Ironi cally , a p air o f tr ansplanted
Eu ro peans ra n one-two in t he Open Pro
cla ss. Forme r Wo rld Champ ion Rol f
500cc
pushrod
TIbblin
(whose
Husq varn a ex -wo rks ride sat on d isplay
in the p its ) sco red th ree -one to finish
one point off the pace set by y o unger,
springier Gunnar Lindstrom (o ne-t wo) .
The
tra ck
had
been set up
deliberately rou gh to keep th e speeds
down (it did ; m an y of the 500
Sportsm en were circula ting in first and
. seco nd gea r o nly) and to give the folks a
wo rk ou t. It di d that, too. A total of 103
responded to th e challenge , man y of
whom
h ad
eithe r
built
special
mach inery for t his race or had dredged
so met hing up o ut o f t he cavern s of
histo ry (like Dick r.liIler 's 19 57 Vela,
the oldest bike there). A strong
co n tinge n t of CCMs was o n hand, a
ro aring mo b of Hondas, and even an
early- released Tf5 00 Yam ah a wh ose
rider fell down a lo t.
Th ere was a t hree -en try side hack
exhi bition th at was amazing in its
audaci ty (i m agi n e Ca rlsbad at it s
gnarliest and try to visu alize sideha cks
go ing fu ll t ilt o n it ); and a totally WFO
Mini exhibiti on class th at seemed to
prove the yo ungsters had a better
power-to-wei ght ratio than their elders.
Steve Walker scored two -on e to win it
over Scott Meyers (o ne-t wo) in an
all-H o nda field.
The 125 Sportsmen we re every bit as
berserko as any 125 m otocross class
normally is. J ohn Feck to o k a walkaw ay
in both m otos, styling for the ca meras
(see ms all the lo cal mo ta -press was
there ). leaving the real racing to Randy
Sch walenb erg,
Pop
Cycle 's
Brad
Zim merman, Bruce Barsu mian, and Bob
Tryon . First 125 mota , Feck holeshot
everybody and was gone . Out o,f the
00
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Bob Sanner, J r. and friend Mellilo hoo k it past the finish line.
Hacks on th is track are unbelievable .
Gunnar Lindstrom, ex-Husky ride r from the 01' country,
K
flies for Dirt Bt e:-
What you can do with a Triumph twin, if you're '
brave like Larkin Wight.
Engines weren 't all that went thump. This dry, powdery, bowl-shaped berm was particularly deceptive-this guy hit it high with too little speed and flopped .
Jack Hateley and his ex·fireroader 650: "Can't sit down, it bounces you back up again.
Can't stand up and hang on to it either. What I need is a big tall cushion . . . ..
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