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/126404
lLeft) Here', e femlller l ight - e fle,h from the pest recing ,ee,on - Bob "Hurricane" Hennah, ell elone, out in front. Rerun time on the Netionel circult.lAbovel Teem Suzuki', Brien Myerscough 131 end Teem Yernehe ',126cc Netionel Chemp BrocGlover 111 matched metes before Hengtown', ebundent crowd, 3-1 to 1·3, AMA 125/250cc National Championship MX Series - Rounds 1/1 • Somethlnq old, sornethinq new, claim game returns at 11th Dirt Diggers North Classic afternoon progressed , so that by the time final mot os were run the track also earned a "c hallenging" rating : The only obvious problem - other than a good old fashioned m udhole that caught a few to p riders by surprise - was dus t th a t develo ped later in the day. A nd whil e it reac hed an inconvenient level , it certainly was no worse than wh a t's found on many of the Eu ropean GP courses we admire so much . T he only rea l hazard on the track was spectators . H a ng town u su a ll y d raws arou nd 30.000 peop le , and it's a partying, fun-loving crowd loo king for what motoc ross has to offer. Unfortunately , t hey use very little discretion , or even common sense , when it comes to crossing t he course during a race. Standard crowd cont ro l techniques were in effect , but the sec u rity . people we re si mply outnumbered to the point of being overwhelmed. One incident in particular d rew a lo t of attention it happened imm ed iatel y b en ea th anno u ncer Bru ce Flanders' perch - and both rider and spec ta tor were hurt. La rry Wosi ck was putting in a very impressive ra ce - he 'd put his MOlO-X Fox Honda in fifth place in the first 250cc moto after running with the leaders earlier in the race - and he was running fourth in the second moto By Charles Morey SACRAMENTO , CA , MA R. 25 If Bob Hannah's riding exhibition a t the Dirt Diggers North M,C.'s Ll th Annual Hangtown .Motocross Classic, this year backed by Carmichael Honda , is a sample of things to come in the America n Motorcyclist Association 250cc National Championship MX Series, only an un -. forseen m iracle wou ld allow any. one else to displace hi m as Na tional ha mni . Cham pion , Hanna h d anced the Kelt h McCarty-tuned works Yamaha over th e Prairie Ci ty Off -H ighway Vehicle Park course leaving his closest riva ls Team Honda's Ma rty T ripes and Team Kaw asaki's J im m y Weinert wit h a second p lace ride apiece behind " T h e H urricane's " pe rfect I -I afternoon score. If his riding style were any less impressive to watch , it would be bo ring. But it's not. Wh ile t he 250cc ti t le may be "spoke n for " a lready . th e 125 cc Championship is a nything but. Four very st rong contenders m a de their intentions obvious in today's opening round of the '79 season, and at least another four potential top runners followed closely in their dusty wakes. Champion Bro c Glover showed his superior a bility by winning the first 40 minute -plus-two -Iap moto , but it was Team Suzu ki's Bria n Myerscough who -won the second and matched the champ's moto scores - Glover's 1·3 to Myerscou gh's 3-1 - to pu t a tie for the lead in the series points race, 45 -45. Team Ka wasaki's "Teeny Mea nie" Jeff Ward rode a new KX I25SR UniTrak works bike to a similar points tie . with Team Suzuki's Mark Barnett . Ea ch scored points for a seco nd and a fourth placing - Ward with II 2·4, Ba rn ett with a 4-2 - to put t hem next in the points run with 40 ea ch . The course at the 856 -acre Sa cramento Count y-own ed .p a r k provided. a wide variety of lines through many of the turns , and sideb y-side racing with p lenty of opportunity to pass was the ord er of the d ay. R a ted fast by rid er s' in practice, the track developed bumps l ! Ie~1J\ ¥a!I!~ . ! i~ iJ'!g Na.t~ ! : ; I Jl !19 ,~'~'t if! lq ~!aY!S.l'r (a..c f~ ,t P~ I ~h path. La rry was knocked out in the get -off according to witnesses , and th e unprotected spectator was hurt much m ore seriously. It 's a h igh price to pay for a foolis h error in judgement , 125cc National Randy Hess p ut his DG Performance Su zuk i RMI 25 out in front when the ga te dropped for the first mo to of th e ~ 7 9 AMA National MX season. Bu t Suzuki's Ma rk Ba rn ett wasn't as lucky, and the Ill inois rider go t off dead last. He'd cha rge u p to finish fourth three-qua rt ers of an ho ur later. , Bu t ou t in front, Hess h ad his hands full t ryin g to hold back Kawasaki'sJeff Ward , Suzuki 's Bria n 'Myerscoug h , Yama ha's Nationa l C h a m p Broc Glover , Kawasaki-spo nsored Chappy Blose , Team Honda's Warren Reid and LOP-backed Dav id Taylor on his Ya maha . Don n ie Ca n tal ou pi, riding a Moto-X Fox Yamaha . Washington's Pa t Jacobson on t he Bellevue Suzu ki RM I25 and Pat Moroney's Mo to -X Fox Suzuk i com p leted the top 10 on th e op ening lap . Ward mad e h is move midway through the second lap . ta king th e lead from Hess , and by th e end of lap two , Myerscough and Glover had put H ess ba ck to fourth in t heir p ursuit of the Teeny Meanie . Blose apparently h ad fa llen and was riding visor-l ess bc: .spe t r.aJCJ ~tq>~ti . into fbis H . 1 J>ilr.:~ iIl ~ P'!~_ i ' L .-. __' HO d 9