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/126043
5 M j f Desert hotline Septembe r. He was the youngest rider to turn "Expert" in Las Ve gas and the only 60cc Expert at the age of nine. He was small in size but well liked and a competitor. He won 't be fier ce for gotten as tong as there are bikes with kids io rid e them. The ten mile ten lap course was rel atively flat and well laid out but weeks of prerunning and no precipitation cre ated a silt that without much wind caused visability problems. The 87 degree heat didn 't make i t an y more comfortable. It was Kevin Davis and Dan Winebarger in the 105cc Expert class on a Yamaha finishing in three hours and 5 2 minutes. Michael Welch, 83cc Amateur, watched his b uddy Ricky Lamb get off about ha lf way out, to be taken by helicopter to the hospital with three broken ribs and a punctured lung. ·Ge t better soon, Ricky. • Results Gassin' it through wind and dust on the longest and roughest Mint yet. TibblinlJohnson take Mint 400 Jack Johnson co-rode to his second st raight Mint 400 victory. I By Dick Kaye LAS VEGAS, NEV., APRIL 25 As the absence of wind made it difficult in running the Mini-Mint on Saturday so did the presence (approaching a small gale) make it tough on Sunday. Jack Johnson, teamed with 39'y ear-old Rolf T ibb lin , finished 41 2 miles of rock and sand and wind to win the motorcycle 400 on a 360 Husky . Tibblin had several get-offs near the Valley of Fire, losin g over five minutes, but had nothing but praise for the course layo u t and .markings. Both Tibblin and over-SS Bill Putnam (Husky ) felt that good co nditioning and preparation of bike and body rat her than blazing speed were the key features in their respective wins. Johnson, 23, won last year's motorcycle portion of the S I 00,000 off-road co ntes t while Tibblin , the former world motocross champion from Sweden had cap tured ba ck-to-back Min t titles in 1972 and 1973. Whe n Tibblin won in 73 it was Johnson who ·fmished a close second. Only minutes behind Johnson and Tibblin were Larry Roessler and E.C. Bakken (Husky ) and the team of AI Baker and Gene Kannady (Honda) . Mitch Mayes, who shared the honors with Tibblin in 73 was forced out of the race this weekend when he fell during practice Thursday, breaking his collarbone . Johnson's partner, Mark Mason, also dropped out at the last moment and sin ce Johnson had switched from the Yamaha he won with last year to Husqvarna for which Tibblin works, the match-up was ideal. It was the longest and toughest course than any previous Mint, which coupled with the wind ' left bikers fmishing in the money as late as 9 pm. Kevin Davis , who won the Mini-Mint the day previous, fin ished third in t he 175 class having to ride two hours plus in the dark . When asked what he thought of the course Kevin noted that the blowing wind co vered up rocks which made thei r presence known o nly when hit. The d ust storm didn't help air filters either. Three ho urs after the winners finished. only a dozen of the 10 2 starters had co mple te d four lap s. The trio, Johnson. T ibblin and their. Husky 360 worked almo st perfectly until Tibblin had h is bad spill on the fourth and final lap, suffering a severe blow to the head wh ich would send him to the hospital. After taking the fall. Tibblin made it aro und the course to 105 EX PERT: K ev in D avis/Dan W in eb ar ger (Yam ) : Ro b bi n Ha rris/Jerry Ra msay (Y am) ; Joe L OCk h ar t/M i tch Pay t o n (7). 83 EX PERT: Paul Emerson{To d d Kut cher \Yam); Troy Fitch/Arthur D eleon (Y am) ; Jo Iy Dee/Mark Murphy ( Yam). 63 EX PERT: Rick Herbert/Wayne A rn o ld 8Ya m) ; D ary l Folks/Jeff Phillips S u z) ; D an n y Enc/nlaslSea n Ste ele (SII). 1 5 A MAT EU R : Mike McLeod/James Bry an (Suz) : Eddie Pierce/Alex Long (1) ; Mike HewelljEddle sa xton (Yarnl. 8 3 A MAT E UR: D ee D e cateS/Kim Api n 9 (Yam) : Michael welch(,JOhn Harshma n (Han); Jill Mcilrath/Sue We sberg (7). 65 A M A T E UR: Garret T o m sl k /Dav id Hickey (Yam); M i chael A ndr ess/Ash l ey Cook (7); Rod Wagner/Gary H o m m (ind). 105 NOVI CE: Fre d He itzman/Marty WOOdbUry (Yam) ; Eric CruzjBell T ay l o r (Yam) i Jona than Jensen/Darren BlitsCh (Yam).83 NOVICE: SCott Atch inson/Kelly Kline (Han): Paul Krause/Oren Beck (7): Phillip Means/Pamela B lak e (1) . 65 NOVICE: Billy Bosch er jBre t Fox (1); Mark WllliamslTodd Garban (Hon); A:udy D lc k ln so n/ Ao be r t Randall (1) . Ogilvie's got the Spirit! By J. Kinnaman RED MTN., CAL. , APRIL 25 WEBC _ . where Johnson was waiting for t he fm al leg. Tibblin/Johnso n surprised experts by finis hing t he race in less than I I hours. Their total elapsed ti me was 10 ho urs 59 .97 mi nutes, beating by some 10 . minu tes the second p lace team. Befo re the y carted h im away to the ho sp ital, Ro lf said, " I' m too old. I didn't plan to • ride an y more ." Results HEAVYWEIGHT : Jack Jo hnson /Ro l f T lbbl ln (Hus) ; Larry Roessler IE.Co Ba k k en (H us); AI Baker/Gene Kannady (Han ). 176-250 CLASS: R ic har d Bun ty/ L eroy K y ger ( Y am ) ; Max Swltzer/Mark K nudsen (Yam ); Gene D u rh am / M i k e A her n (1). 175 A ND UND ER, ea r l Cr anke /Er ic Jensen ( Pen); Mike G a sk i ll / T o m Bolton (C-A); Kevin Weich/Kevin D av is (C-A) . 38 AN D OVE R , B ill Putnam/Art Knap p ( 3 6 0 Hus); D ic k Vlck/Nils USsery (3 6 0 H us ) ; Sm o k e Bo m b GaetzJMarty Reid e r ( Y am). It was a sunny, windy desert day for the Simi Valley " Spirit of '76" Hare and Hound , At 9:00 the banner dropped fo r the Experts and Amateurs race. Bru ce Ogilvie led at the bomb, about tw o and a half miles out, bu t had so me difficulty with his bike's ti ming. Ogilvie was forced to stop and make repairs when his bike fouled a plug which turned over the lead to Mike Edmonson. Edmonson, however, had . problems of his own. At the first che ck his tank card had to be retaped after flying off his bike. Edmonson had retrieved the card and carried it in his mouth until it co uld be secured. Meanwhile, ba ck in the race, Ogilvie was running abo u t 20 th, but co ming into the pits he had narrowed the distance between himself and Edmonson to ab out seve n bikes. Ogilvie played catch-u p with expe rtise . He passed Edmonson h alfway thro ugh th e second loop to ca p ture a well -earned first overall. Marc Cart wrigh t came into the finish third o verall, second 250. Max Eddy stretched out his lead on the other Division II bikes to fmish fourth overall with the next C bike seven positions later, but still in the top 20 . Mike Matlock finished second Division II bike with Jeff Lambson hot on his heels to take third. J im Beardsley was third in Division I, taking fifth o verall, directly in front of Steve Eckardt, who came in second Heavyweight Expert. Ken Pillars followed one position later, to take third Heavyweight Expert. Ninth overall, David Rogaczewski, nabbed the first Amateur position in spite of a blown tr ansmission which caused him to complete the second loop in fourth gear. Rick Vaugan fmished 18th overall and second Heavyweight Amateur. J ody Belknap grabbed the second overall Am ateur posi tion and first in the Lightweight Division I. Second 250 was Tim Fitzpatrick, who rode the last 20 miles on a re ar flat . Chuck Green took the Division II Amateur victory. . In the Trailbike Division, Chu ck Cartledge took a not-so-surprising first Expert Trailbike , being the first and only en try . Cartledge had no Trailbike competition for 50 more bikes. Steve Webb took fir st Am ateur Trailbike with Mike Vornpran close behind. Jerry Carson finished first Senior with a good lead o n Ramon Lowe and Ross Massey wh o came in second and third, respectively. Dawn Grant rac ed away w ith a win in the Women's Expert Division, while Debbie Graziano fmished first Woman Amateur only eigh t pla ces behind. In the Novice race, the overall winner L.E. Teebken also took the"honors of first 250 Novice . Ed Winn edged out Ted Overholt for second Novice and first Heavyweight. Joe Crayle, Jr. was first C bike Novice, wi th Ru sty Blake finishing as first Trail. The course was, as promised, fast and fun. The first loop was primarily fast, while the second loop offered a varied terrain. Several road crossings provided interesting ac tio n for spe ctators and much acti vity for flagmen . The Bicentennial fmisher pins were a worthy reward for those who battled the desert dust and strong winds to the fmish . • These two are onthe right track at the Simi Valley Hare & Hound. Mini Mint in memory LAS VEGAS, NEV., AP RIL 24 Over 115 mini males and rmru females (no mini thunde rpussys) lined up in nine .rows (one for each of the 63, 85, and 105cc and Expert, Amateur and Novice classes) to compete in the th ird arm ual Mini Mint Wor ld Championship Cr oss Country team ra ce . One of the original boys to try his luck at the first ra ce three years ago was eight year old Freddie J o hnso n . J o hn son wen t on to be come the first boy to wi n t he Mini Mint twice in a row and had he lived, this y ear would have tried to m ake it three. Freddie and his fathe r, Bill, were killed in an automobile acci den t as th ey were returning from a race in Southern California last 9