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/126010
IIOD ntarDS AFl\I RO AD RACE r-... l-o By John Ulrich (1) ,.Q o ..... ONTARIO, CAL., S EPT . 21 u Gary Nix on today to ok seco nd place in an AFl\I Open GP race dominated by big-name professionals ou t to ge t practice before the u p c o m i ng AMA National Champ ionship . It was Nixon's first race since he was seri ous ly injured while testing a works Suzuki in J ap an 15 m on ths ago. " I' m getting th e muscles back in shape ." said Nixon after p ractice. "It loo ks good." When t he nag fell, Nixon led off th e line and almost for a lap . Pat Hennen (Suz ), Wes Cooley ,Jr, (Yam) , and Steve Baker (Yam) fo llowed in clo se order. By the end of the first lap lI en nen led , Baker followed, Nixon held third with John Boote (Yam), Warren Willing (Yam ), and Cooley trailing. Willing an d Mike Darke (Yam) passed Boot e. D arke dropped out, Boote and Willing wen t at it in a thrilling di ce , and Bak er p assed Hennen . Pa t Hennen regained th e lead, then q uit. "It started to overheat and I figured I m ight as we ll stop wh ile I was ahead, " sai d Hennen . Willin g dro pped au t near th e en d of th e race wi th a broken rin g, an d th e fin al order was Bake r , Nixon an d Boo te. Bob Endicott used a TZ250 to place sixth ove r all, just behind Rich ard Seifried 's 350 and Richard Williamson 's - TZ700 . Nixo n said later that he was riding his Loudon bike, the rear brake did n't wo rk, the handlebars weren't righ t, and that it slid around a lot. "This on e has ali ttle m ore steering head an gle than th e o ther one," he exp lained. " In one co mer I h ad my foot down, third gear, th e wh o le thi ng." He disp lay ed his right arm , rippled with scar tissue . " It isn't qu ite all heal ed yet, but it hasn't co me apart ." When Nixon attempted to re turn to racin g earlie r this ye ar at Daytona, a pl ate in one arm came loo se - he cal led it a " sec o nd elb ow" - during p ra ctice , keeping him fro m racing. " I'm glad I came d own fro m Can ada to run it ," said St eve Baker, "j u st for th e practice. I feel a lo t better for the National n ow that I've go t some tim e on th e track . I didn 't get to run th e Na tional h ere last year," Of his battle with Henne n Bake r related , " We bo th we ren 't riding real hard, sliding the tire s an d stuff. We were having fu n and t rying to learn t he racetrack ." When John Boo te, who took second at Laguna Sec a, tr ied to enter the race e arlier in the day , a minor AFM func tionary tol d h im he could not ride because he had m issed the n ew ri der pr ogram (a school fo r beginne r AF M r i d e rs ). Fortunately the iro ny was ir one d out. Boote later com me n ted on the race itse lf. " I'm glad I'v e gotten gearing sorted ou t. It was fun . but th e pe ople who run this should kee p up on what 's going on in ra cin g," Absen t from th e Open GP clash was R on Pi er ce . sc heduled to ri de - a " f o o - b ar" (p a ra ll el o gra m) r e ar suspension KR7 50 Kawasaki. Pierce crashed and broke several bones in one arm, shoulder, and his foot during a 250 GP race that Steve Baker also won. Bo b Endic ott followed Bak er in th at rac e. St eve McLaughlin, who mis sed Open GP wh en his Yam ah a sei zed on th e wa rm-up lap , won Open Produ ct ion after s t a yinz in fron t - some times o The Mcl.aughlin-Neilso n act (above) co ntin ues to play in Open / 750 Produ ct ion at Ontario, with ne x t repla y (maybe with a suntc he roo t] Oct ob er 5. Below , Gary Nix on was definitely back on f orm. and th is tim e th e plat es in the arm sta yed put. barel y - o f Cook Neilson 's Ducat; 75 0 the en tire ra ce. But McLaughlin (Kaw 900) said later th at it was n't a race at all. " It was just for fu n. Th ere isn 't any reason to race before a National. I wan na race against Yvon DuHamel and ReI{ Pridmore, who keep getting cre di t for being t he fas te st Producti on riders. Th is was jus t for fun. " Neilson felt differently. "If I co uld have gotten in front of hi m in the infield somewhere, I co uld have hel d hi m off. But he rides those bikes real ly well. " , Ru dy Galindo moved 12 points closer to his seco n d AF M Number On e titl e after Harry K1inzm an n crashed heavily wh ile oracticin g on a bo rrowed 125. Having broken two toes, K1inzmann did not race, and Galindo now has a co mman di ng points lead. 31