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/126406
.... < ~ · 00 I-c c, Burt, Thorstensen, Arnet, Upp topCRCGP By Terry Rezek ORANGE. CA, APRIL 7 IAbovel Donnie Morrison leads Edwin Amet on one of the fast fireroads. IAbove rightl Edwin Arnet took the 200cc Expert class.IBelowl Ron Holst. runner-up in the Junior/Senior Experts. The rolling hills of Saddleback Park are green, the valleys and tree-lined canyons have trickles of water and spots of mud, the sand washes are damp and the hills are alive with the sound of dirt bikes! Much of the back . country trails and roads have been hard hit by erosion from the recent rains . but CRC 12 was determined to put together at least seven miles of course. They did all right, at the cost of extensive grading and watering. It was worth it. The course was generally fast , and the start was no exception. No onebike -wide, ISO-degree first tunr here. At the end of the starting chute, it entered a broad road, smooth and just slightly graveled. Since most riders were in top gear at this point and in the power band, it was flat ·trackin' time. Sideways was the only way to travel. Not too sideways , though , there was this little ditc h on the outside of the tum . After cooking down a mile or so of road with attention getting dropoffs at your elbow, it was back up the hill through some bone and bottomjarring whoop-de -jumps. Over the ridge and down a switch back trail with a hairpin tum where you could meet yourself coming or going, if you weren't careful. Enduro riders would have loved the next section. a very tight canyon with a tiny streeam in the one-bike-wide trail, a spot or two of mud and a whiteknuckler (or a red -facer, depending on how fast you were going). First. you drop over the edge of a river embankment (that's the white knuckle part I could hear the screams across the wash and over the noise of the bikes) . Next. cross the wash and get up the other side. You had a choice between two sheer wall climbs with about 20 yards between them or a less-steepbut-super-soft bank immediately followed by the second wall climb. This was the red- face part if you didn't have enough momentum to do it in one shot. There were some novel but ineffective cuss words invented specifically for this section. So much for the fun stuff. now it was time to practice pucker power. The finish line was at the top of the park, so up we go . Lots more twisty fire road with berms of either solid rock or about 100 feet of fine California air. The final run to home was a third base steal - with a cliff at the foul line . This narrow road had plenty of curves, drop off jumps and no right side. Several riders who had trouble following a line soon had trouble getting their bikes back up the slopes from where they were lodged in the bushes. Cheer up , guys; at least there are bushes here. In the desert , the most you can hope for is to grab a passing rock on your way down. The' water truck had been over the .start road just before the Open class bikes took off, and there was a fine layer of slick mud to spend your power on . Heath Hibbard was first into the tum but Joe Price was the first out of it. Jim Burt slid by both of them a few turns later. and for about a lap the battle was between Burt and Price. Burt added to his lead on every succeeding lap and took the win with ease , even having time for a two hundred yard wheelie down the home straight. on the last lap . Eric MacCracken was riding hard to be the first amateur and held that position for a couple of laps but at the end Lorne Crawford showed up the unofficial score sheets as the winner of that class. Wayne Broste was first at the 250cc class start, going into the tum with Phil Thorstensen in spirited pursuit. The two passed and repassed each other several times with Thorstensen in control by the end of the lap. Broste never gave up and pressured Thorstensen right to the end. Kenny Upp, one of CRC's top riders had a poor start but that was the least of his troubles. After recovering from a loosened brake rod. Upp really pushed to catch the leaders, but all he caught was a broken piston ring and a chance to rest until the team race.