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/126262
; ************************************************** =Desert Hotline . ~ t r--, ~ en ......... ~ ~ £c o ~ L----'----::.=----.:;:::...-_-A-...:...:..::---'=:....:..-~:::...-:::...::.=:..:-.,,~_--.,;;,;;.....;;,,;~.: . J (A bov e) W it h a sixt h and a fourth, M ike J o hnsto n co nt inued t o prove he is one of the m o st consistent ORA ri der s. (Be low) A t rained pigeon .fo llowed ;> t h is 0-200 Beg inner arou nd during h is race. When T om Brooks is hot. he 's unbeatable . Tom Brooks is hot. Tom Brooks wins ORA Silver Cup . n d returns a lor another win on Sunday By Jerry G. Welton CA LIFO Rl" IA C ITY . CA. MA Y 14-15 T otally domi nating the competition , Tom Brooks won the Desert R acing Assn. (DR A) Silver Cu p In vitational on Satu rd ay and then the am a teur/expert round of the R are Desert Scramb les Su nday afternoon . Bet ween t hese two races . t he st u rdy racer won a n A MA 0 ·37 event at nea r b y Red Mo unt a in . T hy Si lver Cup . a $500 perpetu a l troph y. is raced fo r th ree t imes a year; t he race being open to top point riders . T hree wins will re ti re t he tro p hy. Bo b Bal entine d id it last yea r . wh ile Brook s needs one mo re win. Si lver Cup In v it ational 20 Ph il St u mbo (400 KT M) o nce again pi cked th e hot lin e slig h t ly to t he righ t o f th e smoke bom b . j u m ping into th e ea r ly lead with t he rest o f th e invi te d field thundering behi nd h im . Soon a fter the bo mb . Bro ok s m o ved past Tom Kell y (250 KT M ) a nd Stu mbo to take th e lead . Bob Bal e ntine (400 KT M ) ca me fr om fou rt h to d o ba tt le wit h St u m bo for a couple o f mi les. Afte r passing St u m bo. Bal e ntine set h is sig h ts o n Broo ks. T im Plant ( 175 DM G ) was t he fi rst lightweight to the smoke with Brad Hen so n ( 175 Yam) right on his tai l. Henson worked h is way past Pl ant a bo u t 200 ya rds a fter the bo mb . At th e co m p let io n of th e first loo p . Bro ok s was j ust a short dista nce a hea d of Bal e nt ine . who in tu rn had a bout th e sa me on Tom Kelly. S tu m bo was through next wit h 250 Bult aco ride r Cord is Bro o ks runn in g a bou t 20 seco nds be hi nd him . Mike J ohnston (400 KTM ) passed Br a d H e nso n with in a m ile of t he pits to be running sixth a t th e end o f t he fir st loop . Aft er the nex t loo p t he three lead e rs rem a ined t he sa me. O n t his sa me loop . however . Stumbo's bi ke started m ak in g no ises , and w ish in g t o co nse rve his. m achin er y he eased up . wavi ng Co rdis Brooks b y a nd head ing in to th e pits for q u ick re pairs. O n th e co m p let ion of his t hird loop Tom Bro ok s p ulled in for gas. He later said he d id not want to ta ke a ny chances. This took enough ti me fo r Ba le nt ine to slip by for the lead . Bro o ks rece ived h is petrol a nd sta rted afte r Ba lent in e , ca tc hi ng him ha lfway a rou nd t he co u rse a nd p assing easily . Ba lent ine stayed with in sig h t o f Bro o ks for t he remainder of the race. Cordis Bro ok s wor ked his way past Kelly a bo u t two mil es fro m the fin ish on ly to ha ve his m oto r se ize. Thi s gave Kell y third overa ll . first 250 a nd moved Stumbo up to fou rth ove ra ll. Co rd is le t his bike coo l dow n then co ru in ucd on to fini sh fif th . Mike J oh ns ton rod e a co nsiste n t ra ce rem aining in six t h p la ce fo r t he d ura t ion. First ligh tweight Brad He nso n had litt le tro u b le ca pt u ring the sm allbo re vict ory, fi nishi ng j us t .a hcad o f S ha wn Unde rwoo d (3 90 Hus), who likes to live d ange rously by pi tting for gas in t he m iddle of t he trai l. Ama te u r G ary Da vies (400 Ya m ) a n d H e ath H ib b a r d ( 4 0 0 Yam ) ro un de d o u t t he top 10. At 24 t h o vera ll. Pat ri ck McEvoy (4 00 Yam ) was ab le to br-at J oh n R ich a rd so n (400 KT M ) a nd Fra n k Arcie ro . Jr. (400 KT M ) for t he O pen Juni o r win . Sen ior rid e r Larry UpI' p ropelled his 250 Yamah a c ross t he fin ish lin e a head o f Keith Soesbe (400 Yam ). Rare Desert Scrambles Not sa tisfied with his second Sil ve r C up victo ry o n Sa t u rday a nd a D-37 win in the m orn in g . T om Bro o ks (400 KTM ) return ed Sunday a fternoon to ra ke the D RA Rare Desert Scrambles. S ho rt ly after t he smoke bom b . it was Mark Zoller (40 0 Yam ) lea d ing Phil Stu mbo (400 KT M ). Hea th H ib b a rd (4 0 0 Yam ) . T o m B r o o ks . Bob Ba lentine (400 KT M). a nd t he rest of t he a ma te u r /expert he rd . Stumbo took o ver th e lead fro m Zo ller o nly to be pass ed by Bro ok s sho rt ly th ereaft er. Bal e nti ne t ried to p ut a mo ve o n Stumbo for seve ra l mil es bu t to no a vail. Finall y, abou t ha lfwa y a ro u nd Bal e nti ne managed to slip past. Coming th ro ug h t he c h u te at the e n d o f la p o ne . it wa s Broo ks , Bal e nt ine . a nd St umbo with Mike J ohnston (400 KTM ) and Tom Kelly (25 0 KTM ) com ing int o the view mom e nt s lat er. Aft er th e leade rs had go ne b y it was quire a p parent th a t Bal entine was rea lly o n th e gas in an effo n to ca tc h Br oo ks. Afte r th e ne xt la p Ba lent ine had closed the ga p a bit o n Brooks and the two o f t he m p ro ceeded to m oto r a way from the rest of the pa ck.