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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126468
Rusty Reynaud. the 125cc winner. sets up for a corner.
Day Two
(Abovel Chuck Miller lost a close one in the 250s. (Below) Scot Harden was the
Open runner·up.(Bottom) Larry Roeseler led till he burned his gas tank.
20
Carl Cranke (SW M) started out his
day with a bang as he came into th e
first gas check on his grace and with a
flat tire. Cranke cleared the check,
performed an
under-four-minute
change of tube and was on his way .
Asked later how many tire changes he
had to do during the day, he grinned.
"T hree. Stayed on time, too . Couldn't
believe that. "
In the first test Roeseler extended
his lead to 26 seconds as Fishback had
trouble. On a downhill off -camber
corner. Jim went wide and got tangled
in the ribbon. finally having to get off
the bike to get free .
In the 250cc battle, Munyon came
out the best in the morning. leading
Miller by five seconds.
Nearthe end of the third loop,
Roeseler slid out in a rocky section and
laid the bike down . His machine has a
longer and more vulneralbe head pipe
than a stock Yamaha, and it was that
side of the machine that hit the
ground . The pipe was bent upward
into solid contact with the plastic gas
tank. Unaware of the problem,
Roeseler resumed riding . hit the gas
stop in his grace, gassed up and went
through without losing ,,;ny poi~ts .
Several miles down the trail , the pIpe
did its number and Larry was soon out
of gas . A new tank ena bled him to
finish , but 44 minutes late. Obviously
disappointed , Roeseler shook his head
about the incident, "I can't even
believe it. . . It wasn 't even a major
crash. If it was a big one , 1 could see
it. "
With Roeseler out of the way, Fishback cruised to the win, the only rider
to post a score under 1400 points at
1378.25 .
Harden posted the third lowest sco~e
of the day in the Open class to keep his
second in the standings, his second top
three finish in the qualifier series in as
many tries .
Johnson finished third in the Open
class. but it was a very close call.
K'TMvrnounted
desert
ace
Bob
Balentine started the second day 11
seconds behind Johnson and put on a
strong charge late in the day , making
up over 10 1-2 seconds in the
acceleration and final MX tests .
However, Johnson prevailed, 1435.15
to 1435.50 . Bruce Ogilvie (Yam) spent
two days applying Yamabond to his
cylinder to keep a leaking base gasket
from going away totally, and he
finished fifth .
Miller had to beat Munyon by five
seconds in the final test to make up the
difference, and when it was over, he 'd
gone six seconds .fa~ter. But Muny~n's
1.15 point margm m the acceleration
test decided the outcome.
Fero couldn't match his first day'~
pace and settled into third , still over
30 seconds in front of fourth placer,
New Mexico's Gene Durham (KTM).
Team Yamaha's Bob Rutten place~
fifth.
Rosso, admittedly not too enthusi astic about riding in the desert, easily
won the 175cc class , 68 seconds ahead
of Matt Cullins. '" was trying not to
get a flat ," said Rosso after the event.
"W ith the tight schedule, you can't
win on the trail , you can only lose. ':
Reynaud took the 125cc class by 25
seconds over desert specialist Atchison.
Garth Williams, the only other rider
on gold at the end of the first day ,
DNF Day Two.
•
Results
OPEN: 1. J im Fishback. 137825 IVaml; 2. Soot
Harden . 1426.00 IHull; 3. Jack Johnson. 1435.15
(Yaml ; 4. Bob Balent ine. 1435.50 IKTMl; 5. Bruce
Og~vie. 1446.45 (Yaml .
OTHER GOLO: 1. Wayne Martin IHull; 2. Ray
Coagrove tSuzl ; 3. Rob Sutliff IKTM I; 4. Carl eranl