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/126029
NORTHERN DATELINE Lane Leavitt geU a leg up on the California trials championship. Double awards to Leavitt at two-in-one trial .By Lane Campbell PURISIMA CYN., CAL,JAN. 25 In a ' timbercut area that is "resting" between allowed harvests , P.I.T.S: hosted a two-forone trials, combining the traditional British-American Cup Trial with the first round of .the California' State Championship: Those riders going for the Cup rode three loops of a ten trap course; those going for the first round of "State" had continuous-climb Sections 11, 12, and 13 tacked onto the end of each loop and were scored in ' both competitions. That three-section climb was lo-o-ong, not insurmountable; just tiring for those who lost momentum. It took a certain amount of willpower to keep the speed up where twin erosion gullies hit a couple of strategic rock strataj . but Mark Eggar (Han) and Larry Gurley (Suz) cleaned it all three times, But that wasn't the nasty hill. The nasty hill was Five, where the good ai' hook and rope was needed; just like a down-home Class C bash. The really difficult section, at least according to Steve Darrow (Yam) , was 'F our, because of a lO-inch deep slimy rut that made it a purely one-line section. With surfaces that leaned heavily toward mud, water, slimy logs and shiny rocks, the So Cal crew had its share of unexpected ones and threes. Even a five or two. The trial was scored and awards structured on the traditional British model by transplanted trialmaster Derek Belvoir; , meaning scores posted on checkers sheets only, and the official outcome to be figured out overnight. Premier awards in both the British-American Cup and the first round State went to Lane Leavitt (Bul) , for a seven-point ride on both accounts (meaning he cleaned 11, 12, 13 all three loops, dropping his only points in the sticky parts of the B-AC loop) . Steve Darrow, who dropped a one in 11-13, garnered the only First Class Award in "State" (score 9/10) as well as one in the ' B-AC; Larry Gurley went home loaded with a First Class in B-AC, the only Second Class Award in State, and the Lane Leavitt Cup which Lane presents each year for the best performance by a non-sponsored rider. Trials of a checker: "Of all places for him to crash . . • Why me, Lord?" Frozen foot unthawed By Moto Depo PYRAMID LAKE, NEV., JAN. 18 The Desert Bums European Scrambles which should have been a cold bitter race, turned out to be, for most riders, a warm fun day.The course was very rough and dusty and I expected that there would be some injuries , but fortunately no one was hurt. The club advertised one and a half hour races and no mini 's. They received so many calls from mini riders and parents that they fit them in , but didn't inform the other riders and cut the races to one hour. This situation caused some frustration as riders pitted at the 45 minute mark and lost positions when they possibly didn't have ~o. The 125 class started at 9:00 a.m, and the night frost held down the dust some while Phil Smith (Hus) led into ..the first tum and took a commanding lead from the ,very beginning. A lot of people were wondering who that was out front. Phil is an Amateur and a couple of fast Experts, Bryon Frenya (KTM) and Kim Adamson (Yam), were trying their best to catch him. Kim had bike trouble -an d : didn't finish, while Bryon just couldn't get his ride together. (By the way, Phil won a gold medal in the Bad Rock Two Day Trial.] - The two ' top Novices had a race going. Tom Jepson (Han) was tailing Ed Curran (Suz) for the first four laps, until Ed pitted and Tom didn't have to. The Suzuki needs a bigger gas tank. Gabby Gabbert ' (Suz) came all the way from Sacramento to lead the Old Timers class from start to finish, Everyone expected to see a super race between Gabby and local super Old Timer Jerome White (Hus) but Jerome's bike wouldn't start and he was about five minutes behind when he got going. Try as he might he couldn't catch Gabby, although he didget second. Without doubt Rick Buttner (Yam) is the fastest LeMans starter in the west. .When the start flag dropped, Rick was on his bike and off with a 25 yard lead on' everyone in the 250 class. It looked as though this was going to be a Buttner Benefit but Mike Cole (Hus) had other ideas and passed Rick 01'1 the third lap. His lead was short lived as he pitted for gas and Rick didn't. Mike couldn't make up what he lost. D. Blevins was first 250 Amateur and 17