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/126461
o 00 (j) ..... IAboveI The first wave of the Sunday morning 26OccIOpen Novice and Begimer I'8C8 gets underway. (Below left) Sunday ef1ernoon overell winner Mike SIxbery. (Below middle) Waterproofing was a very good ldeB. (Below right! saturday afternoon's oV8I'lIli winner Craig Adams (206). Hopkins, Sixbery top Viewfinders Great BearGP By Terry Whytal RIVERSIDE, CA, MAR. 1-2 Over 1200 riders and their families and friends swarmed to Riverside Raceway to take part in this annual event, known as the Great Bear Gran Prix, but this time presented by the Viewfinders M.e. The 9.9 mile course was challenging in many parts. including the traditional mudhole and water jump. Saturday's raas were run under IDOItIy clear skies with dust becoming a problem late in the day but by noon on Sunday the track was better suited for jet skis than motorcycles. As the races con· tinued on to their soggy conclusion, pit crews hastily assembled temporary shelters made from plastic tarps and announcer Ralph Garret made quips about the watering truck doing iu job a little too well. Saturday . ,30 Invader club member Bob Balentine brought his KTM to the number one position on the starting line for Satur. day's 175cc race and that's where he stayed as the first wave headed out onto the course. Line after line swept __ =.~; =:=.-==-=...=...=..::....:...:..::.:..= ===; ::.: ~: out past the start line at 15 second in· tervals and about 14 minutes later the leaders completed lap one. Balentine still had the front spot with Kent Pfeiffer running in second on his Yamaha. By lap four with the leaders pretty weD spread out aCJOlll the course. Balentine still led but Mark Cook had moved his Yamaha into second ahead of Pfeiffer and Cactus Cat rider Chris Austin on a Yamaha. With the race half over Balentine endoed over a haybale that got knock· ed in his way by another rider and he was out of the competition for the day. Yamaha rider Kevin Hopkins moved up from his second row start to take over the lead which he held until the finish. Following the unofficial overall winner Hopkins across the finish line were Austin, Checker rider Cliff Thomas (Yam) and Pfeiffer. The sporuman, non·affiliated class : -:.__ =-.:. :._..==:: :: =:. :..: .:...::.-= =-.: .:...:...:..=...:. ; I took over the course for the afternoon races as the track continued to get rougher and dustier. Bob Ewing put his KTM out in front as the first row of riders drag raced their way down the pavement and onto the course. Sun M.C. rider Ewing continued to lead for three laps unql unknown mechan· ical ills forced him to push into the piu. He got going again but not until several riders had passed him, includ· ing the new leader Craig Adams, also riding a KTM. Steve Mudd pushed his Yamaha into the second spot as Bruce Ogilvie charged his Dale's Modem Cycle Yamaha into third after starting in position hSI. Adams made a pit stop for gas on lap five and was back on the course quickly maintaining' his lead over Ogilvie who had moved past Mudd. On the next lap Wayne Beebe also slipped past Mudd as be kept his big Malco on the gas through the pave· ment sections. By lap seven Adams had a two· minute lead on Ogilvie but as the white flag came out at lap nine Ogilvie had cut the difference down to less than a minute. However, Adams held on to take the checkered flag in the lead as Ogilvie settled for second. Beebe unofficially finished in third place ahead of Mudd while Michael David motored his 420 KTM across the finish line in fifth. .... . -- .. SundBY, C10uds were looming ominously over· head as the riders lined up for the start of the 250cc and Open Beginners, Novices and Seniors. Jim Nichols pushed his Sunrise Roofmg Team Yamaha 465 into the lead as the pack thundered onto the c:oune. Track·N·Travel Maico rider Brad Thompson followed in sec· ond while Edward Shinault wicked his Husky into third. The top three places remail!ed the same for several laps while Steve Anderton moved his Husky into fourth and Master Links' rider William Misener danced his Yamaha around the track in futh. Nichols' lap times out in front were a respectable 17 minutes plus a few seconds but back in the pack Mark Durand was charging his Bones and Clowns Distributing Yamaha 250 around the course nearly a minute faster. At the halfway point Nichols suddenly dropped from the race with mechanicals and Shinault took over the front running position. Durand continued to slice his way through traf· fic and moved into second at the end of lap six with Thompson following in third and Anderton fourth. On the next lap Durand gassed his way into the lead and never looked back. A light rain had begun falling as Shinault came past the scoring stand in second. • . ~'..I.I""