Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

V.a.T.E. Schreiber Cup L1ITLEROCK, CA, DEC. 13 The second annual Schreiber Cup Expen Only Trial was missing its namesake, who was TCBing in Europe, but still delivered a chall~nging high-point test at the ATA's final points event of th~ year. Scott Head, who had already clinched ATA Number One Expert for 1980, pick~ up his eighth win of the year, topping runnerup Oli Thordarson by 46 points. Last year Schreiber managed to scoot home un~r 100 points, so the second annual toughie obviously hit th~ mark in that respect. The sections w~re enough to I~ave an out-of-stater or two questioning the sanity of the proc~ngs. One visitor who thought that riding over cars and vans on Friday night was neat, felt that Satur· day's test was laid out by lunatics. But most of the riders got what th~ came for - a challenging natural terrain test of man and machine. Challenging is the proper adjective. There was only one clean by an Expert on the first lap. Head had it. Head and Oli Thordarson each had a clean ride on the second lap. Scott nabbed thr~ more on the final go-round. Just six c1~ans for the day. The Support class, which rode nine of the 15 sections, manag~ just two clans on the day. Class winn~r Keith McLaughlin had on~ whil~ his Miller's Motorcycles teammate, Bim Miller, had the other. S«tion selection was handl~ by V.O.T.E. prez How'ard Phdps and competition chairman Andre Plouffe. Head was the first to tackle th~ early sections, but then f~1I ~hind. H~ wasn't sandbagging, although rock· bagging might ~ a more appropriate t = for the Littl~rock Reservoir t~r rain. What Head was doing was more like bailing. H~ tri~ to play Vasco da Gama on th~ lop loop and rod~ into deep water. Like o~r the seat. One drowned ~ngine. The rocks took th~ir toll. Outgoing ATA presid~nt Matt Pritichard ~nt his forks with a loopout on a rock I~~ and had to retire. Dave Pyle reb~nt his leg and dected for the pits. Jay Terry mana~ to break cases on both sides of his Cota in one crash, yet still finish~d. Oli Thordarson edged P.l.T.S. Expert Tony L~uc by a single point for runner-up honors. Dwain~ Walters, who was second best on the first loop, slip~ to fourth. Keith McLaughlin posted a 17 point Support win over V.O.T.E.'s Gary Conrad. The night before Keith had thrilled the spectators at the outdoor night trial by doing a 180 on top of a van with his BMX bicycle and th~n riding straight down on the bike. Another V.O.T.E.er, 16-years-old Derrick Bernard, took third in the Support class. Because of the severity of the sections, the margin from first to last was only 38 points for 27 sections. Attendance was up for the second annual Expert Only. This yar's outing drew 12 Experts and 11 Support riders, plus two sidehack teams. The V.O.T_E. duo of Boyd Bernard (insane pilot) and Robert Schlatt~r (bonker~ monkey) topped the Hart to Hart twosome of trials, Babe and Arlene Sarver. At the day's end th~ contestants received a finisher ribbon that said it all: "I survived bein~ Schreiberized." Jay Terry, enthusiastic despite his cracked cases, explained, "This was a real trial, not a plonk." Winn~r Head, wh~n offer~ the microphone, had this to say, "Hi, mom ... A super trial with a good vari~ty of sections and plenty of water. You wouldn't b~lieve how d~p that wa~r ,was. Did- I.tell you about having to pump my bik~ out. That water was so d~p that ... " Results EXPERT: 1. Scott Heod (Bul) 107; 2. OIi Thordlnon (Mon) 153; 3. Tony Leduc (Mon) 1504; 4. Dwoine Wolters (Bull 159; 5. Andre Plouffe IBull 161; 6. Jay TOfTY (Bull 178; 7. Kary K,lIhet IBull 164; B. AnthonV Dilabio IBull 196; 9. Man Pr_d (Bufl/Dalle PvIe (BuIIlO. Epl*d IMonllE,ic Shertz (SWM) DNF. SUPPORT: 1. Keith Mclau9htin IBull 85; 2. Gory Connld (Bull 102; 3. OerTick Benwd IMon) 103; 4. Joe _ (SWM) 107; 5. Rick Sptuetl(BuIl 110: 6. Dan DillOn (Bul) 111; 7. Rob Tolleson (Bull 111; B. Scott Ott..man (()sa) I 13; 9. Ctaoh Cooper (Buill 14; 10. Bim Miller (Bull 11 B: 11. Ron SlIum (SWM) 123. _ _1_ _ 75. SIDECARS: 1. Boyd B.. SchIatt.. 58; 2. 00 _obert 0') EI Trial de Espana ORANGE, CA, DEC. 14 Somebody finally figured out a way to end Bernie Schreiber's five-year winning streak. Ship him out of the country. The world's winningest trials rider was j~t ting back and forth betw~n England's Dirt Bike Show and TV. appearances in Italy during the w~kend. In the absence of his mentor, Scott Head continu~ to assert his ~e~ce as the premier rider in southern California. The 18-year old, who recently mov~ to Placerville, posted his third win in thr~ days. Each victory represented vastly dissimilar challenges - Friday night's artificial frights, Saturday's wet and worrisome rocks, and Sunday's serpentine spectator sections. Th~re wasn't a single squeaker among the hat-trick heroics. All were runaway victories. Scott becam~ the fifth rider to win ETOE, joining Schreiber (five wins), Lane Leavitt (thr~ wins), Marland Whal~, and Sammy Mill~r. Wha~, who r~tired from trails after copping his fifth American championship last October, vi~ed some of the ahibition action in motocross garb aboard his Husqvarna. Head, runnerup to Whal~ in the 1980 national series, turn~ in the low score in both the "normal" morning sections and the afternoon's spectator spectaculars. He dropped 17 points in 20 a.m. att«;mpts and 47 more in 15 p.m. performances. The five ambition sections were ridden thr~ times each by the Experts. In the past Schreiber had guided the section makers, staking out the after· noon pulse·grabbers. This time ATA president Matt Pritchard and Gil Smith, number three V.S. Senior the past two years, handled the chore. The duo came up with some toughies. Winner Head dropped 47 of a possible 75 points. That's just over three per ride. The five ahibition sections featured the vertical ascents and drops that ETDE is famous for. Sandstone and loose sandy soil hindered the traction holders. Section one was a down and up and down and up number leading to a gully climb. Two nasty looking rocks at the top of the gully partially barricaded the bank the riders n~~ to hang a sharp cambered left to reach the exit gate. S«tion two b~gan with a fast sw~p ing righthander into a climb to the top of a hillside. Then th~ riders V-turned back down. At the bottom they faced an immediate blast up a 10-foot slab. On top th~y were call~ upon to exe· cute a 90 degree right turn without sliding off the downside of the slab. If they made it that far, a big dropoff await~ them, and then a climb back out of the gully that includ~ a banked I~fthander. Section three was a snaking gully climb. Section four call~' for thr~ading across a slippery camber, turning right, and blasting up some gnarly turf to a V·turn back down again. Then another V-tum back up across sandston~, with a lar~ I~~ looming as the final obstruction to the gate. Give this rider 8 10 for his form on this "five," Section five began with a st~ dropoff that squiggl~ to the bottom whae a banked right-hander sent the riders slanting back across the hillside. A right turn on loose soil abruptly led the Experts to a final blast up the hill over a four-foot vertical wall. While the afternoon sections were eye pleasers, the loop markings were definite ~e teasers. As in: Where are th~? This ~ms to be a part of the ETOE tradition. The r~lars ar~ used to ~tting lost, but the lar~r number of out-of·ar~a riders were perplex~ by course markings that ranked from ad~uate to ~mingly non-aistant. About 100 rid~rs sign~d up for the final (non.points) trials of the y~ar. As most know by now, funds ra~ by th~ sal~ of rame tickets for a motorcycle and other prizes have ~n used to send top SoCal Experts ov~as for competition. Bultaco again donat~ the giveaway bike. Both Schreiber and Whal~ ben~tted enormously by th~ opportunity of watching the world's best compete on the contin~nt ~ars bdore t~ were old enough to qualify for an FIM license. This year's raffl~ funds will help finance Scott Head's participation in four world rounds beginning in May. Head, as th~ highest ranking non· factory rider in the NATC/ AMA national series. also received funds from an NATe raffle of a Montesa Cota. The NATC, noting the success of the ATA's efforts over the past decade, initiated their own fund raising raffle in 1980. Head's winning ride was one of his last for Bay Area Bultaco. He has signed a contract to ride for ltaljet in 1981. The Jun Wilson Youth Award, given to a rider 16 or younger who reflects outstanding ability, sportsmanship, and citiz~hip, was awarded to Michad Lauxen, a recent transfer to the Expert class. After the trial, the ATA presented plaques of recognition to Manf~ Lauxen and Leonard Davis as special recognition of their checking activities at ATA events. The ATA also display~ a plaque that will be sent to John Grace of Bultaco International to recognize his support of th~ event over the past d~cade. Bultaco has annually donated a bike as first prize for the raffle drawing. The factory, now back in production, has reportedly signed former world champion Ytjo Vesterinm to carry their colors in 1981. Vesty won his th~ world titles on a Bultaco. The lucky winner of this y~ar's bike was Babe Sarver, who cam~ in from Arizona to rid~ the sid~hack class. Sarver and his monk~, Scott Rudesill, topped all thr~h~lers in the morning's sections. Dwain~ Walt~rs, who won one Sportsman class ~t in national competition this year, finished third in Expert action b~hind Head and Mark Eggar. Eggar, a form~r Honda t~amster, also finish~ second on the year in the ATA points rare, riding a Cosmopolitan Motors Mont~. Walters bat Eggar, Had and ~. body else ~xcept Sarver in the raffle, however. His booty includ~ three sets of hand grips, some oil and $10 and $30 gift certificates. A number of hand grips were donat~ by incoming ATA president Mark Oldar. BiCycl~ whiz K~ith McLaughlin took fourth Ex~, edging Andre Plouffe by two points..McLaughlin had finis~ third in the Friday night'S arena trial and won the Support class in Saturday's Schreiber Cup. Winners in th~ other classes ~re Gil Smith (Amat~r), Jean Frad~tte (Senior A), J~ Goodson (S~nior B), Eric Sod~rquist (Novice), R. Medford (Novic~), Paul Schrater (Kids), Babe Sarver and Scott Rudesill (Sid~car), and Len W~d (Press). The 11 th annual EI Trial de Espana fittingly was won by a rider whose international potential has already b~n nutured by a previous beneficiary, Bernie Schreiber. In 1'981, Scott Head will get his shot at the big boys ov~as, financed in part, by ATA competitors and supporters. If Southern California remains the hot spot for developing the nation's ~t riders, as it has in the past, then certainly the attitude and spirit behind El Trial de Espana must be recognized as a major contributor. • Results EXPERT: 1. Scott Heed IBuI) 64; 2. Mark Eggar IMon) 81; 3. Dwaine Waher. (Bull B7; 4. Keith Mclaughlin IBull 89; 5. Andfe Plouffe IBuli 91 : 6. Anlhonv DilM>io IBul) 92; 7. Rich Bieniak (Bull 109; B. Oli Thordlnon (Monl 109; 9. Michael Laoxen (Manl 113; 10. Man Pritchard (SuzlI14: 11. Jay Peol

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