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/126026
EWestern hotline ~ District 'racin g at Rawhide seems to be the last bas tion of civiliz ed motocross in Southern California, with such near-for go tten things as traction, in teresting but not suicidal terrain, and gen tlemanly conduct mu ch in evidence. Mike Stearns and Allen Coo k did some head-up pl ace trading in 250 Ex/Am racing while Chuck Pettigrew and Chip Howell ran one-two in Open. Open Amateur Tracy Walters (Kaw) blasted everyone off during the Open Ex /Am start, fading to abou t third or fo u rth overall each mota but still well up on the rest of his class . Sue Fish won the Women's Division after early leader Johanna Stenerson's Yamaha appeared to develop severe rear rebound problems. Gary Graham (Yam ), Jim Walthall (Kaw) , Dave Ewing (Han), and Mike Anast (Han) all trop hie d in a fu ll 125 Novice class race ran du ring the afternoon. ' Meanwhile, over the ridge, Elsin ore Raceway was opening the Distri ct's scramb les season on a m ixed not e . OUf intrepid reporte r, still operatingon the o bsolete notions that motocrossers get a u t of bed earlier than scramblers, arrived just as fo lks were loading up after a whirlwind GO-rider program. The Jackrabbits went home (wi th the results), m ost of the fla g crew went home, but open practice continued u n til one young mini rider came wheeling out of" the starting are a in fron t of the p ack co m ing out of th e scoring tower turn. E Gary Semics elliptical bermshots brought him t o t he edge of the wor ld and 250 victory stand. -' . By Mike Yada Renewal around Elsinore CARLSBAD , CAL., JAN. 11 By Lane Campbell Tripes tries again Gary Semics brought a pair of Kawasakis to CMC's first Carlsbad race of the year; but co uld only muster up a 250 Pro win, as Marty Tripes came on to show the way in the 500 Pro class on his Bultaco. J ohn T essitore pu t on an exce llent show in the 125 Pro 8 class, top ping Dave Car lson after th e Franda b lew a nice hole through the cases. Marty Tripes, grabbing the holeshot in the first 500 Pro mota , led Gary Semics, Val Tamietti (Mai), and Wayne Boyer (CZ) all the way to the fin ish, Semics lost hi s big green ma chine's pipe halfway through the mota and Tamietti threw a chain, allowing Boyer to take over sec on d. Tim Lunde (Mai) worked his way up to Boy er on th e last lap, fo rci ng him in to the fence over th e diopoff and ca ptu red second at th e finish . The second mota looked mu ch like th e first. Tripes won by ne arl y th e same margin he had worked on in th e first m ota, rewarding him with top cash, followed in ' th e overall by Wayne Boy er, Tim Lunde, and David Gerig. Clark J on es' lead on the 250 Pro p ack didn't last long as th e ignition on h is Maico fizzed au t, allo wing Dave Carls on (Mai) to ge t b y, with Val Tamietti (Mai ) hot on his heels. Carlson soon ran into bad luck, and took a tumble over the little drop off enroute ,to the uphill, letting Tamietti by for lOp spot. Gary Semi cs had cau gh t and passed eve ry rider in sight, ex cep t for Dale Anderson and Va l Tamietti. Semics made a q uick move around Anderson , bu t Tamietti was too far ahead to catch. Mota two got underway with Anderson out front , Tamietti and Sernics close behind. Tamietti whizzed past Anderson aro und the , " ledge" and Semics followed suit, zapping Anderson out of the hairpin co rner. Semics decided to make his move, taking the lead in the backsection, he worked up a well-spaced lead, edging au t Tamie tti for the overall with the final mota win. ELSINORE, CAL.,JAN 4 With two of the three tracks in the area under new m anagement, there's a sense of new beginnings (and old problems) in the valley between Elsinore and Perris. Rawhide Park, open again, hosted the first D·37 points motocross of the season , while Perris Raceway threw a non-pain ts scrambles, much to th e chagrin of Fortunes and the people who did make. it to Elsinore Raceway for the first district points scrambles. Two riders at Rawh ide str iking the classic "Don't look back .. ." pose. Jeff Foland, CMC 500 Pro winner. '76 CMC Opener at'Saddleback By Joel Jam ieson O RAN GE , CA L., J A]':' 4 Sp orting their '7 6 CMC numbe rs, Davy Carlson, Marty Mo at es and J e ff Foland all put toge ther wins tod ay with Carlson takin g 125 Pro cash, Moat es co llecting t h e 250 win and Foland out-riding the 500 Pro s. Davy Carlso n , in his third race aboard th e Franks machine, led off the first 125 Pro mo ta follo wed by three DG Per forman ce riders, J im Doman , Gary Denton and Broc Glover. Right aw ay a battle de velops he twe een Carl son and Doman for first while DG fas ties Den to n and Glover go at it for secon d. Do ma n ta kes co ntro l o f first with Carlso n go ing to second. Whil e all t his is h ap p en ing, Mark T ye r, also of the DG cre w, has m oved up to fo urt h. and keep s on m oving up to first. Glo ver's clutch p roblem s and Denton's sna pped cha in p ut them o u t for th e mota . The secon d mo to is off with DG Perform an ce helme ts in the top four sp ots. The order read: William s, Gl over, Dom an , an d T yer . Carls on tu cks into fourth o n th e opening laps while Williams and Gl over wager a battle for first. The battle co mes to an end with Williams out. Glover now has a big lead