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/126322
.,. - ; -- -- ·,.· - -.. - - _. ... '.V N • • ;: Desert Hotline ~ ••• ,.·.·..:..-.... .;..; ~:· :;.;..Y;,N ;,.; ;,; -.. ;..;.·..-...;.. ; -. : "".., .; ~ . t 00 t"O") ~ Double winner Bob Balentine. Balentine, Ogilvie double at Vipers' AMA D·37 dual European scrambles By Gary Laudig LUCERNE VALLEY . CA , JULY 8-9 IAbove) Ed Zarp 134) flew to third Open Expert on Saturday,IBelow) Senior rider Ramon Lowe maneuvers through the rocks. IBottom) Greg Thomas 1406x) leads Kem Park 1483x). • KTM 's Bo b Balentine scored double wins in the Heavyweight Expert class and HarleyDavidson -rid ing Bruce "Big 0" Ogilvie also scored double in the 250cc Experts at the Desert Vipers M.C . two day dual European scrambles. 20 Saturday The temperature soared for the first start at 10 a.m. but the racers were soa ked down an d ready to go . Trai lbi kes lined up first. The Experts went on the demanding course, t he Novices on the fast one. Joe Lockhart. led , Kevin Hopkins seized, and Lockhart took the overall. Ken Dod d took second, Amateu r Cliff Thomas sacked third. Don Urbanek smoked the Novice class . Art Guzman was second, Tim Sinclair third . Da vid Morris was first beginner. The Seniors manned the hard course, the ladies on the fast one. Ron Bebo led most of the way, but threw a cha in with the finish in sight, letting "Smokebo rnb " Gaetz in for the win , Dick Camp also a chain victim , took second, Ramon Lowe was t h ird . George Zuber took the 250cc senior class with Chris Christensen second, and Pat Guntlar third . Bill Stewart bagged the Senior C bike class ahead of John McCown , with George McClellan third on a lOOcc bike. Trudy Beck was busy makin' dust for Lori Farmer, Kelly Wiseman. Diane Blauer and first Novice Cindy Max. The C bikes (175cc) took to the field at high noo n . Charlie H a m ill neve r look ed back as he b lazed a trail for Gary Charters . Russ Jen kins, a nd Sterling Hop kins , who took first Amateur. Paul Kr a use's first -ever rid~ on a C bi ke found him in the Novice winner's circle while Mike Smith settled for second , Tim Foster was third . and Mike Gibbons co rne red the first beginner spot. Excit ement mounted as the 250 cc bik es lined up , The banner toppled and the 'shoes were off. The"BiK 0 ," Double winner Bruce Ogilvie, Br uce Ogilvie. never looked b a ck . winning convincingly over Br a d Henson . Mike Ecka rdt and super smooth Chuck Miller. Ken Ovia tt showed the 250 class what he could do as he bagged the Novice overall ahead of Rich Zajic, Steve Brookshire and first Begi n ner Rod Michener. At 2 p .m . no breeze and the Open class lined up . Bob Balentine was SO smooth he looks slow. Max Eddy, Bill Becker and Jan Morrison disagree; he 's damn fast. John Varanr, a beginner took the overall win in the Novice race; Cliff Wood and David Chase gave chase. Everyone kicked back and hoped Sunday would be cooler and the snowcone man didn't run out of ice. Sunday Eight o'clock: Kevin Hopkins was uri -seized and topped the T'railbikes , Joe Loc khart had a flat . Cliff Thomas took second. Dennis Marchard third . Novice Don Urbanek took on the de manding course and d uplicated his win whi le Art Guzma n ' a n d Tim Sinclair followed in t hat order. C hris McDonald of San Jose was first Begi nner . Gus Paull whacked the Senior class . Ro n Bebo and Smokebom b followed. Trudy repeated yesterday's wi n, finishing handily over Sheila Hopkins and Lori Farmer. The C bikes had three diferent leaders: Charlie Hamill (until his tire went flat), Steve Webb (until his grip went flat) . and finally Cordis Broo ks. riding like a true champ. Mike Eas ley bagged the Novice win ahead of Paul Krause and Mike Smith. Eleven o'clock the banner dropped and the "Big 0" sails away for another overall win. Bad Brad Henson took another second, still keeping his points standings alive . and "Chargin" Chuck Miller was third . Bill Vander Byl finally sacked a n Novice overa ll ahead ofJoe Zuidema. High noon aga in and the "Heavies" lined up for the last tango. If you had a ya rdstick . I' m sure Bal entine had th e exact same lea d tod a y as he had on th e hard co urse Saturd ay. Ca p tai n Max Eddy had to pass a feisty Rich Ma rk for seco nd. Ed " Baze rk" Zarp bagged t hi rd. Grant Palenske , Mike Walters and George Jagga rd sha red the glory of the Open Novice race . Great turnout , lots of fun , than ks to Rescue 3 , Bill and Sue. the snowcone utopia and the Vipers for all their help . • 9J