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/125978
Local hotline cont'd. BCACombo-X Sunday, March 2 $500 purse > a: a: IJJ III Z Guarant eed for Experts all classes IJJ " IJJ Paybacks: 1st place $80, 2nd place $50 , 3rd place ~25. 4th place $15. ~ -; Malcolm liste ns to A. C. Bakken while Bob Maynard displays crea t ive use of duct tape. Gates open 7 AM . Sign-up open 7 AM. Must be signed up 1 hour bef ore each class starts . Th is is the third ti me Sm ith entered the So bo b a Gr an d Prix and he says it's one of h is favori te co mpeti tions. " I like Grand Prix because it's a challenge not knowing what's ar ou nd the next curve . I'm in it for t he fun. As an Amateur, I can race when I feel like it, pick my own kind of competition, (he doesn't like road racing or m otocross) and maybe that's why I'm still in it." He's been racing 17 years. Smith wo n the Soboba the first time he ran it; broke last year and almost diOO'1 make it this year. T wo days before the race he was sic k in bed with the flu . He final ly go t up - ' his cycle was all apart - he put it back together, to o k a practice spi n an d he was rea dy to ' go. The 33·year o ld Amateu r m ay seem like he's ready fo r the Old Tuners ins tead o f th e Experts, b ut to the young Ex perts, he 's still their gre ate st challen ge and Sunday he looked like he 'd outrace t hem for a few y ears to come. Sm ith was prepared to fight it out with all of them , including Tibblin, whom he considers a great r acer. He wasn 't expecting Ba kk en to replace TIbblin - and Ba kken also h ad his eye on the trophy . It looked as though he carne in a go od fo urth. Another "character" that Smith won 't move over fo r is the guy they call " Crazy" David Aldana. He was in the runn ing fo r several laps b ut didn 't quite m ake it. Scorers don 't expect to h ave th e com putation of the winners fo r at least a wee k an d confess there co uld be a sleeper th at started la te but made up the ti me . • Smith regains '73 title of Soboba GP By J. M. Eikenbery SANJACINTO, CAL., FEB . 16 Malcolm Smith didn't let a bout with the flu deter him from recapturing his '73 titl e in the Soboba Grand Prix from last year's winner, Jim Fishback. Favored by far in the crowd of more than 2,000 that showed up at the Soboba Indian Reservation, Smith (Hus) was out in fr ont a t the start. Fishback (Yam) closed in an d the two battled it o ut trading the lea d back an d fo rth throughout t he 13.5 mil e rou te with Fishback in th e lead as th e tw o came in to the second lap - only a cycle length ahead . Fishback held the lead for several mil es but lost it before the third lap wh en Sm i th regain ed hi s position and kept it thrp ughout th e remainder of the 10 lap course. Fo llowing m inutes behind were Bob Maynard (Yam ) and A. C. Bakken (Hus) who replaced Rolf TIbblin on th e starting lin e. Surprise late entry an d squeezed into the 86th Ex pert spot o n t he line was the Fly in' Hawaiian, Jo hn De So to . A frie nd talked him into t he competition "for the fun o f it. " Smi th , known for h is determination, speed and q uic k wit on both car and cycle tracks, paced the pack wi th Fishback noticeably fighting fo r his 135 miles o f title. Riders had continuous flats, bumps, hills, curves and water holes that comprise the Soboba Reservation track. DeSoto was madly pushing his Ossa and flying by most of the Expert class contenders until by the seventh lap he was five minutes behind Smith in actual lime and one minute behind him in race time. Fishback lost his second p lace lead to DeSo to but was catching up. It seemed be fo re .the last two lap s that the race was between Smi th an d DeS o to . But Fish back was no t o ut o f the running. He was sp in ni ng aroun d in record time an d by t he en d o f the r ace it was Smi th by a mar gin and no one knew if Fish bac k o r DeSo to was sec o n d . Spill s, breaks, forced pit slo p s, slowdowns an d fa tigue knock ed down the original 532 invitational entries to few m ore than 100 that actually co mplete d the 10 laps. Most of the breaks occu rred during the cliff climbs whic h rose to 2,450 feet and the n spilled into th e old water hole. 50% fantastic trophies same day $3,000 Rider Medical Insurance will be in effect. No membership required. Entry : Jr. PP, & rninicycl es $10 Post . Expert $ 15 Post. 12 noon -125 & 250, 1st race & Open Expert 9 AM - PP. Min i & 1 PM - Sidehacks 100 Jr . 10 AM - 125 Jr. 2 PM - 250 Jr. 11 A M - Old Timers 3 PM - Open Jr . On new Shadow Glen T rack 3 number plates & silenc ers requi red. Each race runs 45 mi n. Appro x. 3 mile course. Jim (1) Fishb ack squirts dirt, and is that Dave Alda na with him? H and ~~ ~ cl: o cl: o " R id ing W u t'lab le. .... . " e Slay u " a: Ot n m", O IU ,'Ou l. "o; Ct1. Soft • _ ~ ~. ~ ~ R ~ c i ng Hodak. DKW Maico _ _,," • St,eet G LOVES cl: 1 8 2 2 1 L.ud IOW S t N o. tr.... do;e , C. 9 1 3 2 4 O•• le < InQu " ' otlo In","eG (21 3) 36 3 ·602)0 19