Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

i NORTHERN DATEl.I4E ~ E - ...... I-< 0.. <: • The 250 Amateur moto one comin' round at Watsonville. No time to check out the scenery this trip ... Ridgerunners $1200 series opener By Gerry Reagan WATSONVILLE, CAL., APRIL 11 Bob Grossi (KTM) got the holeshot in the first Open Expert moto but was soon passed by Danny "Magoo" Chandler (KTM) .. 26 who was, as usual, riding right on the edge of control. Grossi continued to . chase Chandler through the next four laps, not letting him get any advantage, but when they came around again Grossi had dropped back and had been moved out of second place by hard charging Charlie Halcomb (Hus). The reason for Grossi's slowing down was evident as soon as he came in sight out of the back section. He had lost the seat off his bike and was continuing to race the pegs. Chandler standing on continued to fly, winning the moto by 32 seconds. Grossi rode seven of the ·11 laps standing on the footpegs, finishing fourth behind Eric Harvey (Bul) who got him three laps from the end. In the second mota it was Grossi and Chandler again with Halcomb holding third, almost a repeat of the first mota. The leaders moved away from the other riders with Chandler getting by Grossi on the fifth lap. Chandler would pull away some on the straights but Grossi was able to control the cornering as the two flashed around the course. In the back section Chandler got in to a horrendous tank slapper about which Grossi said, "I almost pulled over and stopped right there. I don't see how he pulled out of it." Chandler went on to win the mota when Grossi crashed coming out of a turn. Halcomb rode to a solid second. The Open Amateurs were running at the same time as the Experts and the story of the day in that class was Paul Marino (Mai) who was really gettin' it on in both motos as he dominated his class and even passed some of the Experts, even though they had a 15 second head start. The 250 Expert class leaders changed places many times in both motos. Mota one was a shoe-in for Bruce Hanlon (Bul) as he led for the entire race; but second and third place were not so secure as Dennis Brand (Suz), Ron Self (KTM) and Jim Lesniewski (Bul) swapped places continuously during the mota ending up in order named. The second mota also contained lots of dicing but this time Brand held the lead and Tom Rapp (KTM) was fighting his way up. Rapp got a firm hold on second by the middle of the race and began to go after Brand, but something happened on the second to last hip. When they came out of the back section Self was right behind Rapp, getting by for second by the end of the moto. Brand, (2-1), finished first overall. Jeff Watts (Hus) got off to a good start in the 125 Expert class, moto one, while Danny Chandler (KTM) ended up in the back of the pack. Chandler began to move right away, and passed Watts on the second lap to take first. On the fourth lap Danny seized. Mike "Neezer" Marquez (Hus) and Paul Turner (Yam) squirted past Watts in the back section. Watts didn't like being back in fourth and a couple laps later he maneuvered his way past Turner with Eric Harvey (Yam) following. The moto ended with Marquez holding his lead followed by . Watts, Harvey and Turner. In the second moto it was Lesniewski all the way with Marquez moving into second and Kenny Guilbert (Hus) holding down third. Jeff Watts dropped it going around the eucalyptus tree but only lost one position and managed a fourth. Paul Turner was running a good third when his bike quit. Phillip Oveland (CZ) . completely dominated the second division of the Open Novice event, winning the second moto by a good 30 seconds ahead of Curt Wilcox (Yam). Oveland's win was protested on the basis that he had competed as an Amateur in CMC events. As of this writing the official decision has not been reached. The last race of the day was one of the most exciting as Dennis Rowedder (Hon) took the early lead in the second mota of the 125 Novice class Division 111. Hot on his tail was Rob Stuart (Hus) but on the second lap Stuart was passed by AI Draeger (Hon) who then proceeded to challenge for first. Draeger slipped by into first place and Rowedderdropped back into third behind Stuart. While this was going on Brian Bowen (Suz), who had won the first mota, was quietly awaiting his chance back in fourth place and when he saw the leaders had settled into their posi tions he began his move. He quickly went from fourth to second but was unable to catch Stuart and had to settle for second in the mota but that was good enough to net him the first overall. At the end of the first race of the Ridgerunners series it looks like Mike Marquez is leading in the race for the $1200. Right Groucho? • Results in Results Section. Sandhill honor roll By Manny Alarcon BRENIWOOD, CAL., MAR. 26 The Ranking Riders today were WFO Dave Mythen (Bul), cool Mike Bonner (Hon), jettin' Mario Perez, and smokin' Kent Woods (POW). (POW? I thou~ht they released all those guys . . . Ed.} A few miscues were Phil Douglas (Mai), who flipped; Jon Miller (Hon), who won his first rna to seized at the line; and Tim Alarcon (Yam) with a flat. The Expert 250 class was an all out performance by Mike Fizzuto (Suz) and Dave Mythen (Bul) racing wheel to wheel and exchanging the lead several times. The second mota was Dave's race as he rode the berms WFO and got the overall. In the 125 Intermediate class the cool Mike Bonner riding a new watercooled Honda, just . blew past his competition. Junior l25s had jettin Mario Perez (Yam) to contend with as he rode a solid race. His bike had excellent power as he won the second mota and this gave him the class. An unusually large Mini class proved a close race for Dave Garber (Hon) and

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