Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._.-._._._._._._._._.-._._..._._._._._._._._.the night with fellow Suzuki riders Jimmy Crowder and Steve Schmitz taking home second and third. In the 250cc Pro race Ken Zahrt brought out his new Maico to take the first moto followed by Andy Jannings (Mai). Moto two saw Zahrt and Jannings tangle bars in the first corner which put them out of contention for the overall. Yamaha rider Tim Locey was thus able to take home first place honors with second g!;?ing to to Zahrt and third being taking by Yamaha rider Mike Shoemaker. Jannings came back in the Open Pro race to take back to back wins while Yamaha rider Darren Oliver took second and third went' to Maicomounted Steve Kelso. . _ Yamaha rider Pat McConnell puttogether back to back wins in the I25cc Intermediate class, holding off st,rong competition from HonportlSuz). MINIINT: ,. Larty Broob ISud; 2. Ty Maddux ISuz); 3. David S-;"" IsUll. MINI EXPERT: 1. Allen Hooper Isud. 100 BEG: 1. Herman loaiu lSuzl. 100 JR: 1. Ray Farr lYaml; 2. John Julander ISuz); 3.• Curt Farr.r 1Suz). . 100 INT: 1. Duke Wright IY.ml; 2. Br.nd Johnson ISull; 3. J.ck Greenburg ISUll. . 100 EXPERT: ,. Todd Broussard IYeml. 125 BEG: 1. Mike St.fford Isull; 2. Dennis Powell ISuz); 3. Ger.d Quesada Isuzl. 125 JR DIV 1: 1. Jon Zahrt (Suz); 2. Chris Morton Isuzl; 3. Eric Flynn ISuzl. . 125 JR DIV 2: 1. Jack Greenberg ISuz); 2. John Alexander ~suzl; 3. R.lph Usher IY.ml. 125 JR DIV 3: 1. Mike McCarry IY.ml; 2. JeH M.llory Y.m); 3. Sam Avolan ISul). 125 INT: 1. P.t McConnell (Y.ml;2. Greg Boren IHon); 3. Allen Hopper ISuzl. 250 JR DIV 1: 1. John Biffle IHonl; 2. C.rl Henslee (Hon); 3. Robert Burckert IHonl. 250 DIV 2: 1. Mark Durand (Y.ml; 2. Bill Ham (Hanl; 3. Todd SloweyIHon). 250 INTER: ,. Nick Athans IM.il; 2. Jerry Martinez ISUl); 3. John Hagle ISuzl. OPEN INTER: 1. Lynn Denni. (M.il; 2. Scott Kil. IMail: 3. Don Durrer (Maj). VETS JR: ,. Wiley seitzler ISUl); 2. Dennis Smith ,IY)Im); 3.Jim Atkinson lsuz). VETS EXPERT: 1, Bill H.m IHonl; 2. David Rodgers lCan·Aml; 3. Joe Brown IY.ml. WOMENS DIV: 1. Mercedes Gonzal.. ISuzl; 2. Cindy Du",,? ISuzl; 3. Dena Silieato IV.m). - .Chaffee, Wanket takeCMC Carlsbad cash By Mark. Kariya CARLSBAD, CA,JUNE24 Those who didn't spend the whole weekend at Mammoth got the. chance to ride the entire GP course here today. utilized' for the first time in a Continental Moto-spo~ts Club event since· before the winter rains. Coastal fog held the previous night'S watering nicely. keeping the track muddy and slick before giving way to the afternoon sun which transformed things to dusty and slick. . > • CMC Carlsb8d 125cc Pro winner Scott BumworthC2S1 pursues Don Fuller. BOB "HURRICANE" HANNAH TALKS ABOUT SUPERCRO'SS AND THE RACE HE'S NEVER BEEN ABLE TO WIN - .THE COCA-GOLA SUPERBOWL OF MOTOCROSS Villi· .....SUPERCROSS, I've heard people say 'it's only astadi· um race: and frankly, years ago when I first heard of it. I thought the same thing. Since then tho. I've found that Supercross is the mosl competitive, challenging, toughest and certainly the highest paying racing there is. On natural terrain. which I do pretty well in. you take whatever ground there is and go for it. In the stadi· ums., the producers have really done their hom'ework and have made their courses as tough as ' 00 you know that there IS no any Grand Prix course I've ever ridden. up or downhill anywhere that is as steep as Iffe peristyle jump at the Coliseum? Yeah. the Coliseum. that is one that really gets to me. I've had my problems in that race, and I don't know what it is. Each year I come into it with the series virtually wrapped up and then some other rider just seems to come out of nowhere and rides right over me. The Superbowl is' the second 10 the last race of Ihe stadium series, but somehow it's like it's bigger than the series its.elf. Maybe it's because the Superbowl IS the big one, Ihe original stadium race. and it's a BIG deal to win. 1M. all the nders'gel hyped up about this one and il means a lot to win't. so they're really outthere fighting for it. The track at Ihe Coliseum is by far the most challenging. and the fastest stadium track . in the series. and I hear that this year Goodwin has gone one better. . Everyone knows about the jump al the peristyie. it's pretty spectacular. This year they've gone up into the stands at the other end of the stadi· um. but it's not just up and down, it's got some ,heavy berms down there, too, and on paper it looks like its going to be a killer. I don't know why he hasn't thought of it before. The fans should really get off on this one ... they're calling it the Toyota Tornado. From what I've seen. there is a very tight berm going into the climb, and at the top of the climb the turn ,s very steep, coming back down off of a ski-run jump just like at the other end of the stadium at the peristyle. It's going to shoot the riders out of there like rockets. What riders do I pay most attention to at the Coliseum? Well, every year it's someone different who wins, but the main ones that Iconsider are the old man. of course. Weinert. He can always pull one out of the hat. That guy is a miracle. He should have retired years ago. And Tripes, who always gives me a ride for my money. He's taken hOme two Superbowl trophies himself, anll Mike Bell, who rode like I should have last year. But. for this race at the ColiseuQ1. anything goes and all of the riders just seem to be "on:' You know the Coliseum race is part of the series called the AMAI Toyota Triple Crown, and il has a purse all of its own for the highesl places in the three biggest events of the year· Allanta. Los Angeles. Anaheim in November. You know how I feel aboul prizes and this is nne that I would really like to ta~e. But. illooks iike it's not going to be as easy as others. The first race in the Triple Crown was in Atlanta last March. I managed to pull that one off, but since then olher riders. like Wise. have really done well. The second race in the "Crown" is this one at the L.A. Coliseum - The Superbowl of Motocross - one that I'm still doing my homework on, and if I don't win that one it'll be tough going , to Win it in November at AAaheim. the Motocross Finals. The purse is pretty good, Goodwin put it up himselt. Hetold me thatall of us riders have made so much noise about not geffil\g enough money that h-. would make this special series money available ... provided we'd really race like Hell and kick a - at these three events. Well. I don't think we did it on purpose. btl! it seems that these three races are always the best stadium racing. He really puts a lot into his races, not jusl the tracks, which are always tough and exciling, but he gets everyone excited about the races. This year at the Superbowl. there's a deal where so much of the ticket money over an estimated atten· dance figure is going to the fund for those of us who like to ride in the deserts but are finding less and less deserts to ride in. There's a· .desert racing enthusiast who has gotten into trouble with the Bureau of Land· Management and has had to go to court because he dis· agreed with the closure of desert lands for riding and went against them. It's gotten to be a long involved thing. but the idea is that we should stand up against this action, and that is what the money is going for ... to support the legal fight of the off·road enthusiasts against the government agencies that only want to see things their way. I think that what the Superbowl is doing is agood gesture. and I hope that people pay attention to what is happening or we might not have many more places near our homes to go and ride. That would kill me since the deserts are my favorite places to go out and "work". Work. Yeah. races for a professional could be considered hard work. but for us it's what we like most and do best. I'm really going to have to work to win this year's Superbowl. Some people say it's jinxed. I guess I'!I find oulfor sure this July 14th because I'm really going out there. to race. ft's not all because of the Triple Crown. even tho that would really put the icing on the cake 'for me, but it's because it's the SUPERBOWL. and I guess that says it. I'm going out to win the SUI1ERBOWL - now or never. WHAT MAKES THE COCA-COLA SUPERBOWL OF MOTOCROSS THE LARGEST AND MOST EXCITING MOTORCYCLE RACE IN THE WORLD? THE TRACK IS TOUGHER TO RIDE AND MORE PUNISHING TO MAN AND MACHINE THAN ANY OUTDOOR MOTOCROSS CAN EVER -BEl For example. on an outdoor course BERMS are formed in parts ot ..me turns. where the bike tires may push up a 6 to 18 inch CU~B of dirt in some areas. where riders turn sharply to SLOUGH OFF a little speed. After these berms are formed. it 'becomes ea~ier for the riders to negotiate these particular turns. In the Coca·Cola Superbowl of Motocross the berms are circular monsters molded by heavy equipment..before any motorcycle has even set a wheel on the track! The multi~ined riding surface is steeply banked at least 45 degrees whICh, like the banking at Daytona. pushes motorcycles and riders all the way through at maximum SPeed, collapsing suspension compOnents and applying aforce of 3G's to the riders' bodies ... and. there's no shutting off halfway through - the powerful centrifugal forces can launch bike and rider over the 9 foot berm wall, crashing to the stadium floor below if yw let off. Each berm is atotal committmentto wiring the throttle open for as long as ittakes to get through, and passing high on the banking isstricllyforthemostradical riders. Bu!. .. sling-shottingwtiswhatmakesitallworkasyoupasstheguywhotookthe low, safe line and, the CocaCola Superbowl of Motocross has 3 berms plus inside soft stuff for 4 lines. for better passing than outdoors!' The WHOOP-llE·OOOS on an outdoor course are irregular;lies in the track surface4 to 15ihches high, which are fOrmed In a pattern resulting from braking and acceferation of motorcycles on certain parts Of the course. The whpops at the Coca-(jola Superbowl of Motocross are adifferent story. Each whoop is 3-5 feet high. and formed by a bulldozer - totally without r"\lard for how they would be formed natulally by motorcycles. They are built to work against the rider. throw,ng off his timing or rhythms that he may.use on outdoor courses. They are so steep and so high, thal each one bottoms the forks on impact. then shoot bike and rider straight up in the air 8-10 feet. Then bike and rider.come crashing down, again bottoming both front and rear suspen· s,on on the next whoop since the CYCLE orwave·lenglh. is tagged so no one can -ace" it. There are sections of 3-10 whoops all over the track. where they are least expected by the riders ... a closely·packed group of riders, all fighting the whoops at once, will be a handlebar tohandlebar struggle with only the rider who can hold it wide open and keep his hands from being ripped from the bars. coming out first. BERMS THE CIJCA.ClIlA SUPERBOWl OF MOTOCROSS VIII • LOS ANGELES COLISEUM 37

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