Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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Northern California·Northern Nevada-Oregon-Washington-ldaho-Utah·Alaska-Canada- Northern California-Northern 'Nevad NORTHERN DATELINE for the day. Conrad easily won the moto and cam e back again to lead the second wire-to-wire for a clean sweep of the event . o Results 00 0') ..... 420:TIE MAX" KTM Pat"Saugad did not have one of his better days at Watsonville. John Seffing (Suzl. 125 INT 1. Dennv Woods (Kawl; 2. Jerry Parsons : 1Suzl_ 250 JR: 1. Ron Hutcherson {Yaml; 2. Eulis Heselden (Kawl; 3. RobertOrewry (Kawl. OPEN JR: 1. Kenny Noland; 2. Colen Thompson (Huol; 3. Tom Stidham IMaiI . OPENINT: 1. Doug Silva IC·A); 2. Gary Wilson (Suzl ; 3. Jim Holmes {Yam!. 125 PRO:1.IW1dv.Jolwmon (Hanl. Heiberger, Wosick and Wago win at Watsonville MX f By Gerry Reagan WATSONVILLE, CA , APR . 20 PUMP GASOLINE FULLY LEGAL FOR AMA COMPETITION It started out as a beautiful day, slightly overcast but nice and warm. The riders were competing for trophies and prizes out on CALL OR WRITE FOR YOUR NEAREST OAECO GASOUNE OISTRIBUTOR... stares as they wandered the pits in short- the track while the girls competed for 201 WEST " 0 " STREET WILMINGTON, CA 90744 (213)549-0840 RlDEAWARE -9Husqvarna CALLUS FOR CLOSE OUT PRICES ON 79 250'5 ANO 390'5 We have one of the most complete lines of Husky parts and accessories in the country T& 0 Yamaha 24020 Narbonne Ave. !Torrance/Redondo area) Lomita, CA 90717 213·534-2311 40 • shorts and halter tops . It was a perfect day for both spectaung and racing. Nobody had really believed the radio announcer when he said it would rain on Sunday. The day before had been cloudless and hot and weathermen are always wrong anyway. Well, not this time. The Open Junior class was lining up for their first moto when the rain came and they had to negotiate what became a slippery, snotty race track in the middle of a torrential downpour, Duane Hughes (Yam) took the moto win in that class, mainly because he didn't fall down. Even though the track had been groomed before the start of the day's ac tion, some hard spots had developed and when the rains hit so suddenly the hard spots tu rned as slip pery as ice. The softer parts of the track turned qu ickly into mudholes and riders were slipping and sliding all over the place. The rains stopped almost as quickly as they began and in just a couple of races track conditions became excellent. The wet dirt became sticky and traction was super, rema ining that way throughout the second set of mo tos. In racing act ion , on e of the best Novice wins came from Paul Duchscher (Yam) who won both motos of the first division 125cc Novice class . Brett Lafayette (Yam) took the early lead in the first moto but Duchscher was hot on his tail and slipped past on the second lap. Lafayette didn't think that was how things should go , however, and grabbed the lead again on the next lap. This, of course, was not to Duchscher's liking and he fought his way back intothe front spot one more time, holding on for a hard-fought win. In the second round, Lafayette got a bad start and Duchscher d idn't have to worry about him. That didn't mean he was off the hoook, though because in this moto he had Mark Nelson (Suz) to contend with . Nelson grabbed the lead , a nd it took Duchscher two and a half laps to find his way to the head of the pack. Once he got there, he began to pull away but a late charge by Chris Ladd (Suz) almost did him in. Ladd moved with in striking distance on the white flag lap and almost got by a couple of times but Duchscher was able to hold him off to take the win . Jerome Heiberger and Eric McKenna had a couple of good dices in the Open Expert race. As it turned out, though , it just wasn 't McKenna's day. He stayed right on Heiberger's knobby in the first moto but slipped and fell in a comer on the last lap, maintaining his position but losing any hope of taking the moto win . McKenna was doing well in the second motd, showing Heiberger the way around the twisty, tight course, but just past the halfway mark he bogged down in a slow comer in the back section and killed the engine. Heiberger slipped into the number one spot and even though McKenna made a strong effort to regain the lead, he had to settle for second place once again . That was not McKenna's only bad luck of the day. He was hot on the ta il of Kawasaki's Larry Wosick when he was hit with another stroke of m isfortune in the 250cc Expert race. McKenna had dogged Wosick t hroughout th e second moto and was close enough to try a pass when the two came upon a slower rider. Wosick took the insid e line and when the slower rider tried to move aside for the leader, his front tire caught a rut and threw him to the track - right in front of McKenna. The choice between running over the guy or letting WOOck get away was probably a hard one but McKenna cnose the more humane action and stopped his machine . If he'd done a little better in t he first mote though . . . Eric Conrad had a good day even if McKenna didn't. Conrad (Yam) opened up a big lead in 250cc Novice Division One on the first lap of moto one to serve notice of what he had planned 125 NOV I: ' . Paul Duchscher {Yam l; 2. Mark Nelson (Suzl; 3. Brett Lofayen e lVam l. 125 NOV II: t . seen Keller (Hon); 2. M ike Dews (Suzl ; 3. Robert Con nor ISuzl. 125 NOV III: 1. COf\' P""eautt ISuzl; 2. Rick Ryen (Suzl; 3. Brian Godwi n ISuzl . '25 JR: t . Gory P1..~ e IHonl ; 2. Ruben Villarreal (Yam); 3. Bob Leipelt (Suzl . 125 EX: 1. Bryan W argo (Varni; 2. Jon Nelson ISuz); 3. Kent Woods IHonl. 250 NOV I: 1. Eric Conrad (Varni; 2. M ichael Ornellas (Hon l: 3. Kevin Oneta IHus). 250 NOV II: 1. Rick Ryen IHonl; 2. Bradley St oke (Hon l; 3. Kirk Webster ISuz). 250 NOV III: 1. Chris Mann (Hon); 2. Ken Kasik (Yam); 3. Ron Dinapoli (Honl . 250 JR : t . Richard Luth er (Han); 2. Gary Plaatje (Honl; 3. Tom Ross (Han). 250 EX: t . l.arry Wosick IKawI ; 2. Eric McKenna IMa il; 3. J im Ellis (Suz!. OPEN NOV : 1. J eff Lind ISuzl; 2. Charlie Lozier (Yaml; 3. Tim Hunter (Oss). OPEN JR: 1. Duane Hugh es (Yaml; 2. Tom Ross IHusl ; 3. Joe W est (Yam). OPEN EX: 1. Jerome Heiberger (Yam); 2. Eric McKenna (Mai); 3. Philip Oveland IC-AI. VET NOV : 1. Kenneth Yam (Suzl; 2. Jac k Mahan IHan); 3. Los Old enbr ook (Mail . VET JR: t, GoryNayman (M ail . VET EX: 1. Jim Ricci IHonl . DT NOV : t . Kenneth Yarn (Yam). OT JR: 1. Fred Parson (Suzl . OT EX: 1. J erry Jackson IMa i); 2. James Armada IMa il. Chandler smokes 'em ByW. H. Spencer HOLLISTER, CA , APR, 20 A twilight show was the format for a wet and cold Sunday at Bolado Park just south of Hollister in the Santa' Clara Valley where a lot of motorcycle history came about from the late 1940's . The latest in history makers appears to be 14year-old Doug Chandler, an Expert after a dozen or so Sportsman shows and nearing the top of the Black Plate list already by overpowering the 250cc Expert class on his ND-sparked Salinas Kawasaki. Minibike racers are still very important to the short track industry as most of the kids who slide around a comer on a bicycle now want to do it . on a motorized version. Bryan Toler and Jason Murphy did a good one in the SOcc Novice show while Antone Mellow worked hard to beat out Eric Mayfield in the Junior class . The 80cc Expert group has always been the marked class for kids to attain and then excel as Doug Chandler and Danny Moore had done. Doug's little brother Kurt is out to do his thing and along with Chris Carr, the current number one Mini whizzer , put on a show reminiscent of a National. Carr and the Jorgy RM versus Chandler and Salinas KX make enough of a show to attract attention just by themselves. The two are locked in mortal combat and the year will be long and arduous. Carr took the SOccExpert battle in a good trade 'em battle with Craig Johnson in for third behind Chandler. Kurt , aka Tooter, came from behind to win the 100cc Expert class over Carr and every weekend makes for a good show . Mike Rossa came from behind to win the 250cc Novice race in fine style over Mark Lacasa and Steve Jackson while Eddie Dolan moved on by Joe Flowers' Knight-framed special for the 250cc Junior win . Doug Chandler and Danny Moore, battlers from the Mini days , did the usual in the 250cc Expert class with Chandler making some really great moves in coming from the m iddle of the pack for the win . Frankie Sanchez brought out one of the XR Hondas for the !l60cc Novice/ Junior class win over Mike Horton.