Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

.E\\estern hotline ~ E Kline tops big AME J25 Pro field By Lee Taylor VALENCIA, CA, JULY 29 Once more, a huge crowd of spectators and riders turned out for the second in the AME Bosch '77 Summer Series races. The Bosch 18 Bounty has been upped to at least $240 so that all qualifying overall winners will be assured of $10 apiece. There were so many 125 Pros that it was necessary to run them in two qualifying heats plus two main run offs. The overall winner out of a field of 26 riders was Bob ' Kline (HonFMF) . In the first qualifying heat. Evan Marcus (Yam-Granada Yam) took control from thestart. After some tough racing. John O 'Mara, Willy Simons, Kirk Sturgeon, Don Draz and Jim Holley. followed Marcus .as top qualifiers. When the gate dropped for the second qualifying heat. Mike Pillar (Suz-Cole Bros.) was leading with Bob Kline right behind and Bobby Jones on top of Kline. A lapped rider between Pillar and Kline held Kline back considerably, but he maintained his position. The top eight riders from each qualifying heat transferred to the two mota main. Once more, Pillar was first off the line with Jones right on his tail and Marcus buzzing Jones. Going to the outside on the hairpin. Marcus almost made it by Pillar but couldn't quite make his move. Kline went wide to pass O'Mara for third and made it by. Pillar managed to hang on to his lead, with Jones breathing down his jersey. Kline had control of the third place slot as they crossed the finish line. When the gate dropped for the final heat of the main and the determining race for the victor. Kline was there and ready! Jumping off the line he took over the lead with Jones in second and Sturgeon .in third. Kline opened up a nice lead with Jones trying everything he could to get by. Going wide in the turns , Jones closed some ground but not enough to take over. Sturgeon had fallen back a bit but was still in control of third. Pillar was held back to fourth. Kline. Jones and Sturgeon held their positions down to the wire where Kline came home to top money for the pros. Jones took home second ' and third went to Pillar. Donnie Hansen, now sponsored by Yamaha through Larry Shoemaker's shop , took home top-money in the 250 Pros . In the first mota , Mike Shoemaker led the pack up the hill with Hansen in second and Dave Haugh running third. Shoemaker fell back in the pack as Hansen took over the lead. Tracy.Oswell moved his way up through the pack, into third with Mark Gambetta right behind him. .Eva n Marcus. in fifth was pushing Oswell and Gambetta relentlessly and the battle was ani Fourth, fifth . sixth and seventh place riders were all right on top of each other - not more than a half-bike's length between any of them. Gamberra, after passing Oswell . had started closing in on Haugh and they had a duel going right down to the checkered flag. The second time out , Hansen blasted off the line with Marcus close behind him in second and Kippy Pierce (Yarn-Yam Int.) from Florida, close in third. There were several battles being fought throughout this mota. Marcus was challenging Hansen hard . Coming up out of the gully. he took over the lead. Gambetta and Pierce had a duel going for third. with Haugh right on Gambetra's tail in fifth . Pierce and Gambetta were . closing fast on Hansen and Haugh was moving up alongside Garnbett a. Hansen was closing ground on Marcus as Gambetta moved up alongside Pierce and got by. Hansen still came home to a first overall; Marcus picked up second and Gambetta brought home third . Monte McCoy ( ~TM · M i d - Valley) brought home the lion's share of t he 500 Pro purse. In the first mota. Kurt Bledsoe led the pack up the hill and set up a big lead. It was extremely close . between Jerry Asher and Steve Rawson for second. McCoy mo ved up fast, first into fourth. then into second. In sp ite o f McCoy's pushing. Bledsoe maintained control down to the wire , The second time off the line. Will Ha rper took over the lead. He had Bleds oe behind him , burning the rubber off h is tires, trying to recapture th e lead for back-to-bad. wins. McCo y was th ere. right on Bledsoe's tail and Rawson was running fourth . McCoy wa ited for his favorite turn to make his move . Closing fast on Bledsoe, in the tu rn after the drop-off, ' McCoy went .wide to the outside to get by. In the same turn again , McCoy took the outside line and took over the lead from Harper. Rawson moved on by Harper to take over the second place slot and held it down to the wire . McCoy took first overall. second went to Rawson and third to Harper. • Results in Results Section. Volk wins South BayST By Chuck Burris CHULA VISTA, CA. JULY 30 Rich Volk , riding for Cycle Parts, took the overall in the 250 and 500 Pro classes at South Bay Park's short track whileJeff Allison . mounted on a Shell Racing Specialties' machine. finished second overall. In the first mota of the 250 Pros, Volk got the holeshot and cooked it all the way. Jeff Allison gave chase but could not reel in the lead Volk had built up. Neal Hereth held down the third position-. In the second mota it was again Volk with the holeshot but this time Hereth was holding down second position. Allison picked off Hereth on the fourth lap and soon caught Volk but could not get by. finishing second with Hereth third again. In the third moto, Volk, starting in back, still took the holeshot. Allison was hot on Volk's tail with smoothriding Monte Roberts filling the third position. On the last lap with Volk still leading Allison , Roberts seized his Yamaha. letting Charlie Scheiger fill the third position. ' The 500 Pro class was much the same story. with Volk getting all the holeshots and all the wins with Allison right beh ind but never getting by! Easy-going Jim McMurren (Yam) filled the third overall position for the evening. • Results in Results Section. Jeff Fish hot at ITA Trials By Jerry Manley ORANGE. CA ,JULY 17 Great riding by Jeff Fish earned him the International Trials Assn. (ITA) Gold Medal in expert class competition 'at Saddleback Park. Jeff' and his Montesa have to be considered pne of the heavies in any trials they enter. having placed well in the National Series. Hard-riding David Webster finished second on his Montesa 348 . Matt Pritchard (350 Bul) placed a close third . Bunched right in there for fourth was the "crazy kid ." Mark Webster on his Bulraco 350 . The ITA amateurs can all breathe a bit easier in the future as Bultacomounted Greg Byers earned enough points by winning again to move up to the expert ranks . Gil Smith . apparently recovered enough from ' a leg injury. piloted his Bultaco 350 to second place. Up and coming Rick Bieniak rode well and put his Bultaco 350 into third spot. Rick Manley hung in there and plonked his Bultaco 350 into fourth. Mike Allen on a Montesa 348 finished a respectable fifth . oj Going for the gold in the hotly contested novice class was David Moon (350 Bul) . He should be moving up to the amateurs soon. Dennis Nichols (350 Bul) placed second. Jeff Zierns rode well and came in third on his 350 Bultaco. Jim Crockett (250 Bul) took fourth. Fifth was Jack Weir on his Bultaco 350. followed closely by Peake on a 250 Honda. £ The beginner class saw George Avery plank his Montesa 348 to victory. he is learning the intricacies of throttle control on the slippery banks of Saddleback. Larry Lambert. on a Kawasaki 250 . followed closely fo~ second. Buhaco-mounted Wayne . Mallard took third place honors. witli Doug McIntyre in there for fourth . " Dennis Smith put his 250 Yamaha in fifth. Sixth spot was garnered by Frank Travesio on his 250 Kawasaki. ~ The venerable senior class saw Glenn Byers take the gold over Bob Soltys . both on Bultaco 350'5. Third went to Jerry Manley on ~ Yamana 250, while Wayne Emge put Iiis Honda 250 into fourth spot. The first-time beginners had a good turnout of riders. all new to trialS: Roger Gladden dabbed a few lesS times than the rest and found ,himself in first place, aboard his KawasaJci 250 . Mike Brandt was second followed by James Cavanaugh and pretty Mary Hendrickson, all aboard little Honda 125 thumpers. The usual dry July conditions prevailed, with temperatures in the low 90's, A slight breeze could · ~ found on the upper ridges. offering a respite from the heat found in the lower canyons. A number of the beginners and first time riders DNFd. (Whoever said trials riding was easy?) The 10 sections were about evenly r

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