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/126306
the California riders and the ir parents to Houston, then take them to see the AMA/Mr, PiBB 125/250cc National on Sunday. Hugo Shea, promoter of May 20-21 the Mid-America National Motorcycle Race, will stage what'll undoubtedly be the most unique race ever held at the Oklahoma State Fairgrounds. Nope, it's not the Camel Pro/AMA Grand National Championship half· mile on Sunday, and it's not the $3,000 short track on Saturday night. It's the first live camel race in the midwest. Held in conjunction with the short track event. six camels beasts inclined to stomp, kick, and bite and spit -r- with guest riders will line up for the ultimate Camel non-Pro race of the year. Venezuelan Johnny Cecotto (Yam) won th e Apri l 2 Imola 200, the second leg of the AGV World Cup Series (Daytona was the first and next weekend 's race at Paul Rica rd circui t in France the third and fina l round) and the first round of the World Championship Formula 750 series. Steve Baker (Yam), Christian Sarron (Yam) , Gregg Hansford (Kaw) and Sadao Asami (Yam) filled out the top five pla ces. Other than Steve Baker's runnerup performance and Dale Singleton's (Yam) 10th , place overall finish, Americans had a bad day of it in the twin 100 mile leg event. Kenny Roberts' Yama ha seized in the first leg and he started at the back of the field in the second leg. By the en d of the first lap he had caught the leading five-rider pack , bu t he then crashed while du eling with Gregg Hansford when the pair accidentally banged together . Skip Aksland (Yaml dropped out of the first leg with a flat rear tire, In the second leg he moved from 17th to sixth place. David Emde (Yam) was the final qu alifier to make th e 40·rider field , but did not place high. Sketch y reports did not list the finishers past 10th place overall. Brad Lackey won the Apr. 2 American Trophy Race in Vorselaar, Belgium on his Bill Buchka-tuned RC450 Honda with a perfect 1-1 score. The race, named for its " Am e rica n -s tyle " course consisting of sand and man-made jumps and the paying of lap money to the riders, was a 500cc International event. Second to the American was KTM rider Andre Malherbe who registered a 4-2 tally. Husqvarna 's Hakan Carlqvist took third with a 6-3. Suzuki's Roger DeCoster was fourth w ith a 5-6; Andre Massant rounded out the top five with a 7-4 on his Mugen Honda. Reigning 500cc World Champ Heikki Mikkola encounte red motor problems in the first round at the American Trophy Ra ce and didn't start the secon d moto . Ya m a ha teammate Pierre Karsmak ers rode to a 16-13 th irteenth overall . 6 Dept. of Cor.recti~ns: The top rookie in the current AMA Camel Pro series point standings is northern California Yamaha pilot Don Bailey with 10 points, Eddie Lawson and Lance Jones were incorrectly identified as tied for top rookie honors in last week's National Papers, Torco Oil Company has introd uced an all -new lubricant' that's u nd ergone seven years of developmen t and 72,000 hou rs of dyno testing. JD Engin eering, Maico West and the Harley-Davidson desert ra cing team are now using the two-stroke racing lub ricant that can be mixed in an ywhere between 20: I and 80:I ratios. It reportedl y lea ves no de posit on piston rings , and it has th e ca pacity to alleviate problems caused by poo r quality gasolines. Last week Papa told you that DG Performance Specialties, along with Tri-Cross Productions, will be presenting the AMA/Mr. PiBB 125/250cc National motocross at Racing World on Apr. 16. Papa even gave you two numbers to call for info on the Trabuco Canyon, CA, event. But one of them was wrong. The correct numbers are: 714/581-6400 and 213/868-8112. , Att ention four -stroke owne rs : The Dirt Diggers M,C. will be holding th eir annual Dinosaur TT scra mb les at Perris Racewa y, in Perris, CA, on Sunday, May 7. As always, the groun d rul es ar e simple: If it doesn't have valves, cams , etc" it doesn't run. So get that old Mat chless out of the ba ck of the garage, and we'll have more info in the next couple of weeks. . The first two rounds of the AMAINATC National Observed Trials Championship Series will be held in Northern California on Apr. 8-9. The Saturday round will be held in Murderer's Gulch, near Auburn, just off 1-80. The Sunday round will happen at Frank Raines Cycle Park, about 20 miles west of Patterson. Patterson is located off 1-5, south of Stockton, The Nationa l Minieycle Association will select the top six Cal ifornia riders in five classes to "challenge the world" at Conroe, TX , near Hou ston on Ap r. 21-22, Up to 100 challengers will be allowed to enter each of th e five classes (up to l I -year-old Junior Cycle; 11 83cc Mini cycle ; 12 and over 83c c Minicycle ; 100cc Motorcycle a nd T he 100 125cc Motorcycle). challengers will be split into th ree groups and the top 21 (seven in each group) will battle the Californ ians on Satu rd a y a fternoon , a fter ru n ning qua lifyin g motos on Frid ay a nd Satu rday morning. T he NMA will fly Ch icken Ranch Ra cers ha ve announced (wa rned?) th a t they'll return to contest the AMA Novice race at Sears Point on the Apr. 15-16 weekend . Watch for two-time AFM Open GP Champ Greg Andrus' Seeley:.framed 250cc Yamaha and horne- built 750cc Honda with the chicken painted on their fairings. Signed up for the Torco FourStroke Exhibition Race at the Apr, 8-9 Hangtown Classic are Tommy Croft. Steve Bast and Rod Kentner_ Also listed are the infamous Lars Larsson, Dick Mann and Preston Petty, Of the $1,500 prize money, $700 goes to the winner of the single 2O-minute moto to be held between National class motos on Sunday, Apr. 9, Want an exp lanation about how the En vironmental Protection Agency's new proposed motorcycle no ise 'regu lations will affect you? Ifyou're an American Motorcycl ist Association member, there 's a free inform ation file that's yours for the asking, It costs a bu ck if you're not an AMA member , Write Government Rela tion s, AMA P.O. Box 141, Westerville, OH 43801 a nd ask for Government Relations Informat ion : EPA N oise R egulations. Ward Robinson, promoter of the July 30 250cc MX GP at Unadilla Valley Sport Center in New Berlin, N.Y. is off to Ellrope to sign riders to compete in the event. Robinson will attend the Apr. 9 Spanish round of the 250cc World Championship and is intent on getting contracts from the Russian KTM riders and other top names. Word has Honda introducing a new 750 in August or September. According to our source. the bike willuse a jackshaft , and will be a DOH C. fou r valves per cylinder unit like the CBX. Honda plans to use the new 750 design as the basis of an AMA Superbike Production racing effort late in 1978 or early in 1979. Pops Yoshimura proved the viability of building a 1000cc-class racer out of a 750 with his 944cc Suzuki GS750 last year. Honda has already ta lked abo ut Superbike Produ ction racing with Reg Pridm ore , Ron Pierce and David Em de , bu t no commitme nts were made. After testing with the three riders a t Willow Springs in February, Honda shelved a tentative plan to use th e CBX in a 1978 Superbike Produ ction bid . Saddleback Park, for the first time ever, will be hosting their own races on the second and fourth Sundays of each month. The sixrace CMC/Kawasaki MX Series begins on Apr. 9 at Saddlebac k. A - .. - .. - new 250cc Kawasaki goes to the overall series winner. Donations to support desert racer J. Rob ert Hayes in his campaign for Assemblyman for the 39th Distric t should be sent to Ha yes for Assembly, 213 North Macla y St ., San Fernando, CA 91340 . Dick and Jill Burleson are ' the proud parents of a baby girl, Undsay Kate, born Friday, March 24. Key time for the latest member of the four-time National Enduro Champion's family was 3 a .m . Dirt tracker Mike Moreh ead , brother of Gran d Natio nal Ch am pionship competi to r Steve Mo rehea d , was seriously inju red in a car accident Marc h 9. Morehead sustained three skull fractu res, a bruised brain and facial cuts . In addition, he broke two ribs, susta ined .a punctured lun g and suffered a left shoulder separation. Moreh ead is out of the hospital , but will require a long time healing before he is ready to return to work. Cards and letters ma y be sent to 306 West Hobats, Findlay, OH 45840 " Steve Morehead sustained burns to the upper portion of his left leg during the Daytona 200. The injury will require skin grafts. Morehead will enter the Blanchard Valley Hospital in Findlay March 29 for a two day stay. You can drop Steve a note at the address in the above Poop item. Penta x Cam era Corporati on will spo nsor the Ju ne 17-18 AMA Gra nd National Cham pionship/Camel Pro Series road race at Loud on , New Hampshire's Bryar Motorsport Park. The Pen ta x Laco nia Mot orcycle. Classic includes two days of road race action sandwic hing a night of shor trac k. The weekend will be ca pped off by the 75 mile National o n the 1.6 mi le course . The Suzuki 500cc road race machines ridden by Barry Sheene and Pat Hennen in the Venezuelan GP were fitted with fairings that incorporated small airfoils, which were designed to keep the front wheel ont he track at high speed, Rivetted to the sid of the fairing, just ahead of the side number plates, the "spoilers" are 10-inches long and project nearly 't h re e inches. According to Sheene and ' Hennen, they worked. Need a CR1 25 Honda ? KROY AM and KROI FM will be giving away one in conju nction with th e Mr . PiBB Hangtown Classic. Look for Jody Nicholas to contest some 250cc road race GPs this summer aboard a Harry Hunt sponsored Yamaha, Oregon MXers can look forward to three two-day weekends of racing in the Oregon Ch allenge Series hosted b)! Med ford's MX Park on Apr. 22-23'1 Clark Branch on May 6·7 and CrossUp MX on May 13-14. Three money pa ying Expert classes will be run wit h! 90% of the entry fees form ing th purse. The rem aining 10% will go to the top Expert rider at the series' end . Parker Systems Industry, manufacturer of air filters and the Parker Pumper helmet-cooling system used by auto racers, will donate products for the May 20 Duralube Final in the Scholasti Association of Moto-sports High School Motocross races at Saddle back Park. Others interested in supporting SAM may contact Jim Manning at 714/5590199.