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/126331
During the Na tio nals, Marty T ri pes was th e on ly rider to stay close to t he H u rrica ne . T ripes got o ut in fro nt of H annah seve ral tim es, onlv to ha ve ba d luck and mechanica l failures stop. him in his tracks. In Un adi lla at the U.S. round of the 25 0cc W orl d Championshi p M X Series , Tripes led an A m e r ica n trou ncing of th e visiting Europeans .' T wo -time 125 cc Nat ional M X Champ Bro c Glo ver will cha llenge Ya m ah a teammat e Ha n na h as well . hut fellow Yam aha teamst ers Mik e Bel l and R ick Burgett will be for ced to sit o ut due to inj ury. Kent H ow erton , the d efen di ng cham p , will be seeking to make it two in a row . this tim e with a Suzuki. Gary Se m ics, r unner · u p a yea r ago , will be ridi ng a Can-Am . The rest of th e m oto cross co nt inge nt includes J eff J ennin g s , Kawa saki 's group- of "Gassin" Garylon Mosier , "J a m m in'" Jimmy Weinert and St eve St ac ka b le , Yamaha 's Rex Staten and Jeff Ward . and H o nd a's St eve Wis e . Dirt trackers The dirt tracking Camel Pro Series competitors will be led by Dav e A ld ana , wh o is well known for some ' cras hing successes a nd some su ccessful cras hing . Da ve is a threat o n a dirt tr ack er or a roa d racer , a nd has both d esert and motocross expe rie nc e . Mech anical problems sid eli ne d him in last year's eve nt . h u t if he keep s it toget he r , he' ll pro vid e qui te a show. Anot her jack-of-a ll-t rades is Joh n H a rel cy. J ohn has earned AMA · N at ional numbers in both fla t track and motocross a nd has been successfu l in Baj a off-road racing. Ste ve Eklun d , in search of t he - - AMA /Camel Pro Series tit le , will be un a ble to co mpete d ue to co nflicting race that w as rescheduled a fter he agreed to co me . But Rookie of th e Year contender Eddie Lawson will be at Saddleback and should put on a helluva show in th e short track and TT events , esp e c ia lly si n ce all th e competitors will have to use dirt tra ck tires . Alex "Jorgy" Jorgensen, winner of two dirt track Nationals will be th er e and also a top contender in the short track and TT. Rick Hocking (seventh last year) , J o h n Gennai and Peewee Gleason rou nd out the Camel Pro representatives. Enduro riders . A ll of the enduro riders entered in ' the Olympiad are, as of this writing , criss-crossing the Swedish woods in the International Six Days Trial. The trial ends Sept. 9 and it'll be a TransAtlantic dash to Saddleback. ,1J l1i Multi -rime National Enduro champ Dick. Burleson should prove to be com pe titive , as will be Carl Cranke > 1 wh o has swit ch ed brands this year and .,H .< will be on a Yamaha . •., The brothers Penton will return with Jack on the famili ar KTM , which his famil y used to import. T o m Penton , however. m ade the move to < the other side of the fence and is '0-. competing this year on a Suzuki. John JHq Fero , who won the Trask Mountain I)'; ISDT qualifier . and former desert star A .C. Bakken make up the rest of th e ~10'{0' enduro sq u ad . 10 u:!' Desert riders u h:>A Larry Roeseler and Bob Balenti ne In are the stars of the entered desert . o riders. Roeseler, who finis hed fifth Ll)l1l1< here in '7 7. is also a m ember of this y. yea r's ISDT squad. In addition to h is _. well -known prowess as a des ert and ) &Ji, off-road co mpetitor, Larry also has a I I I:x year under his belt in spe ed way a nd t, .N' has won a lot of loca l motocross ra ces. ,lOc With Roesel er riding ISDT eve nts , I ., I Bob Bal entine has been unstoppable >N in the desert , winning 12 stra ig ht ra ces to da te . An ot her desert rid er to wat ch is lat e ent ry T om Bro oks. Broo ks probably has more sheer tal ent than a ny de sert rider , a nd a few years ago Rat tracker Hateley grabs the motocross lead ahead of ~ke Bell 1131 and Bob Hannah 1241 . .. wa s regu larl y bl owing 400 c c H usq varnas into the wee ds wit h a 125cc DKW . Brent W allings ford has wo n three consecu ti ve Baj a races. bu t is no longer active in regular desert racing. H e' s been c o m p e t i n g on the S addleback motocross c o u rs e. Familiar terrain never hurrs . Suspension wizard Al Baker ~iIl bring a Husky to the Ol ympiad and shou ld d o well. Speedway riders With one exception. the probable success of speedway riders is of an unknown q uantity in the Olympiad. The exception is Ji m Fishback, who proved him self last year with a sixth overall. . Fish back wears many ha ts - m o tocrosser , desert champion. winner of two ISD T qualifiers this year and o n the ISDT squad as well as a top speedway rider. • Ron Preston and Bobby Schwartz, both in the top 10 in SoCal speedway, will be aboard R M400 Suzukis. Mike Bast . who did well last year until his machine went belly-up. will be forced to miss the Olympiad due to a shoulder injury, Women The two women competing , T rudy • Beck and Sue Fish, do no appear like they will be cha llengi ng for the overall - win . Bu t they will have an interesting battle to see who is the best all -round woman racer. Sue Fish , several times Nat ional Women's MX Champ . is the first woman to obtain an AMA Pro motocross license. Trudy Beck has proven to be one of the top women racers in the desert , with a few number one plates to her credit . The lone trials rider The only trials rider entered in this year's Olympiad is Marland Whaley , th e three-time National champion . Marland ca n d o some truly amaz ing fea ts on a trials hik e, and wh en he' s rid ing the loo p between o bse rve d sectio ns. he reall y flies. Th ough W hal ey has never actua lly entered a motocross , he has m a ny ho urs of experience on m otocross machinery. Bob Hannah greets flagman Bob Malley after winning the 71 cross country. Celebrity Bru ce J en ner . who is the defend ing O lym pic .deca th alon champion, will ride a Kawasaki. Sin ce Bruce is used to competing in several different types of competition, he will place consistently. Consistently where, we don't know. The Olympiad There will be five events at ' the Ol ympiad . The first t wo , t he Goodyear _ Short Track a nd the Yamaha TT. will give those with flat tra ck experience a chance to get an ea rly points lead . The format will be similar to an AMA /Cam el Pro Nati onal . with four heats and two semis ru n to p ick o u t final and co nso la tion race part icip a nts. Riders will be req ui red to ru n " C lass C" tires, so the off-road riders will have to adapt to new ti res . Bo t h the short track and TT will use the same format. T he Ka was aki Cross' Country race will be a dead engine start with no pre · running of t he co urse allowed. W ithin the four mile course will be two observed sections where riders will be penalized for putting their feet down. Betwee n the TT and the cross country. riders will o nly h ave 10 m inutes to change wh ee ls and tires. A fter the cross co untry will be the Yam a h a Drag Hillc1imb . Rid ers will be paired , then start at the base of a hi ll, and go ch a rgi ng through u phill gates . Whoever gets to the top first is dah winnah . No handicaps for engine size . Winners will be paired off again until there are only two . then one , left. The Yamaha Motocross will have all co ntesta nts sta rti ng togerh er for one 30 -min u te m ot o . 25