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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126071
By Lane Campbell Sw eet, Schr eiber trade SO UTHER N CALIFORNIA , OC T. 23 -24 Th e last two Pacific Region ro unds of th e AMA/NATe U.S. Trials Champion ship worked ou t to an East/West split , as New England 's Don Sweet (Mon) wo n Saturday at. Sad dleback , and SoCal ATA Champion Bernie Schreiber bro ke th e opposition 's s • IX back on Sunday. Swee t, wit h a first and sec ond fo r the wee ken d , e m e rge d with a little ex tra cush ion in the best-five point st andin gs ove r 1974 Champion Lane Leavitt and 19 75 Ch ampion Marla nd Whale y. Round Five at Saddleback Orange, CA., October 23 It had rained sp ora dicall y during t he week, so traction was prime, and there was even wa te r in " T he Hole " (Sectio n 18) . The course itself was a w e l t-r o unded " t radi t ion al" one , in corporatin g se ctions from the ill-fated International an d from _previous Nationals. Don Sw eet had it so well wired that only Lane Leavitt w as close; after one loop of 20 traps, Don had three marks, Lane had four, and everyone else was in double digi ts . The host club (ITA) had taken time and trouble to "burn in " the sections before the start, so there would be no early-rider adv an tage. What with the trace moisture st ill in the soil. most sections held up admir a bl y , with t h e ex cept ion of th e occasio nal head -sized ro ck d islod ged a nd moved to trip up the unwar y . While th e L.A. ar ea rid ers worked this ro und ("hom e rider rule ") th e San Diego clu b bers rode it . Marland ' Whaley 's first loop turned into a d isaster when his works Honda stalle d repeat ed ly on ti ght turns , co st in g him a pair of fives t o boost his first loop tab to 12. Bac k o n th e co urse wi t h t he idle air bleed st raighte ned ou t, he p u t t ogether a two a nd a one fo r the se co nd an d third lo op s. It was enough to salvage a third behind Leavitt. T emmat e Mark Eggar backed h im up at fourth , 36 points total. But th e Easterner , Swee t, was hot ; t urning in a su persmoot h perfo rmance in tr aps characte riz ed by gully an d roc k st ep and tu m in fascinat ing va riety . He cle an ed t he " Mick Andre ws." st aircase (t ra ps 7/8) t hree ti mes st raight, the on ly en trant t o d o so. Leavitt wa s consisten t an d close ; th e difference be tw ee n first and secon d h ad been one o f an ex tra dab here, an other th ere . ' Bob Hopkins , . on the only "supported " Yamah a left on th e circu it , was close b eh in d Eggar a t fifth ; Joe Guglielmelli ("T hat fa rm boy can re ally ride " - Gary LaPlante) was j ust one point behind aft er a forceful three loop ride. Jeff Fis h nosed Ron Doster out of . a points tie for seventh aft er cou nting cleans. St eve Darrow go t into a little time trou bl e b u t made it into the top t en behind Tim Carr. Several Kawasakis 'are being ridden in this series, a n d a co up le of them show intensive experimentation - like the gas fo rks and monoshock on Bruce Fenner's bike. LaPla n te's is a 3 0 2 now, using a modified RM 3 70 Suzuki piston. But trickn ess wasn't much help at Saddleback this da y. For LaPlante , at least, it would be b ett er lu ck Sunday. the National field, who added black and blue shanks as well . The 'p ro perty is new to trialers, but not exactly v irgin , a s it's been regularly used by four-wheelers. Where th ere are no tracks, th e ground is co vere d with rocks, ranging from the size of car s to the size o f houses. And some w ith te eth , as well. J ackson Stites fr om Massachusetts said, " First loop this st u ff sca red hell o ut o f m e . .. You d on't real ize at first how much t ra ct ion y ou have, all the th in gs you can do. " St ites ' im p rov ing lo op scores backed up his wo rds, as he came in ei gh th. Of the top co n t en d er s, Leavitt had ridden to a fourth, which was in essence a " t h rowa wa y " as he already has th ree seconds and t wo thirds for his five best finishes, He needs a win badly in the next three rounds, which are all back East. So does Marland, wh o worked this round in h is home a rea. Bernie's win here m akes h im the only one on the ci rcu it other than Sweet to p o st two wins; but he's st ill in sc h o o l an d h ad no firm pla n to con te st the Eastern ro u n ds. Mich igan 's Bo b Ho p kins ha d ad ded another fifth pl acing; he and J o e Guglie1melli had b ee n th e m o st c onsiste n t out-of-st aters behind Swe et. Gary LaPl ante, fee lin g al m o st at home (he 's org inally from Arizona ) ~ro ught his 3 02 Kaw in sixth ah ead o f Tim Carr (Mo nl ' Alab am a's Curt Comer, J r. (Kaw go t a n in th wh ile his Dad, Cu rt , Sr. rode an oth er Kaw in Support class . an d fini shed. The orga nizers had ma na ged to find ' one good yuc kyjnud sectio n to th ro:", at th e visitor s, bu t ove rall the te rram had n o t be en kind . Man y of the Eastern ers sai d the y 'd ' seen enoug h decomposed gra nite an d ro ck for aw hile an d w ere ea ger to get home - even Swe et, who had d one well, wa s ready to leave. But then, bein g two weeks in to h is h on eymoon might have so me th ing .\..t o do with it. Results RO UN D FI VE : SADD LEBACK PARK J OR ANGE, CA., OCT. 23: 1. Don Sweet I (Mon). 2. Lane Leav itt 13 (Bul) . 3. Marland W h aley 15 (Hon). 4 . Mark Eggar 36 (Hon). 5 . BOb Hopkins 40 (Yam) . 6. Joe Gugllelmelll 41 (Hon). 7 . Jeff F ish 52-38 cl . (Bul) . 8. Ron Doste r 52-32 cl. (Man). 9. - T im Carr 55 (Mon). 10. Steve Darrow 56.3 (Bul) . 11. B ill eurr,ener 61 (Bu l) . 12. Ter ry Cheney 62 (B'SljpPORT CLASS, Dan Suffln (1 23) . ROUND SIX , RED SHANK RANCH, CA., OCT . 24 : 1. Be rn ie Schreiber 26 (Bul) . 2 . Don Sweet 38 (Man ). $ . .Joe Guglielmelll 49 (Hon). 4 . Lane Leav itt 69 (BUI). S. Bob Hopk ins 73 ( Yam) . 6 . Gary LaPlante 83 (Kaw). 7. T im Ca r r 90 (Man) . 8 . Ja c kson St ites 99 ( Y am ) . 9. Curt Comer, Jr. 102 K aW) . 10. Greg Ruoff 104 (Bu l ). 11. Steve arrow 105 (Bul). 12. M ike Stokes 108 (Bul). SUPPORT CLASS, Curt Com'!!l..Sr. POINT STANDINGS A~ I ER SIX ' RO U N D S (Net. unofficial): 1. Don Sweet 62. 2 . Lane Leav itt 56. 3 . Marland Whaley 49. 4 . Ma rk Eggar 48. 5. Bern ie Schreiber 43. 6 . Joe Guglielmelll 34. 7. Bob Hopk ins 18 . 8. T im Carr 1 5 . g , Round Six Red Shank Ranch, CA., Oct. 24 If So Cal 's rugged rocky terrain can be sai d to ' exaggerate the difference b e tw een go o d a n d best, this rou n d , hosted b y San Diego T rials Riders and coordinat ed b y Vic Conaway , magnified th e difference still furth er. In this case, Bernie Sch re iber broke the op po sit io n in the first lo o p , posting a three for the 16 d ifficult an d often sp ectacular traps wh ile everyon e els e ' went in to d ouble-di git s righ t away . Though Don Sweet posted a three o n his third a nd final loop ("To ok me two loops to learn th is stuff") , Bernie w as still pumped a nd c ruising to a 26 point t o taland a brilliant win. Sweet was 12 points back in second; Ho n da 's J oe Gu glielmelli had muscled h is way ov e r the gia n t ro cks to third . . Red Shank Ranch was an ap p rop ria t ely-nam ed ven u e fo r most of 9