Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

I ...c:auI"'' 'ArI--t--N..'''_t.. . .c:auI' ' ' 'ArI ~;;;;~ti;;;"'_th '-1 his path as Baker tried to lap him. Whatever the cause, Balter was down and the second spot was coveted and shared by many but finally became Craig Adams' for keeps. Steve Blaltely had an exceptional ride and claimed . third followed by Phil Thorstensen, Larry Thompson and the first Amateur, Can-Am enduro rider John Manin. SRA thanks Bill Jarvis who aboned his race to aid Dee Dee Hallahan. Official results pending. & Adams aces PhoenbcRR By Kris Aaron PHOENIX, AZ,JAN. 18 Ferocious competition signalled the start of the racing year at Phoenix International Raceway. PRRO has been sanctioning cue SetkllelJeck 12!icc Pro winner G.-y Denton heads up the pack. 1JIIIr.., Sbcbery t."SRAGP BySueSenn ORANGE., CA. JAN. 18 The last three races of SaddlebKk's five evaJI:S were mooopIized by Mike Baker. winner of the 2OOc:c race and Mike Sixbery wiDDer of the Open and !5Occ race. BakI:r rode three oae-hour rac:a baelt· to-bKk ill 1m fint race IiDce he broke 1m . . . four moDtba ago. Sixbery rode two oae-hour rac:a baclt·to-baelt ..... cbIimed the 0ftraII in both. The fint race of the day . . the mipIy MiDiI. Todd Campbell ricIiDg for FlIinray Yamaha claimed the owaaD iD thia eftDt. Shannon Sh_hIia ridiD& 1m Yamaha for Dale'. C)de beId the lead for the fint two ..... CunpheD ItUted a aide by aide . . . . with SMmhlia OIl the third lap wbicb aa.ed for the remainder of the race. where Campbell took the chcdrrm. Both 00,. oommaued lam- tbac uying to aay with each other made tbaD JD a 1ittIe falter. This . . nideat iD the lead they bad over ~ Upena Bury Crawford, Keith Sam. ..... Dam TfaIU. After IeacIiaB Noftce Eric Andenon bad a hard set-olf. BqjimCR Tom Sueth and Charlie HobbI aced Sean DeIumne and Mike HaUahan for fifth and aixth. The IeCODd race of the day featured the Senion. This is really three races going on at~. All riden are over 55 but they bred into three cl_: 200. !5Occ, and Open. The Open Expert win walt to JIDI Berry on a Yamaha. Berry gut a good ride for his tDODCJ for the fint five laps from Lynn McGraw, the number one plate holder who ridea for RUItaD Yamaha. In tbe aixth of the nine laps, Berry moved out and became untouchable. The battle . . now between Bill Manely and McGraw who finiabed iD that order. Bryon FartIIWOnh (Yam) took an easy 14 . fint !5Occ Expert, founh overall while IiftI! ~~ ~ !l! ~_~·~_~Id ~an who was a legend iD his own time. Jeff Stnith DOW ridca endllllll for Can·Am iD Duluth, MN, but when a very young rider named Roger DeCoIter waa just begimiing iD MX the man wbo beld the Wo~ Cham~p waaJeff Stnith. Smith, from Great Britian, rode MX for BSA and held the British Championship nine times and the World Championship twice. He haa won nine lSDT gold medala, the first iD 1952 on a Nonon and tbe last iD 1978 on a Can·Am. Being a retired racer, Smith signed up at this race as an Open Amateur, staning 50 IeCOnda after the Experts and still finished fifth overall. Mike Baker, who ridca for Orange County Cycle, ran away with the 200cc race. Mike was testing the water· cooled USee Yamaha tbat hell be riding in Class 20 for SCORE at Parker, AZ. If this race is any indica· lion, Baker and co-rider Kevin Cue will be very happy at Parker. Baker took an easy win iD this one and left the wwpetitioo to Danny BarthoIamew, Norman Francis, Bill Mattox and Kevin Case, who finiahed in that order. In the Open race Craig Adama ricIiDg his KTM for Adam's Radiator took the lead and began batding with Balter who bad Sixbery nipping at his rear tire. Adama went out on the IeCOnd lap with a blown engine and Baker took the lead. Sixbery stayed on Baker's butt and the two p1ayed switcharoo for a couple of laps, then on the seventh of the nine laps, the race became Sixbery all the way. As Sixbery took the checltered BaIter came up the hiD into the finiah area. Just as he cleared the bill, Thad Friday (Yam) shot by Balter and claimed second Expen while Mike took third. Steve Huth, Jay East and Roland Dean claimed top Amateur positions. The 250 race belonged to "Sizzlin' Six" from beginning to end, riding his 250 IT Yamaha for Montclair Yamaha. Balter again gave Sixbery competition but Baker was tiring since this was his· third race. Maybe tbis aided iD his goi~ down aa be tried to avoid hitting a nder who moved into monthly road races for Arizona riden, and the overall 1evel of skill bas shown a tremendous increase since the club's first race iD August of 1980. In the Gran Prix class, Willie Adama of Tucson, riding a trick, red Suzuki 1100 took a very classy·looking first. Second place was captured by first-time rider Pete Aronson, of Western Honda in Scottsdale. Aronson staned the day with 1.20 laps, and by the end of the race had lowered his time 10 seconds. The unofficial race that drew the most attention waa between Neil Dale on a trielt 750 BMW and Tom JlleF on a Harley 1000. The lOund from the two big twins made the grandstands shalteI Dale's beautiful Beemer haa over 50,000 tniles on it, and is used daily as a street bike. Dale did all his own machining, and the custom work on the BMW is not to be beIievetII Super Street rider Cliff Alliaon on his 550 Yamaba Seca smoked the competition and pasaed the entire field on his way to first place. Nonn Benedum showed up on a new ride be'. testing for AFM competiton and rode away with a first in 550 Box Stock. Results GRAND PRIX: 1. w-. -..; 2. PWlII'-"""; 1 Noll Dole. BOX STk 410: 1. Sc:oIl Poul .... 2. Rick Whil8; 1 DomiIs.. BOXSTk liliO: 1. Norm ~ 2. K - . _ BOX STk 1&0: 1. lMry KuIz. BOX STk 0l'9I: 1. Tom~. SU'EIl STREET 410: 1. RJ. WIll; 2. Don Ilaob; 1 Sc:oIl McOonoId. SU'EIl STREET 5liO: 1. CIIl - . ; 2. ~ eo-d;1Mec ...... SU'EIl STREET 1&0: 1. T o m _ SU'EIl STREET 0l'9I: 1. Qluck e.-bd: 2. • King. McCuIstion scores at CAlC 5aIHebadc By Mike Klinger ORANGE, CA,JAN. 18 With the CMC/DG Golden State Series continuing in fine fashion. the turnout at the regular Conti· nental Moto-sports Club Saddle· back motocross was little low but tbe competition was just as great. Tbe 125cc and Open Professional classes had to be combined due to lack of entrants. Gary Denton (Hon) col· lected two 125cc moto wins with some stiff competition. In moto one, Denton did get the holeshot with Cbappy Blose (Yam), Rick Malti (Yam) and Cun MeCuistion (Kaw) closing fast. Denton held on for every lap of tbe 14 lap event but the otber four riden, includ· ing Andy Kirker (Yam) all bad a chance to get by 'Denton. By lap 10, Malti had moved ahead of Blose and pulled right up on the tail of Denton. For the four remaining laps, Malti tried everything to take OYer the top spot but Denton won with Malti second. Blose was third ahead of Kirker. Moto two was a replay of moto one witb respect to Denton. Again he led tbe field from the gate to the checkered flag. Maki was right on Denton and Blose but a sudden loss of concentration slammed Maki to the ground, losing him two positions. It was the day for Denton and Honda. In moto two, Denton led four of the new water-cooled Yamahas and none of tbem could get close. Denton's 1·1 score awarded him the overall over Kirker (4-2), Blose (!l-!l) and then Maki (2-4). In tbe Open Pros, Roben Reisinger (Kaw) had little trouble outrunning the other three Open contestants. Reisginer went I-I and even pulled up on tbe 125cc Pros who had staned 20 seconds ahead of the Opens_ Cun MeCuistion, aboard his Kawa· saki Uni·TraIt, bandIed the 250cc Pro class by picking up two first place finishes. Malti, Tim Lunde (Yam) and Brian Maloney (Hon) were in bot punuit of the fleeing McCuistion but no one could reel him in. By lap eight the moto had setded down but Reisinger was malting his cbarge. He bad ~ Dean Cates (Suz) and was eyemg Maloney. By lap 12, McCuistion bad hit traffic which gave Lunde and Maloney a slight advantage to pull iD some ground on the Uni·Trak. At the flag, McCuistion held on with LuDdc bumping his tire at the finish line. Maloney was third, then came Reisinger, Cates and Troy Lee (KTM). In moto two, McCuistion apin pulled the trielt and agaiD just nipped Lunde for the win. This time Cates stayed abead of Reisinger for third and Maloney fell off tbe pace and fmisebd fifth. MeCuiation's 1-1 score obviously gave him the overaD with second going to Lunde (2-2). Third overall was Cates (5-5) follcnftd by Reisinger (4-4) and Maloney (5-5). Results MIN JR: 1. R_ _ IVMIl; 2. S. SIrlII"llSud; 1 A. King~. MINI NT: 1. J . ...,. _ ; 2.1(. e-.lSud; 1 W. SunalKNl. MNEX:l.T. _tsuzt: 2. s. _lSud;1 L _1V1ml. l00cc JR: 1. M. CIIprioai IVMIl; 2. J. 121icc JR: 1. J. _ I V....; 2. M. _lVomI; 1 J. . - I V..... 25Oa: JR: 1. J. _ I V....; 2. D. _lVomI; 1 "-1SuII. R.~IVIml. 500a:.lIt 1. M. I.uIz IV..... OIlER 30: 1. E. EIia lVomI; 2. G. n--lMoiI; 1 D. s.tt1V1ml. 121icc NT: 1. R. . - IVOIIII; 2. V. _ 1V1ml; 1 D. c..CSuzI. 25Oa: NT: 1. S. _ oc-t; 2. A. McCIoin Itln: 1R.~1V1ml. s.. 1V0IIII;1 5OOa: NT: 1. D. ..,.lVomI; 2. D. P. ....-IVIml. 121icc PRO: 1. G. Der-. 1HanI; 2. A. ~ lDGl: 1 C._IV..... 25Oa: PRO: 1. C. Moe,...... iI(M; 2. T........ IV....; 1 D. e-CSuzl. 5OOa: PRO: 1. R. _ _ lKNI; 2. G. s.IV....; 1 R. _1V1ml. WhIte bites lor two at CRC Dunes MX By Lee Taylor VALENCIA, CA,JAN. 18 Over 400 riders descended on Indian Dunes for the final chance to qualify for the California Rac· ing Club's Anaheim Stadium race. The skies were clear and the weather as hot as the competition. When tbe 250cc Pros shot off the line, spectaton crowded the fence to see aFl~duel between Mark White,

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