . • NorCal Speedway By Sneaky Pete S,\ C RA.\ IE:"TO , CAL.. J UL Y 26 Norm Dermv won his first Scratch .\lain o f t h ~ season at Cal Expo against J ohn Cunningham , Paul Orlandi and Bu tch Corder. Again, it was o n e of tho se: first t o t he corner, first a t the f inish ra ces. With the win . Norm al so be came the first rider t o ha ve won b oth a Scr atch a nd Handicap Main he re. (T hese wins cam e o n separa te ni ghts. ) Foll owing the first Handicap Main win at Nap a last week. Butch Corder made it tw o s tr aigh t wh en h e w on to nigh t's Handicap fea tu re. Seco nd went t o te n ya rd er Cliff BaU a n d third to fort y yarder John Cunningham. Dal e Stetler drew the p o le po sitio n for th e 'D ash for Doll ars' match ra ce and used th e sho rt way ar ound t o end Mike Roone y 's win str ea k a t fiv e. No rm Denny. Alan Christ ian and Frank Co ok went so ut h this p ast week. Nor ma n fini sh ed third in th e Sc ra tch Ma i n a t Bakersfield, wh ile Alan Christian's o u tco me w ould be best term ed as getting ' Du b bed ' . Q u oting Frank Co ok, "I did n 't m ake a ny money , but I sure learned a lot . " Fr ank has never loo ked as fas t as he d id tonight in winning the Scr atch Con sol a tion. _ , 'A P" , CAL.. J UI. Y 27 Showing no ill effects fla m his Wednesd ay ni ght s p i l l a t Bak ersfield , Alan Christian took ho me t he first place b ucks in the Napa Scra tch Mai n. Fast im p ro ving Dal e S t e tier finished second with the t h ree -four s po ts going to Jo hn Cunningham and Mike Ro oney . . S ti ll o n t he th irty a nd winning fro m th at marke r, Butch Co rder won h is third strai gh t Handicap :>I ain . Alan Christian cam e up from the fif ty to finish seco n d , followed by ten yarder Ke n Eggers. Dennis Ro b inson and Carl Cr anke we re hooked up in a real dose one in the Div isio n T wo ~ Iain un til they tangled a nd went d o w n. Wh ile these tw ;' we re exc hanging wo rd s. S teve Mo ore was winning h is second D-Z Main here •li ke had won an d lo st o n e hund red gr een o n es, for th e next rid er ou t. ' Ro lle r' Ri c h :> Iac.\lurrav turned in a 1:!.8. The fi rs t o n e to c o n gra t ula te Rich was ~ like Ro oney . T hat 's a rea l sp o r tsm an . • C MCroad race Steele sails and Karpynec cashes in By John Ulrich IRVI NE. C.\L.. AU G . 4 It was Jeff St eele 's day . even th ou gh he lost the firs t of t wo rac es he ent ered o n his Honda iSO. And wh en he did lose. he. instead of the w inner. go t th e ap plause for a smooth ride. Jan Xl i t c hcll ( K u w iSO) b lasted o ff the line firs t in t he Cafe cl ass. with Fred Obus [Ka w 900) and Steele righ t o n h is rea r tire . One lap and Obus ha d the lead as S teel e str ugg led to ge t aro u nd a nd stay aro und :>Iit ch el l. T he trio , never m ore than a few ya rds ap ar t. were a f u ll 25 seconds ahead o f fo urt h p lace a nd e very bo dy else a fter fo ur lap s in a ten lap race . lt was ev id ent to sp ec ta t ors th at S r e e Ie was d own o n h o rsepowe r co m p ared to the bikes o f Obus an d :>Ii tc he ll , b u t was in finitel y smoo the r an d m ore pred ict able. J eff passed ~Ii t c hell in the ba c kfield a n d closed on Obus in th e sa me pl ace, o nly to be jammed bac k on t he long Oran ge Co un ty straigh t. Un lap se ven Steele, runn ing second , really sho wed his cl ass when :>Iitch ell de cided he wanted to win badly enough to ri de o n t he ragg ed edge o f c ras h ing a nd go t e xtremel y sq ui rr ly br aking late fo r turn o ne . Steele was o n th e o uts id e with a be tter line , but ga ve it up and sh u t o ff in stead of da rting through th e t urn b ecause it lo oked li ke ~ Iit chell was go ing to cras h right in hi s lap . For usin g his head an d thinking safet y first. Steele lo st sec o nd pl ace a nd a sur e sh ot at the w in . One lap la te r :>Iitchell tried to p as s Obus an d cras hed in turn nine . Obus go t the c h e c k e r e d . a n d Steele was applauded b y a small gr oup.. o f racers (in cl ud ing Art Fri edman , with wh om h e would be di cing in Open Pro duc tio n late r) as he p ull ed in t o the p its . (S teel e sho u ld be smoot he r - h e' s run Open Produc tion in AF:>1 a nd th us is not a lega l Cafe Clas s e ntry. The cl ass is reserved for be~inning racers.] Mike Bacder (Yam) was firs t a ro un d lap one o f the 12 5 GP race, a nd firs t ac ross th e finish - wi th a litt le help _fro m Phill ipe DeLesp in ay ( Ya m) taking a cro ss country e xc u rsio n. At first , it was Baed e r lead in g and De Lesp in a y d oing hi s di cing with J ohn Weed ( Ya m) an d :>Ii ke Devlin (Ya m) , fo llo wed by .\ rt friedm an (Ya m) . But Weed pu lled off hal fwa y , De l.espina y p assed Baeder, Devl in cras h ed , a n d Frie dman pulled up into third. For two m ore laps it was first Dc L espi n ay . the n Ba e der, the n De l.espinav , t he n Baeder. Cl ip -o n to cli p-o n . wh eel to wheel. firs t one o n the inside. th en t he o t he r . De Lespina y ran off int o th e dirt jus t t wo la ps fr om th e finish. Friedm an c ras he d in th e c h ican e, ~"~"':r SO a: ::l Z :ar ~ > III III '-- ;-- --'0. I Jeff Steele had his d ay at OC IR August 4. a n d Fr ank Pa rk (Yam ) moved in to second. Mik e cruised to t he c hec ke red sitting up with a gi an t lead . Par k was ne xt, a nd rem ounted friedm an th ird. Devlin recover ed e no ugh to c ras h in a no t he r race (25 0 GP ), win two (350 Sr. GP a nd Open Sr. GP ). Harry Klin zman broke h is sproc ke t bo lts in Open GP an d wo n 350 Jr. GP . a nd Wally Karpynec (Su z) wo n 250 Pr oduction and 5 0 sinc e that class was t he m oney race today. A rt Fr i edm an ' ( K a w ) , o n a com plete ly stoc k (incl ud ing th e ge aring and tires) H 2. led th e 350 /0 p e n co m bined Pr oduction rac e aro u nd exactl y o ne la p bef ore Leon ard Gillila nd (Ka w 50 0) go t ins ide o n turn o ne. J ohn Gl over ( Ya m) 350 a nd Jim Lester (Yam) 350 trailed until Jeff S te e le (Ho n ) st ar t ed m ovi n g up from a m ed iocre s ta rt. By lap fo ur Steele was fo u rth. lap five Fri ed man had p assed Gilliland to regain the lead . o ne lap lat er Steele was third. the n second , then ga in ing on Fri edman with his tr icked o u t Honda. On lap nine Steele jus t pl a in went by Friedman o n th e straight usin g his su pe rio r h orsepower . a nd sta yed in front thc rest o f th e way. Friedman, rear tire slip pi ng as th e tr ead wen t a way rapidl y. was p assed by Gilliland in the chica ne wh e n a li tt le ga m e Friedman had be en p lay ing backfired . Seem s " A r t th e Blu nt Da rt ," Associa te Ed it or o f Cycle Guide. ke p t him self a mused in th e ea rly st ages o f the race by kn oc kin g o ve r a p lastic con e m arking th e ape x o f the firs t ch ica n e t urn eve ry lap. One lap the corner m ar sh al l. tired of ch asin g th e cone every time . p ulled it a way w he n he sa w Friedman co m in g. Art mi sjudged Mike Baede r (Yam) leads Frank Park (Ya m) a nd the pa ck int o turn f o u r o n t h e f irst 125 GP la p . We ll be h ind , Phillipe Delesp in ay is mov ing up. a fa the ap e x as a re sult and go t into the dirt . did a tan kslapper, c ros sed up . an d wr es tled t h e Kaw ba c k o n to the trac k, no w in t h ird. He m oved li ke lightening to ta ke back seco nd . an d they finished Steele-Fri edman-Gill iland. Larry Lim (Ka w) ro de the F i he rides to w ork to his first Overall w in , in th e 200 /125 ' co m b in ed Pro duction race. Ala n Lassa k (S u z) found hi mself in firs t off t he line . with Lim secon d a nd so me maniac o n a 125 O K\\' e ndu ro bik e with h igh ba rs a nd a skin ny fat tank in th ird foll owed by 12 o th er gu ys o n assorted Yamahas , Ho nd as. and Suzukis. The firs t thr ee je tted awa y from everybody else . w ith Lass ak enjo yi ng a good cus h ion fo r a few laps, But, feel ing the pr essure fro m t he 12 5 Deek as se con d and th ird p lace ran wheel to w h eel , Lim kep t pus hing , c reep ing up on Lassak, T he run was o n when Larrv fo u nd himself right behind A lan and the Deek p ilot was s till sticki ng a wheel inside a few times e very lap . Sud d e n ly , Lass uk go t bers erk in t he ch ican e , s lid ing sid e ways seve ral fee t and b lowing the e xi t. Both Lim an d Tea m Cr ash passed a nd dro ve d own th e bac k side of the course, At turn n ine Lim e ntered just < Midway th ro ugh the 125 G P ra ce De Lespinay had t he lea d entering t u rn one, b ut it was a cont inu ing ba c k a nd forth ba ttle . De Lesp in ay \/\lent d irt rid ing near the e nd , an d Baede r wo n easi ly. wide e no ugh for the DK \\' t o fit ins ide , and found h imself in secon d a t th e st ra igh t entrance. But 50 extra ccs a n d help from a slips trea m shot Larry int o a su bsta n t ial lea d . LaSS.1 k horse-p owered his wa v in to sec o nd with 7Sec ad va ntage. bu t . findin g h im sel f battling to hold seco nd ag ai n st th e smaller bike in turns o ne an d tw o. gassed it to o ea rly a nd slo wly slid to the edge o f th e asp ha lt . pil ed into th e so f t dirt o u ts id e ' the ta rmac . a nd h igh sided in a puff of d ust. Ch allenged o nly in the c h icane o f th e last lap and ret ain ing the O ve rall, Lim cru ised in af te r Team Cra sh con ten ted its el f with a su re 12 5 Produc ti on vict ory an d bac ked off. Bill Si lver (Ho n 125 ) was th ird across the line. a go od h alf mil e down o n sec o nd place . He la te r m ainta ined that the abso lu t el y s toc k engin ed 12 5.w inning DK\\' that be at his non-stoc k he ad an d ca m equip ped fo u r-s t ro ke wa s a 175 , but refused to put his money where his mouth was by protest ing, That 's life. • a Results 125 er cc . 1 . J oh n U lrich ( D K W) ; 2. B ill Sliver ( H o n l ; 3 . Ke n Rurrun er ( Y am) . 200 eroe . L La r r y L i m (K a w ) : 2 . Ja mes Wi l e (Yam); 3. Dave B ctd o (S uz). 250 Prod: 1. Wally jca r evnec (S UZ); 2 . G len n B illing s ( Y am ) : 3 . W i ll SOl i s IY a m) . 3 5 0 PrO d: 1. Bill Henry ( Y am ) ; 2 . Jo hn G lover (Ya m) : 3 . Hug h M iller ( Y am). Open Prod : 1. Je ff · Steele ( H a n): 2 . Art Fr ie d m an ( K a w); 3. Leo nard Gi ll il a n d ( K a wl . C a f e Racer : 1. Fre d Onu s ( K a w ): 2 . Jef f Steel e ( Hen) : 3 . Jan Mi tch e ll (KaW) . 50 GP : 1. Karen W h it e ( It a ): 2 . D oug St a n to n ( It a) ; 3 . Roger Davi s r v arm , 100 G P: 1. Flemm ing J u li u sse n (Ka w) ; 2. De nn is Rurnme r I Kaw ); J . l::: r r y Hemker a (Yam ) . 125 Jr G P : 1. M Ike T Id w e ll ( Y a m ): 2 . S t e ve S mi t h (y a m ) : 3. G:ar y A cke lson (Yam ) . 2 00 J r GP: 2 . Larr y Li m ( K a w ) . 250 J r GP: 1 . L arry B ISh o p ( Y a m ) ; 2 . Steve L an g ( Y a m ); 3. R l cnard Barr o n (Yam ) . 35 0 Jr GP: 1. Harry K llnzman ( Y am); 2 . James Vtar c vcs ( Ya m ). O p e n J r GP : 1. St ev e L an g ( Y am ) : 2 . L arry BIshOD (Yam ) : 3. F r ed Ob us ( K a w ) . 125 GP : 1. M i k e ( Y am ) : 2. F ra n k Pa rk (Yam); 3. Art Frie d m an ( Y am l. ~5C Sr CP : 1. Cha rl es D Olan ( '1 01 m). s- aeeee- 21

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