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/126061
; ... . . • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • ·w • • I: Desert hotline ~ t 1.0 eO) .It was more hearts and desert flowers fo r Bo b Balentine as he wrapped up another ORA desert win . It:s beginning to look as if he's unbeatable in ORA co mpetition . 250 Expert Tom Schell, they don't call him Roadrunner fo r no thin'. . . DRA: Yet another Balentine day By Dale Brown ADELANTO, CALIF., AUG . 15 Bob Balentine (400 KTM) picked up th e lead shortly after th e start and went on to dominate th e Am at eur/Expert class o f the DRA Europ ean Scrambles, winning with a big lead . Dave Woo d, Cordis Bro oks, Bill Conroy , Phil Stum bo ' and Balen - .' 24 t in e were close toge ther at the smokebomb, but Bale ntine had the Ie ad by the tim e the race hit the first check. Stumbo seiz ed his engine at th e afore me n ti on ed ch ec k. Broo ks (25 0 Bul) and Conro y (4 50 Vil) bat tle d, with Conroy ahead at the end of th e first loop . The Footh ill Cycle R oadrunner , Tom Schell (25 0 Suz ), moved from behind Conroy an d Bro o ks to ahead of bo th o f the m o n the next to ur o f th e eigh t-mile co ur se. Brooks also go t by Conroy , who was destined to drop out later, th e . victim of m echanical failure. Balentine, who turned e ach of. th e five loops in II minutes, was into the finish with a handy lead over Schell. Brooks finished soon after that for third overall and second 250 Expert. Tom Kelly (250 KTM) had a poor start and spent the rest of the race battling worn swingarrn bushings while moving up to fourth at the fi ish, third n 25 0 Expert . Mo nte Lee had another good race, rounding out the top five on his 25 0 Yamaha. Chris Kal len (400 Yam) was in next for second Open Expert. Prosperous " Pete" Shep ar d (400 Yam) took , seventh and third in class in his last race before moving to No rth ern California. Mike Johnston (360 Vil) took eighth, with Fre d Strong in next to win the small-bore class on a 125 Yamaha. Gus Paull (4 00 Yam) battled 'with Gordon Schmid (40 0 Yam) for the Senior victory , and triumphed with his tenth overall fmish. At 13th, "Mon te Lee took the Amateur win on a new 250 KTM , with Ron Richey (250 Hus) right behind for second Amateur. Mark Struve (250 Yam) led the first two loops of th e 250/Open Novice rac e on ly to crash on the th ird. Steve Rivett (360 Hus) moved from ninth, to fourth, to th e lead on th e t hi rd loop and he won ove r Bill Callen (400 Yam) . Doug Rion (2 50 Bul ) fin ishe d third an d won his class. Joe Rayl e J r. (125 Ho n) j um ped into the lead in the 0-200 Novi ce clash . On th e seco nd loop, Peter Vo ight (125 Yam) came fr om th ird to p ass Rayle . On th e third loop, the t wo p assed and repassed each other, with Rayl e finally em erging the victor. Darren Pritche tt (Yam) was th ird. J ohn Gregory (4 00 Yam ) won the Senio r class at fou rth ove rall an d transferred to Amateur. ' J olene Payne ( 175 Yam) won th e Powder Pu ff Novi ce class . The 250/0pen Beginner class was dominated by Rex Bonham (4 0 0 Yam ) fr om start to fin ish. Riley Duncan (3 70 Suz ) was in ne xt, follo we d by 250 cl ass winner Scott Duncan (S uz ). Grant Hammond (250 Suz) rounded out the top four in his first race in some time. Gene Borgdoff (400 Yam) . won the Senior ~eginner class. Willi Beller waited until the early leader dr opp ed back ' with a flat and then went on to win the 0-200 Beginner race ahead of Bill Eas ley , Eric Caynak Malkan. All were an d Liam Yamaha-mounted, Susan Goade (175 Pen) fin ishe d we ll in fro nt of the other Powder Puffs. Donnie Beginner Morrison (Yam) won the-Mini class after a great battle with Kelly Kline (Yam) . Kelly returned later to take third Novice Powder Puff on the same 80cc machine. In co n t rast to what's expected of the desert in summer, there was a ch illy wind blowing all weekend with clouds passing overhead. _ Resu lts in Results Section.