Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126611
(Clockwise from top left) Eric Hallgate (3 5 01, Kenny Gerry (3461 and John Braasch m ix it up in the m ud . Brian Myerscough won the 175cc Classified race. A Saturday afternoon start. Dan Aschraft (3 B21, shown here with Ed Foland in the Sportsman race , was top Open Expert. . Felger, Pogue, Asheraftbestl4th .Vie w finde rs GP M~erseough, By Lee Taylor RI VERSID E, CA, AP R. 3-4 Riverside International Raceway, steeped in the tradition of great racing and the spirit of the likes of Dan Gurney, opened its track to a breed set apart: grand prix motorcycle racers. Individual s all, colorfu l a nd flam bo yan t to say the least. R iders came to Ri verside from throughout the U nited States 10 and Mexico [or the running of th e 14th ann ua l Viewfinders Grand Prix and the ac tion that ensued was astoundi ng. T he first race off the grid, the early Saturday morning IOO-175cc Classified race, round Brian Myerscough, mounted on a l25c c Honda, leading th e way into a grueling 100-miie race. Myerscough, a consistent winner in both gra nd prix and motocross; moved from pavement to dirt , seem ingly effortlessly. Early into the race , he gathered a superb lead and held strong [rom start to finish . Off the start it was a triple duel for the lead between Myerscough, Mike Sixbery, aboard an O'Neal/Team Green-sponsored Kawaskai, and Premier Yamaha ace Kurt Pfeiffer. By the end ofthe first 10 mile lap, Myerscough found Conejo Honda rider Peter Po stel taking over the shotgun position with Sixbery holdi ng firm in the third p lace slot. Bill Mattox he ld fourt h and Suzuki rider, Ed Price rounded out the top five. Throug hout the grueling race, positio ns in the top rive changed ha nds [ro m lap to lap with Tim Sinclair, on the gas a nd smoki ng, movi ng hi s Yamaha up into fourth by th e en d. G ra ig Weste rgaard, p ilo tin g a 125 Suzu ki for T hor Racing , was burning u p th e tra ck and zoomi ng into the to p three by th e end of th e race . When the checkers waved the ri ders home, Mverscough emerged the victor in the 125cc Experts, l 75cc Expert Sixbery claimed second place honors and rounding out the top three was Westergaard. When the IOOcc to Open Sportsmen blasted 0[[ the grid Saturday afternoon, a tight and hairy dice went down between the top three. Veteran Bill Saltzman, aboard an Open Husqvarna [or th e Checkers, edged out into the lead , bringing with him Iellow Checker Bill Tarlingonan Open Honda and Gary Charters, riding [or the Charters Race Team. A wild and crazy bunch, to say the least and absolutely the hairiest race of the day . Leads were being tossed back and forth like a hot spark plug and racers were taking some peculiar lines around and th ro ugh the mu d and water. O ne enterprising ri der he ld a sponge in his ha nds th roughout his race, dabbi ng a t his number p late before being ho sed off. Tarling had his ups a nd dow ns, moving back and forth from second to first, back to seco nd again on the six th la p, then finall y slidi ng back to fourth by the end of the race. Veteran Dal e Felger, a t the helm of a 250cc Suzu ki, simply gra bbed a ha ndfu l of gea rs, tu rn ed h is machine loose and by the end o f the afternoon ha d tak en command in what had to be one of the fines t rides of the weekend. He was followed in hot pursuit by Jay Stranger, moving into the shotgun position and Shawn Underwood, rid-