Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

w en w w rr; 1:) rr; il; Radical Ron Turner won every ECRA Expert class at Racing World. IIRadical Ron" rips racing world By Rex Reese TRABUCO CANYON, CAL. . DEC. 19. 1976 FMF's number one rider, "Radical" Ron Turner rode a stable load of Emler-tuned Suzukis and Hondas to take the lion's share of cash in ECRA's last $1,000 motocross of the year. Turner's performance was really a no contest-con test as he smoked a brace of Suzukis to clean up both the Open and 250 Expert classes, then hopped on board Greg Toyama's FMF Honda to do the same in the 125s. Turner's persistent nemesis, Suzuki factory rider Jeff Jennings was also present in an effort to take home a .share of the big bucks, but some bad breaks snuffed him out of the 125s, while the fact that Turner was faster kept him second overall in the 250's. JenningS was running a close second behind Ron in the first 125 moto , and appeared to be a definite threat until his factory prepped RM125 blew up . Gary Denton (DG ) took up th e slack where Jennings left off in the competition's threat to Turner. With the first moto easily going to Ron , the second was a tug of war between Turner and Denton with Gary leading the first half of the moto with the second half - and the win - going to Turner. The last 125 round was Denton's all the way fro m holeshot to the checkered, as Turner followed him in. The two wins in motos one and two gave the class win to Turner. Ron was looking good as he smok ed the troops in th e firs t 250 rnoto, but looked exceptionally shaky in the second round as DG's David Taylor (Yam) got the holeshot and kept the lead until Turner passed him over a jump, a move which almost locked the handlebars of both riders in mid-ai r, Fortunately they d idn't lock on landing, but Taylor missed a turn afte r th e jump, went over the benn , and came within i n ch es o f broadsliding an ambulance. Turner was long gone, but when David got himself back together, he wound up finishing fifth. The last moto had Ron leading with a wire-to -wire holeshot lead to lock up th e 250s and put another $110 in his pocket . The Open Exp ert was a battle between Turner and Jeff Vidic (Suz). Ron easily grabbed the opening and closing motos, but the middle mo to W !l! ~to _Vi4is_ LT,!1~~':. i !! third. ! ':f!.t. Results SUP. MIN BEG: 1. Micky Dymo nd ISuzl. 2. Toby Bassett lYaml . 3. Jeff Wagnar lYam). SUP MIN NOV: 1. Kenny Campbell ISUlI . 2. Allen Lucas lYaml . 3. Mike Paulino lYam!. SUP MIN INT: 1. Curt McCu iston lYam). 2. Sam Storar lYam). SUP MIN PRO: 1. Bryon Anto nacci lYam). 2. Jaff Ward IHon). 3. Chris Heisser lYaml . 100 BEG: 1. Newton Acevedo (Vam). 2. Bryan Paquette IHan). 3. Ryan EideIB&MI. • 100 NOV: 1. Rick CecrleIHon). 2. Jim Ervin ISUl). 3. Neil ScottIHon). 100 EX: 1. Lance Moorewcod ISUlI. 2. Dan Trant IHanI. 3. Bryon Antonacci IHonl_ 125 lst DAV : 1. Mark Lite lYam). 2. Rick Holley lYam). 3. Roben Baldwin IHon). 125 BEG: 1. Chris Barbour (Han). 2. Dean Gilbert (Han). 3. Jim Anley IHonl . 125 NOV: 1. Lee Nygeard IHon!. 2. Duane Mapes IHon). 3. Tony Medlock IHon). 125 INT: 1. 00.0 Dickenson IHonl . 2. Tony Gomez. 3. Karl Wahlers (Honl. 125 EX: 1. Ron Turner ISuzl. 2. Gary Doton IDGI~3. Bruce McDougeIIHon). PP: 1. Barbara Spielman IHon). 2. Dede Cates (Han!. 250 lst DAV : 1. Jim LeelMaii. 2. Mark Bennis (Han). . 3. DoveD'Anna IMon ). 250 BEG: 1. Ruck Make ISUl). 2. Greg Almqu ist ISUl).3. David Simon (Han). . 250 NOV: 1. Bred PRITCHARD ISUlI. 2. John CriswelIISUl). 3. Scott Johnson (SUl!. 250 INT: 1. Jonny Clp l>ton IKTM ). 2. Mike CrUl IKTMI. 3. Ted Vanden Raadt IHonI. 250 EX: 1. Ron Turner (Sul). 2. Jeff Jennings ISUlI . 3. David Taylor lYam). OP 1st DAV: 1. John Cooley lSuz). 2. Ted Criscione (Suzl. . OP BEG: 1. Jim Ervin (Suzl. 2. Steve Fox lYam). 3. John Steele lYam!. OP NOV: 1. Ray Hill lKaw). 2. Joe Pearson lSUl). OP INT: 1. Gteg Saari lYaml . OP EX: 1. Ron Tumar (Suzl. 2. Jeff Vid ic (Suzl. 3. Tom MayflOld IMeil. Breker gets their goatatCRC Euroscrams By Rex Ree se TR4.BUCO CANYON, CAL.,JAN. 2 The chance that it might rain (a 60 percent possibility for the weather bookies) scared away the marshmallow majority who consider racing a fair weather sport, that left a hard core of all weather go - ' fasters to themselves for all th e fun here at CRC's Europ j.2ean Scrambles, which was the opening race event at Racing World . Goat Breker (Kaw) m assacred the troops in the Open, class , Breker's immediate ten second lead on his Dallas Baker sponsored Kaw doubled by the end of the 45-minute Open class race. The previous night's ra in , made some early morning rai n, some early morning sp rin kles and a heavily overcast sky made the track semi -snotty, a condition that kept every bod y on their toes . But as sure-footed as his nickname, Goat kept the throttle wired open as he went WFO around turns, off berms and jumps that others onl y tippy-toed through. The end of the race made Goat first Open Expert and overall winner. Way beh ind Breker was Tom Taylor, the eventual second-place Expert finisher and second overall. While 'other four-strok e pilots managed to adequately use their thumpers on the snot surface, Taylor was able to really get it on as he put his 410 Honda through its paces. His performance was a virtual carbon copy of Breker's, except that at the start Tom loaded it up (which is bizarre for a thumper) and stalled before he finally got going. Once on the way, Taylor worked himself up from the back of the pack to second - and 20 seconds behind Breker - where he stayed for the rest of the race. 125 Expert Pat Jones (Yam), riding for Fairway Yamaha , took the sm a ll bo re contest going away , while Novice George Erl (Hus) rode fast and fu riour to come in second overall. Unlike Breker, who went absolutely berserk, Jones was more conservative in his winning interpretation of the three m ile track. Pat probably did th e right thing since it was more than one rider who took a short trip through the bushes and cactis (ouchl) as they slid off the course or got a wh eel stuck in a rain rut. Second Novic e behind George was Rich Maibe (Ya m) with Mike Stephen (Yam) third. The team race looked like another runaway for Goat Breker when he teamed up with brother Brian to once again do everybody else in. Just like in the Open stint, a huge lead was created by the Brekers and their potent Kawasaki , but unlike the Open race, Goat broke. H. Denning and R . Pennington (Yam) led once the Brekers were out of the way to cop the overall honors along with first Open bike. Next ca me J. Benovidez and B. Farrow (Yam) on a 125 for second, ahead of the 250 Yamaha which was ridden by the team of Wentz and Tubbs who finished third. • Resu lts MINI : 1. Robin Busse ISuzl. 2. Travis Stark (Hon). 100 BEG: 1. Troy Matthews (Suzl. 125 BEG: 1. Rick Parkar IHusl. 2. Todd Scheeffar ISuzl. 3. Nick Mauck !Honl. 125 NOV: 1. George Ert IHus). 2. Rick Meiba lYam). 3. Dean Rist lYaml. 125 EX: 1. Pat Jones lYaml. 250 BEG: 1. Ken Knutson ISUl). 2. Dave Wentz lYaml. 3. Jerry O'Quinn IHonl. 250 NOV: 1. Rusty Clark IHusl. 2. John Stark IBull. 3. Steve Stark (Hus). ViETS: 1. George Erl lYaml. 2. Dove Turnqu ist IC·Al. 3. Jan Lehotan (Suz). OPEN BEG: 1. Dave Connar (Vaml . 2. Dave Milanowski (Husl. 3. Lee Denning lYam). OPIEN NOVIINT: 1. W ard Strona ICZI. 2. Dennis Keaton ISuzl. OPEN EX: 1. Goet Brokar IKaw). 2. Torn Taylor IHonl. TEAM RACE OVERALL: 1. H. Denn ing -R. Pennington lYaml . 2. Jenovidez -B. Farrow lYaml. 3. D. Wentz -L Tubbs lYaml. 4. S. lsenhower-D . Con_ lYam). 5. M. Vornd ran-Po Krogstad (SUlI. 6. D. West ergaard-D. Vorndran (Yam). 7. R. Busse-J. Hemmer lYam). B. J. Hughes-R. Busse ISuzl. 9. T. Schaeffer-C. Fuller (Ha nI. 10. P. Scobasgary-P. Gustafson (Suzl. 11. R. Ott.J . Collins IHonI. 12. B. Brokar-T. Brokar IKawl. Controversy clouds D-38 race By Loretta Pipkin PLASTER CITY, CAL.. DEC . 12 Controversy confused the results of the Imperial Valley MC 92mil e, three loop desert race. Teammates..Charles W~l k ~ a !1.d Joe Jones slugged it out to finish first and second overall , but both missed a checkpoint on the first loop. They returned for th e helmet check, then took off aga in . J on es led th e first loop, th en Welk , (who is new to desert ra cing, this being his sixth race), took over for th e seco nd and third loops. Referee John Moreno has not yet retuned a verdict , instead holding out for the facts in a n extension investigation . Bill Thornberg was running third when his engine seized and he crashed , breaking his ~i p and on e leg . Behind ca me the 250cc trio of Paul Eddy (Yam) , Ric Secor (H us), and Dan Dibb (H us). Sixth was young Steve Kephart, riding 125 Amateur for the first time sinc e breaking his collarbone in October. Kevin Vandergriff was seventh overall, with Pat Flannagan eighth overall in his first try in the Amateur class. Manno Fox won the Over 35 class, not quite in the top ten overall, but still showing fire and desert d ust in his soul. . • Official results to follow when available. Seisuke Ueshim a. new Yama ha President. Yamaha Motor .Corporation formed Yamaha International has transferred its motorized business to Yamaha Motor Corporation , USA, a new U.S . subsidiary of Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. of Japan. Seisuke Ueshima , a director of Yamaha Motor Co . is President of the new company. Prior to his appointment as President , Ueshima managed international sales for the parent finn in Japan. Yamaha Motor Corpora tion will stay in the same building as Yamaha International , but will have its own staff and finances. The new corporation will distribute Yamaha motorcycles and snowmob iles. Yamaha Parts Distributors , Inc . , which markets parts and accessories for Yamahas , will become a subsidiary of the new finn . Yamaha International will continue to market Yamaha musical instru m ents, audio equipment, and sporting goods. Yamaha motorcycles currently claim about 21 % of the U.S . market , and Yamaha is second in sales to Honda . The move making Yamaha Motor Corporation a separate entity away from the parent company was made with an eye to increase Yamaha's cut of the market . (T h e Bultaco ads parodying' Yamaha 's involvem ent in piano building surely didn 't slow down the decision any, either .. . Ed .} 't'" • • 4 ....... ." . \ .1..; j

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