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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o 00 (j) ~ Mike Sixberry rode in borrowed ~ on a borrowed bike for the 2IiOcc Expert Desert win. Unset! Eric MacCrecken w .. indeed victorious on Saturday. Dirt Diggers host 22nd annual GP By Joyce May and Lori Fanner, following in her dust. Karen Leitinger and Randi Ehrenborg (both MXers) were fourth and fifth. First and second finishers in each class are as follows: Exp_ MX: M. Gonzales. K. Leitinger; Am. MX: C. Connolly. D. Beck; Nov. MX: N. Allen. R. Ray; Beg. MX: P. Stelebner, M. Boal; 250 Exp. Desen: L. Zuber, L. Farmer; 250 Am. Desert: L. Shatka; 175 Am. Desert: D. Hopkins, J. Lang; 175 Nov. Desen: Linda Christensen; 125 Exp. Desert: L. Vincent; 125 Am. Desen: L. Downhill; 125 Nov. Desen: B. Kind; 125 Beg. Desen: S. Thompson. In the 175cc Nov.lBeg. race first tum. two bikes went down directly in front of Gary Chaners. leaving him well in the back of the pack. But by the time the riders came off the superdusty desert section, Chaners, Senior Expen desert racer. had taken the lead. Amateur Paul Palmer was a very strong challenger throughout the 'race and made Charters continue to work for the overall honors. Novice Mike Harris finished in the third spot followed by Amateur Mark Macfarlane and Novice Steve Miranda. Class finishers are as follows: Exp.: G. Charters. V. VanZee; Am.: P. Palmer, M. MacFarlane; Nov.: L. Kannen, T: Bienen; Nov. Desert: M. Harris. S. Miranda; Beg. Desen: D. Gonzalez, D. Messner; Nov. MX (gal): Denise DeVines. The best show of the day was put on by the side-hacks. R. and S. Whitney were the winning team followed by B. Odom and B. Neill, P. Peck and L. Immken, and the K. Reedy/C. Stewan team. To make the race even more interesting, a ladies team composed of L. Jackson and M. Neill from Arizona competed against the guys. The four-stroke race was led by Rich Eierstedt (Exp.). Chuck Woody (1st Am.) was second. followed by Bubba Spann (2nd Am.). and David Carlson (1st Nov.). The final race on Saturday. the 250cc/Open was led all the way by Eric MacCracken. Bill Saluman rode in the second spot with Darin Canwright and Dwayne Brothers close behind. having a tight battle. Dave Chase borrowed a bike from Lori Farmer to win his class. The class leaders were as 'follows: Open Ex.: E. MacCracken. K. Upp; Open Am.: D. Chase. K. Clayton; Open Nov.: D. Ayers, G. Gutafson; Open Beg.: S. Henry, S. Sciacqua; 250 Exp.: D. Cartwright, D. Brothers; 250 Am.: M. Pollard, P. Sorensen; 250 Nov.: J. Butler. T. Kirkpatrick; 250 Beg.: R. Bradley. R. Long. ADELANTO. CA. NOV. 1-2 Sunday There were numerous large motorcycle competition events scheduled for this weekend, but the Dirt Diggers M.e. still managed to draw over 400 riders to their 22nd annual Rattlesnake A new day of racing staned with the Senior race. A big pile-up occurred on the under side of the over-under section of the MX course, just off the stan. involving at least 10 riders and machines. No one was hun. however. and eventually they were all back up and running. These "old boys"' were circling the course in the fastest times of the event to date. Nate Sciacqua turned the 4.S miles of the course in 5.H minutes. Bill Saluman took over the lead on the fOUM lap and stretched his point position to a comfonable distance. Sciaqua held onto the second spot. fol· lowed by Gary Chaners, Jim Bringhurst. and Rick Sien'lan. First and second spots in each class follow: Exp. MX: B. Saltzman. N. Sciaqua; Am. MX: S. Groce. D. Rosenberg; Nov. MX: J. Bagget. Dee Granger (gal); Exp. Desert: G. Chaners, A. Guzman; Am. Desen: P. Sorensen, V. Morris; Nov. Desen: P. Malloy, N. Johnson; Beg. Desert: D. Morrison. . A smaller scale pile-up occurred off t~ stan of the 175cc Am.lExp. race also. Among those hit was Bob Grand Prix, hosted at the Sunrise Valley Cycle Park. Eric Mac Cracken, Gary Chaners, and Bill Saluman were among the real enthusiasts that entered and "starred"' in several of the events_ Saturday 14 The 80cc Minis staned the weekend of racing with 'an 8 a.m. stan. Novice Nicky Pounds led the race and finished with overall honors. Following Nicky was Terry Woods (lst Beg.). Mike Pillar (1st Exp.). Don Salmen (2nd Exp.). Andre Souisa (Srd Exp.), Aaron Gustafson (2nd Beg.). Brett Yaro (Srd Beg.). Ricky Sieman (4th Beg.). and Mark Sieja (4th Exp.). The second event of the day was the competition among the Vets. Victorville's Ron Gibson opened up a F lead in the fint few laps, followed by Lynn McGraw, who was riding with a sprained anlt\e he had sustained MXing earlier in the week. Bill Saluman. Jim Bringhurst, T.W. Swets, and Russ Jones were next. Gibson seized his machine coming off the second lap. leaving the lead to McGraw. followed by Satlzman, Jones. Bringhurst. and Eddie Whiteside. First and second place finishers are as follows: Open Expen: L. McGraw, E. Whiteside; Open Amateur: L. Gorden, T. Thompson; Open Novice: G. Gustafson. D. Drew; Open Beginner: P. Cook, M. Yaro; 250 Expert: B. Saltzman, R. Jones; 250 Amateur: J. Mittendorf. P. Tobin; 250 Novice: T. Smith, J. Baggot; 250 Beginner: P. Ferguson. MXer Mercedes Gonzales took over the immediate lead in the Women's class and maintained it the entire race, with two desert racers, Lynette Zuber Balentine, who was center-punched, but still managed to stay upright and kept on moving. Bill Postel and brother Pete weren't that lucky, however. Victorville's well-known MXer. Andy Jefferson. led through t~ third lap with an average lap time of 5.S5 minutes. He ended up having bike problems in the founh lap and had to drop out. leaving the lead to Randy Yetto. who have moved up from six~ place to second. Barstow's Mark Barnes moved from the futh slot to the eventual lead. after the leader. Yetto's machine started to seize. Yetto dropped into second where he battled tooth-andnail with Steve Hutchens. John Rudder had worked up from well in the back of the pack after a bad start, to the fourth spot, followed hy Balentine in fifth. Class honors went to the following: Exp. MX: M. Barnes. D. Brookhart; Am. MX: B. Clontz. E. Ho; Exp. Desert: P. Postel. B. Larson; Am. Desert: T. Sinclair, S. Zollinger; Exp. Desert Trail (100): B. Charters. E.. Andelman. Dave Hutchens took the holeshot and ran away with the Old Timers race. Eric MacCracken once again tool. the point but threw a chain on the third lap of the 250cc race. Mike Sixbery, who was a last minute entry on Lori Fanner's borrowed bike. took over the lead. Mark Barnes and Sixbery had a tight duel, with Dan Ashcraft very close behind. Sixbery. who had cut a cast off his ann only a few days earlier. prevailed for the win. Danny Sanchez stayed in the founb spot. Greg Piorkowski had the misfonune of coming over a jump to discover a photographer in his landing path. Because of his quick thinking, however, a very serious situation was avoided. 80th he and the photographer received minor injuries, but nothing too serious. Another rider also went down in the accident. His foot got caught in the back wheel, causing a major problem to untangle. It was fortunate that the Din Diggers M.C. had a lot of members manning the track, as they immediately set up a detour. To add to the excitement, a rattle snake was killed only a few feet from the photographer as she sat on the ground. First and second place wins went to the following: Exp. Desert: M. Sixberry. D. Ashcraft; Am. Desen: C. Warren. P. Palmer; Nov. Desert: A. Long. J. Rapp; Beg. Desert: K. Rapp. B.J. Rapp; Exp. MX: M. Barnes. D. Sanchez; Am. MX: L. Thompson. J. ~rown; Beg. MX (gal): Randi Ehrenborg. The last race of the day involved the powerful Open class machines.Steve Hutchens led the race for two laps until the water at the waterhole got to his engine, almost drowning it out. Eric MacCracken took over in the lead, with Bob Balentine moving up from back in the pack to the second spot. Howard McCasland was running behind Hutchens. followed by Don Hoover. The first five finis~rs were Balentine. Hutchens. Hoover, McCasland. and Ron Gibson. Final honors for this race were as follows: Exp. Desert: B. Balentine. D. Hoover; Am. Desert: D. Chase. D. Hornbeck; Nov. Desert: J. 'Steward. B. McInnes; Beg. Desert: E. Leduc. E. Ervin; Exp. MX: S. Hutchens. R. Gibson; Am. MX: C. Beck; Nov: D. McNutly, G. Gustafson; Beg: H. Hatley. The next Grand Prix will be the Toys-for-Tots event at Sunrise. on Dec. 6-7. Plan to be there with toys for t~ underprivileged kids.