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/126276
INSIDE Medford Raceway AMA 500cc Nat'l MX . . . • 6 Hannah by three points over Smith with one round left AMA Grand National RR . 8 Four in a row for King Kenny Desert Hotline . •..... .. 10 Two for Brooks; Roeseler/Ogilvie split Speedway . . .• •• • . . . .. . 12 C&Bspecial 14 Western Hotline Trials, motocross, scrambles, politics Northern Dateline 22 Touring the.Yamaha . factory .. • . •. •... . ..... 26 Up Close 29 Gavin Tri ppe Results Calendar Want Ads 30 -. . . . . . . . . 33 36 ON THE FRONT PAGE: Hannah leads Smith in Georgia; Dale Singleton heads up Gary Nixon in Pennsylvania and festiv ities in Japan. Photos byJim Gianatsis, Gary Van Voorhis and John Ulrich . Barstow Grand Prix W e r eg r e t t o ' announc e th e cancella tion of the Barstow Grand Prix . Aft er 18 m onths of negotiations , the original cou rse was approved . W e announced the even t and sent ou r en tri es, th en were for ced to m ove fr om th e downt own area of mostl y city and county property to the ou tskirts of town and m ostl y pri vate p rope rt y. T he n one d emand and d ela y afte r another from offic ials ke pt us fro m all p reparations. It was ou r desi re to offer a genuine grand prix , not a motoc ross scrambles called a grand p rix in name onl y. In vie w of the eve r -c h a nging a tti tude and dem a nds o f so me officia ls, we ' have no tim e left to prepare ' for this event. All chec ks will be ret u rned to those who have entered . Thank you for you r support. Charln. C . Clayton . President Bobi Seen , Aut. to the Pres ident Sha ron Clayt on . Publisher Edna Mewt cn , S«rnary to tbe Pu bl ishe r JIM YO UREE Deser t V ipers M .C . Santa Ana . CA Advertising A FM Sears Point dangers Debbie W ilkins. Sa les Mgt". J im Rya n. Sales Mgt". Chris Kel ber. !'u ista nt Editorial John D. Ulrich. Ed itorvD ale Brown . Auista nt Edit or . Dave H awk ins. Assistant Editor. Graphics and Production Product ion : J ud y K l i n~r . Ka th y Willi ams . Typogr aphy : Ma rio n H ar ashit a . C a ro lyn Branham . L..bo ratory Producti on : Dennis Greene. Circulation R he ba Smith . Manager. Pam H a rt is, Juanita Bla n t on . Diane Fe lt en . Don na Gab ard . Assista n ts. . Accounting Mikt KlinK r . Manage r . Krn Lorin . Assi,tant . r j eanne Hammond , Accis . Rece ivabl e . Pam ela Dick erson . AMI. Accis . R eceiva b le . Rh onda Va n Dorm . Coll ection Ot'pt. T rish a Bu n on , C red u Dep r. Services and Support J im PiQr("tl. l"anrttr Hen sen . rrc~p l i on i~l . West 220 1 C hn-ry A ~. . LonK Beach . CA P.O . BOIl 498. Long Br ach . CA 90801 (213) 427·7435: L.A . Linr 656 ·8844 . East P.O . Box8 0~ . Tucker , GA 50084 . ( -I0סI) .934· 78~O . Subscription One yra r, secon d d iolA mail S I ~ ; 2: ynn. second cl aM mail. S!7 ; 5 ;' ("an . W"Cond d au mail. S37.!lO. 4 Co pyrig ht Cycle News , Inc . 1977 . Trade m ark registered U .S. Par en r O ffice . All rightt reserved . Pu blished Wttkly exc epe the Fint a nd lAst week of the ca len d a r ~ar by Cyd r Nrws . lnc.. P.O . Box 498 , Long Brach . California . Seco nd class poatagr paid at Lo n g Buch , CA 9080 1. Editorial sto ries . c.an oons, phoc m., eic , art weiccme . Addressed . st.l.m prd en velope " urn ret urn of u n pu rchaK'd ed ito rial m atter . Rr prin ting in who lr or pa n only by pnmiuion o~ th r . pU~ lishrn . Ad vr rt isin g rat r , and circUla tIOn Info rm at ion will be X'nt upon reqcese . See S.R .D .S. , Racing ca n indeed be dangerous . especiall y with new riders who are short on savvy of th e fine points of racin g , T hat a race is no t won on th e first la p wou ld be on e of those fin e poi nts , The Americ an , Federation of Motorcyclists (AFM), L.A : and San Francisco chapters' staged almost , on e mill ion racing mil es in 1976 . Two ' serious mis haps occurred , to th e best of my knowledge , in th e cou rse of th ose m iles of racing. If you want to find a safer racing or ganizat ion you mi ght try slot ca rs. KEITH CODE Los Angeles. CA Helvetia threat , Helvetia Pa rk is in danger o f be ing closed to ' motorcycle ra cin g by the ,Yolo Co u nty (Calif.) Planning Co m m ission, , Another meeting .was held on J uly 20 . Besides the property owners and thei r a tt orney, t here were about 16 perso ns present to sta nd u p fo r motorcycle ra ci ng . T he Commi ssion prese nted th e Envi ron men tal Impa ct Rep ort and th e m ajor issues of deficiencies. • The E I R fi nds excessive d us t , excessive n oi se , la ck of adeq ua te ' p a r k in g , la c k of protec tion of spectators from the raci ng bikes. lack of an emergen cy a ccess road , inadequate toilet facilities, no state . permit for overnight cam ping a nd visual obst ru ct ions to exiting t he park. A lot of suggestions were made and concessions agreed on by the property owners , incl uding the purchase of a decibel meter. The .p ropert y owne rs a re willing to spend the money ne cessary to meet the r eq u ir em ent s if t he y can be gua ra nteed they will get the La nd Use Perm it. The Pla n ning Co m mission can not give them t he gua rantee un til a fte r they see t he res u lts of the propsed cha nges an d additions. (Catch 221) The meet in g was stoppe d a fte r a p prox ima te ly 3 ~ h ours, to be co nti nued on August 17, ·with no fu rt he r not ices to be se nt o ut. . In m y o pi nio n so me o f th e com pla in ts a re valid , if o nly part ia lly. a nd some a re com p letely in va lid . Th is park is just th at. A " park" comp lete with la wns. trees , pi cni c t ab les , swim m ing pools a nd a bandstand . It a lso happens to have a m ot ocr oss track that has been in usc for many yea rs. T he nearest residence is a lmos t a m ile away , ac ross th e Sacra me nto R iver. Most of th e a r c a rid e rs clai m th is as one of the best tra cks, and it is without a do .. bt the best for spectators , especially in t he su mm e r. It would be a rea l r shame to lose t his park to motorcycl e ra cing, as so many others hav e been lost recently. Can't an yon e OUl ther.. help us keep this tra ck open ? If not, at lea st . . . " p r a y for us si n n .. rs ( moto rc ycle ra ce e nt hu siasts )." . RO N SPEIR Co -owner , Hel vetia Pa rk Sacramento , CA I am writing in regards to the a rticles in C-ycle News Volume X IV #29 J u ly 27. 1977 , in Voices of the West and Nort he rn Dateline. These two articles wer e written by Mrs . Lynne Dil tz. The Editor com mented at th e end of her lett er in wh ich he has some good poi nts . However , had the Editor read bo th a rticles written by Mrs . Di ltz, I don 't bel ieve the Edit or would or co ul d ha ve 'wr itte n t he Ed ito r' s com ments. Mrs. Dilt z co ntradicts herself several times in th ese two a rticles. In her Voices of th e West arti~ le , Mrs. Dilt z states she was ma d . That a lone bears some j udgment of he r writi ng . She, a lso sta tes she too k notes, wrote a story and typed results, after she was asked not to . That also is room for j udgment . Mrs . Dilt z goes on to describe and co m ment on th e track ; one co m ment is "a groove wide eno ug h for one bik e on ly." In her No rt hern Datelin e article , she states in th e 100cc bike trophy dash there were 'four lead cha nges in three laps . T his leaves more room for judgment. In contrast to her op inion of this tra ck , ou r Am erican Motorcycl ist Assn . (AMA) district referee ha s told me severa l tim es that thi s is one of the grea test tracks a ro u nd . We hav e had simila r co m me nts fro m profession al r ide rs . so me c a r ryi ng N a t iona l n umbers . N ow I feel we have a professionall y run spo rts ma n ra ce track for kids a nd adul ts alike. Everyo ne at our track is covered by insu rance including riders. pitrne n a nd-specta tors . W e average 95 to 100 bikes per night a nd we run every Friday night. I a m no t ashamed to invit e a nyon e to visit our track . I a m proud to be a pa rt of promotin g a n activi ty like this for the kids and adults of our area to take part in . DALE OSBORN Promotor Med ford Ra ceway D-37MX I am interested in racing motocross in So ut he rn Cal ifo rn ia . Does American Motorcyclist Assn . (AMA) Dist rict 37 hold races like District 36 does up north ? If th ey do , who ca n I ca ll or wri te to for inform a tio n on th e ra ces? M.SCHWARTZ Lon g Beach. CA D-l 7 d oes hold motocrosses. Watch the Calendar Sect ion oj Cycle News fo r d eta ils, or contact Dee Granger, 1977 D-l7 motocross steward, at 2 485 A venida De Las Plantas, Th ousa nd Oaks, CA 9IJ60 (805) 497-9858 .. . Ed . Published le tte. s do not necessarily reflect the pos ition of Cycle News. In c. Send letters t o Voices. Box 498. Long Beach. CA 90801.