Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

; ._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._.-._._._--._._._._._._._. 1:1 ~ Western hotline . E Larry Kosta's front wheel comes off the ground going into a tum in the first lap of the Scratch Main at South Bay . Buffington won it. Big Mac's day at De Anza By Ann A, Powell SUNNYMEAD, CAL., JULY 11 An extremely short hill at De Anza, a hill as yet unnamed, proved to be 300 feet of the steepest, roughest, unbroken, o ff 18 camber trail ever attacked I;ry a bike. The smallest bikes, the 125s, did fairly well for the first 40 feet, the distance the hill had been cleared, but from that point on things went from bad to worse. Steve Stith's winning run of 130 feet was something worth cheering. The value of his accomplishment became even more apparent when the winning run turned in by the 175 class was a mere 100 feet and even the highly modified 250 class only re ached 165 feet. Kerry Peterson, riding his super stock 400cc Maico, first managed to top the 200 fo ot mark with a score of 221. Even in the Open class, only Ron Standeven on his monster Honda could best Peterson in the first round, and then only by 10 feet. Round two of the climb saw very few riders better their earlier run. But Kerry Peterson, running a paddle tire, again took his powerful Maico to ne w highs. He came to a halt at 240 feet, higher than anyone so far. Finally it was back to the Open class . Ron Standeven was determined to take that big Honda right over the top. With a groan, Standeven and the Honda came to a stop at 243 feet. It beat the previous high mark, but there was that rough struggle getting the bike back off the hill. Righ t behind Standeven in the line up was Cliff Lamb. Lamb, new to hillclimbin~, had built a special Harley and given It a spectacular work out in June at the Saddleback timed climb. Lamb's bike had the biggest engine, adn the load of chains on the .re ar tire assured him of traction. His first run had been a big disappointment, but hill climbers have a second chan ce and he wasn't going to blow this one. Lamb roared off the line. It looked like the crowd was in for a treat . .. the fITSt (and probably only) over :wa~ coming up . Just below the crest of th e hill the big Harley bucked like an unbroken pony and headed for th e sidelines. He was out of bo unds at th e 265 foot marker. It took Lamb and five other men to bring the big Harley o ff the hill . Last man to mak e a ride in the Op en class was Neal MackeL Mac's first run was a disappointing 190 feet, despite the fact that he was sporting a super paddle tire on his shiny Triumph. He came back for a second run without that tire. It had been obvious all day that the advantage went to those with paddle tires and chains. It looked like Mac was just making a run to get his entry money's worth, with no thought of winning. Mac took off from the lin e, not even pushing the big Tri to its utmost. He smoothed over th e ruts dug by earlier bikes, picked up steam in mid hill, then proceeded to romp over the t op like a Sunday fun rider. Neal Mackel sh owe d that he co uld never be co un te d out by walking away with top brass in ye t another hillclimb, this time on an almost uri-climbable hill. He msut have something no on e else h as discovered. and wh atever it is , it sure works! • Results in Results Section. AMESummer Series rolls on By Ted Titmas VALENCIA, CAL., JULY 9 AME's Friday night Helmet House Summer Series continues with large entries in all Pro and Sportsmen classes. There was some super competition in the 500 Pro class as Tom Claire, riding for . Peskey 's Suzuki, grabbed the holeshot followed . by Rick Hatfield, Dave Haugh and Andy J annings. On the third lap, Haugh (Mai) continued on his winning way, managing to pass Hatfield with Jannings now in third place. Jannings (Mai) followed close behind as Haugh attempted to catch Claire. At th e end of the first moto, it was Claire in first, Haugh second and, in spite o f a broken brake rod, Jannings took third. In the secqnd 1IIO,t9. 1;Ic;n.s clle. P\"l'~&ed to &«t the holeshot, fo llo we d by llaugh and J annings, Haugh soon p assed Hens ch e and Hensch e dropped back to third giving t he number two sp o t to J annings. In the mean time Claire had fallen but wa s n ow tearing up through the pack, regainin g fourth . The chec kered flag took Haugh fo r first and first overall. J annings finished second fo r a third o veral l and Tom Clair e th ird for a sec ond overall. The 250 Pros put on a great race with co n ten ders. Kenny Zahrt, Hal Strauss and Dave llaugh all going hard for the win. Strauss (Mai), with second place finishes in both motes, proved that consistency is equally as important as a first place. Haugh (Mai) won the first ' mo to proving his talent is well balanced. Jim Trassano (Mai) surprised everyone by taking ' the holeshot in the second moto, followed by Strauss, Haugh and Zahrt on . his Mid -Valley Ossa. On the second lap , Hau gh fell and Kenny immediately took o ver th ird. Strauss continued to catch Trassan o but this st ayed was .h o w th e ' posi tions throughout the race. Strauss too k the overall, Kenny sec o n d ov erall and Haugh third. • Two Kingspass the matches By James Brammer last we ek he ad van ce d to th e Second Division class with a Hl-y ard handicap starting position. Ted Cheek, also co rning from the lO-yard handicap : fi ishe d second while Robin Hood n moved up to third from a ' 50-yard handicap . Riders handicaps are based on previous wins. Actually it's a dual race program since the same rid ers ge t to ride in scr at ch racing, without handicaps. In Junior Speedway action Louis Kossuth, from a 50 -yard handicap, won while Jim Richardson won a con te st by I passing Scott St. John for second. Popular "Bonzai" Wayne Ishii cut his foot to the bone in a collision. After the impact, that severely warped his front wheel and blew his front tire, he rode the bike upright the length of the track co ming to a stop on the infield. Kent Benander won the Third Division Main with previous winner Roy Fanner in third. Another previous winner in the third division , Tom Burba , was the onl y rider to finish the Third Division Consol ation ra ce. • Results in Results Section. Bales brot hers bombard Elsinore n By Andi Gangewer ELSINORE, CAL,JULY 10 SAN DIEGO, CA L.,J ULY 17 Larry Kosta defeated Buffington in their Kin g Hill match ' race by Buffington on th e inside Bryan of the passing during the fin al lap at South Bay Speedway. But the new King's reign may be brief. 17·year old Buffington will challenge Kosta next week due to a win in tonigh t 's Scratch Main. Riders in the final were close as the dice between Buffington and Kosta, going for second position, developed while Robin Hood was leading: At one point Hood slipped to last and Kosta led, but a t the finish it was Buffington and Robin Ho od breezin g by Kosta for second. Pat Guthrie won the Handicap Main. previous professional racing His expe rienc e in flat track seems to help. After a win in the Third Division Main j The Novice, Amateur and Expert minis all rode to gether in a combined class, which made for some good racing and close competition. The beginning moto it was Novice John Bales and Amateur Bobby Garabedian up front scuffing over who would get the honor of King of the combo class . Bobby led the others to the finish line , leaving Benjie Meyer (Expert) and Jeff Eary (Amateur) nose to nose at the line for second, but Benjie grabbed it away. In the second moto, Bobby pulled an acrobatic act right off the line, and the race was restarted. J im Livingston hit the dirt on the first tum and the race wa s aga in ' rest arted. Four riders were trying for second and in the commotion Bobby go t sho ved way to the outside arid onto th e be rm . Jay Bales took the ch ec ker ed.

• Cover