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/126401
rI.I !I DlIII ;I: DlIII ...:II t m r--m 1""""4 ~ 1""""4 ..c: U . . ' Costa Mesa is the smallest track. The next night of racing will see the who le show move to Sa n Bern ard ino on a much la rger track and a much closer sco re . Then on two Thursday nights . Mar. 8 and Mar. 15, the show will be a t Ascot; first on t he q uarter-mile tra ck a nd then on the ha lf-mile track one week later. And that is where, in the past , the score has really been lopsided in favo r of the visitor. There is one more nigh t of racing wher e the edge is in ou r fa vor. That will be on Ma r. 10 a t the Ve nt ura County Fa irgro un ds; a Sa turday n igh t event on a track t ha t is b u ilt to the same sp!'cs as Costa Mesa . So all in all, the Series is run on four tracks," two that give the edge to the visitor (Ascot on the big trac ks), Costa Mesa a nd Ventura (t he smallest tracks) , and San Bernardino which is neutral ground for everyone. Roundtwo SAN BERNARDI N O , CA , MA R. 4 It's been years since anyone has _ru n a d aytime speedway r ace in t he USA and it was a ball, with most of t he fans armed with cameras. This ra re chance to get pictures d uri ng a race meet was very well received. Most important of all, th is was rou n d two of the Challenge Series on the track where there was really no advantage for either side. At leas t that was what most of us thought , but the American riders are getting much better on t he intermediate sized tra cks a nd they aga in ran away wit h , the show. ,T he score, 70-38, was not quite as bad as Costa Mesa beca use of severa l events th at ended up in ties. Of the 18 events, the U.S. team won 10, tak ing first a nd second in eight, first and third in two , tying in six and on ly losin g two events all d ay to the visitors. . Even with two st raight . losses, the visitors are going to be hard to keep up wit h on t he big tracks this week and next at Ascoi. Though his team may have lost, Ivan Mauger was the high point rider at San Bern a rd ino , one point up on Mike Bast. To give you some idea of just how well the American team is doing, all you have to do is look at the record of the team they are racing against : Ivan M auge r from New Zea land . World Speedway Champ 1968, 1969 , 1970 , 1972 , 1977 . Worl d 1,000 Meters Champion 197 1, 1972, 1976 . European Champ four times , British Ch am p fou r times. World Pai rs Cha mp twice. Anders Michanek fro m Sweden . Worl d Speedway Champ 1914 . 1,000 European Met ers Champ 1977 . Champ 1973. Swedish Champ three times . World Pairs Champ twice. Peter Collins from England . World Champ 1976 . European Champ 1974 . Malcolm Simmons from England . British Champ 1976 . . World Pairs Champ twice . L a rry Ross from New Zealand. New Zea land Cha mp 1977 , 1978. The record books go on and on about this outstanding team that the U .S. team has beaten twice. We are not without our title holders. Mike Bast, current United States National Champ and six -time holder of the title , is the team captain . Mike also holds the California title. Bo b Schwartz was East Coast Champ and Alan Christian was number one in Northern California a few years back. The other four riders on the American team a ll have track titles and special event glory: Big Jim Fishback, Dave Sims, Gene Woods, and Bru ce Pen hall , Their titles may not be known anywhere but here in Sout hern Cal iforn ia , b ut by the time this race ser ies is over , there may be a lot of looking in t he record boo ks. Being around all th is super ta lent it is qui te easy to get off the subject at han d , t he racing. It was the best this reporter has seen in two or three years . The fans ' loved it and , even with a whol e new set of grandstands installed over where the pits were , there was a near-turnaway crowd . The offi cial race season will start here on Apr. 25 , • a Wednesday night. ' I-< (':j ~ (Top) Fishback (l) and Christian get the jump on the rest of the world at San Berdoo. (Center) Gene Woods and New Zealand Champ larry Ross between battles. (Below) Alan Chr istian maintained complete control . .. ..J 11