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/126048
-. motorcycle racer who happens to be female. I've watched her ride the Mile the great sep arater of men from bo ys, according to legend. I say she 's the stuff of whic h "first eve rs " are posted and record boo ks are rewritten . She 's got sty le , she's got speed, she's go t co urage. Th e two things that have hel d he r ba ck are her equ ipment and the fac t that she's too smart to get herself hurt over-extending th at eq uip me nt. She is no flu ke , no overnigh t PR flake 's creatio n, no fragi le too tsie who makes a brief publicity appearance and then shi nes it o n. Th e girl, still in her tee ns , has pai d he r dues; ra ced lo ng en ough and hard enough that o nly a han d fu l o f AMA Experts are st ill clearly her superior o n eq u ivalen t machinery . If she were still at it in her mid-twenties, I imagine even that qu alification wou ld vanish. Why , then , have so man y bon us b abi es co me an d go ne while she still scratches for co mpetiti ve equ ip men t and expe nses to mak e a few of the close-by Nationals? Do I detect a male-dominat ed motorcycle industry heirarch y th at would be embarrassed if she ' climbed on to a really first-string motorcycle at their expense an d blew a few cherished notions into the weeds? Where a re a ll the pushy , publicity-hungry, brazen promoters of bare-knuckled womensports? Are their mouths (an d their checkbooks) zippered be cause Diane's not a libber? Hey, I've watched so many marginally co mpe ten t females pussyfoot into male-dominated lines of work (or play) amidst lavish hoopla. And here 's Diane, th e excep tio n who is genuin ely co mpeten t, sitting on th e rail watching Rex p op th e co rk , joking wryly abo ut the choice she'd be faced with if she had won - kissing Ms. Cam el or kissin g Ro xy, I as k her if she 11 make it to Ascot for the IT. She say s, simply, " No , I'm afrai d n o t ." She lo ves IT. She cut her te eth on IT. Bu m me d? That 's not the word fo r it. !FREE ~WHEELING I'm bu mmed. I hate to get owly and ou t of sorts, especially sliding into post-deadline let do wn after a big National. But during an otherwise fine San J ose Mile, what should have been a sim ple footn ote t o a rac e -repo rt , just another DNF, was the straw that tweake d the Camel 's back. • No th ing mu ch really. Just Dian e Cox. She came down to San Jose and qualified 27 t h fastes t in a 4 8-rider program th at nearly a hundred AMA Experts tried to . make, on a Triu m ph that sounded like it was rattling its death throes in the time trial. Midway through the third heat, whatever her hopes for this ra ce (one of how many?) cam e coasting to a silent halt, with a cracked cylinder. A lousy cracked cylinder. It's hard to believe, isn't it? The on ly lady AMA Expert, the rust and only female to break into one of the tightest groups of sports professionals. And ti me after tim e she goe s ou t there , backed by all her Dad and her local sho p can do , with th e help of a few sponsors like Torcco and KRW, to race eq uip me nt th at acts like it was wo rn o u t whe n it hi t th e trac k. Hey , I'm not knocking her presen t supporters. I suspect they 've helped till it h urts, trying to keep ab reast of a tough , co mp etiti ve, - expensive sport that's gobbled all they go t to give . But th at 's n ot th e point. The poin t th is jaded wo rld seems to be missing is th at this lad y is t he genuine article - a cap abl e, intelligen t , seaso ned AMA Expert pro fessional Lane Campbell " Doing il in Ihe dirt" I.S.D.T. QUALIFIER 4/ 10/7 6 BI RM INGHA M. ALABAMA Te am Ossa 4th Overall Charlie Vincent - Gold 3 rd in 3 50 cc cla ss Ron LaMastu s - Gold Earl Law - Gold 9th in 250 cc class Dave Hulse - Silver Dick Jun g - Bronze I.S.D.T. QUALIFIER 5/15/76 OLYMPIA. WASHINGTON Ron Lavlastus - Gold 2nd in class Earl Law - Gold 5th in class 250cc NATIONAL QUALI FIER 4/11 /76 ALLENTOWN. PENNSYLVANIA Johnny Gurga - 2nd Overall LITTLE HA RPETH NATI ONA L ENDURO 5/8 /76 NASHVILLE, T EN NESSEE Herluf Johnson - 1st 25Ucc class • 250cc NATIONAL QUALI FIER 5/9/76 CHESAPEAKE. VIRGINIA Kenny Zahrt - Ist Overall Johnny Gurga - 3rd Overall 250cc NATI ONAL 5/2/76 BURR OAK, I LLINOI S Herluf Johnson 'A' Medium class 4ger 100 MILE NATIONAL ENDURO 4/25/76 SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA Steve: Keu ll - 1st in 25 0cc class & 3rd Overall -; See your Ossa dealer today for the buy of the season.