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/126283
- 0) 1"'"'4 $.0 Q) ..0 o ... u o -. Carl Nelson leads Dave Haugh in the AME North-South duel. South pros 2~· North 1 at AME North-South MX By Lee Taylor SANTA MARIA , CA , OCT. 2 Once again the troops from the South caravaned north to do battle on an abandoned river bed in Santa Maria . In the time 34 honored tradition of A .M .E. , Maicos fired off the line in place of muskets. Kippy Pierce (Yam Inr .) claimed the 250 Pro class for the South. In the first moto , Bill Keese took charge until he went down in a three way crash. Andy Segale took over with Pierce right behind. By the end. Pierce controlled the lead with Segale right behind him and Tim Worth in third. The second time out, Mark Gambetta (Suz. of Santa Barbara) was holding the lead. Worth ran second and a battle for fourth was being fought between Andy Segale and Oswell. Pierce moved on into third. He had Scott Karl and Oswell right up behind him and pushing hard. Gambetta was fighting to hold off Worth. By now . Oswell and Karl were side by side. banging into each other through whoop-de-doos. Oswell moved by for fourth. Gambetta managed to open up a nice lead over Worth. Heading into the checkered flag , Pierce came in with first overall, Worth second and Karl third . Randy Berkeley of the South claimed victory over the 500 Pros. In the first moto, Steve Rawson took over the lead and fought with local hero, Sherman Schneller. " Genera l Sherman" took command with Randy Berkeley moving into third when Andy Jannings went down hard. Coming down the straight Schneller went down and out for the day. Rawson moved back into the lead but it was a brief stay as a hole in his fuel tank forced him back. Dave Haugh took over second and set out after Berkeley, but had to settle for second. When the troops blasted off the line for the second time , Berkeley was leading. fighting off Rawson. Rawson took over the lead but went down in the last tum, locking up his bike. Berkeley then opened up a beautiful lead for himself with Haugh holding second, Eric Wachter third and Chuck Lanzorone fourth . Berkeley led his troops home with the class victory, Haugh claimed second overall and third went to Lanzorone. Jeff Watts (Hus- Team Husky) brought home a hard-fought victory for the North, winning the 125 Pro class. In the first moto, Willy Simons grabbed the lead until his bike seized. Jack Keese took over for the South. Coming around a tum . Keese and Kippy Pierce banged into each other. went over a berm. and onto the track. Tim Locey had now taken over the lead with Keese in second and Kirk Sturgeon third. Sturgeon had Jeff Stubblefield behind him in fourth . Both of these first year pros were having a spectacular ride on one of the fastest and TOughest MX courses in California. Locey held the lead to the end of the moto with Keese coming in for second and Sturgeon holding third . Coming down to the wire, Watts barely held off Simons at the line. Keese grabbed the second moto holeshot with Watts running second. Sturgeon moved into third with Watts closing on Keese. Pierce and Sturgeon fought for third until Pierce went down ' and had to retir e. Simons also went d own , but got by Stu rgeon and into t h ird . Sim on s went afte r teammate Keese . Keese and Watts wer e going side by side , hurtli ng themselves through turns. Simons go t int o second wit h less than 30 feet of his white flag remai ning. Watts , knowing Simons was coming. stayed on the throttle for the win . Simons earned seco nd overa ll and third went to Sturgeon. Results in Results Section . Wood, Magoo and Preston win Sacto nightMX By Sallee Hilton SACRAMENTO . CA . SEPT. 30 Something new was added to the Friday night Motocross program at Sacramento Raceway, The "new" class only drew three riders , Richard Goodwin . John Yoho, and Steve Roediger, all on ATC 90s. The race was slow according to regular motocross standards, but it was certainly interesting. In the first rnoto, Goodwin seemed to be having trouble keeping his three wheeler running, and Yoho seemed to be having trouble keeping his three wheels on the ground. Roediger had no troubles, and had an easy win . with Yoho still trying to catch up , and Goodwin giving up and pushing. The second and third motos were replays of the first , with Yoho getting closer each time. Maybe next week Goodwin will "have his machine running and be in there to compete. The 125 Pro race was more what one would expect of motocross. Dave Wood (Suz) led the first moto wire to wire. but Mike Preston (Suz) was right there all the way waiting for the slightest slip on Wood's part. Both riders came charging at the finish line together. Wood took the moto only slightly ahead of Preston. but he hadn't made that slip. and Preston couldn't get by without it. Jon Yourd (Yam) had the third and deciding moto that Wood and Preston both needed to win so badly. Wood had the lead all the way . and Preston came c10~ to snatching it a few times before crashing in the final lap . and going down to defeat with a DNF. Yourd and Henry moved up a notch to second and third . Preston re tu rned with a KTM to win the O pen Pro cla ss. Brian Jodry (Mai ) was second. III w '" ~ w :> III > CIl III ~ ~ (Above) Gary Elliott chases Randy McCallister during an Open Pro m oto at Puyallup. (Below) Bill Joyce won the 125 Pro class at the Puyallup EastWest Challenge. Da n ny "Magoo" Ch a nd ler (KTM) had to work up to th e lead in every 250 Pro race, but once there , he h ad it clinched . Pa t Sn yd er (Suz) of Fairb a nks, Alaska got two of t h e seco nd finishes leaving one for Mark H ilton (Suz ). Resu lts in Resu lts Section. Binckley, Jacobson 'a nd Joyce top Puyallup Series opener By Sue Sykes PUYALLUP, WA . OCT. 2 The East-West Challenge Series opener at Puyallup Raceway Park dropped the gate for 420 riders before the day was out , It was a long day for all but a great day for racing in the Northwest. Rich Binckley ~abbed the bucks in the Open Pro dicing . In moto one. Binckley (Yam) lost a comfortable lead as he got sideways after the Tower Jump and slid about 20 feet . A quick re -entry and determination put Rich in second at the finish . Huskymounted Barney Newman split moto money with Binckley and took second overall out of the 18 riders. Pat Jacobson (Suz) ran away from his 25 Pro 250 playmates. Jacobson was dialed in to the Tans-AMA track from practice time and was scored first in all laps of the day. Young Duane Marker on an FMF Suzuki claimed a 4-3 and second money for Wenatchee Suzuki. Bill Joyce (Suz) from Auburn took the lead from " H olesh ot" Jim Anderson in the big south sweeper and that was the last time Joyce looked at rear fenders in moto on e. J oyce did it again in moto two for his share of the dollars. Sun Country Yamaha's Ron Pomeroy from the "East" stacked up the scoring that · held on to third overall for the class . Jacob son . ou t again on his 125 Bellevue Su zuk i, claimed fou rt h . M in i Expert ri der Ph il Larson added six CMC points to his ru nning amateur total - chargin' hard for that top '77 plate. Right up on top with him is 100 Suzuki rider Jeff Cropper from Amboy. Jeff picked up a second overall in his class today for five valuable points. Results in Results Section. Spence doubles at Cal State TT . ByW. H. Spe ncer LOD! , CA . SEPT. 24 Denny Spence pulled the hat trick of his career by doubling the California State TT championship at the Lodi Cycle Bowl. Spence had everything go his wa y for the annual amateur semi-pro operation. won last yea r by D-35 . Tracy Hays controlled the 80 Experts over Doug Chandler. Mark Key took third in that one and first in the 100 Expert. While there were no points toward the top spots that Hays and Chandler are fighting for , the racing was furious as usual. Charles McCleary won the 125 Novice main. Jeff Mason did a fine job in his heat but Charles led the whole thing. Tom Rose look third over Mike Sakazaki. Jon Eichelbaugh was the lucky one in the 250 Nov ice when three starts caused by raised hands and crashes. left Bill Marshall unhappy, and Brad Spencer in thir d over Lowen, the D-37 rider. W ords and fists were exchanged after the trophy present ation . Fred Merkel dialed in h is Ca n -Am and led wire to wire in t he 250 Junior