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/126479
o 00 0') .-4 (Top) Barnett closes on Sun early in Seturdlly night's final. Barnett finished fourth, Sun sixth. (Above right! Cantaloupi dueled with Tripes for e while in Seturday's main. 8 There were reports of riders prepared not to ride until the track was changed. It was changed by bulldozing more of the track level. In the first qualifier, Glover went out and looked like he was taking up where he'd left off the previous night by nabbing the holeshot. Right behind him, though, Bell had other ideas and cut underneath in the left after the Peristyle taking away the lead on lap two . They stayed glued to each other for the rest of the race but Glover couldn't find a way past Bell. Cantaloupi finished third while Steve Stackable held off Yamaha Support rider John Day for fourth. Jim Gibson won the second qualifier with no trouble. Howerton, runnerup from lap two , landed hard off a jump in the last part of the race and knocked the wind out of himself. He slowed to recuperate which let Jimmy Ellis catch up to him. Howerton kept Ellis at bay with Pete Wanket on a Moto-X Fox Yamaha and Team Dynamic Yamaha pilot Kip Bigelow behind them . The Honda duo of Sun and Wise led the start of the third qualifier. Wise double-jumped a section in the south straight then almost ducked under Sun as they went down the Tornado. Sun shut the door, though, causing Wise to stop momentarily and lose ground. After hounding him a few more laps. Wise settled for second. Another Bigelow brother, Kris , held off Mickey Kessler for third as Lenny Giger on a Moto-X Fox Honda (who got by briefly on the last lap at the Tornado) staved off Gaylon Mosier for fifth . The race took on a rather grim aspect when Maby Mcintyre and Jimmy Weinert, both on Yamahas, went down hard at the end of the south straight early in the race. After some time on the ground. Weinert was helped away. battered and bruised. Mcintyre was not hurt badly. The straight. with its high-speed double jumps. would fell several more riders before the day's end . Barnell blasted away from the gate quickly in the fourth qualifier, but Reid almost as quickly snatched the (Above left) Merty Tripes pIeced 8-10, lead away. Moates was close behind. Reid got out of shape in the south straight on lap three. Barnett pounced immediately to put Reid in arrears. Reid's concentration apparently suffered a bit because a lap later in the same spot, he looped his bike letting only Moates go by before remounting. In fourth at the flag was Shultz with Tripes just ahead of LOP's Gary Semics for fifth . Suzuki's "Radical Ron" Turner led all but a portion of the first semi . Unfortunately for him, teammate Marty Smith led the most important portion when the checkers fell. Smith proved to be a charger and came up from the pack to do it. in the second semi , Kawasaki teammates Chappy Blose and Mosier battled for the lead with LOP's David Taylor tagging along a few lengths behind. Mosier jumped past Blose after the midway point in the race and Taylor slipped by two laps from the end. The double jumps in the south straight caught another rider in this race. Bill Jewell crashed heavily there and though quite dazed and sore, reportedly suffered no serious injuries. After the second semi, while bulldozers leveled some of the south straight's jumps as well as one at the head of the north straight, promoter Mike Goodwin conferred with Weinert and AMA referee Butch Lee on what to change about the track, where and how . Yamaha Team Manager Ken Clark remained unimpressed with the track layout, however. "It's just inane; it's ridiculous," he said. "T hey tried to cure every problem. They've succeeded in almost approximating the Ascot TT (National) next weeki" After bulldozing, watering and two slow laps of practice, the consolation race went off. Brighton' KTM's Boo Stichter got the holeshot but fell at the Tornado letting LOP's Kippy Pierce, Moore and Sons Husky rider Billy Grossi and PCP Yamaha's Dave Wood past. Stichter eventually placed ninth . Clark Jones on the Standard Cranksponsored Husky advanced to third