(Above) Dou g M c Gowen lo st the DeAn za 250 Pro le ad t o Dav e Erop k in (41
when h e crash ed . The crash da ma ge d a shock abso rber an d (bel ow) he w as
passed by w inn er l arr y Ripl ey (31. Eropkin ha d a f lat t ire.
I
experien ced riders t hough t it was one
of the better planned end u res ,
incl udi ng th e slow sections whi ch
made th e rid er pay very close attenti on
to the speed a nd time . and that's what
it's a ll abou t.
•
Resul ts Pendi ng .
Ripley wins
DeAnzaMXon
his first try
By Ron Lawson
SUNNYMEAD , CA . MA Y. I
Larry Rip ley is a new face in th e
250 Expert cro wd ' a t DeAnz a ,
but he must have liked th e track
since he took first overa ll. In th e
early la ps of the first m ot a , he 'a nd his
Yamah a followed Dou g McGowen
(Suz) a nd Dave Eropki n (Yam) . Ripley
hu ng ba ck for awhile . watchi ng th e
two lea ders dice and wa iting for a
brea k, whi ch ca me on the fou rt h la p.
McG owen was bei ng pressu red h ard by
Ero pk in, bu t was hold ing on to a
Less Sound - More 'Ground
]
'----
1
na rrow lead unt il he got off on one of
th e rou gher parts of the tra ck . He got
u p a nd remoun ted so fast t hat he was
sti ll in second place . bu t he damaged
his shocks in the cras h a nd was getti ng
qui te a ro ugh ride . It di d n't take long
for R ipl ey to get a rou nd h im to secu re
a second p lace.
By this time Eropki n h ad a great
lea d a nd it seemed like he were go ing
to ho ld on to it. Lu ck . however , was
clearl y on Ri pley's side, On the l lrh
la p . Eropkin was crippled by a flat
fro n t tire. T he PK ri der fell back to
fifth place whi le R ipley went on to th e
chec kered flag . McGowen came in
seco nd in spite of his d amaged rea r
suspensio n . J oh nny Clop to n (KTM)
was third .
In m ot a two, Ero pki n was thi rst y for
th e victory' he ha d been edged ou t of
before , He grabbe d th e lea d and was
never seen a nyw he re else. R ip ley was
way b ack in seventh , but he put in a
grea t ride to finis h second . ta ki ng th e
overa ll win . Scott Sm ith (Ossa) ca me
in th ird . be hind Ero pkin .
Open Exp ert Mark Sullivan (Suz)
made it two weeks in a row by
sweepi ng both m otos in his class . Jay
29
