Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Moulton concluded by saying, "After many months of on-again, off-again negotiations concerning the Meriden works, we now have a clear cut direction that gives Triumph the opportunity it needs to strengthen its effort in the market." Ho.PITal STOP: While riding his atreet bike beck from the San Jo.e Mile. local Pro motocro... Mike Shoemaker grabbed a little too much front brake and ended up /With a broken .houlder after tapping a guard' rail. The InteroatIonal Motorcycle. racar will be out of action for about two months. according . to - Initial raports. and'is sura to appreciate get-well' card. during his convale. cenee. Send 'em to Mike at 1609 Wallace. Simi Valley. CA 93085. HosPITal STOP: Moto Meister Carl . Ellert's Maico spit him off at Carlsbad OJl Sept. 21 when the front hub shattered. The tumble broke broke his right collarbone, caused pelvis, :possible internal injuries and gashed his leg, all of which made his doctor say to stay in bed for a month. If you send those funny cards and dumb games to him at 617 Edith Way, Long ~ach, CA 90807, it'll sure help him c{l3sS the time and keep his wife from ,gping nuts. The location of the Oct. 10. 10 a.m. Callfom18 Park and Recreation Commlsalo,", meeting with public hearing. hsa been changed from Elks Lodge. 330 Fairway .Drive. Tahoe City. CA to a new location: Donner Memorial l\IIuseum. Old Highway 40. Truckee. CA. ~Iy Graeme Crosby and Randy Mamola will be fully lponsored by Suzuki on the 1981 GP road race circuit. Why? Suzuki has left "the effort to Suzuki/Great Britain, and the move automatically dumps Wil Hartog, ~arco Lucchinelli and Graziano Rossi from the team although some support will be made available to them. In addition to riding the RG500s with Mamola, Crosby also will test the new monoshock Formula One machine, according to Australian Motor Cycle News. Barry Sheena has .igned to ride with the Scunthorpe Stag.. a British Speedway League Team d..cribed by England'. Speedw.y new.paper a.. ::one of speedway'. most unfa.hionable team.:' However. Scunthorpe copromoter Brian O.l)om quickly explained: "No. Barry i.n·t the Barry Sheene, He'. a 2O-year·old fj)rmer National Hunt jockey from Bradford," Whatever that meen.... M." HosPITal STOP: Maico's Western Service Manager Steve Malin crashed while practicing out behind the eastern. office back in Virginia and suffered a broken collarbone. Cards a\ld get-well wishes may be sent to Steve at Maico West,. 110 E. Santa Anita Ave., Burbank, CA 91502. Larry Ulrich phoned Papa to tell the 01' boy that the Oct. 26 11th Annual High De.ert 100 has become a Rhantom Duck of the Desert benefit....sort of. Actually. .1 per rider will be donated to the PDOD fund. For more info. phone Lam- at &03/382·3837, An' a tip of the Cycle News helmet to the 3- Wheeler Association. Richard Law of the 3WA made a presentation to the San Diego Regional Committee . at their Sept. 19 meeting that was' instrumental m the commission's dec~ion to keep open National City's 24th Street riding area. The San Diego Unified Port District had recommended it be closed. Thanks, 3WAI Time to start thinking about the 1981 Golden State MX Serie•. It all gets underway on the first weekend In January and goes for .even week., Riders and .pon.or. seeking further Information .hould contact CMC offic.. at P.O. Box 1402. Costa· M.... CA 92626 or phone 7141&67·3323. • California Superbike School his secured the Nov. 1-2 weekend at Laguna Seca for their program with Nov. 3 as a raindate. Interested? Dial 213/484-9323 for details. Rollerball. you say7 The Oregon Motorcycla Road Racing Association had a tough yeer. whet with Mt. St. Helens and some scheduOng conflicts. Ending up with only four raca date. for the _son at Portland International Raceway. the OMRRA wa. looking for a place to twist throttle. and hit upon Rose City Speedway. Rose City Speed· way I. used for the Gool 01' ·Boy 200 and Demolition Derble.; its asphalt surface is Uttered with ItUtOmotive debri.. gravel and oil puddl.. and surrounded by a low guard rail. After a free week·day practice ....ion. the club crazies were clamoring for a race, Race they did. ten of them. under the guise of an exhibition during the intermis.lon of a regular auto racing program. They are goi.,g to do·it again and call it a race on Oct. 6. with c1a••e. IProd. Cafe. GPI. trophies and ca.h 'prize•. If you mu.t view or participate in this madnes.. call Ronl Wlnn 503/239-, 4038 for Info. Rescue 3 and the International Racing Radio Crew will combine forces to cover the Oct. 25 Check Chase that runs from Johnson Valley to Parker. Checker Bob Terrazas made the announcement, adding "it's kind of neat to have the tops in communication and the tops in first aid working together·... October 11 i. the Motocro•• Action day put on by the Saturday Saddlebeck Motocrosa group at Saddlebeck lwhere el.e7). They'lI have an ~ Pro pur.e and Ii .pecial race for CZ.. Check the Calendar .ection for more detail., Now. if Papa could ju.t remember where he .ta.hed hi. old commie scooter... • THE. NATIONAl. PAPERS The pressure really showed at San Jose in the chase for the 1980 AMA Grand National Championship/Winston Pro title. Five riders went into the race with a shot at the title - only two came .out still in contention. . Ricky Graham went into San Jose as the leading miler of the season. At the end of the day he found himself ending up third in the final count behind Hank Scon and Randy Goss. Graham's spill was the only fall off on turn four the entire day. One report was that his tire wore out. But it was early in the main event, so it appears that some race plans went astray, or . there was pilot error. Either way it was a costly mistake that cost him his last chance this year for number one. Gary Scon also went to San Jose with a chance. He seized one engine back in Texas before he ever got to California and then had another failure while attempting a transfer to the final from the heat race. ' Gary gOl'the bike ready to run in the . semi but for some reason or another no rider in either semi would back out to allow, Gary to continue to run for the title. There were many unhappy Scott fans around after the race as there were many riders in both semis who had no chance 'whatsoever to transfer to the final. At Ascot on October 4, Graham and/ Scon will have their own priva'te d;"-el for third place in the final standings. It is worth ,considerable point fund .money to finish third instead of fourth. Because the season has been so competitive. the high point half mile rider for the year will also be decided. just like the mile title was confirmed at San Jose. Three riders will go to Ascot with a shot at it. Billy Labrie, a two-tim'e half mile winner this year, and the Ascot winner last May, leads with 80 points. Hank Scott, another two-time half mile winner in '80, is se~ond, a close second, with 76 points. Steve Morehead, a one· time half mile title holder this season, is third with 72 points. On paper, it favors Labrie; he has proven already that he can ride and win at Ascot. Both Sco.tt and Morehead have yet to come close to finding the. winning co!"bination on the track that has hosted National races for the past 22 years. . So, for the final' National of the year, Hank Scott finds himself in riot one but two point races, which add up to thousands of dollars. The Hank Scon/Randy Goss duel for the Grand National title and the Ricky Graham/Gary Scon battle for third place will keep things interesting from time trials to the checkered {lag. The last three times Goss has come to Ascot to race the half mile National, he has pulled a first (with a new track record) and a pair of fourth place fiJ)ishes. Hank Scon had his best·ever Ascot finish, National or non-National 'in the May '79 National when he pulled a third behind Springsteen and Eklund, one position ahead of Gossl But in the most recent National half mile at Ascot, last May. Labrie, Graham and Scotty Parker teamed up to run 1-2-3, pushing both Scons, Goss, Eklund, Springsteen and Jorgensen to the back and out of contention. Ascot is a tough race track, so tough in May that only 'one rookie made the final. And he never ran. His engine wouldn't start for the race. Of the 14 riders who lined up for the first Ascot half mile last spring, eight of them have won at least one National this yearl Another spot went to the rider that will be Rookie of the Year for 1980. The question 'has already been asked many times since the end of the San Jose race: What if Scon and Goss would end up tied for the title? Right off the top, the AMA rulebook's (p. 30) official tie-breaker would award the title to the rider with the most National wins this season. Scon now has five. Goss one. The total point fund money for first and second from Winston amounts to $33,000. $20,000 to the high point rider, $13,000 for second', and on down through 15th place. Then the AMA has another point fund for the top 20 that finds about 25% of the o total fund going to the high point rider. So the drop between first and second can mean anywhere from $1520,000 when all the money is counted. So, if you see Hank pass Randy or Randy pass Hank, you may be looking at the most expensive pass ever made in motorcycle racing. . Let's hope that both riders are in different heat races, both riders make it directly from the heat to the final, and both riders start on the same row for the last 20 laps they will run this year. 00 It worked out that way two years ag~ 1-0 when Springsteen and Eklund were Q,) corning to Ascot for the same purpose. ..0 It ended with both far in front of the rest of the pack, and the title chase u went right to the checkered flag. The names and the faces have changed for this year's title run. Goss lived in the shadow of Springsteen his rookie year, ending the season as the number two ranked rookie. Last year he stayed with Jay and Steve most of the way for the title but slipped toward the end of the season only to come back, when it was too late, and win Ascot and end up third in the standings. Randy hails from Michigan, has a Wisconsin racing bike and a Californiabred tuner. A fine dirt tracker and a champion' ice racer. First-time fans compare him to the kid-next-door who will talk to anybody and ride il c1ea!!. race everytime. Hank Scott has been around longer. Started racing in California, moved East as a Novice and was a top rated Junior and rookie. He won his first National, the Syracuse mile, in 1974. Hank has never been this close to the title before. His five wins in a single season i's an outstanding feat considering the competition. Hank .says he found religion a season or two back and credits this aspect of his life for his good fortune on the track. Last year, Hank and brother Gary came to Ascot to fight it out for sixth in the standings, Gary won out. This year Hank goes against Goss for the whole pie. Both· riders have earned the title shot, Hank with big wins, Randy with consistent riding. Both deserve to win the Grand National title and either rider will represent the title next year, both on and off the track, in the style that it was meant to be. But enly one will leave the darkened Ascot on October 4 and drive out onto Vermont Ave. with a smile on his face - and a whole lot richer for his efforts. Fo~ a·wrap-up, here's a word about the Expert/Junior Invitational at Ascot on National night. . After watching the Juniors on the big bikes at the San Jose mile get beaten by a straightaway by a 350cc two-stroker piloted by a .rider who will not rank in the top 50 in points this year, it's apparent that something is wrong somewhere. Fans mayor may not agree that the Experts should get off of 750s and go to 500s, but it looks like it is time for the move in the Junior c1ass_ Not for the sake of safety but for the sake of putting on a good show of talent and horsepower. , Give a lot of credit to the mechanics that built that Yamaha 350 which not·' only won but was also the fastest yellow plate in time trials. Give the rider much credit for having the guts to spot the rest of what was supposed to be a talented field - for even entering a 350cc for amile! The day Ascot stopped running weekly was the day the chain of talent stopped coming up fast each and every year from 8alifornia. The San Jose Junior race proved it. • o .... o Roxy Rockwood 3

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