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/126476
; III • ~ E Donnie Cantaloupi survived 12 laps around the extremely muddy course. lapping even teammate Broc Glover. Cantaloupi, GloverS Bourret survive Supercross mud bath By Marc Lachapelle T O RO NTO. CANADA . J UNE 7 Donnie Cantaloupi, riding a Bevo Forte-tuned works OW-40 Yamaha , flashed around the swamp-like rain-washed track laid out over the Canadian National Exhibition stadium's baseball field as if chased by a sim ilarl y black and yellow-str iped feline, to ca pt u re th e first T oron to Supercross Specta cul a r in a bsolutely brilliant fashion. Ca nta lou pi was riding wit h suc h forceful ness th ro ugh foot -deep mu d a nd even deeper ruts. that he managed to la p th en thi rd ru nn ing teammat e Bro c Glover on the sevent h laps of a final that was sho rte ned from 20 to 12 la ps du e to trophi cal stre ng t h sho wers that had hit th e open sta d ium . 20 At on e po int while Yamaha 's rook ie rider was in the process of completin g his next to final tou r of th is disaster area scal e model , all ride r movement ceased. Cantaloupi, after a unique fall -free race , was stopped in his tracks . Aft er long m inutes that had rumors of putting an im medi a te en d to the race, Cantaloupi "miraculously" go t go ing again with the help of a few friends and managed to cross the fin ish line to th e ro ar of 25,23 1 raindrenched fans . The top Canadian rider in this premiere Toronto stadium event was Quebec's Jean Bou rret. on a Monette Sports Can-Am , with a surprising third. Bourret, who is 19 and won Cuba's invitational MX series in the fall of '79 . followed Glover on the results board after be ing one of very few riders to take th e checke red flag . Dennis James from O ntario too k fourth. James , riding an Aurora Cycl e Supplies Honda thus became Canada's' first Supercross champ , edging out Bourret and his 16th-place Montreal fin ish by virtue of his own 11th position there. James had it comi ng . (Top) Broc Glo ver. here racing with M ario Paq uette. t ook second. (Above) Larry Huffman interviews Cantaloupi and tu ner Bev o Forte. Last year he had been Canada's best finisher at Supermotocross Molson with a fifth . Earlier in the day's running, Donnie Cantaloupi won the Aurora Cycle Supplies jump contest with a 60 foot leap to grab $500 . At the heart of all this mudness , Doug Domokos still managed to wheelie over parts of the track, foot-deep soup and all . Announcer Larry Huffman had to add little to make the fans go wild . Right on schedule, the ga te dropped and the riders in the first qualifying heat were gone. Alberta's Ross Pederson , riding for Yamaha Canada took first , never to loo k back. Ten laps la ter, Ped erson was home first, follo wed by Ron Sun, on a Cliff W hite-tuned Honda and J ohn Savitski. Kaw asaki's Jeff W ard too k th e seco nd qualifie r after pass ing Cantaloupi, Qualifiers three an d fou r were taken by Suzuk i's Barnett and Yamaha's Glover , respectively, a nd most decisively. The first semi sa w KTM's Frank Sta cy's [SOT type-riding ability put to good use as he led hard -rid ing Randy Kingston , on a Honda . to the final. Alan Logue . on a Yamaha Canada/ Castrol ride. circum navigated an ever worsening track 10 win semi two ahead of Da ve Marr , on a Can -Am. The last spot in th e final was taken by consolation (6 laps instead of 10) winner Bill Walsh on a Cycle World Honda. As the line of finalists turned in to a wedge , slipped and slid around corner one, Broc Glover took command of the first group . leading Kirk Bigelow, Dennis James . Kris Bigelow , Sun and Canraloupi . Things quickly changed as a too wide line set James back and tight cornering put ' Sun alongside Glover and ch a rging Jeff Ward . With the first lap half-completed, Kris Bigelow had jumped up to first . ahead of Sun and Glover while Camaloupi, Ross Pederson. Mark Barnett and Kip Bigelow were in slimy pursuit. Very soon. the ribbon of thick mud would separate the riders from those destined to tum into so many course markers . Sun and Ward were early casualties as were John Savitski and Kirk Bigelow. Cantaloupi, although having no one within challenging distance. went like wildfire in from . "I knew that speed was the key to going in deep mud, SO 1 did my best with this bit of knowledge." said Cantaloupi. Half-way through the 12 lap torture test , Cantaloupi had put 30 seconds between himself and second place Barnett who , in tum, had a one minute lead over Glover. Camaloupi soon passed Glover and went on , wh ile his te ammate and Barnett both got slower to the poin t of getting stuck themselves . Barnett went first with a fried clu tch, one of many t ha t night . Here and there rid ers were starting and stop p ing. On lap I I. Cantaloupi got stuck and going again , righ t to the wire . Quebecer Jean Bourret came in moments later alt hough no one knew in which position at the time. He wound up third . Glover got going again and crossed th e line. He was not happy when informed of his second place finish , say ing that he had been mistakenly given the checkered before Cantaloupi. • Resu lts 1. Donnie Cantaloupi{Yam) 2. Brae Glover (Yam); 3. ; J oen Bourret IC·AI; 4. Denn is James IHonl; 5. Bill Walsh (Honl; 6. Frank Stacv (KTM); 7. Mike McIntooh ISuzl; B. Serg e Gregoire (Vaml; 9. Mark Barnett ISuzI; 10. Michel Oilier (Veml; 11. J im Fekete (Ylml; 12. Randy Kingelon IHonl; 13. Kris Bigelow (Va ml; 14. JIIY 5 Kimber (Yam); 15. WIlY"" Ryenon 1 uzl; 16. Alan Logue (Yam); 17. Rosa Pederson (Yaml; 18. David Man (C-AI; 19. Kirk Bigelow (Yoml; 20. Ron Sun lHan I; 21. Kip Bigelow (Yoml; 22. John Savitski (Yoml; 23. Tim Krogh IVoml; 24. Jeff Ward (Kawl; 25. Mike Hamden IC-Al.