Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Harden was all smiles at the finish in downtown Ensenada. Scot Harden pilots the winning 390 Husqvarna along fireroad near Santa Cin:arina. Harden and teammate Brent WallihQllford had a flawless ride; finished 10 minutes ahead of runners- up Jack Johnson and A.C. Bakken. Wallingsford smiled as well. despite the heat he'd endured. . WallingsfordlHarden claim win. By Dale Brown Photos by Suzie Mann and Dale Brown ENSENADA . MEXICO,JUNE 10 Brent Wallingsford and Scot Harden teamed on a Nils Ussery-tuned 390 Husqvarna to win the 430-mile SCORE Baja Internacional, lead: ing a 1-2-3. Team Husqvama sweep. They were followed by the Jack Johnson / A.C. Bakken team and the 250cc Class 21 winning team of Jeff K i d R' k F' ap an an IC mger. 12 Blistering heat - ranging from reported temperatures of between 115 0 and 135 - on the eastern half of the course between t~e sandwash on th_e base of th e Summit to th e San Ma rai s pass was th e ~eal story. The heat caused exh:"usllon . crashes, and one racer fatality . Pete Heron , 43 , of Canoga Park. CA . was found by oth er racers. d ?wn near Tres P~. SCORE. paramedics ~acuated him from the sc;ene by helicopter _ nd tra nsfe rred a h~m to a fixed-Wing ~Ircraft. where he d ied o~ he~ll prostrallon on t he way to a_h~pltal In B~aw.ley. ':fe ron had b~n nd'?g a Suzuki with hIS brother . Jim . 53 . In Class 38. Team Husky underwent a ch ange th e day before the race when Larry Roeseler, originally schedu led to ride with Johnson. decided not to com pe te due to an arm injury suffered while competing in the Trask Mountain Two-Day ISDT Qualifier. Roeseler had struck a car late on the second day and inj ured a muscle in his arm which prevented him from holding onto t he bars properly during rough sectio ns. as he d iscovered wh ile pre-running the course during the week . A.C . Bakken replaced Roeseler and d id an excellent job. considering that his Thursday afternoon arrival only left him time to pre-run between th e start and Nuevo Junct ion . 95 m iles down th e course . Class 20 (for 125cc bikes) went to George Erl and Tom Grant. riding a Husky for ErI's Up -Tite Husqv arna . Grant's wife . Dawn . was riding a 25~ Husky under Torco Oi l sponsorship along with Diane Blauer. Blauer and Erl met for t he firs t tim e ever whil e p re ru n ni ng the course sepa rately, in a head -on collision. Bla uer report edl y b.,nged up her wrist while Erl ha d to replace ' his forks a nd a Vesco tank . which had t he perc ock ripped out d uring th e cras h. In additio n. Erl went th rough t hree ignitio ns tryin g to get th e bike ready. He ended up impoundi ng th e bike a' 5:30 a .m. the morning of th e race, wh ile most competitors had their bikes to im p o u n d by 8 :00 t he p revious evening. Class 38. for rid ers 38 years old or over. went for th e umpt eenth lime to Dick Vick a nd John W a tkins. a boa rd a 390cc Husky. Hu sky ended up sweeping a ll four SCORE motorcycle classes . This yea r the race started near th e middle of town and used city streets, a concrete factory and a wash to lea ve r Ensenada. Once out of town. th e course jumped on th e ma in highway leading to San Felipe for five m iles to the Pepsi Stand. where th e co.urse jumped back onto th e dirt and headed for Ojos Negros. At Ojos Negros , Tom Kelly . riding with Bob Balentine on a KTM Imports-sponsored 400 KTM . was already starting to build a good lead . Following him were th e two Husky teams. with Harden chasing Bakken. who started a minute ea rlier. Santa Catarina. I S m iles from the pits at Nuevo Junction . where most rid ers elected to change, found Kelly still building up a solid lead. Harden had gotten around Bakken. but t he two wer e four m inutes behind th e flying Kelly. Finger had worked his 250cc Husky into fourth overall. follo wed by th e Bel -Ray-sponsored 400cc KTM of Bill Tarling a nd Bobby Messer. Bal entine too k over th e lead KTM at Nu evo , but had problem s clim bing th e 4 ,OOO-foot Summ it. He fell and . bent the frame , which dea ct ivat ed th e rear brake rod . Wallingsford and Johnson passed him while he worked on it to no avail. Bal entine had th e bike seize in a sandwash on th e way to Cohabuzo Junction . and th ey quit for good at San Felipe . Meanwhile . Johnson had passed Wallingsford in th e sa nd wash and maintained the lead desp ite falling in a turn near EI Chi nero. EI Chinero was on e of the hottest places around . "By the time I got to EI Chi nero . I was beat!" said Wallingsford later. Harden and Bakken got on at EI Chinero and headed for San Felipe, with Harden regaining the lead along th e way . Finger and Kaplan were still leading Class 21 . staying ahead of the Bruce Ogilvie/Bob Rutten team on a factory -backed Dale's Modern Cycle Harley-Davidson. Ogilvie rode straight through to EI Chinero. Though he got caught in dust early in the ra ce . he later admitted that he just "got beat" by the Finger/Kaplan team . In Class 20. the' team of Chuck and Mike Cartledge. riding a Lechichtuned Yamaha sponsored by Yamaha of Corona. were leading after a good d ice with Scott Pfe iffer and Chuck Miller on a Mission Viejo Yamahasponso red machine . Class 38 was already solidly in th e hands of Dick Vick and John Watkins. . The run from EI Chinero was rough . due to a great amount of cross grain te rri tory and th e sea ring heat. Aft er rea ching San Felipe. the easte rn most po int on t he course. the course headed back in a northwest direction towards Diablo Dry Lake and th e San Matais Pass. The heat possibly reached its worst on the highly reflective surface of the dry lake. A .C . Bakken later su m med it up . saying " It's like throwing a couple of TV dinners in the oven . leaving them, and th en opening up the oven and staring inside for a half hour." The rid e across the dry lake d id in Bob Messer . who was riding with Bill Tarling. " By the tim e I came to the end of th e dry lake. wh ich is flat and smooth, I was thrashed," said Messer later. Tarling took over for .the

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