Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

; Southern California-Arizona-Southern Nevada- Southern California-Arizona-Southern Nevada- Southern California-Arizona· I; Western hotline ~ Lunde, Turner duel atCMCAscot t By Tom Corley GARDENA , CA . MAY 14 Tim Lunde a nd Ro n T urner fough t it out at Asco t Park and Lunde came throug h as t he king in the 250c c Pro class w h i Ie Ron Turner won two of the three Pro classes at CMC's $3000 MX. Turner triumphs twlceatCMC $3000MX By Terry Whytal ORANGE. CA . MAY 18 Suzuki's bionic test rider Ron Turner went for the gold at this Continental Mote-sports Club motocross. With a $3000 purse 22 up for grabs, Turner came prepared for a ha t trick victory but mechanica l problems kept him from topping t he 125cc Pros and a tough field of local riders kept him on the gas in route to winning the 250cc and Open Pro class es. Husky rider Alan Smith a nd Yamaha -mounted Pete Snorteland provided the main competition for T u rner in th e Open class with Smith eventually follow ing Turner to th e checkers with a 3· 2 score and seco nd overall for th e d ay. Snorteland looked set to pick up t he second pl ace money until two laps fro m the fin ish when his front ti re went fla t , d ropping him to an eighth place finish and fifth overall. Robert Ma rino kept his big- bo re Ya m ah a on th e gas to finish with a consistent 4-4 score and he ad home with the thi rd pla ce loo t wit h Doug Boyd powering h is KTM across the finis h for fou rth . The 125cc Pro riders banged bars, bikes and bodies for mos t of the duration of their two motos with at least four different riders challenging for the lead at any given moment . A.J. Whiting topped th e first moto ahead of fellow Yamaha riders Gary Dircks and T od d Petersen . The best shows on th e track were provided by Ron Turner 'as he work ed up fro m a bad sta rt to com pete for th e lead before dropping back to 15th with mechanical ills. and Yamaha rider Rick Mak i who dazzl ed th e spectators by wavi ng 10 the crowd wh ile flying on e-handed do wn Banzai hill ! Moto two of the 125cc Pros loo ked like a T urner runaway as he powered into th e earl y lead and opened up a IO-second m a rgi n over second pla ce runner Petersen , before blow ing his tra nsm issio n with two laps to go . Petersen went on 10 win th e moto and earn the overa ll victory a he ad of Dircks. Whiting and Dal e . Best racing of the day came in the second 250cc Pro m oto . Turner had won the first moto wit h a 15-second lead over DG rider Snort eland , who had his hands full holding off the late race charges of Can -Am rid er Juan Benavidez . The second moto played to a different scri pt as Yamaha rider Bill Ouellette charged in to the ea rly lead ahead of Honda -mounted Tony Gomez . Andy Northrup settled his Yamaha in at the third place slot with Bill Keefe moving his Mugen Honda into fourth. Turner, Snorteland and Benavidez had all go li en off to a slow start and were stuck in mid pack as the first lap was com p lete d . By lap five th e ra ce had becom e a n eight rider battle with Snorteland in fourth , Benavidez fifth an d Turner in sevent h . Keefe detuned h imself by gelling off hard in the sandwash and had to cruise to the finis h. At the halfway po int the ch arge for the finish had narrowed to just four riders : Northrup , Snortela nd , Benavidez and Turner. No rt h ru p managed to break free from the pack and settled into a l fl-second lead but the battle for second was fierce since it would decid e th e overall winner . Turner found a few ex tra ponies a nd powered past Benavidez and Snorteland as the on e-Ia p flag ca me ou t. Turner cu t North ru p's lead in half at the checkers bu t time had run out. The overall win was Turner's however, with Snorteland secon d. Bena videz th ird and Craig Gormley slip ped his Yamaha in for fou rt h . Results T urner took home the lion's share of the loot as he blew away both th e 125 and 500cc class riders for the b ig overa ll wins . Lu nde was m ost successfu l this eveni ng in th e 250cc Pro race a nd in the first moto he was neck to neck with R adical Ron Turner. Lund e kept ahead bu t still withi n passing d istance. Turner could not ca tc h him . though , and had to settle for second whil e Frank Fitzgerald took third . In the second and decid ing moto Lunde reached out ahea d aga in a nd got th e lead that .he wanted and th is ga ve him the adva ntage. Lunde held on to it down to th e fin ish and th is time Fitzgerald strutted in second and kept Turner behind. On th e payoff list it was Lunde , Fitzgerald, T u rner and Pete Murray. There were three d ivisions of the 125cc Junior class and some fantastic racing was seen in all cases. There are so many Yamahas and Suzukis around that whenever another make of bike wins a race it seems quite different. It was notable that a KTM won the 125cc Junior d ivision three class with Steve Haddon from KTM West of Anaheim at the controls . In the first moto Rick Kramer got it on and led till the finish SO he took the win over Haddon and Robby Moore. Haddon cranked his KTM in th e more important second moto and took first for the overall win . Kramer was back in fifth ~ and this hurt his score drastical1y. Steve Rawlinson managed a 4·2 score and this gave him a second place trophy over Kramer and Terry Anderson . Results MINI JR DIV 1: 1. Tarry Woody IVaml; 2. Brad Moreau (Yam); 3. Brock Suter (Yam). MINI JR DIV 2: 1. Rich Flem ing IKaw ); 2. Mike Hugh es (Suz); 3. Stev e Eving er (Suz). M INI INT : 1. Duane Sum mer s (Yaml ; 2. Dean Pet..eon IVam l; 3. Gary Vbarra (M ugl . 100 J R: 1. Blake Vnali lVam) ; 2. Ji m Cobha m lVam); 3. Bill Delgado (Suz). 125 JR DIY 1: L Danny Ma n is (Yam ); 2. Paul Ellis (SUllo3. Ed M cMill in IHonl. . 125 JR DIV 2: 1. Sco n CrawlClfdISuz); 2. Jerry Greer ISUll; 3. St eve Baint ar lVam). 125 JR DIV 3: 1. St eve Haddon IKTM1; 2. Steve Rawtinion (S uzJ 3. Rick Kramer (Yaml . : 125 INT: 1. C. W estergaard lVa ml; 2. Randy Sciana ISUll: 3. Dave Bradshaw (SUll. 125 PRO: 1. Ron Turner ISUll; 2. Tim Shelt on lV am): 3. Glenn Page ISuzl. 250 JR DIV 1: 1. J oh n Stap leton IVaml ; 2. Darren Russeli IHon I; 3. Dou g Davenport (Vam ). 250 JR DIV 2: 1. Gary Sewell (Amxl; 2. Al len Padilla IKawt. 3. Mike Tarkingt on (Kaw) . 250 INT: 1. C,J. W enner (SUll: 2. Tom W atanabe (Honl: 3. Denny Vorndran ISull. 250 PRO: 1. Lu nde lV aml; 2. Frank Fitzg ..ald (Hon); 3. Ron Turner (Suz). 500 JR : 1. M ika Stapak IHooI; 2. Tom Simpson lVaml; 3. J im Kasler lVam). 500 PRO: 1. Ron Tu rner (SUll: 2. Dole LewisIMail: 3. Alan Smith IHusl. OVER 30: 1. Tom Simpson lVaml; 2. Wililiam M isener lVam); 3. Bob Crosta {KTM I. r"" OPEN PRO: 1. Ron Turner ISuz l: 2. Alan Smith IHusl: 3. Robert Marino (Yam) . 250cc PRO: 1. Ron Turner ISuz) ; 2. Pete S norte land IVaml : 3. Juan Bena videz (C·AI . 125cc PRO: 1. Todd Petersen IVam); 2_ Gary Dircks (Yaml; 3 . A.J . Whiting (Yam), OPEN INT: , . Joh n Lusignan (Yaml ; 2. M iC ky Dymond (Ma i); 3. Ryan He!zer IMa i)' 250cc INT: t . Phil Riddle IKawl: 2 Marc Crosby (Yam ); 3. Fred Nichols (Yaml . 125cc INT : 10 Richard Sands ISuz); 2. Vaun Butl er (Yam); 3. Mi ck y Dy mo nd (Hanl . OPEN JR : 1. An g elo Farone IHus); 2. Joh n Lundgreen (Yam); 3. M ike Zielinski {SUl}. 250cc JR : 1. Joe Green (Hon); 2. Paul Fill -Gibbons (Yam) ; 3. Don Sleuer tson (Yam). 12Scc JR : 1. Bruce J ac kma n (Kaw) ; 2. Jon W arneke (Suz); 3. Chris Boi leau (Suz). MINI JR : l , Scon Hollowey ISUll; 2. M ichael Lieber (Vam); 3. Hal Eller IKaw l. MIN I INT : 1. Chris Gables (Yam); 2. Chris Taylor IKaw l. Ouellette blasts AMEnightMX By Judy Greenberg VALENCIA , CA . MAY 16 A la rge turnou t of riders filled the classes for an exciti ng night of racing wit h Am erican Motocross Enterprises at Indian Dunes. . International M/C's Bill O uellett e piloted his Yamaha to pick up back to t • )- . , - back wins in the 250 cc Pros. Dean T aylor led th e first couple of la ps until he was passed by the Can-Am of Danny T hompson . T a ylor stayed right wit h Thompson tryi ng to get th e lea d back. but went down in th e esses and put Thompson ou t in front by himself. Ouellett e closed th e ga p and took over whe n Thompson went down . Ed Arnet (Ya m Mtr , Co rp .) had con trol of secon d as Ka l-Gar d 's Bob Klin e moved stead ily through the p ack, his first tim e out on a Yama ha . Klin e reached Arner's side as th ey headed for d ie checkered an d slip ped a wheel underneath for the second place finish . Ouellett e look it 10 the wire th e second time ou t. Arnet passed T hompson for second as Kline was breaking th rough traffic. Once by Mark Armen dola , Kline th en overpow ered Thompson in the next lap to fin ish thi rd . Arnet went 3·2 for second overall , over Klin e's 2·3 for thi rd. Kirk Stu rgeon (Int. M/C) and Andy Jannings (Track 'n T ravel) swapped moto wins in th e 500 cc Pros. with Jannings coming out on top. It was Sturgeon all the way in moto one, with Jannings defending second from Greg Torgerson the entire eight laps. Rob Tolleson passed Doug Taft for fourth. Jannings took im med ia te control of the second gate with a flawless ride to the finish . Sturgeon pressed Torgerson for second, getting by at the halfway point , whil e Chris Lowitz, Nick Athans and Tolleson scrambled in the next positions. Athans snagged fourth from Lowitz at the tower, falling back to seventh. The 125cc Pros seemed to be hit with disaster, losing several riders to the fate of an off-side slippery rut on the back jump. When it was all over, Steve Schmitz (In t. Yam) picked up the win with a 1-2 ride. followed by John Whelchel (3 ·3) and Chip Johnson (9-1). Johnson holeshot and led the first laps of moto one. but went down hard , putting Schmitz in control with Bob Kline's new Kal -Gard Yamaha in second . Jerry Shore (American Honda support) was riding strong in third as John Whelchel (Int . M/C/MX Fox ) closed in and a battl e ensued. Whelchel got by and as Shore prepared to take it back he went down hard . being joined by Mark Bledsoe and both riders DNF. Jeff Stanford finished fourth behind Whelchel. The second time Stanford (Yam Mt r . Corp.) led the ea rly laps, only to lose it in the same spot. Schmitz took over until he was passed by Johnson. They ran nip and tuck for first with Kline closing in third . In the last lap, Kline fell to the fate of the rut , forcing him to DNF and giving Whelchel th ird . Results 500 PRO: 1. Andy Jenn ings IMarl: 2. Kirk Sturgeon IVam); 3 . Grog TClfgerson IC·AI. 500 INT : 1. Adam Ford IHusI; 2. Andy Richa,d lVaml ; 3. Charlie Str ong (SUll. 500 JR : 1. M ike W righ t lV am); 2. M ike Stopak lV am); 3. Robert Gilbert IVaml . 500 BEG: 1. Randy KClfdes lVa ml; 2. Kurt Rodas IVaml . VET JR : 1. Ron Cole {SUllo 250 PRO: 1. Bill ouenena (Varni; 2 . Ed Arnet IVaml ; 3. Bob Kline IVarn l. 250 INT: 1. Kevin McDonald (Vam); 2. G, ag Atkinson IHonl; 3. Brand Johnoon ISuzl . 250 JR DIV 1: 1. Rodg ar Williama (Ha n); 2. Kent Banels (Hon); 3. Chris Colquhoun (Hon). 250 JR DIV 2: 1. David Thayer (Vam); 2. Jail Beuchillon (Kawl ; 3 . Mar k Black (SUl) . 250 BEG: 1. Glenn Malquill (Vaml; 2. James Holman I (Hon ); 3. James DeSpa in ISuz). 125 PRO: 1. St eve Schm itt IVaml; 2. John Whelchel (Yam); 3. Chip Johnson (Hon). 125 J R DIV 1: 1. Rob Ma nsf ield (Vam); 2. Craig Lynch ISull; 3. Mike Washko IHonl. 125 J R DIV 2: 1. Jo n Al exand er IHon l; 2. Bobby Bvrne (Han ); 3. David Mitsuguchi ISuz). e 125 J R DIV 3: 1. Darin Harg is IC·A); 2. Mike W oM (Hon); 3. Kevin Brew is (Yam). 125 BEG: 1. Ron Stew ert {Sull; 2. David W righ t {Sull; 3. Steve Layne {Sullo W OM ENS DIV: 1. Cindy Duma (Kawl ; 2. Randi

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