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/126033
Why is this man smi~ing? Pat Evans holds up his 165 pound (dry) Husqvarna project road racer that-he hopes to finish in time to run Loudon this year. More pix and story on back page. BY PAPA WEALEY Da vid Maltais, our European correspondent, sent along a list of motocross bits n' pieces. CZ ride r Zde ne k Velky will comp ete in th e 125cc class this year with J aroslav Falta returning to action on a 250cc CZ after reco vering f rom a liver operation . As was men tioned in an earlier Poop blurb, both Willi Bauer and Ja ak van Velthoven will be o n Open class KTMs, Jaak with support from the Belgian importer. Hakan Andersson has signed with Montesa to ride in the Open class. Bengt Aberg will still be on Bultaco, although he doesn't know what his bike will look like, yet. A new engine and suspe nsion are reportedly in the works. Suzuki has asked their Brit ish importer to come up with a 250cc class GP rider. Arne Kring, happily retired and running his father-in-law sport shop in Sweden, is do ing a lot of skiing and plan s to ride in Swedish Championship events . Bultaco's Yrjo Vesterinen , who calls Finland home yet lives in West Germany to cu t down o n travelin g time to trials events, wo n th e opening round of the World Championship Tri als series in Ireland on February 15. Vest erinen , who won 19 of the 36 trials meets he compete d in last year, topped Mon tesa's Rob Edwards and Bultaco teamma te Charles Cou tard of France. I Bob Hay es, a 0-37 rider active in National Outdoor Coalition and land use planning, has announced his candidacy for the Califo rnia st at e assem bly , runn ing as a Republican in the 39th District (Upper San Fernando Valley ). The fore goin g brin gs .up an import ant point - any other active bik e folk wh o are running for office, give us a holler. What better way to get a handle on the politics of our region than by elec ting a few of our own ? It may not be common knowledge that there are two legal defense funds in Southern California. One is t he umbrella Co mpe tition Motorcycl ists fund , subscribed to by 0 -37, 0-38 and ORA. The other is the San Gabrie l Valley MC fund , set up specifically to cover costs of filing for and reviving the Barstow-to·Vegas race . A second "Baja de Saddl eb ack " race is scheduled March 2 7-28, on a five mile course at the popular cy cle park. Watch out for wayward door-slammers; the organizers expect hordes of them to enter the close -in car /b ike event. From back East we get the word that AAMRR (the 01 "alphabet soup" club ) ' has aff iliated with the AMA for 1976; and inte nds to host a number of AMA-sanctioned road races in addit ion to its co-sanction of the highly successful Can-Am series outside the AMA umbrella. District 37 Spo rts Committee will join other groups in en dorsing a 1977 Rand Area cleanup, and will split the sidehack division into over and under 500cc classes. It was also anno unced that the Associa ted Blazers of California is sponsoring a cab in restoration project in the Kennedy Meadows area July 4 weekend. 2 Was that Billy Uhl we saw entering Penton Imports in lorain , Oh io, last week ? .J .J UJ al Q. ~ C( u z s...__... UJ A m e n d m e n t s to th e 1976 AMA National Motocross Series schedules have been announced by Mike DiPret e, AM A Manager of Profes si onal Motocro ss. The final amendment to the 1976 motocross schedules involves Castl e Point Motorsport Park in New Castle, Kentucky, wh ich cha nged its 500cc National from August 8th to August 15th. The schedule changes were caused by a change in venue for races originally scheduled at Appalachia lake Park in Bruceton Mills, West Virginia . Promoter Dave Coombs has moved to Appalachian Highland Motorsport Park in Keysers Ridge, Maryland, where he will promote a 250cc National on May 16 and a 125cc Nat ional on July 4. The August 15 500cc National at Bruceton Mills has been canceled and replaced with an Augu st 8 500cc event at Baldwin Motocross Par k in Baldwin, Kansas. Pat McCaul is at horne resting after corrective surgery on his popped shoulder. He's looking to be recovered in t ime for the f irst San Jose Mile. A benefit for crip pled kid s is set for San Jose's first 0-36 Semi-Pro/Sports man half mile . Unfortun ately it 's the same day , March 21, as the lOO:lap .TT at Ascot. How' d th at happen ? Second and third d ivision speedway will open in J une at South Bay Park Speedway, Chula Vista , run ning Saturdays. Word has filtered back that Russian motocrosser Evgeny Ribaltchenko was killed in an auto accident in Russia nearly a month ago. Western Coordinator Steve Riley , lance Weil, Mel Denison , and CN's lane Campbell have been appointed to serve as a Competition Committee for W/ERA's western region. The group will act as a bridge between riders and the W/ERA organization. W/ERA did no t run its sche duled 200-miler at Willow, as both Steve Riley and SoCai rep Lance Weil agreed, neither the organizers nor the riders were ready for it. The event will be rescheduled, so you would-be endurance road race rs st art building quick-dump ca ns.