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/126298
Fred Hansen and Kevin Davis came from Las Vegas for their first Baja event and ended up w inning Class 21. Wallingsford, Harden win ultra-close Mexicali 300 By Dale Brown MEXICALl. MX . FEB. II After over 300 miles of racing on the Baja peninsula, only 11 seconds separated the winning Husqvarna team of Brent Wallingsford/Scot Harden and the runner-up KTM team of Bob Balentine/Torn Kelly in SCORE International's Mexicali 300. The Mexicali 300 was a substi tu te for the Parker 400 , origina lly sched u led to flank th e Col orado River with both California and Arizona loops. When SCORE was u nable to find th ird -party liability insurance. they moved the race to Mex ico . where ~he go vernment underwrit es t he Insurance. (A bov e) Co-winner Scot Harden. (Bel o wl Class 20 winner Team Cartledge leads t he Co utts/Lamar Husky early in the race. The Husqvama and KTM teams dic ed throughout much of th e race. with Bal entine taking the lead near the pavement that led to the finish . But Bob was unable to pull enough of an advantage to overcome the sta rt handicap. Both completed the over 300 -mile course in oft1 a m azingly fast six hou rs and 13 minutes . Third overall bik e was the 250cc Yamaha of Las Vega ns Fr ed Hansen J r. and Kevin Davis. They had a close race to the finish wit h t he Jeff Ka p la n / R ic k Finger H usq va rna , winning by about two minutes . 6 Class 20 . fo r 125c c b ikes. went to the L e cki ch Tuning -sponsored Yamaha of Chu ck an d Mike Cartledge. The Cartledge team won despite losing second and th ird gears going over th e Summit, a perilous ascent of rock steps and . this weekend. d eep water crossings. J ohn Watkins and Dick Vick kept their Class 38 (for riders over 38 yea rs of age) winning streak alive . getting th eir Husqvarna 3flO ac ross the fin ish i line over an hour a head of th e competition. 1 Weather was a major factor in the Mexical i 300. While the weather was d ry and su nny in Mexi cali , the Pacific oce a n side of th e peninsul a was belted by sto rms . SCORE Pr esident Sal Fish went to th e sto rm a rea . whi ch centered in the areas around Vall e de Trinidad . Th d . . d I" e ecision was rn a e to e immate a section th a t went from San Marais towards Mik e's Sky Ranch , turned and ca me out on th e highway a t Valle d e Trinidad . Inste ad . riders were supposed to ca tch th e highwa y at San Marais and go to El Rodeo . where they ยท would head for the Summit. However. only the first few bikes went directly on the highway. Report ed ly. later bikes were flagged onto the bypassed course by an unknown person. In addition to changing the course, th e ra ce was held up for two hours . waiting for Sal Fish to authorize a start. Most bikes managed to complete the race before darkness fell. but there were a few with prob lems that inc hed their way in at night. The Leroy Kyger/Mel Chapman Yamaha took the early lead in the race as th e course manuevered through a cana l section before hitting open desert. R a n d y Neal and David Hopkins (H us) followed . ahead of Cory T imms and Keith Dysert (Hus). Joe Jones and Ron Bishop (Hus) . Morgan Malocco and Wayne Allen (H on) , Hardin , and Tom Kelly (who got lost before check on e and was making his way back through th e pack).