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/125877
eye eNews orth Legacy of a racer By Steve Cast illo & Do nna Chaban Leon ard Macchiarclla, ) 6, o f San J ose rode since the age o f twelve, and his greatest love W.lS co rnpeting. On the first Sunday in May, he was the youngest rider ever to compete in a pro fessio nal race, having been selected by Husqvarna for a sponsored ride. Len didn't d o well in the ra ce. He seeme d tired. T he' fa mily thought he 'd gotten a touch of n u. On Tuesday, after running so me erra n d s a nd pic king up a new mo tor cycl e, he collapsed and was later brought to Moffitt Hospital at the Universi t y o f California, S.F .• where he remained critically ill. Do cto rs di agnosed an extremely rare blo od di se a se thr ombot ic thrombo cytopenic purpura - a di sease Speedway Enterprises presents SPORTSMAN ~ MILE San Jose Fairgrounds Sunday, September 22 0 ·36 & AMA Ru les Open to Short Trac k classes Sem i-Pro , Exp erts $ Pit Gate open 7 a.m. Pre-entry : 5S per b ike Post 57.S0 Pit Pass $S . No Minis. Entries fr o m: Speed w ay Ent , 14 Camp Evers Lane . Scotts Valley. CA 9S060 Info : 415-327-4461 in whic h the red blood cells " fall apa rt very quickly ." It is no t a hereditary disorder , an d at presen t researchers have no knowlege o f how it sta rts o r ho w to detect its ' presence beforehand. It is extremel y r are . Newspape rs and t el e vi s i on ca rr ie d s to ries of his hosp ital izat ion. In the Intensive Care Uni t. lun g and kidney m achines wer e used in an a tt em p t to prol on g his life . but de spite th ese eff orts, he died the follo wing Tuesday afternoo n. It waS then th a t Len 's frien ds de cided to raise money to help hem atology re sear ch at UCS F and, with the help of t he Mac chiarella fa m ily, pu t together o ne of th e biggest com m un ity even ts o f the ye ar in J un e, It was a benefit race a t the Sunnyvale Police Athl eti c League Track run by C\IC/NorCal volunteers. Nearly 400 professional and amateur riders paid S8 entry fees to co mpe te, and some 3,000 sp ec tators jammed the arena . .. "The largest cro wd eve r to assem b le at our tra ck ," according to a PA I. spoke sman . Even though t h e tra ck wasn't in the best co nditio n and pract ice was a virtual pa rad e every bod y and ever y th ing went smoothly. The ambulanc e didn't have to roll onc e and wi th 400 riders that had to be a rec ord. Ron Self made the trip fr om Lo s Angel es to race at Sunnyvale. Ron didnt disappoint his o ld fans as he held bac k strong man. Henry Halbach in both motos of th e 500 Seni or race. Ron was riding a friend's Maico and was reall y Len Macchiarella , r iding at Sa linas, January 20 . 1974 -doing what he loved to do . jammm. Halbach was no slouch however as he berserked the S Ol Maico around the tight an d twisting P.A. L. co urse giving Self trouble on many sect io ns of the track. Randy Neilson (Ho n) and Dave Ro bi so n (Suz) wer e the main s tars in the 125 Intermediate class . Nielson rod e one of his best races in a lo ng ti me and finished both mo tos a head of t he pu rs uing dust clo ud whic h co n ta ined Robiso n and Dan Geery (Hon) . Ro bison tried hard to get by, but Nielson wouldn't budge an inch. Cleaning up in the Minibike class was Len's little brother Tim, who won both motos of his class with appa ren t ease . Foll owing young Macchi arella in were Jeff Doyle (Ste) and Kent Wood (Ho n ). The proce eds from the Leonard Macchiarella Memorial Motocr os s plus The legacy of a racer comes full circle. Fam ily and friends look on as Len Macch iarella III, 11, a cous in, presents a 53300 check to Dr . Stephen B. Shohet to estab lish the Leonard Macchiarella Memorial Hematology Research Fund. donations from c o m m un ity citizens totalled around $3300. and were p resented to the University of Califo rnia, San Francisco, to es ta blish a hematology reasea rch fu nd in Len's mem or y . Fo llowing the race, bo th the Sunny vale and San Jose p olice a th le tic leagues expressed t heir desire to become perpetual sponso rs of th e race, making it an an nua l event to kee p th e fund gro wing. Dr. Step hen B. Shohc t, chief of he mato logy and associate professor of medicine at UCSF, ac cep ted th e check on behalf of the University; "W e are deep ly m oved by this gift and by yo ur love for Len. This money establishes the ' L e o n a r d Ma c c h ia r e l la Me morial Hem a to logy Research Fun d.' and will be used to further research of hematologic disorders which affect vital youngsters like Len." • T im Macchiarella after cleaning up the Minib ike class at the Mem orial Motocross June 9. A certa in flair for style must run in the fam ily . . . Horizons Unlimited 22726 Vent ura Blvd. Woo dland Hills, CA 9 1364 213·340-2191 z o a: '" w C Z d: 18 lD L_~::::~ -.J g