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/125998
~ ...... " U UJ 0. u, u, UJ .., > 'a" VI f- a J: 0. ' In two days of all out racing Teri Kezar walked away w ith everyth ing but the owne rship to Carlsbad. Teri Kezar walks away with controversysh rouded Yamaha Womens Motorcycle Championship b ik e troub le . Last year's winner Nancy Pa yne did not ride the event an d has reti red fro m ra ci ng. On Friday the Gra nds Prix we re held o n a five mile co ur se that co ns isted of tight turns, j u mps, n ar ro w trai ls and asphalt. Many riders d id n o t rid e t his even t, beca use of t he punishment it h as o n 'b i ke and body. Th ey wanted to save it fo r th e mo tocross. One rider that sto o d out was an en try in the granny class named Patti Hu lse who rode a 5 0 0 BSA and was c he e re d by th e whole cro w d as she too k a second in her class. Th e motos ran o n Saturday and again lik e last y ear most of the excitement was in the 12 5 a nd 25 0 Expert classes . Th e first 12 5 Ex p e rt m oto j ohann a St enerson (Ho n) took the lead an d was challe nged b y Lori Watso n (Ya m) . Af ter a few laps Stenerson grabbed a huge le ad all the w ay t o the fin ish. Watson By Theresa Hannon CARLSBAD, CAL.,j ULY 4- 5 The second annual Women's National Motorcycle Championships were held this fourth of July weekend at Carlsbad Raceway. There we re a great many improvemen ts ove r last year's program , but unfortu nately a couple o f rip -offs were added. The o ne that seems to be the bi ggest burn was th at Yam a ha p a id for promot ional rights. Th is in it se lf was p retty ne at - the trouble st arted when all riders were given bibs at sign up to we ar w ith their nu mber o n it a nd in gre at b ig letter also inclu ded was Yama ha . The r id er's name wa s n olan the' bib . The c o m p la in t s st arted a t t h e first rider's meeting o n Friday with som e of th e riders sta tin g they h ad worked h ard to ge t a sponsor an d now th e spo nso r 's n a me would be co vere d with Ya maha a nd it co u ld me an th eir sponsor migh t drop them. 111ey were tol d if they did not we ar the bib t hey would be disqualified. 111is really upset a lot of riders and sponsors. 16 Sambo 's restaurants were also big contributors, but Sambo 's was not wri t ten on the bib, Sambo 's should be ap p lauded fo r th eir e ffo rts . Not o n ly did th e y h elp c on trib u te to the event, they had p ersonnel pre sent h an din g out : lillie gifts to sp ec ta to rs an d rid ers with out for cin g un d erhan d e d ad ve rt is ing ta ctics for the riders. A l thou g h t h is Yamah a rip-o ff p ro b abl y w on't h ap p en again th e damage h as a lready been do ne . Ch erry St ockton ad d e d , "I thin k we go t sold out. Your sp onsor does a ll t he work and Yamah a re aps a ll th e bene fits . If we wo u ld h ave got ten sta rt m oney th en th at 's di fferen t , but we di dn" t." Un li ke last year wh en o ne r id er (Na n cy Payne ) .d ominated th e wh ole event. th is year there were several winners. Ar izona rider Tcri Ke zar. who wo n the title of Grand National Ch ampi on , did so by a slim m ar gin o f o ne po int over sec o nd p lace fin isher Lori Watson, j o ha nn a Stenerson, w ho was a strong co n te nd er , h ad more than her share o f m echanical problems and still d id quite well. Su e Fish, wh om man y th ought would be this year's winner . was o u t of the eve n t e arly w ith took second, and third was I3-year-old Teri Bender (Yam). In the second m o t o something unusual happened. Nancy Thomas (Ho n), a n Ore gon rider, h ad b low n up in p ra ctice. Her pit cre w was ab le to ge t her bike run ning, b ut n ot u n til about halfway t hrough the firs l m oto and she was o n ly ab le to ri d e t h e finis h of the first race . In the second mo t o Nancy took the lea d while Watso n a nd Kezar di ced it o ut fo r second. Ke zar did p ass Watson once , but w as p assed back, and a lt h o ug h Watson was right on Thomas' re ar wh eel she c ou ld n't p ass her. If Lori Watson cou ld h ave passed Th omas or 'Tho mas hadn 't ridden , Lori Watson would hav e b een the Grand National Ch ampion, tliat 's how close things were. In th e first 25 0 m oto T eri Ke zar (Ya m ) dic ed it OUI with Lori Watson again and after a few lap s went on to a Starts were a rough affair w ith all riders in contention f or t h e le ad . z a z z ~ "1IIi:i~~ UJ " ::; c.:.......c;=.:..;:,~=-=IOiL:"'d-._LliI