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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126341
Craig Adams blests the second overall KTM towards Morelia Junction.
se erl Johnso
to San Rafael then northeast to San
Felipe and back to Morelia Junction.
.
which then became check eight.
The course then started its northwestern run to Ensenada, passing San
Matias pass. where Johnson and
Roeseler had increased their lead to
over 50 minutes. It had only drizzled
momentarily prior to this, so Roeseler
was wearing onl y a cotton jersey.
When the skies opened up , he would
regret it .
~ Greene was the next rider to go
through San Matias. Tarling, Martin
and Malocco followed him off as they
headed up the road to Mike~s Sky
Rancho as the rain came down hard
and the road became increasingly
slick . Malocco said , "You couldn't .use
your brakes to tum. You just hoped
you had a berm to smack off of. " One
time 'he didn't and ran 15 feet off a
cliff approaching Mike's. "T he bushes
were exploding around me , but I
didn't fall ," said Morgan. who
managed to regain control while still
on the bike. He .continued on . but the
excursion cost him dearly in the form
of a flat rear tire.
Leaving Mike's, Roeseler put his
foot down to go through a comer. but
it got caught and twisted. dislocating
the knee he 'd injured twice before (at
the GNC Amateurmotocross finals in
the L.A. Coliseum and the ISQT). On
top of that. "my jersey was soaking wet
and my boots were half full of water. I
just cruised into (Valle de) Trinidad,"
said Larry. At the Valle de Trinidad
pit. a tire was changed and the gearing
lowered. (The bikes' lighting systems
run off the engine. so that in order to
produce any kind of decent light
output the engine must be kept
revving .) Johnson then took off
towards the finish .
. Meanwhile, Greene was having his
problems. The chain came off twice
on his way up to Mike 's and he was
passed by Tarling and Martin.
From
Trinidad. , the
course
continued in a familiar direction
through Nuevo junction, EI Rodeo
and Tres Hermanos. After Tres
Hermanos, the course went in a southwestern heading instead of northwest
to Ojos Negres, the traditional route.
In this new section, there were a lot of
ruts, off camber comers. and a
sectio n down a running water stream .
Johnson
had
no
problems
nego tiating the last section and he
arrived at Ensenada before it got dark,
at 4 :41 p .m. Their overall time was
10:25:47 .
,
Adams took over from Tarling,
who'd ridden on a flat from Mike's to
Trinidad.. to ride to the finish . "J ust
when it's getting dark, that's the
hardest 'time to see," said Adams. He
fell twice , near sunset, and wiped out
the clutch lever and bracket. so Craig
hook ed the clutch cable up to the front
brake lever so he could fan the clutch
and keep the light shining brightly.
Their official time was 11:49 :15.05 .
" It 's a bear out therel" said Errol
Clarke upon finishing . He and Martin '
were third oV'erall and second in Class
22 with a time of 12:50 :46:44 .
Martella was next into the finish .
He 'd crashed once earlier in the race ,
and had a close call as he headed down
th rough the stream near the finish . " I
was. bookin', down the stream when I
saw this white thing. I thought it was
the trail , but it was a rock as big as a
carl I ran right over it ," said Todd.
though he didn't crash. _
Holem an told
Deke Holgate. " I've never been so
tense. After I got off the bike (at EI·
Rodeo) I had no vision at all . I never
had control of the bike , I was concentrating so much." Their time was
12:50:06 :46 .
Malocco had arrived at Tres
Hermanos with the-bike's light in one
hand . the throttle frozen in th e other .
and riding in a rut . The ligh t was
securely taped back on and Maze rode
to the finish . making it despite an offkey engine. They were second to
Tarling/ Adams in Class 21 with a time
of 15:55 :56 :41.
" I crashed so many timesl" said a
tired Dennis Greene at the finish . Not quite
adequate
lighting,
rea r
suspension that went away and fat igue
were among the causes . After the rider
change mix -up. Scheffers had done
550 miles and Greene . 250 .
George Erl , who had been leading
the 125cc Class 20 point standings ,
finally got a notch in the win column,
having a smooth ride right to the
finish. " It was bitchin'l' grinned
George at the finish line. "The onl y
problem was that we kept overrunning
our pits." Erl and Jackson ended up
with a 20-minute margin on the Coutts/
Lamar/Kaplan Husky .
Watkins was still leading Class 58,
but having a terrible time past Tres
Hermanos as he struggled with the
mud , rain , unfamiliar terrain , and
visibility troubles . The rain made his
goggles useless. and did likewise to his
glasses. "I 'm 20/200 without my
glasses. I couldn't seel I'd ride till I
crashed. pick it up and keep on going.
I must have crashed 20 times. Starting
Monday I'm gonna tak e up golfl" said
John as he stood in the Bahia Hotel
after finish ing . He walked off, still
wea ring his helmet . complete with
miner's light; three different raincoats;
and mud en crusted boo ts. Watkins'
and Vick'stimewasI6:47 :11:27.
The runner-up in Class 58 was the
T humper McDowell /Bob McLaughlin
Hu sky that finished about 50 minutes
lat er. Fourth in class went to speed way promoter Harry Oxl ey and mu ltitime . World Speedway Champion
Barry Briggs , whose TT500 Yamaha
com pleted the distance in 20 ~ hours.
Unofficial Results
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ClASS 22 lover 251ccl: 1. LM RO<>S