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/125878
Tarmac treading: Running off with AFM Torco Power Stro ke two for . ' ,' . . $1.95 Duralube Pre Mix two for . . ... $1.95 Everyone who led Open Production today broke, crashed, or ran off the track at one time or another. The combination of running the track in the unfamiliar counterclockwise direction, intense heat, and thick gray muck blown from urban Los Angeles to 10% discount on tires Oury Grips regular $3 .95 Special $2 .95 American Pro regu lar $3.95 Special $2.95 Yello wstone MX Gloves regular $1 2.95 Special $10.49 Viking J erseys regular $ 12.95 Special $10 .49 c: .J :J Z :I o ~ Scott Clo ugh went faster than ever to annihilate the highly com pet it ive 350 Production class. Before Open Production got "cooked ," Ron Pierce (BMW 9 7 ) would break and Mike Parri ott (Kaw 85 ) crash. Parri ott's Kawasaki had a little surprise for h im after he fell off - it caught fire. back up behind the mountains bordering the Ontario area took its toll in the concentration levels of the racers. Getting pressed and forgetting where one is on the course carries some hazards, includin g the possibility of ina dvertently go ing dir t riding. From th e start, it looked very m uc h as if'Ron Pierce (BMW) wo uld win . But Pierce 's bi ke bro ke before the thi rd lap an d Mike Parr io tt (Kaw) took the lead . Second place Ed Un ini (Hon) ran off the track, getting back o n in ' fou rth beh ind Co o k Neilson (Due), an d Bob Crossman (Kaw). Un ini just wasted Cro ssman's cushion in the bac kfield o n the next lap, p assing rapidly and goi ng on to chase .Coo k. Parrio tt cras hed in the new Turn Two, his fiberglass-tanked -Yoshimura Kawasaki t urning into a quickly-extinguished flashfire . Unini turned lap times of 2:05.9 on the shortened course as he closed up on Neilso n, but didn't realize he was hunting first now, not second. He blasted right up to the desmo Ducati's rear tire coming onto the rear straight, and to everyone's surprise, was strongly pulled by the Duck: The 75 Occ V-twin had the horsepower to pull away from Unini's overbored Honda! SUNSHINE YAMAHA 1010 W. Chapman Orange, CA The drama heigh tened on the last lap - "I saw Unini behind me, and ke pt telling myself 'Don't do anything stupid' " Cook related . Having so instructed himself, Neilson proceeded to discover he fel t like throwing up from the bad air and ran off into the weeds at old Turn Six (now T urn II), we nt cross-country all the way to new T urn 12, go t back on behind Unini, and go t an incredible dr ive out of Turn 14. Drafting out of Turns 16 and 1 7, Neilson dialed it on and passed Unini on the outside between t he roaring Honda and the concrete wall bordering th e oval at close to 130 MPH with an inch to spare on each end of the bars . Diving into Tum Two after the long straigh t on t he brakes as hard as could be, Cook watched Unini try to get by on the outside and run off the track into the grass again. Neilson took the checkered at the finish line between the second and third turns. Unini later said, "If I had known we were dicing for first, I would have tr ied a lot later." And Cook? "I've never worked so liard riding a motorcycle in my life." " Penton. Monark & Tyran & Rupp Fun Machines Sales Service Parts Accessories D&R Cycles 7181 Westminster Ave. Westminster, CA 92683 34 u ONTARIO, CAL., SEPT. 9 sunshine specials (714) 894·2623 I: By John Ulrich & Jim Lester Keep those cards & letters coming Scott Clough and his 115 MPH RD 350 from Exhibition Engineering got in to the first tum with a tiny lead on Bob Tigert's Harry Hunt RD only to run off the track in Tum Two. Tigert took the first spot for one lap as Clough started the game of work up . Scott got ,back into third just about the time Dale McCreary (Yam) battled into first and Harry Klinzmann, having stepped off his 250 GP bike and onto his 350 Produ ct io n mount with no break in between , pulled up into fourth. Clough regained his lead o n the third lap and st retched it o ut for a ru na way victory . McCreary and Tigert dice d, wi th McCreary pulling away and subseq uently running off fou r times trying to build a cushion between him and Tige rt. Gaining with each erro r the hard-trying McCreary made, Tigert drafted his way into the second position on the back straight, being stuffed back into third in Turn Eight. Almost getting it back in Turn 10 , Tigert never again got a chance to take and kee p second. Klinz ma nn , feel ing the effects of trying to ru n two back-to-hack 30 mile races in o ppressive hea t an d filthy atmosphere, had pulled off on lap fo ur while in fourth, to collapse into a chair in his pit garage. The race ended with Clo ugh havin g the biggest lead of his recent career, to no one's surprise - he had been turning the fastest laps during 'prac tice by several seconds. Ron PIerce picked up more POin ts towards next year's AF~I Number O ne plate by winning both Open GP and 250 GP. In the Open/350 GP run, it was a giant runaway for Pierce on his TZ 700 while Steve Mallonee (TZ 700) had his hands full keeping in fran t of Bob Glenn Billings (Yam 41) and Tyson Branyon (Yam 310) dice for second 250 Pro d uct io n while Wally Karpynec (Suz) leads. Branyon passed Billings, caugh t Karpynec, and won the race on the last of eight laps. End icott (TZ 250) - Bob ro de his 250 in the 350 class. Wh en straigh ts a ppeared, Ma llo nee wo uld leave Endicott behind like an RD she dding a baffle, b ut in th e first several turns of the backfield Bob wo uld make it all up and be in a position to pass. J ust when he was, another straight would po p up and again it would be like a b lown fuel hemi faci ng a golf cart at the d rag s. Endicott makes one wo nder wh at he could do with a big bucks ride. The extreme heat took its toll in the 125 ·200 GP race. Mike Baeder (Ya m) snatched the 125 lea d, with Phillipe de Lesp inay (Yam), Jim Key s (Yam), and Pedro Gallinucci (Yam) snapping at his heels. As their two-strokes screamed down the main straight in excess of 100 MPH Baeder and deLesp inay's Yamaha suddenly went radically "off song." Keys held the lead for a lap, th en Pedro moved ahead for good . Third place Joh n Weed was gaining o n the lead e-s, b ut his Yamaha b lew, leaving th ird to Robert Rief. Exotic singles took the first three pl aces in the 200 class in the hands of Ralph LeClercq (Due], Dick Pearce (Gree ves Grav estone), an d Larry Coch ran (Oss) , Wally Karpyn ec 's Suz u ki led th e 250 Product ion race for all bu t one lap . That one was the last lap , givin g Tyso n Branyon (Ya m) t he win. Do n Unger nar rowly edged J o hn Ch erm a k in t he 200 class, and Tom Maguire and his Bill Silver Replica Honda dusted off all the 125 Production class en trants ridi ng street bikes with an excep tio nal ride. • Resul ts in Resul ts Section.