Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

- -NORTHERN DATELINE I ~ Ker ry's win augments his fin e seventh p lac e finish at Daytona last month ... Paul Ritter has landed a ride with San J os e BMW , piloting th e BM that Harry Klinzmann rode last year. " I like it , but it's different," sa id th e Du car i-rnou n te d ride r. forme r Handling ills limited Paul's show ings in th e two ra ces he entered , but ea rly season gremlins are to be expected . Ninet y " new riders ," 75 of whom participated in the AFM New Rider School , wer e present today. Credit shou ld be - given to th e program , as relatively few firs t-tim ers. ate it. Cycle News will publish co m plete resu lts of select ed races (for th e ben efit of th e new rid ers ) in a future issue . The next AFM race a t SPIR will be Ma y 6. E 0'> J:-o. 0'> .-4 _ . Resu lts Q-41OCc BOX STOCK : 1. Mark Ingalls IYaml; 2. J im Davis (Ho n); 3. Scon M oor e (Yaml . 41 ' ·550cc BOX STOCK: 1. J im Neuenbu rg IHo n); 2. Herman Kat chold (Suzl; 3. Al len Sh en allYaml . SS' ·750cc BOX STOC K: 1. LB"y Sch ultz IHon); 2. Francis Mazur (Hen); 3. J im Sto rer (Henl. OPEN BOX STOCK: 1. Sal A velar ISuz); 2. Carl Stone IDuc); 3. Charles M cA voy IBM W !. SIDECARS: 1. Breese/Morris (Kaw l; 2, Lougeel Steve Sowdon (717); Pa ul Ritter (311 and Be rnd Koeglerl641 at Sears Point. Garoutte wins, Reinecker crashes at Sears Pt. AFM " 1,R' opener ~", ~ By Karl Okamoto SONOMA , CA , APR . 8 Dave Garou tte , riding a bike with a frame of his own design , captured the 250cc GP race in the AFM non-points season open· . ., 22 er at Sears Point. The Mid Valley, CA veteran was challenged in th e early laps by Glen Shopher and Gennady Liubirnsky, but Liubimsky "just d idn't fee l good " on his Yamaha and Shop her crashed while chas ing Garoutte. Shopher su ffere d an ankle inju ry in th e high- speed getoff at turn 10. Dave credi ted his DKG fr ame and tuner Duncan Blake in assisting in the win . Gennady Liubimsky returned later " on his Hunt Racing 575cc Yam aha and t ook top honors in 410cc Production, The 410cc Production contest ut ilized the "short course" at Sears, where turns one through six are bypassed and the race is routed straight up the dragstrip , from th e start / finish line to the turn seven ha irpin . Two factors not considered important previou sly were introduced in this race: horse power and the wind , The longest straight on the long course is 1,700 feet long: the short course straight was close to one half mile. That , along with 25·55 mph winds complicated the racers' straregies. . advantages, and miseries . Pat Eagan brought his H onda Hawk in for second place. Tom C hew, on John Wong's Yamaha , rounded ou t the top three. Ker ry Bry ant smoked t he Open Superstreet cl ass o n hi s AMA - Superbike Kawasak i Z·1 sponsored by Goodyear T'ires and Mike's Cycle . Bryant , of Pla cervill e , lo o ke d extremely go od for this early in th e \~seaso n , Brad Tayl or (Suz) and Craig ' O 'Connor (Tom Lee Z-I ) followed Kerry in . Kurt Kritikos .won the Open GP contest , whi ch was abbreviated b y Tom Re inecker' s spectacu la r high . speed c r a sh in fr ont . o f the grandstands. Reinecker, a longtime AFM participant , had passed a slower rid er in the turn 12 dog leg , got the wobbles and was sp it off, with his momentum carrying himself and th e moto r cycl e against t he ' ce me nt retaining wall in fr ont o f t he spectators. Though it was a horrifyin g , nasty-looking crash , fortunatel y T om escaped with only a broken shou lde r blade and a large parts bill. T o to p it off, he was awarded seco nd pla ce! David Neal (No r) was th ird . John Williams decisively won Light· weight Su perstreet and firml y est a blished himself a s a power to b e reckoned with . W illiams , sponsored by Berkeley Yamaha a nd Bill Smith, had e a rl y seas on wins at Ont ario and Willow Springs to his cred it , and th is victory confirmed that he's for real. " I got around Nick Theroux (Yam SR 500 ) and then took off. 1 didn't ha ve the confid ence through th e esses last yea r that I have now. " Pat Eagan brought his Hawk in for third place . The 410cc Pr oducti on race marks th e fir st time in memory that the "short course" was used . Reaction to the new format was mix ed .. . Kerry Bryant's Superstreet victory was a real boost for the ex -Yosh imura-sponsored rider. "T he best thing that I'm doing different is that I'm do ing everything (preparation , engine work , . etc . ) myself. I'm getting off cheap this year, . and th e bike is roc k-solid reliable." i Cul ver (Kaw); 3. Langfor d/Roberts (Honl. 250cc GP: 1. Dave Garoune (Yam ); 2. Gennady Liubimsky (Yam); 3. John Glov er (Yam), 250e e PROD: 1. John Cherma k (Yam); 2. Franci s M azur lOss ): 3. Phil Headley (Duel . SOOee GP: 1. Kurt Krit ikos (Yam ); 2. Dale Parks (Yam l; 3. Ern esto Del Barrio (Yam). OPEN GP: 1. John William s (Kaw l; 2. Tom Reinecker' (Yam ); 3. David Neal (Nor). . , OOccGP: 1. Dave Elliot IKaw l; 2. Dan Kirkeby ISo bl. 125cc PROD: 1. Ron Swa rt IC·A l; 2. William Skalter ud (C-A) ; 3. Greg Overma n (Yam) . 200cc PROD: 1. JeH Lin le IC-A); 2. John Cherma k IYam); 3 . John M cClellan IC·AI. 125cc GP: 1. J eH Leg gin IHon); 2. Dan Kirkeby IHan ); 3 . Fred M erkeI IHon ). 200 cc GP: 1. JeH Little IC·A) ; 2. To m Chew ISu z); 3 . Do n Beat on (C-Al. 4 10cc PAOD : 1. Genna dy Liubimsky {Yaml: 2. Pat Eagan (Hon); 3. Tom Chew (Yam) . 550c e PROD: 1. Herm an Kachold (Suz); 2. To m Parker (Hon); 3. Clem Don ohu e (Hon). Q-41OCC SUPERSTREET: 1. J ohn W illiam s IYam l ; 2. • Nick Theedu x (Yaml ; 3. Pat Eagan tHonl. 41 1-0PEN SUPERSTREET: 1. Kerry Bryant IKaw): 2. Brad Taylo r fSuz ); 3 . Craig O' Conno r (Kaw) . Hardy northwest road racers hit the pavement in the • rain By Bruce Scholten EDMONDS , W A , APR . 8 Westwood inaugurated their 1979 road rac e calendar with sta ndard April ra in and temperatures in the 40·s. Many racers returned to the pits com plain ing of freezing clu tc h hands, wh ich mand at ed a lot of speed sh ifti ng. Man y wh o p ra c ticed Satu rd a y ai d n o t retur n to race Sunda y. O pen GP was ca ncelled a nd 250cc G P saw on ly Alan Seddon run , as few folks brought ra in ti res. Spirits were good. however , a nd rid er ca ution led to few bad cras hes with inju ries no worse tha n aspha lt ras h . . Th ree over a ll class res ults were deci ded on tlie basis of performa nce in th e seco nd hea t. T he 125cc GP was rivetting in th e: fir st hea t. Go rdie Vanskik e's 125cc (second , Daytona '7 9) led Seddon 's lonel y 250cc until Ala n reeled him in . Steve Elmer beat a la te cha lle nge to take seco nd behind Va nskike . Soon after sta rt ing heat two , Gordie crashed ou t of th e high ban kin g nea r · th e clu b ho use . He go t up to ca tc h Elm er's slo we r H on da b u t wh ile gai n ing ground , he seized on la p six, resta rt ed , and coasted to th e flagm an , Wi th 550cc Ca fe a nd Superbike com bi ne d , about 15 b ikes left the gri d . Again , both th ese classes were decid ed on second hea t results. First. Dean Pe terson 's RD 550cc led Ro cky . ' Phoen ix to t he flag. In heat two . Ph oenix clinched first overall when the . ' RD 550's reversed their previous order."·. Gary G all aghe r 's trick Kaw 400cc chased t hem, but was too peaky in the we t. Am id st all this. t he b ig b ikes de velop ed th e mo st interesting ra ce of the day. Neither Bob Loose nor Mike May es had rac ed th ei r respec tive GS 1000 cc or 750 F Honda before. In hea t one they stu ck close , ahead of th e pack. Mostly the Suzuki kept the lead , its sing le d isc somehow out b rak in g the Honda F . Then t he Honda wou ld pass the 1000c c in offca m be r turn three , and in th e esses, on ly to be ou r-m usc led o n th e straigh ts. The Suzuk i finished a close first. . By heat two th e track was drier . It brought a surprise; the difference may hav e been tir es. Aga in th e Superbi kes led the rest , in clu di ng Cl aude H a mm ond 's T riu m p h triple which eventua lly sett led fo r thi rd ove ra ll. T he n, on the end of th e back stra ight on lap six, both tried mot ocross af ter enteri ng the ha irpin too fast. This tr a nsition too k a bo u t 15 seco nds and actua lly a llowed Rock y Phoeni x to tak e seco nd for a few fee t on his RD 550 . Loose's 1000cc soo n passed the . RD . but apparent ly Miche lins (M45-F. M48 ·R ) were toojn uc h for his stock IRC's on thi s sti ll-dam p track . Loose rea lized t his 'a nd coas ted while Mayes led to th e checkered. Everyo ne wonders just ho w good th e Yam ah a Da yto n a s a re in 400 cc Production . On e owner cla im ed a good five m ph top end over older RD s. But ra iny Su nday's resu lts gave vague answers . T he first he at sa w G us Den zler lead ing on a Hon da Ha wk I. Abo ut lap five he tried to switch on reserv e gas in the hairpin. Things got wobbly while tryin g to regain th e lead up th e esses, whe re he crashed , giving Scott Moon first a nd Chris Hobbs' RD 550 cc second . In th e last hea t , Moon cras he d hi s 400 -4 whi le le ading . event ually-so senle.for-eixr hean d third overall . Denzler left heat two whe n his trick q uarter tu rn MX throt tle stuc k wid e open . T he n Hobbs' RD took the fla g for a win and first overall. Next No rthwest meets a re Apri l 29 in Portl and , a nd Ma y 20 in Seattle. The C anadia ns p romi se mo re "Mo u nt ain Hi gh Racing" on Ma y 27 , with m ore rid ers, si dec a rs , a nd su nsh ine . Resu lts 410 PROD : 1. Chris Hobbs IRD 350); 2. Adrian Chast er IRD 400 ); 3. Scan Moon 1 4Q0.41 . 550 CA FE: 1. Rock y Phoenix IRD 350 ); 2. Dean Pet erson (AD 400 ); 3. Gary Gallag her tKaw 400 1 . . 125 GP: 1. Steve Elmer l Ho n); 2. Gord ie Vanskike IHo n); 3. R. Ruddoc k IYaml. SUPERB IKE: 1. Mi ke M ayes IHon 750 A ; 2. Bob Loo se lG S 10001: 3. Claude Hammond ITri 750 1 . Lodi short track season opener By Ann Carr LO DI. CA , AP R. 7 Lodi's Motorcycle Club opened its 1979 short track sea son ' this cool , bluster y Sa turda y with 171 flat trackers in a ttend a nce . Distr ict 56 rul e changes a llowed the O pen cla ss mach ines to com pe te on the ova l for th e first time in many seasons. Wi n ning th e inaug ural 650cc Expe rt event was old time scra m b les ace a nd former Black Plat e rid er Emory G ray fro m Sac ramento on a T ri u mph ove r that u n usu al silver co ncoct ion of W ade Boyd. An excellent race track greeted riders for t he ma ins - unless you wer e ·a m in i rider , in wh ich case a slow dryi ng wat er in g p rocess m ade thi ngs a litt le slip pe ry. - a nd compet ition was .go od .

• Cover