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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126051
Steve Holladay and Wayne Cook finished off their mini Baja vacation by working their way to the finish. Don't know how much cash they got, but they eamed it.
Bill Schubert. who had teamed with
Rick Blom on a 125 Kawasaki. was one
of many riders waiting for his teammate
to appear. Blom had passed through
check two in good position. He was
never seen or heard from after that
point. Schubert. who was anxious by
11 :00 a.m, was still sitting next to the
radio at 8 p .m, waiting for some word
on his missing partner. As it turned out.
Blom had been stuck with a flat tire and
after no word for hours. his pit crew
took o ff looking for him. picked him up
and headed for San Felipe to rescue
Schubert from his endless radio vigil .
Although the course was considerably
easier than some of those previously
held over the rugged Baja interior. most
of the riders agreed it was more fun as
well. Bill Friant. who teamed with Jack
Orndoff on one of many Yamaha
TI500s entered. had time to spare at
San Felipe. Friant was flown down to
the half-way poin t after handing the
bike over to Orndoff at check two. Bill
said. "It·s an easy course. I only have to
slow down for the turns. Lots of roads.
It was pretty tricky though. early this
morning, heading into the sun with all
that dust. Jack is riding the worst part
of the course. so far. " Minutes after our
con ver sa ti on . Orndoff rode into the
pits. handed the bike over to Friant and
headed for the landing strip to be
shuttled by plane on to check six where
be would take over to the finish, What a
way to race.
Strange things happen at the Baja and
this year was no exception. For
instance, the "Dirt" film crew was
filming the event via helicopter. They
had also -en tered a rider. Dick Hansen.
Unfortunately . Dick went down about
two miles north of T res Pozos at 10 :00
a.m, An emergency call went out to a
medic crew located about 12 miles from
the acciden t. They immediately arrived
on the scene and administered first. class
medical aid. The crew was reluctant to
'move Hansen because of a possible
severe neck injury and requested
emergency air transportation asap. The
"Dirt" film crew landed their copter
near the injured rider. was notified of
the emergency call. but refused to
transport him to a hospital claiming
they would miss out on too much of the
race. An hour and a half later a privately
owned Cessna 180 landed on a dry lake
p icked Hansen up and carried him off to
a hospital in Brawley. California.
Luckily. he had not broken his neck. as
was originally suspected. but the results
could have been disasterous. That film
better be good.
Outside of Hansen 's injury , only one
other report of serious injury came from
check six. Nick Quackenbos was down
and at last report he was resting as well
as could be expected with a cracked
wrist and ankle injury .
,
Mint 400 specialist Jack Johnson
teamed with Scott Harden to bring
another Husqvarna into the finish,
capturing fourth overall, first 250cc and
under honors on a stock 250 Husky in
9.14.25. Husky's win chain was finally
broken as AI Baker and Gene Cannady
brought their Long Beach Honda
sponsored 410 Honda into the finish
two minutes later at 9.16.29.
Eric Jensen and Carl Cranke passed
up Bad Rock and boogied their 125cc
Penton to a class 20 win in 10.10.71.
As mentioned earlier, this year's
event was the largest in SCORE's
history. Over $180.000 in purse and
contingency money was up for 'grab s.
388 off-road participants were, elgible
for a share of the cash but only th e
fastest qualified, Roeseler and Bakken
earned
approximately
$1 ,519
in
payback cash. Clark/Utsey earned $759.
These amounts do not include posted
con tingencies and are unofficial and
approximate
at press
time.
No
controversies marred this third running
of the Baja In ternacional and no
protests were in effect.
Bob Ballentine teamed up with Max Switzer and KTM for the 415 mile Baja.
RESULTS
CLASS 22 (2 S1cc & OV E R ) 1. Larry
R oe