Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

IAbovel Danny'LaPorte side-by-side w ith a slightly unsteady competitor, Unset) Jim Pomeroy had the lead in the f inal until the very last moment.lBelow right! Kenny Zahrt won the consolation race. with Bu lra co factory rider Ke nn y Zahn -a n d Yamaha's Winter-AMA Open winner Rick Burgett pushing hard, Georgia 's Brad Wallace held third over Monresa rider Mickey Kess ler. Midway t h ro ug h the shan moto v Zahn bailed riff o n one of the high ban ked turns, and his machine refused to res tart . On the same la p , B u rgett also slipped down with another rider, . b u t got going again q uickly . Then , only. two laps from the end, Howert o n dropped out. The fuel pe rcoc k on his.H usky's tank broke off, starving the motor. Brugett was left with the win: Kessler worked up to second . The Ossa duo of Greg Robertson and Many Moates filled 'third and fourth, while Brad Wallace rounded out the top five , Team Kawasaki's Terry Clark led the fourth and final qualifying rnoto with T e am Suzuki's Tony DiStefano, De nnis Brand, J o h n ny Borders and Ha r ley- Davidso n's Rex Staten in pursuit. Winner from stan to fin ish, Clark continued his pres ent streak of hard , fast riding . DiStefa no stepped off once but maintained second place whil e Staten worked up into third , Brand took fourth as Suzuki 's Danny LaPorte shot up . into fifth after an eighth place start. , Gary Sernics and Tony Summey placed first and second in the first semifinal, t hus tr a nsfe r ring to the final. Jeff Jennings and Johnny Bo rd ers did likewise in the second semi. . All tha t had gone do wn was, by now, a nti -climactic , A place anywhere in the top five in t he heats or in the top two in ' th.. semis . had bee n 'go o d enough , No money had been earned , only a berth on the staning line for the money paying rn otos. Following Kenny . Zahrr 's consolation moto win ' fo r Equipo Bulraco, the featur....vent of the ~v~!lJn~ p~an '41 1. ',~ '"t~ A ·' Gary Sernics, not a heat winner but th e man . who slipped a nd finished sixth in his quali fier, stole th e holeshor. Still hot from his semi win , Gary put his protorype Kawasaki out in front with Ossa's Greg Ro bert so n , Suzu ki's Tony ' D , Yamaha 's Rick Bu rgett a nd Honda 's Jim Po meroy waiting for a m ista ke . But Se rnics held firm. Ro bertson dropped way back on t he opening lap: the mob closed the gap wh e re he'd been. Ga ry Sernics was absolutely flying , On the short one-minute-per-lap track he built up a large-looking lead of eight se conds , but it was nor to last. Things were happening fast b e hind him . Bob Hannah , starting s~wly around ninth , was also cutting some very quic times as he worked 'thro ug h the pack. Yamaha rea rn rn a t e Rick Burgett held second .for two laps before dropping back to sevenr h in one q uic k m ist ake. O n t he same lap, Po m eroy gor around Tony DiSt efa no into second place and start ed closing th e gap o n .Sem ics. Hannah by now was in fifth b e h)nd Ellis . He bobbled once, dropping two spots, but r egained the m quickly. Lap six. showed Sernics 0Et in front of Pom e roy with DiStefano third , Tony fell on the next lap, and Hannah mov ed into th e empty slot. Once in third , Ha nnah c1os..d on Jim Pom e roy and a battle began that would carry th em up to Sern ics. The c1ose-fo rrna rio n d ud b e ca m e a th reeway affair as "H urrica ne" Ha nnah and Ji m Porn e ro y . swa p ped place d repea tedly, reding in th e lead er. Two . laps fro m t he finish, Gary Sem ics' ra ce ende d , "The chai n b roke," th e d isg u st ed r ider said , shaking his head in disappointmenr, Pomeroy appeared to have it made, Nor by a sizeable Iead , but he see m e capable of holding off Hannah . But th ere was one last twist , On rh e final ... • 1 1) ' . t ..j Ll... f . t. ~" .. ':'.1 t e J J turn of the last lap - not more than 40 feet from the flagman - Ji m Pom ero y stopped. " T h e re we re two lapped riders ahead of m e , Bo th were taking the h igh line o n tha t ba nk e d tu rn , so , I we n t u nder t he rn . Then, o ne cut • downl I grabbed the brakes - locked everyt hing u p - and stalled." W b il.. Pomeroy restart ed , Bob H a nna h rolled in , an easy winner. Jim - came ac ross second : Jimmy Ellis took third. " I haven't lost one that close before ," Pomeroy said, attempting to sound only slightly disappointed . " W ha t more can I say ?" "I thouglit I was lapping hirnl" H an nah admitted , surprising everyo ne aft erw a rds , "I lost t rack of where I was after 1 fell , a nd I thought J im was a lap down, 1 was yelli ng at h im to move over!" ' Results 2O-LAP FINAl EVEN 1. Bob Hannah IVaml. 2. J im T: Pomeroy IHonl. 3. Ji mmy Ellis IC·AI. 4. Tony DiStefeno ISuzl. 5. Steve Steckable IMeil. 6. Chuck Sun IHusl. 7. Rick Burgett IVeml. 8. Denny LePorte ISwl. 9. Tony Summey IVoml. 10. Merty Tri_ IH-Dl. . 11. Greg Robertson 10ss1. 12. R.. Stoten (H-DI. 13Tommy Croft IHonl. 14. Gey lon . Mosier (MeO. 15. Mickey Kessler IMonl. 16. Dennis 8rend (Swl. 17. Monte McCoy (Sud. 18. John Sevitski . ISwI. 19. Fe-dinand Vertucci lSwl. 20. Jell jennings lSwl. . 15-LAP CONSOLATION EVENT 1. Ken lahrt IBuD : 2. Mike Gillman ISuz.. 3. Denny Schwartz (Mail. 4 . Mark Bamen ISwl. 5. Pat Moroney IPenI. 6. Dickey Nowtlll IPenl. 7. John Ayers IMail. 9. John Borders (Veml. 10. Barry H;aains 10ss1. ~ I !i' ~, 1° 1 11 I

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