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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126548
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flexes intact, Hileman did a fast
scuttle off to the side and out of the
way. dragging the Suzuki behind him.
The electronic Gerax ignition system
was a total loss, but some fast and
frantic tinkering in the pits and a little
scavenging off a stock 850 soon solved
the problem and Hileman was ready
for the next heat.
With Hileman out of commission
Willie Adams on his mighty 1100
Suzuki took over the lead, challenged
the entire time by Witt on his 350
Yamaha. The track at PIR is tight
enough so that the smaller bikes with
their nimble handling characteristics
a'.'d peaky acceleration can stay even
WIth and frequently pass the bigger displacement machines in the GP class.
Adams held Onto the lead, but Witt
was less than six seconds behind him
when they crossed the finish line.
The second heat of the GP class saw
Willie Adams taking a fast holeshot on
the entire pack, with a more conservative. Ed Hileman (sore but wiser)
setthng for second off the line, Witt in
third and Kevin Elliott in fourth. Hileman was favoring a damaged wrist,
broken several months ago in a motocross accident. and didn't argue for
second when Witt passed him.
Witt's 550 was running hotter than
it ever had, and by the fourth lap he
was able to pass Adams' Suzuki on the
tight inside course. The race was extremely close between Adams and
Witt, with the lead changing back and
forth between them until lap six. Witt
grabbed the last ounce of power from
the Yamaha, passed Adams on the
final tight hairpin and began to
stretch out his lead into the banked
CUTV~.
No one will ever know if it was a dip
in the track, mechanical failure on a
split-second loss of concentration, but
suddenly Witt was thrown head first
from the Yamaha into the wall. Fortunately in his fight for the first GP
win he had ever taken, Witt had
pulled enough of a lead on the rest of
the pack so that they were able to
avoid him, the bike and the fairing
which had been scattered across the
track.
The race was immediately redflagged while paramedics worked for
45 minutes to revive him. But the force
of impact broke his neck and Witt
died on the way to the hospital.
R.J. was a good man, a good friend
and a good racer. His death is felt
deeply by all the PRRO racers. their
families and friends.
Godspeed. RJ. We' II miss you_
Results
410 SUPER STREET: 1. R.J. Wilt IYoml; 2. Marc
M_IYoml; 3. E_ Kee IYoml.
560 SUPER STREET: 1. Norm Benedum (Yoml; 2.
Eugene Coword IHan); 3. Jell Anderson lHan).
750 SUPER STREET: 1. John Mork Bredley IHan); 2.
Tom Krause tKawl; 3. J8Ck Cala (Yom!.
OPEN SUPER STREET: 1. Fronk Sortolli 1M-D); 2.
Jerry Kline ISuzl; 3. Glen Kor1in lKaw).
GP: 1. R.J. Wilt IYom); 2. Willie Adoms (Suz); 3. Ed
Hilemon ISuz).
410 BOX STOCK: 1. Mork ~ IYoml; 2. Scott
PIIuI Lee (Yom); 3. Dennis Set IYaml.
560 BOX STOCK: 1. Norm Benedum 1550 Yom).
750 BOX STOCK: ,. Norm Benedum 1550 Yom).
750 BOX STOCK: 1. RondV Jones.
OPEN SOX STOCK: 1. J ..'V Kline 111 00 Suzl; 2.
Mike Williams ISuzl.
WIseman tops
CMC J25 Pros at
Saddleback
By Mike Klinger
ORANGE, CA, OCT. 10
There was quite a large turnout
at Saddleback Park for the Continental Moto-sport Club contest
even though no points were
awarded. Steve Wiseman (Suz) pulled
the hat trick in the 125cc Pros by going
wire to wire for the overall. "Rocket"
Rex Staten (RRR) had the beat in
both the 250cc and Open classes, but in
the second motos of each, he was beat
out for the overall_ Dave Taylor (Yam)
topped Staten in the 250s, and Steve
Banning did the same in the Open
class.
The Honda of John Greenway and
the Suzuki of Steve Cavness grabbed
the early lead in the Open class in
moto one. Before one lap was completed, both Greenway and Cavness
were down, leaving Staten as sole leader. Maico-mounted Steve Banning
held onto the second position with
Micky Dymond (Yam) third. Staten
began to pull away from Banning, but
Dymond was challenging Banning for
second best. On lap eight, Dymond
tried to overtake the Maico rider bu t
was stuffed into a corner and went
down. Staten went on to win with
Banning second and Dymond passing
Dale Lewis (Mai) to regain his thirdplace status.
Moto two was just the opposite.
Banning ran away with the show, and
his 2-1 score enabled him to win
overall. Staten had to settle for second
best with Tim Theodore (Yam)
placing third followed by Bill Jewell
(MM) and Dymond.
Dave Taylor (Yam) and Staten
really put on a show in the 250cc class.
In moto one, Taylor got the holeshot
ahead of Norman Nilsson (Yam),
Staten and Troy Lee (Hus). By lap
two, Staten had closed in on Taylor.
and Lee was out with mechanical problems. With Nilsson comfonably in
third place, Mike Monaghan (Hus)
over-took Pete Murray (Mai) in founh.
Now the race was on for ruth place.
Four riders were bunched up for the
remander of the moto. Murray, Vince
Butler (LHY), J. OdIe (Suz) and C.
Cole (Yam) all had a chance for fifth
position if one rider made a small
mistake. Butler was the first rider to
make a move on Murray but ended up
stuck into the ground.
Up front, Staten was trying
everything to take the lead from
Taylor. On the last lap, Taylor made
one small mistake on the north section
of the track, and Staten took the lead
and the win. Taylor outlasted Nilsson
for second with Monaghan. Murray
and Cole trailing.
As Banning did in the Open class to
Staten. so did Taylor in the 250cc
Pros. Taylor finally held on to the lead
and the overall was his after a 2-1
scoring. Staten again had to settle for
second best with a very frustrating
day, but you have to hand it to Taylor
who exhibited some fine racing
strategy when he battled with Staten.
Steve Wiseman (Suz) was the big
winner in the 125cc Pros. Tony Gomez
(Suz) had the lead in moto one. but
Wiseman came back on lap five to
overtake Gomez for the lead. Wiseman
and Gomez swapped the lead several
times before Wiseman settled down
and went on for the win. Gary Denton
(Suz) battled with the leaders and did
lead momentarily but an engine
failure put the Suzuki out of the
running. Micky Dymond (Yam) exchanged his big bore for his screamer
and placed third behind Gomez.
In moto two, it was all Wiseman
and Dymond. both riders put together
another fine ride to command the top
two positions. Dave Hopwood (Suz),
after a fifth-place ride in moto one,
came back in moto two to dominate
most of the other entrants. Hopwood
placed third overall.
Results
MINI JR: 1. G. Koller (Yom); 2. J. Moerke lYoml; 3. O.
McLeod IYoml.
CMC Seddleblick &OOCC Pro wlnn.r Steve B8nnlng !elida Micky Dymond,
MINIINT: 1. M. Toyomo lVoml.
l00JR: 1. K. Mcleod (Yom).
125 JR: 1. R. Golvez ISuz); 2. M. L _ lY.",,; 3. G.
Wolfe lYom).
125 INT: 1. R. V...... (Suzl; 2. T. Engel (Yom); 3. S.
SBfgentISuz).
250 JR:. 1. T. Inmen (KTM); 2. O. Himmel