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/126069
Hackers have it hot & heavy O'l ....-4 l-< IlJ ..c o ..... u o By Lane Campbell RIVERSIDE, CAL. , ocr. 2-3 Anyone who left Riverside Raceway right after the National missed a truly unparalleled experience a large and feisty field of roadracing h acks in a race t h a t went r i gh t t o the la s t turn in the d ash for first place. Two t op. C di t f sc onng ana Ian e arn s, o ne ro m the East, one fro m the West, we nt ho t and heavy th e entire ten lap s . (was it rea lly o nly ten?), as .th e O".tan o-b ased team of Greg Cox /BI ll D avid son on a R.C. Engineering Kawasaki 1000 just edged ~ ritish Co lum bia 's finest, Western Champion s Larry Co leman /Wen dell Andrews (Suz 75 0) after go ing slam-bang through lapped traffic to do so. The BiD Blau/J ack Hart Kawasaki ou tfit holeshot t he fiel d and led for o ne lap over Cox, Coleman and th e Lougee /Gipe team ; but th e to ll of high-sp eed ac ro batics began to tell on everyone's coordi natio n. Gradu all y Co lem an and Co x p assed, pulling away to~ether, . leavin g , L?ul1e;/Gipe a so lid third, whil e Blau s rgm t ion w en t away about m id-race. Meanwhile Ron T horne m oved h is Suz uki kneeler past Tony Masella/B ill Bry an. who were giving th eir Honda, one of the few " sitters " ( tall er than kneelers hen ce more of a handful) a tremendous ride. Fourth lap and Cox powered the big Kaw past Co lem an , leadin g the screamin g Su zuki rig through the Esses . But though t he Ontario team had th e power, they we re having tro uble p ulling fift h gear ; so th ey we re unab le to break d raft. Col em an hung o n dogged ly, and en tering t he do wn hill left turn seven, braked and dove u nder Cox , takin ~ advantage of th e . fact that he - was "chair down" (i.e., chair on the right outside, m ak in g him more stable tu rnin g left), while Co x 's monkey BiD David son was havin g to hang off mightily to p revent wheel lift on their " le ft-c h air" rig . Then it was sh ift, hang off and bl ock through th e left o f tum 7A. Masell a and Doug Katilla (H on kneeler) were now d icing over fifth/sixth behind Pat Man ske /M ike Parken son (Ka w ). These three h ad at or ano th er slin gshot on e t ime Lip an ovich /Ca llaw ay 's Su zuki. Ru nning well back and provin g to be a h andf ul was the d ou b le-e ngine d (you read righ t ) 1500cc Kaw of Ian Flannery/S teve Quinn, seem ingly o u t o f it , but soon to figure in a bi g way; as the leaders cam e up to lap them. Coleman aga in slipped n ea t ly u nder the slo wer rig entering tum 7 in wh at lo o ke d likea deft blocking m an euver. But Cox wasn't in th e m ood to be blocked; and powered th e black droop -snoot Kaw rig ar ou nd o u tside in pursuit, Going by, Davidson, trying to hang off, gu ard his head, and keep the th ird wheel do wn all at once, shou lder-b locked Fla nnery har d enou gh to kn o ck hi m o ff! Q ui n n hung on as th e dr iverl ess Kaw did o ne flat sp in into t he roadside mud while Flannery rolled on the grou nd alongside. Lu c kily , both were able to p ick up and push off after the race ended. Less lu cky was Tony Masell a, wh o : lost it abou t wh er e Steve Baker had co me off in tu m nine ," clou tin g the Armco barrier. He was hospitalized th e followin g day to check possibl e leg injuries. Under the wh ite flag, st ill lappin g traf fic in the hacker's tradi t io na l rough-and-tu mble sty le, Co x shadowed Col eman, wai tin g for th e final turn, th e sw ee pe r turn ni n e , where he would again be ch air-down . With Col eman 's rider And rews ha ngi ng over the apex to the ri gh t, Co x we n t left, ou tside , throttle on : correc t ing wi th a slide, and go t the drive out o f the turn t o win . He and Dav idson only co llec ted S I 00 for the win (t he trip alon e co st them S700) ; but from a spec tato r's point of view , they and the o th er 14 sid ehac k te ams h ad made th e d ay 's show. (Above) Early leaders Blau/Hart. (Below) Duel of the Canadian Champions. (Inset) Sideways , smokin ' and wheel off. Not too shabby, guys. Results " 1. Gr~ X/Bll l D av idson ( K aw ) . 2 . Larr y CO Co lem an ende ll An d rews (Su z ). 3 . Wayne L o ugeel ary Gipe ( Hon) . 4 . Ro n Tho rne/? (Suz ) . 5 . Pat Manske/Mick Park enson (Ka w ) . 6 . D oug Kat ill a/Pat Dun n (H on). 7. Bob McGu ire / Brad F ulker (Hon ) . 8. Ji m Ll panov ich/Joh n Call aw ay (Su z ) . 9. O swa ld Au er /Ste ve H uff (Kaw). 10. Cr aig Marx /Ken Fors ma n ( Suz ) .