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/126307
·._._._._._._._._._._._._._._.•. _ . _ . _ . _ . _ . _ . _ . _ . _ . _ . _ . _ . _ . _ . _ . _ . _ ~ . _ . _ . _ . _ . _ . - Western hotline 00 r-- O') Coming from behind all night. Natio nal po ints leader Steve Eklu,nd took the 21at opener at Ascot Park. . Roy Rogers' training camp produces many new half-mile styles. Wa yne Rainey walked away w ith the J unior m ain at Ascot. Eklund aces Ascot half-mile opener Racing really began to explode on the third lap when Eklund mo ved in on Lawson , who was fighting Jorgensen's roost. In one exciting lap, Eklund slid underneath both Lawson and Jorgensen for the lead , with Lawson moving up to second. It was downhill after that for the Norton pilot, and he soon succumbed to machine failure . Ou t front, Eklund proved too much for Lawso n to catch and distance was soon separating the duo. Third place honors were left up for gra bs between J im Mertens and Tom Berry. As they came around to take the white flag, Berry went low in turn four and took the show spot away from Mertens. When the checkers flew , Eklund rode across to another win at ' Ascot, followed by Lawson, Berry and Mertens. O ne hundred dollars was up for grabs for the top Expert in the Trophy Dash , which lined up the four fastest heat winners, Alex Jorgensen, Eddie Lawson, Pee Wee Gleason and Frank Gillespie. In four bar-to -bar laps , Gleason took both Jorgensen and Lawson by surprise and copped the win . Lawson stayed ahead ofJorgy and Gillespie for second. J uniors and Novices were on the roster for the night, totaling nine heats between the two classes . In Junior heat action, Wayne Rainey jumped out into the lead and held on for the win . In the second heat. a girl lined up beside the guys. Dorothy Rowe made her first ride on a 750cc twin as a Junior, in only her 'third ride on the Ascot surface. Although disappointed in her finish, Dorothy fared well 'and gained a little insight on what the future holds for a woma n in a maled om ina ted sport. Out in the front of the second heat , Bob Selvy took the win after his competition went over the crashwall of turn four. Taking the last two heats were Don Grigsby and Steve Brandl. . Semi main honors went to Steve Monger. In the main , Rainey walked away By Brian George GARDENA, CA , APR. 7 To open the 21st season of halfmile flat track racing at Ascot Pa rk, Steve Eklund proved why he is currently t he points lea der in the AMA / Camel Pro Series by taking his Mario Za notti-spo nsored Harley- Davidson over a rough and vigorous course to win Friday night's Expert main evc:pt. Ra In made shambles of the track, which Eklund said " It's too bad. It 's a nice track." He could be considered one of the knowledgeable on that fact ; he had to come from behind all night on it for his victory. 26 Early ma in leaders Eddie lawson (11) and Alex Jorgensen battle for position on turn two. . Time trials were eliminated to save time and trouble, and heat races were used for transferring to the main or a semi. With the top two rider going directly to the main, battling was barto-bar on every portion of the tight half-mile. In heat one, Alex Jorgensen slid his Norton in front of Eddie Lawson and Tom Berry for the win , . with Lawson taking the number two ' transfer. Pee Wee Gleason led Ron Day across the line in the second heat , with Eklund barely taking the last transfer ' to the semi . In heat three, Frank Gillespie and Bob Sanders took transfer honors to the main . In the semi main event, Tom Berry led an impressive race that brought Eklund, Jim Mertens, Don Bailey and himself into the main event. Taking the holes hot ' off the line of the Expert main was rookie Eddie Lawson , with ' Alex J orge nse n and Frank Gillespie close behind . Jorgensen took the lead before the end of the first lap with a pass down the back chute. Eklund came off the line in seventh, but was up to fourth on the second time around., _ . ..._1- with the win , leaving some healthy racing in his d ust . Mike Kunsman began a move from the rear of the pack that brought him past Steve Bra nd t and Russ Davis by the finish. Rainey took the win with Kunsman . Brandt and Davis following. In the Novice main event , chaos brought a red flag out in place of the white to stop the race one lap early. Jeff Haney went unchallenged in front of the pack, but making a fantastic charge for the leaders was Ken Robisheaux. Moving from seventh to second, Robisheaux picked off one to two riders a lap until he found picking off Haney was not so easy. As the white flag was about to come out. Danny Dugan went down hard . out of turn four and suffered a broken leg. .T he red flag was then given, but in turn two , Manny Data n met with the dirt . He still had, taken the red and didn't lose anything but some hide off of his derriere. Gambetta grabs CRCMX By Tom Corley VALENCIA, CA, AP R. 2 Motocross in the SoCal area was almost washed away this weeken d because of the late Friday night rains. Fortunately it let up and the action continued as usual for the " Ca liforn ia Racing Club motocross at Ind ia n Du nes. I Today's race was successful as the park packed in right about 200 Sportsmen and Pros. The 250cc Pro class had 15 hot ha nds n udging against the starting gate in pursuit of the loot. O ne of the Crown Cycle gang was in the win ners circle in the first moto of action: fast John' Atwood. John was cooking on a Maico in .t ~e first bout and nobody could tag hifn. Mark Gambetta (Mai) was the runnerup while Dave Haugh (Mai) and Jim Hale (Hon) were cranking it from behind. hi the second and final showdown Gambetta advanced to the first place spot, and as Atwood was shoved back to fourth . Dave Haugh hooked second and Craig Cole who DNF the first round of _ action managed a fine third this time. Overall , Gambetta of Goleta . Valley Cycle captured the best of the cash. Haugh landed the second overall spot for his sponsor Cole Bros. John Atwood to taled up a score of 1-4 for a third overall cash prize while the last on the loot list was Jim Hale on the bizarre Honda CR250 R . Result s in Results Section. Burnworth takes four in CMMC MX By Rod Eschenburg SAN DI EGO , CA , APR . 2 Suzuki R& D rider Scott Bu m -