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
.. . l-< Q.. < lAbovel Bruce Ogilvie blasts through a section just north Of the first check.lBelow left) C.... 20 w inner Tom Kelly. lBelow center) C.... 22 co-winner Chuck Mlller.IBelow right) Cia.. 21 co-winner Brian Wright. . SCORE Mexicali 250 Ogilvie/Miller lead the wa y for Yamaha By Dale Brown Photos by Dale Brown and Suzie Mann MEXICALI, B.C . , MEX ., MAR. 24 " If they beat us , they deserve it. I know how hard I rode, " said Bruce Ogilvie at the finish of the 239-mile SCORE Mexicali 250. Ogilvie, joined by "riding partner Chuck Miller, were waiting for the Brent W allingsford/Scot H arden entry to a rrive. Due to the respective starting times, Ogi lvie and Miller would 12 lose if Wallingsford finis hed less than six minutes after they did . But the Husqvarna flashed past the line about II minutes after Ogilvie did , thus giving the overall win to the Dale's Modern Cycle Yamaha -mounted duo • .Jr ~~~~._.-_-_.-_-_._ .:::-.-.-.- ~" .- . -:- . with a time of 4:~3 :40. 14 . Harden an d Walli ngsford , winners of many p revio us SCO RE races, took second overall and second in the O pen Class 22; followed by fellow Husky riders Chip Howell and Randy Hollenbeck , and the team of J ack Johnson and Larry Roeseler. Brian Wright and Brad Henson followed u r their Parker 400 class win - ~ .r .t' .:r ' -~ .:...:...:..-:.....- ~!'-..~_ -_-.- _-_. _._-_- .-.:_. .:.:::~ with another 250cc Class 21 win , also aboard a Yamaha , this one spo nso red by Southwest Paving Co . Tom Kelly also repeated a Parker 400 win , but this time he went solo . His I 25cc Class 20 YZ sported a Leckich Tuning water-cooled barrel and was also sponsored by Dura lube , Malcolm Smith and AI Baker. The win in Class 30 , for riders over 30 years, went to George Erl and R amon Lowe , but not without a bit of high drama . Erl went down near the end of the race , breaking his rig ht arm . He managed to m ake it to the next checkpoint where Bill Friant, believing h is own partner was broken down on the cou rse , rode t he Eri /Lowe bik e into the finish. 111 Class 38 , for riders over 38 years , th e victo ry went to Cecil Holl enbeck and John Kaplan , riding a Husqvarna .. l;\oo6 .(,'5 ·i c ~ i\~ ~tl.<. i ll~tJ4 T he co u rse went south out of Mexical i to EI C hinero , near the tow n of San Felipe, then north through Tres Pozos and Cohabuzo J u nction on its way back to Me xicali. R id e rs described it as "fast ." Ogilvie , the first one out on the co urse, im mediately started hooking it . Pre -race co- favorite Scot Harden ha d to cope with d ust from the I I bikes who started ahead of him . The o t he r Team Husky entry, Larry Roese ler , did not get 20 miles ou t before he contracted a flat rear tire. He changed it at the gun club , where fell ow Husky rider George Erl had a truck and a rear wheel. Ogilvie/ Miller gained one minute on H arden/Wall ingsford by check one, 38,4 miles int o the race . In Class 21 , the early-starting team of Morgan Malocco and Ken t Pfeiffer on their Full erton Yamaha/ Bel- Ray/ CTI Retreads YZ had t he physical lead, despite Malocco's stop for soil samples, but Brad Henson had the lea d on time. They p assed through check one together , b ut H enson 's attempt to pas.s Malocco on a roc ky hill p ast chec k one ended u p in a soil when he " o ve r sa mp le be rze rked it." The fall bent the handlebars but Henson got it going again , Jeff Kaplan , th e defending 250cc champ in this race , got off ha rd when his front brake cable snagged before check one. He broke his collarbone in the fall , but nonetheless managed to get the bike to check two. Rick Finger, his partner, came up the pavement from EI Chinero and took over th e b ike to ride to th e finish . Fin ger managed to finish , in sp ite of being sick with th e flu . Tom Kelly.took th e physical , as well as timed , lead in Class 20 , followed by th e Marv Chapman /Paul Em erson Suzuki team . Bill Friant, rid ing with T ed jones , led Class 30 through check one and Sam Bass' Husky did the same to the Class 38 riders . Up front , Harden , th en Wallingsford, managed to bite into the Ogilvie/ Miller lead. At check fou r , El C hi n ero , they were ru n ni ng virtually dead even on ela psed time . Roeseler had another flat rear tire , this one occ urring on a dry lake . T he H owell / H ollen beck team was making its presence known , arriving at EI ' C h in ero five minutes behind the lea ders and six minutes ahead of Roesel er and Johnson . Wright and Henson worked up a two-minute lead by El Chi nero over Ma locco and Pfeiffer, with the team of Rich Zajic and Scot Duncan about five rnintues back on th eir Yamaha . Kelly had about 15 minutes on h is competition , despite d estroying a front wheel, wh ich was replaced at £1 Chi nero. The Eri /Lowe effort had gained the Class 30 lead on elapsed time by EI Chinero. They ca me int o th e check about five minutes behind Jones and Friant, but had started seven minutes behind . In Class 38 , Bass had a 12·minute lead over Hollenbeck and Kaplan , but check four was the last one he made. H e pulled out of the race after check fou r with u nknown p rob lems. Wallingsford picked u p the lead on elapsed time b y chec k f ive at Co h a bu zo Junction , runni ng two mi nu tes ahead of Ogilvie and Miller. But it was not to be . Picking u p a wide, grade d road a bo u t 15 m iles out of the chec k, Wa llin gsford seized . He got it go ing , but seized again nea r the end of the road . He got it movi ng again b ut th e time he 'd lost made the d ifferen ce. Johnson's luck 'a lso equaled that of his partner , Roeseler , with J ack running out of gas twice before the finish . Wright and Henson sai led along , !..rr . ~ l'~ ~ "; &. i ~.{ .. P.o. ' ;, ) •• ) ! ~ ·i ( '~:Ir~-<;. I1.J