Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

1" M Q,) ~ e Q,) > o Z (Above) Tim Locey sailed to the Open Pro win. (Below) Tom Kelly (158) and Locey struggle to avoid a downed. Hal Strauss. eRC, ITT host President's Cu.p GP By Nanette Mari~ and Terry Rezek VALENCIA, CA, OCT. 21 The California Racing Club has been going out of their way this year to bring so.uthern California motorcycle racers a healthy number of weekend races, not just with the usual 30% . trophies and 100% Pro payback, but big, company-sponsored .events that give every rider a fair chance to pick up some good 12 . . . , contmgenCles for his day s effons. A~d last Sund~y, t~e Club h.ooked up ~Ith ITT, a dIversIfied credIt corporation, to put on the President's Cup Gran Prix. The race featu~ed a new cou~ for everyone to expenence, along with trophies and a $3000 Pr~ purse ~or post-race rewards. Along WIth trophIes to the sportsmen and money to the Pros, the president of ITT was on hand to give. out trophies to the lOp three ProfessIonals dunngs the noon break. Instead of running the full-blown gran prix course, CRC opted for a shorter, yet still very exciting COllrse for the President's Cup race. This was to keep riders at bay until the big Dunestown event, which will be coming up a little late~ this winte~. There,. all of th.e. back hills an~ mOVIe sets WIll be uuhzed, alo~g WIth the west end of the park, whIch was kept open for public riding during the day's events. For the start, the line was set on the east end of the half-mile dirt track oval in the middle of the scram. bles course. When the green flag flew, the dead engines fired to life and roared most of the way around the oval, until reaching the east end again then the course made a sharp left a~d headed for the old Baa Baa . Black Sheep set at the entrance of the park. From there the riders went down the long strip where the planes were parked during filming, and through the fence onto a quick portion of the Shadow Glen course. From there the course went right through the river and onto an asphalt road leading up into the plateallS. But before you kl1ew it, a 9O-degree right came up quick at 60 mph, and it was straight over the side, and straight down to the bottom of a scary-looking drop-off. In actuality it was quite easy, and from there it was back down a tree· lined road and into the sandwash. The c~ went for a mile along the canyon walls, all whooped out by midday and extremely strenuous, then at the end headed o~r the river jllffip. Upon landing was a sharp right which led into a clump of trees. and wound through the branches in som_e very powdery, totally treacherous esses. One mistake in the whoops either put you up in a tree, or out in the river on the right. More sandwash followed, with an occasional turn through trees, then down a long sand straight, pegged and tapped in sixth, right into a nearly ISO-degree sandy righthander and onto the Shadow Glen course once again. The course wound around the usual weekend motocross course, then out the exit gate, down another long, fast straight,. and back into the movie set for another lap. In the Pro classes, it was a matter of keeping both the bike and body going, as well as the speed. In the Open class, Simi Valley Cycles' Tim Locey ran away with the race, and the overall win. LOP's Dave Taylor held on to defeat Can-Am's Donnie Hansen for the 250cc victory, and in the 125s it was Dave Coude with a win on his Pro Trac Trailers-backed SllZuki. At the start of the Open Pro race Maico-mounted Hal Strauss took .the holeshot with Locey right behind. But, as the pack hit the entrance archway to the movie set, Strauss slid out and blocked the entire four-foot wide archway. Locey scrambled to get through, as did the rest of the pack, and fmally ended up ridIng right over Strauss' right leg. On the other side, the inside of the Maico's saddle was ripped right out of the nylon, and Strauss had to go without a seat. From there, Locey went on to win easily, while Dave Haugh and Allen Berluti fought for second. Haugh had control until the last few laps, when his Maieo broke, and gave Berluti. the position. Third went to Bill Hagen, ahead of Joe Price, who came back from a bad stan behind the whole pack, and Mike Sixberry. LOP was the force in the 250cc Pro race as Gary Denton and Dave Taylor pulled out to an early lead ahead of Donnie Hansen, in his first ride since breaking his shoulder. Denton rode wildly out front, while Hansen put the ptessure on Taylor for second. On the first lap, Denton's crazed pace ended abruptly with a thrasbed body and broken Yamaha, and a long trip' back to the pits. This put Taylor and Hansen in a tight battle for the le.ad, and as the duo headed for the river on the second lap, Hansen made his move to get Taylor. What the Can-Am pilot didn't bargain for was a slower Open bike in the river, and when Hansen locked up the binders, his motor stalled and Taylor motored off to a comfonable lead. From there Hansen charged back, but Taylor had built up too great of a margin and cruised in the last lap for the win only a few bikelengths ahead of Hansen and Hl,lsqvarna-mounted Billy Grossi, unsponsored. One-two-five racing was another matter of stayin' alive, and Johnny O'Mara led the entire race until the Mugen Honda he was aboard called it quits one lap from the checkered flag. This gave the win to an unsuspecting Dave Coude, who was trying to stay ahead of Q&E's Dean Cates, big brother 10 women's National Champion Dede. Third went to Jim Holley, who nursed in with a flat rear tire ahead of a hard-charging Mark Lamkjaer, coming from a mid-pack stan. Experts ran along with the Pros, and the wins went to Cliff Roberu in the 125s, Scott Atchison in the 175s, Dean Miller in the 2505, and Mike Mulconery in the 500s. Results 125 EX: 1. Cliff Roberts 1Yam). 125 PRo: 1. DIMl Coude lSuzl; 2. e-, Cates (Suzl; 3. Jim Holley IYlIml; 4. Mark l.amkja« (Suzl; 5. Jeff Holl;e ISUll. 175 EX: 1. Scon Atchioon (Yam); 2. S _ DoIOos IYlIml; 3. Donnie Momion IYlIml. 250 EX: 1. e-, Miller (YlIml; 2. Konny HeillYamf, 3. Gfeg Johnston IYaml; 4. Kenny Upp IYlIml; 5. Chris Habrioon (Bul.l 250 PRO: 1. DlMd Toytoo lYaml; 2. Dannie _ Ie-AI; 3. IliIIy ~ lHuol; 4. Mark lawoence lYamk 5. Tracy OsweIIISUll. OPEN EX: 1. Mike Mulconery (Husl; 2. Gory DoIOos IYlIml; 3. HeeIh H_d 1Yam); 4. ~ (Huol; 5. Ed Mundy ISUll. OPEN PRO: 1. Tim Locey 1Yam); 2. Allen Bertut; IMaiI; 3. Betl ~ (Moi); 4. Joe D. Price (Mail; 5. MIke Si-.v !YIm). Sportsman When you come to race at a CRC event, you surely get to race! Nine hours, nine races, and the last one started two minutes ahead of time. Now that's organizationl The sun was' shining, the breeze was up and the track was wet from Saturday night's rain. All conditions were go for a good day ohacing. The track itself was an abbreviated version of the larger course reserved for the Dunestown GP earlier in the' year. The stan area was almost in the middle of the old Baa Baa Black Sheep movie set. The frrst tum put you right in the set and out again to cross the Santa Clarita river on the eastern edge of the park. The previollS night's rains had raised the level just enough to make crossing an event rather than an incident. Some of the minis mllSt have been wishing for snorkles and I heard that two Odysseys were last seen drifting towards Catalina. If you managed to survive the bath and the subsequent gloppy mud hole (you wouldn't expect them to put the mud first, would you?), it was boogie time up a shon stretch of pavement to an abrupt right hand drop tum. Haul it down from fifth gear to first and go straight down about 20 feet; fun, fun, fun! The following shoTt dash through the trees was all the more interesting because you were still blind from the mud on your goggles. The next mile was wound in and out of the canebrake on the south side 0 the river. Ther.e were some very mild whoop-de-doos and one neat little jump over a puddle jllSt to keep you spirits up. Well, you crossed the rive once and you've got to get back an that meant The Jump! Out of th bllShes and into the flying fan. Actually, there was a choice - son of. There was the river itself, deep enoug to give most bikes asthma; there w the ramp jump, which put you 20 fee up and 40 out if yOUT pants were tigh enough; and there was the bridge(?), thin sheet of plywood with no sides an sprinkled with gravel like ball bear ings on Klass. Some choice. After this little extension of Magi Mountain, it was turnabout time back up the sandwash complete with 90 mph straight and into the Shado Glen MX course where you got to sho off for friends, lovers and vultur lining the fences. Whoopeel Throug the movie set and do it again. At leas six more times for most. Eight a.m. and good little kiddi were attending sunrise services i leathers, helmets and gloves; prope Sunday morning dress for racers. Th Minis got to go first since the adult can't even breathe before nine. Th kids set the furious pace that prevaile throughout the day. Chris Gables an John Hughlett got the holeshot and Ie the pack into the river. Most of the 3. miles of course could not be seen fro the pit area and somewhere bac

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