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
; .._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._. I: Western hotline 00 ""' ~ .... 0.. « Scott, Haney take Ascot HM opener By Maureen Lee Photos by Dan Mahonyl Wizard Racing GARDENA , CA,A PR.6 The Ascot season opened with some terrific racing - fans go t to see the new Am erica n motorcycle run (im pressive!) wit h Ted 18 Bood y a boa rd ; Jeff Haney served notice that he was no flash in the pa n as a Novice by putting the 500 Honda out in front a nd kep t it there in a great Junior main event; and the Ron Wood Norton continues to be the winning Ascot combination, regardless of who's in the saddle as Hank Scott, replacing the injured Alex Jorgensen , tore them up every time he came off the line. Current high point NoviceJim Filice " shot for the lead in the first Novice heat with Steve Karsten right after him . Karsten went low for the inside but Filice's Ascot debut was short lived as he headed abruptly for the pits. Karsten went on for the win with Joe Steffen second. Pa ul Iwanaga won the second he~t with Ben Zakarian and Brett Bu tt erfield staging a d rag race for the second place; Zaka ria n got it in a squeaker right at the line. In -t he last heat Rich Arnaiz and Stua rt McDa niel were the transfers , with McDaniel taking one trip on the inside line that looked very frigh tening: The Juniors were all asleep at the switch - nary a one was in the pregrid area when the Novices finished and they had to be called to the line. Away they went and it was Charlie Summers hauling out of the first turn crowd first, a place he never lost. Mike Inderbitzen , the fastest Junior time trialer (23 .30 seconds), was hard after him but just couldn't catch the flying Summers and had to settle for second. Moving up through the pack and firmly taking over third was Dorothy Rowe , looking th e best she ever has on her 750cc Yamaha. Eddie San Roman got away first in the next heat only to throw his hand up in turn two - it looked like he didn't have his gas on - and Danny Perkins became the leader. Matt Jones, Dave Ryan and Steve Polson went at it for second with Ryan finally getting it. . Jeff Haney, on the 500cc Honda, they'd only just put the cams in, blew off the line in the next heat and never lost the lead, the single showing a clear pair of heels to the rest of the pack. Dave Busby he ld down second until Derek Land took it away down the back chute. Fou rth and fastest heat went to J eff Allison after a restart whe n Dylan Neihart too k a tremendous get-off coming out of four against the wall when another rider went down in front of him . Joh n Lundgren , right behind him, had the thrill of a lifetime when Neihart's somersaulting bike flew right over his head! It happened! Keith Day took the lead the second time off the line but Allison took it away after some good side by side racing. Thefirst Expert heat saw Boody and Scott both in the front row, with Hank having the fastest time of the night , 22.57. Bood y got through turns 1-2 first but Scott came flying down the back chute after him and passed before they hit turn three , with Randy Goss moving to third , an order that didn't change. In the second heat Scott Pearson's potent Harley got him off the line and into first in no uncertain terms, and he was never challenged, looking like a real contender for the overall win . Behind came Wayne Rainey, Mike Minnig and Bob by Sanders. Sanders had all stops ' out b ut cou ldn't get Minnig, thereby going to the semi. For the Novice semi, Sco tt Podergois and Kirk Howard did some side by side racing , wit h Podergois the winner. C liff Alle n got up to th ird and behind him, Dennis Camp got the last transfer. With only two transfers at stake, the J u n ior semi was a wil d melee. Everyone was going .very fast but the fight up front was something to see the switching back and forth betwee n Steve Monger and Dave Busby, each of them slamming doors on each other in the turns. Monger, fist in the air, beat Busby right at the checkered flag. Eddie La wson pulled off the line for the Expert. semi when his Harley's ignition slipped and bits of fire started spitting out. Bobby Sanders took off in the lead only to lose it to Ricky Graham who went down low coming out of turn two and emerged down the back chute first . Denny Briggs and Rod S pencer rounded out the transfers. The four fastest Experts took the line for the Trophy Dash: Ha nk Scott, Scott Pearson, Ra nd y Goss and Mike Minnig; one Norton against three Harley-Davidsons. Scott and Pea rson arrived in the back ch ute sirnu ltaneously side by side, then Hank shot into the lead and it was adios. The first few laps of the Novice main were very busy indeed with lots of changing around going on up front. Ben ·Za ka ria n . Rich Arnaiz , Steve Kars ten, Scott Podergois, and Dennis Camp were all going like mad . Finally it was Podergois and Arnaiz settl ing down into first and second, with Arnaiz worrying at Scott's rear wheel the whole way and nearly taking over several times. Then came Joe Steffen (the only other SoCal rider, Karsten , was out in the pits with mechanical woes) and Camp was fourth . Competition was so heavy that by the end of the race the whole group was still pretty much all together. Mike Inderbitzen didn't appear for the J u nior main so Brian T hom pson took his place. Again, Jeff Haney got off that line very fast (shades of Eddie Mulder) and j ust out-dragged everybody, shooting out into the lead with Charlie Summers ha rd after him . Su m mers had all stops out bu t the fleet Haney and the super-handling H ond a wer en 't to be ca ught. The performance was suc h that the crowd roared when Bru ce Fla nders, subbing for an ailing Roxy Rock wood , reported on a "bulletin" he'd just been han ded that Dick O'B rien had just gotten sick in Milwau kee . Jeff Alliso n, who ca n mo ve smoothly a round on th e track whe rever he wa n ts to go, was mov ing on up by Keith Da y who would eventually drop out, a nd th en by Derek La nd to end with a third , and Da n ny Perkins took the fifth spot. Now it was Expert time and the stands were as excited as we've ever seen them . .. would it be Boody on that fast American or Pearson on that neat Harley of his or could Hank Scott keep on doing what he had been doing all night? Pearson got off the line a little too q uickly for the starter, who re d flagged it, providing some la ugh ter for fans - in his haste to get the flag out, he pulled the stick right out of the material and had to handle the flag like a torero's capel Away they went again; this time Pearson, Scott , Boody and Goss in a cluster. Scott, obviously enjoying the handling of the Norton, took the lead on the back chute and it was busy all the way arou nd again. Ricky Graham was right with them now, and sudd enly Scott 's bike stuttered turn two, and Boody and Graham sho t by him. Down the back st ra ight they went and the Norton ca ug ht hold again. Later Hank said, "It started running on one side, the n I cracked the throttle a cou ple of times and it started going again." The stands were going wild with Boody in full flig ht on the American, rea lly getting around in good sha pe , and Sco tt right after him , having passed Gra ha m who wasn't exactly going slowly either. Finally, Scott passed Boody but Ted came roaring back a nd together the pair started putting distance between the rest . In third place was Graham, then Pea rson with Ra ndy Goss hard after him. Scott took one trip real wide but Boody couldn't use the advantage to gain on the Norton which always has every ounce of power right where it counts, firmly on the ' ground. It was an incredible finish with Scott still in front . Coming around the last tu rn and down the straight Boody's bike let go and Terry Graham grabbed second with Boody thi rd - the left carb had fallen loose on the bike that looks as b ulletproof as any racing machine we've ever seen, and goes like it looks - fast and mean . Everyone was lim p except for Hank Scott who was on top of the worl d , alo ng with Ron Wood, who was all sm iles - the winter's tin keri ng with his m achinery had paid off again. Results TROPHY OAS H: 1. Hank Soon INorl; 2. Soon Pearson lli-O): 3. Con Goss IH·D): 4. M;ke M;nnig Iii- Ol. NOV MAIN: 1. Soon Podergois IYam): 2. Rich Arnaiz IC·AI: 3. Joe Sletten (Yam): 4 . Donn;s Camp ISud; 5.