Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Berry's last lap cou p By lane Campbell GARDENA , CAL ., SE PT. 20 It was a frustrating nig ht for the girls (both of them) and a rewarding nig ht for J uni o r Tom Berry, who ca me from a second row start to w in the combined' J unio r/ Expert Final un der the white fl a g. No vice Dan McWho rt er tu rned an expected co nfrontation with St eve Eklund in to a ru naway wm. got an overdue Handicap win For Novi ce Deb bie Reon, it was an especially fru strating nigh t, fo r she ha d served no tice duri ng her h ea t that wit h a strong bi ke under her, she co uld b e a forceful , aggressive rider. Mayb e too for ceful, for app aren tly unaccust om ed to the horsepower of h er borr ow ed Yam ah a twin, sh e nearl y had to lay it down in the so u th tum to avoid ru nning up Jim Wright's b kside. She lost a -ac position on th at exch ange, but on t he next lap blew by tw o riders in One swoop to take seco nd for a sh ot at the Novice Semi. In th e 'Sem i, the jinx struck . Comi ng off the line, · it felt as th ough th e throttles were stic king. Deb bl ew a co uple of sh ift s in a row, tr ailed th e pack into the first comer, the n with th e throttles still intermittently sticking, dogged it o ut for a lack-l uster fin ish. Junior Dian e Co x came d own from Oregon lacking on e point to make Exp ert th is year. Unabl e to ma ke the t ra nsfe r o ut of h er heat; she co m m en te d, "Boy, it seem s harder with one poin t to go th an it was with 40 to go." Her Dad , thinking about the coming J un ior / No vice Invitation al, was already voici ng a few p lan s: " May try to trad e mo torcycl es to get he r a scooter th at will run a little harder. It's a good IT thing, bu t it's not mad e to run wit h th ese kind of bikes .. . these guys really go." In th e Novi ce Main, Steve Ek lund, choosing th e ou tside pole, holeshot everybody for the dive into the south tum, bu t Dan McWho rter tu cked un der him an d was alread y p ulling away fo r an unch allen ged lead as they went up th e bac k straight. Murra y Hoffman, after working in th e h ar d way th rough the Sem~ survived a p lace-swapping d uel with Brian Ga rcia for third. It to o k som e joc keying and a recall by the st ar ter to ge t the Tr ophy Dash o ff in 'good order, ' as an eager Rob Morrison man aged to sneak in a sem i-rolling s tar t to bea t everybo dy to th e south turn. Tom Wh ite tried to lay a litt le surprise on Morrison on the las t lap, bu t Rob spotted ' him in the no rth t urn and out-po were d h im to the checker . Morrison again dr opped the h ammer on everybo dy in th e combine d Main, an d ap peared to be running away wit h it as the res t of the field bunch ed up in a d ogfight behind him. J unio rs Wal t Fos te r and T om Berry were at it hammer an d tongs for second in th e ope ning laps, then Ex pe rts Tom Whi te and Ron Powell inserted themselves in to th e m elee. M orrison had strung out a l O-h ike lea d . Fost er dr opped out on about the fifth lap a nd Berry started to wo rry at Pow ell from every direction. As their battl e grew fier cer (som etimes two or three pl ace swaps a lap) th ey drove up hard behind Whit e. Berry got Powell bottled up behind White and blew by outside both of them on the back straight. Now all three were closing Morrison, reeling him in lap by lap as Powell managed to get under White and stay ahead for third. When the white flag came out, Berry was right on Morrison's tail with Powell becom ing a threat. Berry started to go inside on the south tum, sensed Powell's presence and instead dragged the outside cushion to get a power drive down the b ack straigh t. Th e move wo rked, for Berry and Pow ell blew by Morri son on either sid e with Berry b etter se ated for the north tum. His m omentum carried him first to the fin ish. • Recommended reading fr.om Cycle News Products ORDER THESE BOOKS How to Win Motorcycle t uning for performance Motocross Tells you everyth ing ta ught in Ga ry Ba iley 's raeing schools. An sw ers all t he q uestion s about equ ipment, starts, corners and rough stuff, whoops and dow nh ills, mud and pass ing, and ex p e r t t ricks . A gr e at $ 6 co nfid ence -b uilde r. 1 76 u p -to -da te pages. over 300 il· I ust ra ti o ns showing ho w to get the maximum speed, torque a nd gearing out of your present setup. Also advice on trick mod ificat ions. This books plus your owner's man-$ 6 ual is all you need to go fast. The Boonie Book New, second edi t ion expl ains how to ride the dirt, make your bi ke work f o r you , tr ick s of maintenance, safety and what to do for many happy tankfu ls of trail rid ing joy . 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