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/125873
tr uckin '. Ran dy Cleek a nd Robert L. Lee filled second and t hird plac e with Gene Ro mero sliding into the Semi. Ch arl ie Chapple had it 'toge t her in the third heat as he held off a cha llenge from Don Castro to win with Paul Pressg ro ve b ornping George Wills from third on the seventh go around. Mike Kidd, probably the quietest rider a round, let his Bultaco do the talking for him as he zapped his way to the win in Heat Four with Jimmy Lee and Chuck Palmgren taking the other direct transfers. Ricky Campbell, a rookie Expert, saw his cha nces for a spot on the National grid end in a last lap slip that dropped him onto the hard Santa Fe surface. Texan Jim Rawls . picked up his spot in the National by winning the first Semi over Corky Keener and fellow Texan Teddy Po ovey while John lIateley knocked Billy Schaeffer off on the fifth lap of the second Semi for the last t ran sfe r position. Mike Ge ra ld and Ke n Roberts both want ed the win badly - Roberts had the h o rsepower. Schaeffer bounced back with a fine performance in the Trophy Ra ce to win handily and let the fighting take place between Corky Keener. Gene Romero. Phil McDonald and Ed Salley. I\IcDonald finally got a hold on second with Keener third. M ike Gerald. reflecting on his chances before the National. was . somber, business like and setting himself up to ride as hard as he co uld . "If I can get some traction off the corn ers I have a good chance, but if I don't win I won't cry. Santa Fe has been very good to me." , Kenny Roberts. having changed to Goodyears, was sitting near the Yamaha van doing a little tire te chnology of his own. The track was changing af te r every race, and by the time the National rolled around it had become tacky with a wider than normal groove and a cus hio n that b uilt up around the outer edge. In the end it was on the edge of the cushion that m any chose to ride and the traffic moved the edge out farther and farther before the race finall y came to a n end. Roberts, Scott, Kidd, Ch apple, and Gerald set up as part of the front row along with rookies Randy Cleek and Jimmy Lee. Don Castro held the inside pole lin ing up with Steve Morehead. Robert E. Lee, Chuck Palmgren, Paul Pressgove, Jim Rawls andJohn Hateley. 'The balance of power co uld fall to an y rider but the odds said it wo uld he one of the big three: Roberts, Kidd or Gerald. The first start was good for about a quarter lap as Mike Gerald did one of those slow spills in the middle o f the pack landing under his bike and luckily not being run over. A little farther along, Paul Pressgrove met a similar fate and the red flag came out. Restart Two brought Jim Rawls, Jimmy Lee and Steve Morehead into a very close situation with Lee being bottom body in a t hree bike stack up . Lee and Morehead made the rest a rt with Rawls finis hed for the night. Castro's bike seized and wouldn ' t s tart, lea ving only 12 bikes to try o ne more time. Kidd made good his third hole shot for six laps as the front runner. with Gerald slipping to third a ft e r a charge by Ro berts. Kenny then nipped Kidd but couldn't shake him and the pair circulated nose to tail. Meanwhi le , llateley Had come surging th rough the pack to slide into fifth behind Gary Scott, who was riding t he hell out of h is IIarley. Chuc k Pa lmgren added another bo dy to th e mid pack fight over fifth po siti o n with the rest of the field stretched out. Kidd made his move on the te nth lap with a high line pass of Roberts between Turns Three a nd Four th at just might have ca rr ied him past had his bike not decided to seize at that moment. Mike bumped it to life and set out in hot pursuit a lth o ug h down a bo u t eight places from his original posit ion. The pursuit lasted two laps until he struck a neutral coming into the same corner and was unable to avoid slam mi ng the wall. Again the red flag came out and along with it the ambulance. For those within hearing distance it was clearly evident that Mike was in a lot of pain. lIastily, while there was the lag in the p rogra m, everyone made changes to adapt to the changing track co n di tions for the final (hopefully) II laps. Questioned before the single file res tar t , Mike Gerald told the crowd that the del ays had a ll o w e d him to u e x p erim en t " which really meant changing both th e front and rear tires twice, as we ll as the gearing. Others weren 't quite as involved. Roberts. quiet as ever. was calcu lating his chances. Gerald held his own for about two laps until Roberts with his power advantage flashed by and opened the sp read by a bike's length or more per lap. At least until the pinging started , but by then he knew the bike would last. Gary Scott could tell that Hateley was too close for comfort but rode like he was possessed until he succumbed to the torque of Hateley's Yamaha Chuck Palmgren remained a steady fifth in the closing laps with the three rookies Cleek, Morehead and Jimmy Lee following close behind. They a lm ost had to block the track to get Kenny off after he whizzed past the grandstands with the front wheel in the air and the checkers waving on his victory lap. Roberts was elated with the victory because he wanted to win and had hung on to do just that. An impish grin sp read across the Grand National Champion's fa ce as he first sprayed the crowd with the winner's bubbly and then, when Camel Pro Series tr ophy girl Ms. Lynn Griffis wasn't looking, gave her an impromptu shower. Of co u rse , Kenny and Lynn are old friends after swapping a little winner's bubbly just two weeks ago, although the co o l five grand he's got coming from Camel would make anybody smile. • PENNZOIL AND TEAM HONDA WIN 125(( NATIONAL CHAMPIONSH P Results 2 5 LAP NATIONAL: 1. Kenny Roberts (Yam). 2. Mike Gerald (Yam) . 3 . John Hateley (Vam) . 4 . Gary Scot t (H ·D) . S. Chuck Palmgren (Yam) . 6. Randy c reek j verm . 7. Steve Morehead (Yam) . 9 . J immy Lee (Yam). 9. Cnarlle Chapp le (Yam). 10. R o b e r t E. Lee (Yam). 11. Paul Pressgrove (Bul) . 12 . MI.ke Kidd (BUI) . 1 3 . 0011 Castro (Vam) . 14 . Jim Rawls (Bul) . TROPHY FINAL : 1. Bill Schaeffer (Bul). 2. Phil McDonald (Yam). 3. Corky Keener (Vam) . 4 . Gene Romero ( Y a m ). 5 . Tom Cummings (Vam) . 6 . Ed Salley (Yam) . UNOFFICIAL AMA NATIONAL POINT STANDINGS (InclUding Santa Fe): 1. Kenny Roberts 1437. 2 . Gar y Scott 1136 . 3 . Gene Romero 718 . 4 . Mike Kidd 677 . 5 . Mert Lawwill 3 5 8. 6 . Gary N ixon 2 75 . 7. Dave Ak1ana 2 72. 8. Dave Hansen 271 . 9 . Mike Gerald 2 70. 10 . Chuck ?almgren 2 61. CAM EL PRO SERIES STANOING , I. Kenny Robert s 315 . 2 . Vvon DuHamel 132 . 3. Mike Gerald 120. 4 . Gene Romero 113·. Gary Scott 113·. 6 . John Hate ley 100. 7. Paul Smart 8 8 . 8. Pat Evans 66. 9 . Dave Aldana 55 . 10. Randy Cleek 50 . ·Tie Gary Scott wa s really hoo k in ' it with the Harley 't h u m per t o hang on to third, but got be aten b y J ohn HateJey o n the last lap. - MARTY SMITH AMA 125ccNATIONAL CHAMPION This young Cal iforn ia mot ocross sensat ion grabbed th e co veted Nat ional Championship on a factory prepared and Pennzoil pro tected Honda Elsinore. His consistent ly fast riding and overall dom ination was the highlight,of the series. Marty gets w inning engine protection from Pennzoil 2-Stroke Motor cycle Oil (mi xed 32 to 1). Take a tip from thi s young champion and his Honda teammates, ask your mot orcycle dealer for championship caliber engine protection .. . ask for Pennzoi I. PENNZOIL COMPANY Oil Cit y, Pennsylvania 11