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/125988
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Write for details and prices on 'machine shop improvement of CZ and other d irt bike componen ts for racing pe ak performance ! II'RITE FOR FR EE B ROCIIURE ••Accesso ries for Jawa DT 500 - Dirt Bikes : ' full line of speedway cycles & parts . II.EMA IL O R DE R : - moto rcycles - parts & accessories - mach ine shop pans rework & modification 8 Jimmy jams Appalachia By C:larles Morey DID alloy rims FEMSA transistor ignit ion MDTOPLAT innerrotor super Texan Kent Howerton h ustled hi s Hus ky t o a firs t moto, first lap le ad. BRUCETON MILLS, W. VA. , MA Y 4 Team Yamaha's "Jammin' Jimmy" Weinert scored a victory in his first 1975 250cc National, turning in an outstanding performance on the muddy Appalachia Lake Park tr ack. Weinert won two out of three motos (one of them a . , . qualifier) to ed ge Maico nder Steve Stackable 's 3-1. showing in the day 's overall standings, Strange as it seemed, the AMA qualifyi ng m eth o d for this year put not only Weinert, ' the number one motocross points leader in 1974, but also such notables as Pierre Karsm akers, Marty Smith and Gary Semics in the pre-race qualifying he ats. Only the top twenty in th e previous y ear's 25 0cc stan din gs and the top ten transfer in this year's 25 0cc class p o in ts battle are sp ared running the extra mo to. After fo llo wing semi-supported Honda rid er Mickey Bo one for hal f a lap in the firs t qu alifi er, Wein ert blast ed b y in t o the lead and stre tche d it into a thirt y sec on d advan ta ge b y th e e nd o f the ten-minute round, The second qualifying leg went to Ka was a ki 's Gary Semics who dominat ed th e ra ce from tu m one to the chec kere d flag, Sem ics was followed by Mike Kessle r an d Pie rr e Kars rnakers. Given a sec o nd chance af te r cras h in g in his qu alifier, Ho nda te ams ter Tom Croft won t he conso latio n m ota with ease. ....'hen the gate dropped fo r th e first 4 0-m in u te -p lus-t wo-lap m ota, Huskies Kent Howerton shot t o the fro nt shad o wed closely by Mar ty T ripes. Gary Sem ics held third over DiStefano , Grossi and Karsrnakers. Tripes followed for a lap before forci ng his Bultaco past Howerton to spearhead the pac k th rough th e next couple of lap s. By th e fifth lap, Marty had dropped back and was on his way o ut for the m o t a with gear box fai lu re . Jimmy Weinert had jam me d hi s way up from 11th pl ace starting p osition and grabbed the lead. Billy Grossi was berserking his way aro un d th e muddy rutted cou rse in second, a fe w seconds ah ea d of a Pierre Karsmakers /J ohn Savitski baili e for third. A three way struggle fo r fifth was be ing waged between Howerton, Jimmy Ellis and Steve Stackable , Both Stackable and Ellis had drawn poor startin~ posil;ions, 17th and 21st, but were slash in g qwckly toward the front, Ellis became the eventual victor of the three way fight, and several laps later worked up past Grossi into a distant second pl ace be hind long-gone Jim my Weine rt , At the end of the first fo rty-five m inute round Weinert rolled safely across the line foll owed by Ellis , St ackable, Grossi, Savitski, Karsmakers and DiStefano, " I m ade a few mistakes," Weinert admitted, but with the e xcep tio n of a last lap spill that he re covered from quickly, the errors were obvious only to _ Jim. "That's mo tocross, " Weinert added when questioned a bo u t the first class Appalachia Lakes circuit, ", . _almost lik e Unadilla. " • Jimmy Ellis, al th o ugh not e ntire ly pleased with his latest Can-Am listed his only problem as "trying to stay on th e bi ke, but I didn ' t fal l and nothing's bro ken. " Considering the im p re ssive com e-from -behi n d ride Ellis put in, th ere's a lot of pot ential for Bombardier, Ltd.to keep th e 2 50cc title in 1975. Billy " Suga r Bear" G ross i fell off fo ur ti m es in the first round but still rated the mota as being " o ne of the funnest ra ce s I ever rode, " Billy sai d he had trouble pi cking go o d lin es in p ractice, b u t on ce th e ra cing began everythin g so rte d itself out ' and the Te am Su zuki rider put in a great ride. Steve Stackable also fell " th ree or four " times. UM y eyes are all o u t ," Steve added, from all the m ud thrown back by the riders he'd passed. He didn 't realize he'd made up so m uch ground until a signal from the pit c re w sh owed him to be near the front. With that incen tive, th e Maico rider held on to finish third in the openin g mota . Kent Howerton, who'd led the first lap , had been slowed b y a flat front tir e punctured on th e sharp hillsid e ro cks. John Savitski, an up co ming Pennsylvania rider m aking one of hi s Somewhere under there is Pierre , best showings to date, earned his fifth in round one after cras hi n g midway through th e moto and nursing a motor th at was "breaking up . _ , hardl y ab le to pull up th e hills," Pierre Karsmak ers seemed to be having difficulty putting the Honda's pip ey power onto the ground. Rain during th e p revio us wee k had turned Dave Coombs ' b ea u tiful t ra c k in to a 6-8 in ch de ep layer o f sti c ky mud over a hard slick base a difficult co mbination at best. Karsm ak ers ' injured kn ee , re-injured in a p ra ctice acciden t since th e origin al cras h, als o kep t th e Team Honda lead e r from performin g at pea k abi lity. If th e fi rst moto was exciting, round two was a com ple te m ind-blower as the lead swapped back an d fo rt h al m os t with every lap. As more and more rid ers (incl udi ng the 125cc Support class) che we d through th e m ire, the few bad spots go t worse and worse, One mudhole in p articular on the back side o f the co u rse drew an ap p re ciative mud spattere d gathering of spectators, A ditch t hat h ad bee n relatively easy to cross earlier in th e day, developed into a bike grabbing monster by the second se t of motos and ac counted for many of th e cha nges in leadi n g riders. It was Suzuki rider Tony DiStefano who showed Kent Howerton, John Savitski, Billy Grossi and Steve St ackable through the first lap . Then, John Savitski passed both Howerton th en fellow Pennsylvanian DiStefano to take the lead near th e end of the second lap ,