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/125882
0.37 MX:
Down-easy
district
motocross
By John Huetter
MOORPARK, CAL., SEPT. 22
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Riding th e all too in frequent AMA
Dist rict 3 7 mo tocro ss is like visit ing an old friend. There is goo d ,
low pressure feeling to the even ts
wh en Sou th ern California spo nsman cl ubs put on wh at m ay be
th eir o nly mo tocro ss during a seaso n. T hey try t o do it righ t wi th out the br ass an d cas h-crazy intensity
n o w t oo pr evalent in th e local
mo tocross sc ene . So me ti mes , th e once a
year organizati on doesn't really co me
together . In th e case of th e Badgers
M.C.-sponsored p oints-paying moto cross
at Val ley Cycle Park, it did. It 's even
nicer to visit an old friend when there
are no has sles t o be de al t with.
District 3 7 motocrosses used to be
the most intense, knock-down .raci ng
there was b ut, as many of th e y ou nger
experts have turned to pursuing ca sh
purses wherever they may app ear , the
racing an d the racers (particularly in the
250 and Open clas ses ) h ave taken on a
more mature tone. T ranslat ed th at
me ans " Don 't knoc k the guy down and
run over him if you can avo id it be cause
you both have to get up and go to wor k
Monday." This has , in n o way,
detracted from the level of co m p eti ti o n
and the racing at Valley gain ed spe cial
importance as several district number
on e plates ar e hanging in the bal an ce of
close-fought battles. Each moto is
important now with so few left in the
season.
Silver-haired Jim Connolly, wh o h as
had mo re Number One p la tes in vario us
aspects of sportsman racing than most
people have had com p eti tion cards, is
trying to hang on to that 125 class digit
for a second year. On top of that, he is
co ntending for the Number One spot in
th e 500 class . The slight edge in t he big
bore class belonged t o Mike Hannon
going in to today's motocross. Mike is
'Bultaco's Western rep and hasn't lost a
D·3 7 mo t ocro ss this year. Nate Sciaqua
and Fred Griego are dueling fo r top
position in the 250 class; Nate with the
same battered bike he used to win the
Greenhorn enduro.
The mind-b lo wer is that most o f
these riders will n ever see 3 0 again .
Younger ri ders are in the clas ses but are
getting beat for the lo w digit number
plates by skill and consis tency . Take
heart , so-c alled Ol d Timers. Experience
p ay s.
Wom"en's racing in D·37 has gotten
co m p let ely out of hand. There ar e mo re
of them all the time an d m or e o f them
th at are totally fast . The fro n t-ru nners
look no different th an any body else on
125 cc racers which , I suppose , is as i t
sh ould be. Nan cy Payne and Ch erry
Stockton are vying for th e Numb er On e
plate in t his ca tego ry. Onl y a handful o f
poin ts is the margin currently , as in the
other class es .
The running of the Buls star t ed in
the first 500 Expert moto as Mike
!lannon sorted h imself to the lead o n
th e first lap an d held it for 25 minutes
plus one lap . Pres sing at t ime s were Ron
Blanton, a CMC pro ou t for a sporting
day, and J im Co nnolly, but they never
got ar ound and th at's th e way they
finis he d. All wer e on Cemoto, S.A.
pr oducts of 352cc displ acement. tn the
seco nd rnoto , Blanton he ld o n to a good
start an d got chased by Hannon and
Conno lly to get t he firs t pl ace decision
based o n his seco nd moto win .
The decision for th e 50 0cc Num ber
One plate will now depend o n the D irt
Digger s' Hopet own cl assic in No vember
where both Hannon and Conno lly ar e
bo un d t o o p t for motocr oss po in ts an d
go at it. J im also int ru ded h is Bul in to
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36
the Honda ranks of the 12 5 class for
th ird Expert.
Sue Fish, ranked an Am ateur, rushed
off with the overall win in women's
raci ng on a " Supe r Combat" Hodaka
but th e battle for th e plat e was back in
sec o nd and third between Pay ne and
Stoc kt o n . Ch erry 's Bu tch Linden-tuned
Bul seemed to have the ho rsep ow er and
she seemed t o have t he edge in posit ion
an d co rres ponding points un til her
motor died a few laps from the bitter
en d an d she coasted ho m e third overall
in the las t mo to . Nancy got the Expert
top spot. Sue, of co urse, had the
Am at eur win an d Marcia Holl ey was
first lad y Novice on a wo rks spec 125
Hu sky.
Sidecar mo to cro ss is starting to ta ke
o n real shape and meaning as there is
ac tual ra cing happening instead o f me re
survival of the three-wh eel ed beasties .
Most fra mes ar e no w Wasp s from Ro b in
Rhind-T u tts ' garage-factory an d so me of
t he m oto rs are getting o ut the
hor sepow er. So me teams are also
learnin g to race sidecar m ot o cro ss which
is damned exciti ng wh en it is raced.
J ohn Palfreyman is still t he grand old
man of SoC al side hack ing o n the
motocross tr ack ; s till wins regularly
with monkey J oe Gardner doing the
bal ancing act but Rich Bell and T om
Ridyard app ear to hav e learned a lot
from their bruisi ng European racing this
Tom Ridyard gets his weight in f ront of the wheel to lead the Bell/Ridyard
Honda-Wasp through the turn but Palf rey m an and Ga rd ne r are squaring
off tight on the insid e to pass for the win.
Jim Connoll y gets to Valley Cy cle Park's downh ill ahead of "Popular
Cycli ng's " George Elliot in his fight t o retain the 125 cc No. 1 plat e.
DeAnza MX
conquers boredom
By Tim Mick ey
S U:-