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/126253
I IAbove) Frank Gillespie 12Z) back in the hunt. leading the big bike race at Orland Half Mile. (Below ) Jimbo Filice (78) and Bob Cunn ingham (103) hook it up on Orland 's dusty surface. Bailey/Delacy racershow at Orland half mile By W . H. Spencer ORLA ND . CA. MAR. 6 While it was th e first big flat track event of the 1977 seaso n , it looked more like a repl a y of the 1976 season's arch -rival battles between Don Bail ey and Rick Delacy, in terspersed with spee d spu rts from Jim Me rt en s, Ru sty Davis and Rodger Slack. Dela cy won th e 250 Exp ert with horrendou s crash ing going on behind , and Don Bai ley show ed th e 360 Exp ert cla ss why he is th e new No. I. It was a typical Orl and tra ck with a good begi nn ing and a very d ry, d usty a nd dange rou s end ing. The turn out of jus t over 200 was a near record. The big bike exhi bitio n had two full hea ts goi ng to the lin e for elim in a tions, wit h mo st co m ing fro m eng ine fa ilu res or crash-a nd- bu rns . Frank Gillesp ie is bac k a nd very strong ly int o th e b it. He reall y smoked th e troops in th e Exh ibit ion Ma in des p ite ha ving one ea rly a ttack of bor ed om with no one to play with once John T avis' Harley-Da vidson b it off a tooth in t he t ransmi ssion. In th e big bike ma in Gillespi e took th e immedi at e ' a dva nt age and was never headed although on th e second lap he hea rd a rid er co me up . It was Rich Luhdorff and his old-time sto ck 650 Triumph huffing and puffing a long until troubles relegated him backward. Fr ank Word a nd Buddy Rob inson teamed with Pet e Simonsen as another Pro Expert to kee p the Pros in front as Rick Dela cy dropped out with a blown motor. Tony Alves finished fifth on the ex-jim Fo ley H ·D . R ick Reid went to the hosp ital with . two broken bon es after a header in to th e turn three fen ce. Bob Cun ni ng to n and Jimbo Filice h ad a tooth a nd na il struggle in th eir 125 Ju nior heat but it was a ll Cun ni ngto n on the Hod ak a W ay moto r in t he Ma in . Larry Krusem ann worked u p to seco nd in frun t of Lou ie Orozco. It was turnabout for Filice/Cun ni ngto n in t he 250 Jun ior. Once agai n a grea t ba tt le in th e heat with Cun ning to n on the new 250 Hod ak a and Filice on his new BOSS Yam aha . In th e Main Filice got th e sta rt and rode away from Ron Arlt a nd Mark Weber while Cunnington faded. T he 250 Exp ert class was th e featured event with nin e p laces up for grabs in the Semi Pro payoff. Leading out th e 14 -m a n Main were Rodger Slack and Rusty Davis with De lacy a nd Mertens in pursuit. Bail ey was dragging in the pack along with rooki e Pro Expert Lowell Moura l. At th e ha lfwa y mark ' th e grandst ands came a live wat ching Da vis pitch it in th e co rn er with Sla ck a longs ide wh ile Mert en s an d Del acy swa p ped th ird . Ju st three laps from th e end . Da vis t hrew it in a bit too hard as Slack tri ed to hol d on j ust a bit lon ger th an safe. The two wound up in the fen ce as Delacy pressured his Ca nci lla tuned Yamaha th rou gh . Mert ens tried a look -sec over his sho u lder a nd let Bail e)' th ro ugh for seco nd . Ba iley won th e 360 Ma in A vto -Z , over the 350 XL Hon d a of John T a vis an d Fenn Pervier's im macu la te Pursang Bultaco . Bail ey th en return ed to snuff out a ll comers in a Handi cap event for 250 a nd 360 winn ers. • Results in Results Section. I Cycle Ne_s _ant ads are CHEAPls_ Want ad blank. I Spence is a bullet at·Salinas Scrambles By Burt Dinner SALINAS AIRPORT, CA. MAR . 13 It 's a bullet , it's a plane , no only Dennis Spence , District 36 Number One scrambl e rider in 1976 , pulling and lifting h is 41