Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

1 WINTER-AMA ROUND 3 • Hannah wrestles Gatorback By Jim Gianatsis G,\ IN ESVII. LE . FI.A .. F1-:IlRUAR Y 15 A ho tshoe Californ ia b oy and a tall, lanky .veteran from T ex as du eled it out in th e hot Florid a sunshine , locked in ba ttle for almo st tw o 3D -min ute m otos, When th e che cke red flag fina lly sliced th e air at th e end of the last moto, rookie Bob Hannah flashed his Ya maha acr oss the finish lin e a scan t five feet a head of Steve Stackab le's Su zu ki. For lI annah, it was h is th ird consecu tive win in the Open class o f th e Fl orid a \\' in ter -AMA Se ries . Suzuki rea ped reven ge in the 250cc Professiona l class as To ny DiSte fano ca me fro m behind in b o th m ot os to take th e class win and hi s secon d victorv of the Series. G a t o r b a c k P ar k near Gainesvi lle p ro vid ed riders wi th wh at they called "the roughe st tr ack so fa r" in th e thi rd race of the: five ra ce se ries . C onstructed around an 'o ld q uarry. Gator back gave the riders more th an th e usu al d osage o f Florid a sa nd. 250cc Professional R oo kies were cleani ng h o use in th e Op en class. an d it began to loo k as if they wer e going to d o the sa me in the 25 Oc c class as t he first 30-m inut e fea tur e m oto got un derway . S uzu ki 's Danny LaP ort e fro m Y ucca Vall ey , California, qu ickl y jum pe d to th e lead as Ken t Hower ton an d Tony DiStefano jam me d up into second place an d b egan ban gin g h andlebar s. Dan n y actually be gan pu tting m o re an d m ore d is ta nce o n Ke nt and Tony D. each lap as he p ulle d away wi th fi rst po sitio n. I t was h is first race eve r o n a S uzu ki RH 250 wo rk s bike and he was h ighl y p u mped ove r the op po rt u nity t o ride it. T he bike h ad b een slated for Bill y Gro ssi, bu t Bill y 's b roken leg h as ye t to heal eno ugh to let " S ugar Bear" resume racing. Dann y co n ti n ued to pull away fr om every o ne fo r eigh t lap s, th en co mi ng off a p ounding landin g fro m a hi gh speed j u mp it h appen ed -j ust as it happen ed t o R oger DeC o st er at th e Liv erm or e Trans-AM A . The fr ont fork assembly snapped off upon im pact o f landin g, firs t h avin g cracked at th e upper magnesi u m tr ipl e cla mp, th en breaking co m p le tel y aw ay whe n he landed off the j u mp in fo ur t h gear. The un derside of th e bike j am m ed in to th e gro und and p it ched Dan ny fa ce firs t into a sand landing. Luc kily , h is J OFA m outh gu ard to ok m o st of th e ab use an d Dan ny was ab le to walk awa y fro m th e crash wi th o n ly m in o r face lacer at ions. Tony D . pu lled awa y fro m Ho we rt on to tak e o ve r the lead with h is te a m mate o ut of action . Ken t was ap p are n tly getting tired b y th e 15-m inute m ark in th e m oto an d began dropping ba c k as Jimm y Ellis m oved hi s Can- Am up to second place. Ji mm y d idn ' t stay in second for lo ng, though. as h is engine began to so ur and the pipe began falling off. Can -Am teamm ates Mike R un y ard and Buck Murp hy battled over th ird pl ace as Howerton m oved ba c k in to second , and Kudalsk i to ok co n tro l of fifth. Ton y D. easily chalked up th e win ahead of Ho werton , Runyard, E llis, Do n Kudalski in fifth . th e n Mu rph y in sixth aft er losi ng time wit h a th rown chai n. Danny La Po r te was set to m a ke a co meback for th e second m oto , but jus t bef ore the star t h is S uz u ki was fo u nd to have a b ro ken cl utch . Don Kudalski p ull ed th e h olesh o t for th e third time in as ma n y we eks . b ut hi s fate soon ran tru e to fo rm. Firs t Hower to n . then E llis a nd Tony D. mo ved o n by as Do n d ropp ed back with a n at rea r tire. By th e fifth lap Hower t on was sho t o ut o f h is sho rt lived lead b y Ellis a nd QiStefano. R ex Stat en h ad hi s Harl ey-David son up to fo u rt h posit ion at o ne p o in t before h e threw hi s chain an d lost a lap getting it back on the bike. (Above) Hannah took his third straight win in the Winter·AMA by a mere five feet. (Opposite page) The sand whoops of Florida take their toll on bikes and bods as the 5005 hit the first turn. (Left inset) Tony D. enjoys. (Middle inset) Danny LaPorte survives. (Right inset) John Savitski steps off. Jimmy Ellis had a secure five second lead o n Ton y D. , but Tony wasn' t about to try and narrow it down too ea rly in the race while J immy was ru nning fre sh . Tony h ad m ad e that m ist ake during the sec ond m o ta the p rev ious wee k at O rlando , and had cra sh ed twi ce .wh ile tr yi ng to reel Ellis in too early in the m oto. T h is time , Tony j ust h u ng bac k and waited. By th e 15 -m inu te mark in th e m o to Jim m y began to ti re.. .the track and th e hu m id F lorida hea t we re taking their toll. Tony p u t the throttle to its stop on th e vellow wo rks S uzuki and skittered past "Jimmy wi th (e n mi nutes sti ll lef t to race. Ken t Ho we rto n held o n to t hi rd position with his st o ck H usky to garner second ove ra ll for th e day . Finis hing the m o t a in fo u rt h p l a ce was Mike Runyard , then Mick ey Kessler on h is J& R Yam ah a , J oh n Savitski o n h is Bevo Fort e tu ned wo rks Maico , an d Arlo E ng lun d fro m Co lo rad o Springs . Co lorado, o n a KX25 0 Kawasa ki. 500cc Professional , " Bobb y is really great ." beamed Bill Bu ch ka, " He makes the b ike do wh at it's sup posed to do." Yam ah a' s ace fac t o ry tu ner was jus t ly p rou d . H a vi n g t un ed for P ierre Ka rsm a ke rs whe n he won the .-\1\ IA 500c c National Championship in 197 3; again, b ut u no ffi ciall y in 1974 becau se the A 1\IA changed its ru les regard ing Ame rican cit ize nsh ip : an d last year for J im my Wein e rt : it was beginn ing to lo ok lik e Bill ha d a no ther poten tial Na t ional Champ on hi s hands. Afte r a resta rt when hal f the field j u mped the gate fo r the firs t mota , lI annah grabbed the lead over " Sh o rt S tack" a nd Yam ah a teammate Rick Bu rgett. In pursuit we re Tony Wyn n , Gary Chapli n , Barry Higgin s a nd Bob Harris. Fo r the first ha lf of t he moto, thi ngs r em ai ned fairly stead y up fr ont as Ha n nah m aintained a 100 yard lead on Stackable . Bur gett bega n having o ne o f th o se get -of f da ys and fe ll twice . not hurti ng h im sel f but lo sin g tim e and dropping ba ck in th e p ack. Eight laps from the fini sh . S ta ck abl e closed up on the rear fender o f Hannah ' s O W Ya maha, bu t Bobby jus t wasn't abo u t to let Stackie around. T h e y f inis hed wi th S tackablc sti ll hanging off the re ar e nd o f Ha n nah's Yamah a. Burgett m oved ba ck up into thi rd ahe ad of McCo y, Chap lin, Ha rr is, F rancis Summey an d John A ye rs. After the first m o t o , Stac kable wasn 't a b o u t to g ive H an nah any m ore b reathing ro om as the be st race of the day got un d e rw ay. Gary Chap lin pu lled th e hol esh o t fo r the fin al m oto , bu t R i c k B urge tt had hi s Don Dude k prepared 4 0 0 Ya m aha by G ary an d into the lead before the y came aro u nd fo r the first lap. T h ree laps la ter, Chapli n was o ut of the race with m ech an icals, St ac k a b te, back in fo urth pl ace, roc keted up pas t McCoy , Hann ah an d Burgett to gai n co n trol o f th e race. Hann ah, no t wa n ti ng to let S tackable get o u t o f sigh t, slipped p as t team mate Burgett and in to second. F or te n m inutes Hannah pl ay ed c o n t e n r -t o-f' o llow with th e yellow Suzuki , but th en, with st ill close to tw e n ty min utes lef t in th e thirty m inu te m o t a , H ann ah m ad e his mov e . S tackab le wa s re ad y for h im and th e t wo began battling it ou t as never be fore see n. Hannah t ook co n t ro l of th e lead on th e wide-open d ownhill j u m p s, an d S t ackabl e p assed him b ack o n th e bumpy stra igh ts o r wh er ever he could sq uare-off a tum inside o f H annah 's 125cc style wi de lines. It was a fan tastic race wh ich had th e spec tators screami n g an d runnin g from the sn ow fen ce o n o ne side of th e track to the o the r. I t c n de d as Bob H ann ah o nc e: ag ain crosse d the fi nish lin e a scan t five feet ahea d o f Stackab lc. Ric k Bu rger t fini shed th ir d again for th e mo to to pick up t h ir d o ver all behind Han n ah and Stackable , Tha t's also how th ey now s tan d in the o ve rall se ries reSl;lt s. J o ey Gr alt on d id a fantast ic job to p la ce: h is Mo to cro ss So uth sp onso red Mai co up in fourt h fo r the m ot a behind the Natio nal sho es , foll owed by Mon te 1\1cC oy , then J ohn " .\ ction " Ayers o n his .J ane t t Sc hmiedli n tu ned T ra c k an d Trai l Ma ico . Jo hn 's fif t h o ve rall fo r the day moved him op to fou rth io the se r ies s t a n d i n g s be hin d lI annah , S tuckabl e and Bu rge t t . • Results 2 5 0ec PROFESSIONAL, 1. Tony DiSt efano 1·1 (SuZl. 2 . Kent Howerton 2·3 ( H us) . 3. J immy Ellis 4-2 (C ·A). 4 . Mike Runyard 3-4 (C oA) . 5. Sonny De Feo 9-8 (Vam). 6 . M ickey Kessler 13- 5 (Vam) . 7 . John Savltsk i 12-6 (Ma l). 8. Arlo Eng l und 11 ·7 (Kaw) . 9 . Jon Lea k 10.15 (Yam) . 10 . John Jovner 8-18 (Hus) . 11. Sam Dayton 17· 9 (Bul). 12. Bob Rutter 16-10 (Bul). 13. Ed Moor 14-13 (Ma l) . 14. Greg T hei ss 20·11 (5uz) . 15. Don Sinclai r 18-15 (Yam ). 16. J im T u r ner 15·18 (Su z ). 17. Don Kuda lskl 5·? (Hon) . 18 . Scott Jordan 19·16 (Bu l) . 19 . Buck MurPhy 6-29 (C -A). 20. Ma rk Robllard (Yam) . 50 0 cc PROFESSIONAL: 1. Bob Hannah 1·1 (Yam) . 2. Steve Staekable 2·2 (Suz) . 3. Rick Burget t 3-3 (Yam ). 4. Monte McCoy 4-5 (Suz). S. Jo hn Ayers 8·6 (Ma l). 6 . Francis Summey 7 ·7 (Suz). 7. Bob Harris 6·9 8. Joey . Gratton 12-4 (Ma l). 9. Ricky Jordan 9 -1 0 (Hu s}, 10. Charles Holcomb 14-13 (Hus) . 11. Johnny Borders 15-14 12. Tony W ynn 20- 11 (Bul). 13. Stewart Anderson 16-15 (Bul) . 14. Joe Ferrin i 18-16 (Yam) . 15. Ch arles Cooper 10-26 (Pen) . 16. Leon Brown 19·19 (Ma l) . 17 . Pat Moroney 21·18 (Hus) . 18. F . Doll ive r 23-17 (Suz ). 19. Gordon Bowden 17-27 CSuz). 20. Gary Chaplin 5-40 (Suz). rczi. raen. 7

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