Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

.~ NORTi..ERN.DATiU E .....'.. .N....' h.U..h-Al.....c.M.. ~ View from the bottom of Blitz. Hvall blit zes Blitz Canyon By Delbert Longbrake GRANT S PASS, O R , MAR. 21 Hill clim bing m ad e a spectacular come bac k to th e sou th wes tern Oregon community of Grants Pass wh en th e old Mer- • • 40 lin hill , now dubbed Blitz Canyon, wa s reopen ed by local cl i m b enth usiasts Dave Morris and Dan Deyoun g. And turning in a spectacular ride at th at event was Randy Hvall wh o topped th e 600-foot gran ite hill in 11.98 seco n ds, th e fast est tim e of th e day. Hill cl im bi n g h as always been ver y popular in Grants Pass, a n d there are many good cl imbers wh o live th ere, It is the home of Mike G ibbon, th e m an who topped th e Widowmaker hillclimb in th e m ovi e On Any S u n day. Mike doesn 't climb an ymore, bu t there are pl enty o f folks who still do. There were 115 entrants at Blit z Canyon. No t on ly th at , th ere were ap p rox imately 500 spectators who ca me o u t to dr in k Blitz beer in th e sunshine an d wa tch th e goings o n . Many were undoubtedly reminiscing about th e good old da ys a t th e hill. The first machine o f the da y to make it over the top was in th e 250cc Modified class and was in the hands of Mitch Allison. Mitch blazed the way for the o the rs, turning in a time of 21.68 seconds. Hvall would nearl y cut th at time in half, before the da y was over, on his YZ400 Yamaha in the Open Sp ort class. The Open Sport class means pump gas and rubber tires only. And sin ce it was in that class that Randy set fastest overall time, he had to rel y heavily on his riding ability rather than on raw rear wheel horsepower, for he was competing against fuel burning, chained, multi-cylinder ma chines for that honor. The closest anybody got to Randy was Butch Schoemaker who turned in a time of 12.61 seconds in the 500cc Modified class. Hvall, who rode that class on his Yamaha also, placed second to Schoemaker. But he would have his revenge in the Open Sport class where Schoemaker placed second behind him with a time of 12.66. Hvall 's explanation as to why he was able to get fast time was quite simple, "The shortest distance between two points is a straight line," he said, "so all you have to do is go straight as possible and still find the best traction, I'm used to the bike, and it runs good." He added, "I like the hill , and I like going over!" The motorcycle that everyone wanted to see was the CBX Honda of Ron Hopkins who hails from the Seattle area. Ron's six-cylinder, 1050cc machine was the hit of the climb. Th e Honda had Si mo ns forks up front a nd Fox Airsh ox mounted o n to th e ex te n d ed sw i nga r m . Chain s wrapped arou n d th e ma ssive 5.00 x 17 Metzel er which was m ounted o n a h omemade five -a nd-o ne- ha lf-i nch 'wide ri m . Wh en Ron too k off hi s ha t, which read "six cy lin de rs, " an d p ut on h is h elm et, a crowd ga thered around h im . Then, wi th th e push of a button, th e CBX ca me to life. O n the sta rting lin e Ron looked determin ed . T he crowd was ge tti ng exci ted as th ey wat ch ed in a we. Ro n dropped th e clutch, a n d the C BX how led , .so u nd ing so me th ing lik e a cat wh ose ta il had been stepped on . When Ron cres ted th e hill the crowd roa red . Hi s time of 12.63 was good en oug h to take the wi n i n the Open Exh ibi tio n class. Wa nt to kn ow wh o got seco nd? Woul d yo u bel ieve Ra ndy Hva ll o n his YZ400 Yamaha? Results FAST TIME: Randy Hvall . 11.98 IYam ). KIDS MINI : 1. Ronald Fields .439· (Honl ; 2. Travi s Smith. 400'IYam); 3. Mil o Shier , 380 ' (Hon). 200 STOCK: 1. Dale Rund, 480 (Yam); 2. Don ovan Rund, 470ISUl); 3. Jeff Gerb er, 445 (Hon). 200 MOD : I .JamesHaney(Yam): 2. Kelly Witcher IYam); 3. Tabatha Witcher (Yam). 250 STOCK: 1. Lindsy Bryant. 21 .74 (Yam); 2. Jim Munyon. 557 (Yam); 3. Calvin Wh iting . 550. 250 MOD; 1. Tim Mead . 15.80 (Yam); 2. Jerry Allen. 17.58 (Yam); 3. Rick Chapman . 18.49 (Yam). 500 STOCK: 1. W illiam Gilliam. 14.7B (Yam); 2. Alan Van Antwerp. 15.52ISUl); 3. Lormier Bento Iini, 16.52 (Hon). 500 MOD: 1. Butch Schoemaker, 12.61 (Yam); 2. Randy Hvall , 12 .84 (Yam); 3. Rick Allen, 13.37 (Y'b~k N SPORT; 1. Randy Hvall . 11.98 (Yam); 2. ButCh Schoemaker: 12.66 (Yaml; 3. Rick Allen. 1502iE~~~~IBITION: 1. Ron Hopkins , 12.63(Hon); 2. Randy Hvall. 12.84 (Yam ); 3 . Alvan Antwerp, 13.15 (Hon). N.",,~ CaIl....'.N.""• • N..............,-W.....,.,• . - U _ . Terry Rinke turned in a su pe r b 23/26 score to win th e No vice class, wi th so me pursu it provi ded by Don Maclnnis on a street legal TY250, whi ch h e .o cca sio n a ll y u ses as a co m m u ter bik e. Judd Schaefer mana ged a st rong ri de to top the Intermediate class, in sp iteof shari n g th e bike, a ne w Cota 200, wit h a fir st time No vice. H e must have liked th e bike, loaned by M on tesa West , because he bought it ri ght after th e even t. Tom Young, trial s marsh al for th e m eet, ro u n ded up a tabl e full o f co n tin gen cies from Portl and area m ot orcvcle deal ers an d distributors, as well as sett in g up an exceedi ngly well designe d an d well run tr ial s. After th e m eet , hangers on were treat ed to an exh ibit io n by Skreen , Wa lker a n d Duane Ri nkes wo rki ng out on so m e sta di u m trials pro p s, i.e., barrels, teeter board, ra m p an d ba lance platfor m, Results MASTERS: 1. Brad Skreen (Mon . 47 1241; 2. Jay Terry (Mon. 73 /14): 3. Kary KrahellBul , 112 /91. EXPERT 1. Vance Walker IMon. 63 /19). : ADVA NCED: 1. Duane Rinkes IBul. 43 /201 ; 2. Tim Fellows IMon. 89 /111; 3. Mart in Weddl elBul. 101 /121 . INT: 1. Judd Schaefer (Mon. 33 /251 ; 2. Jim Oedman (Yam. 41 /19); 3. Greg Evers (Bul. 49 /21). NOV: 1. Terry Rinkes (Mon . 23 /26); 2. Don Mac innis (Yam. 35 (23); 3. Matt Abbott (Yam. 41 /23). ENDURO: 1. Jay Terry (Yam, 33 /24); 2. Warren Burton (Mon. 71 / 7); 3. Rod Parrish (Yam. 132 /3 ). Klaudt clobbers Thurston County MX T horn to n held H enden off to the flag and took an o the r devastating win for a p erf ect I-I tally over H enden 'sclose 2-2 and Irwin 's 3-3. The l25cc Pro class was prett y much th e sa me. One rider dominat ed both soggy m otos as another gave ch ase. Klaudt a n d Thornton were the riders wh o argued over th e first pl ace spot with Paulson, formerCMCnumber one Gary Racca (Suz) an d Mark St udde r (Ya m) giving chase. The p ack th at started o u t at seven had th i n ne d down to a five-rider ra ce by the m idway point in th e rn oto. U p fro nt it was still a wild battle for fir st betw een Klaudt, who dangled on th e edge of disas ter, and T hornton , Klau dt took th e checkere d flag for fir st over Thornton, Paulson , Ra cca and Studer. Moto two saw Klaudt ro m p to th e fro nt foll owed by you kn ow wh o (Thornton, in case you didn't guess so ) a nd Paulso n. Paul son lost sight of the two in th e early goi ng and by the m idway po int, believe it or not, the re we re o n ly four 125cc Pros lef t on th e track . Diesso, th e " Bu rien Flash," went o u t after only a co u p le o f lap s leaving Pau lson an d Ra cca to di '. h f d I Ice th ei r earts o u t or secon pace. Well , not reall y secon d but third, Ih h KI d d Th a t o ug a u tan o rnton wer e so close yo u co u ldn ' t really call it one wa y or a nother. Klaudt wrapped up the ra ce o n the last lap when Thornto n backed off an d j u st motored across th e line for seco nd , Paul son won the battle for third and Ra cca fourth. Results 250 PRO: 1. Stacy Thornton (Yam): 2. David Henden (Yam ); 3. Br uce Irwin (Suzl . Skreen masters ' Drift Creek Trial By Russ Cazi er PORTLAND ,OR ,M AR,~ The Columbia Observed Trials Association held its second Pacific Northwest Trials Associ ation-santioned event of th e season at the now-traditional Drift Creek si te near the su m mi t of th e Coast Range, abo u t 25 miles west of Portland. Novices, Intermedi at es a nd a sp ecial class for en d u ro bikes ran in the morning, with the " big guys" Advanced, Expert a nd Masters classes - runn ing in the a ftern oon . The terrain is so rugged , with creeks, rav ines and dead logs everywhere, that the IO-section loop run in th e morning co u ld be squeezed into an area equating to three city blocks and still present more than adeq ua te variety, difficulty and separation of sectio ns. . The afternoon loop covered more ground and included a lon g , steep hill to climb. To no one's great surprise, Brad Skreen won the Masters bracket, compiling a score of 47 points with 24 cleans over the l l-section, four-loop course. Jay Terry took second in Masters and won the Enduro class in the morning as well , on an IT465 with knobby tires. Terry was also involved in an attempt to carry a TV m ini-cam and cameraman on the IT for so me action filming, and probably started the campfire. Vance Walker was the only entrant, hence the winner, of the Expert class, but it should be noted that his 63/19 score.would have earned him a second behind Skreen in th e Masters class, Walker has advanced meteorically up the class categories, some say because COTA is trying to move him up to a class he can't win. It hasn't worked so far. By Clay Light O LYMPIA , WA, MAR. 28 Cor y Klaudt, now Hond a m ounted a n d riding for Seattle Honda, is amidst a lengthy win streak here in th e Seattle area. The yo u n g MXer has had more than his sh are of wins in th e 125cc Pro class and lo oks to be a hot prosp ect in the Gold Cup series. Cory wasn't th e on ly rider to go for a I- I tally. here at Thurston-Grays H arbor ORV Park; the other was Stacy Thornton (DG Yam) who swep t the 250cc Pros with a I-I score. The weather was nothing sh ort of the u sual - cold, cloudy and off -and-on rain sho wers made for some wet rac ing, although not as messy as usual in th e Evergreen State. Eight 250cc Pros lined up at the sta rt in g gate for what would be a knock-down , drag-out war into turn one. Thornton went to the he ad of the pack into turn one with David Henden (#1 Cycles Yam), Bruce Irwin (Vanco u ver Suz) and Ron Howick (Suz) following. Thornton was pretty much in control of the moto with Henden holding down second over a battle for third between Todd Paulson (Paulson 's Suz) and Danny Diesso (Burien Suz) , who went DNF after a lap. Tim Olson (Kaw) moved up one notch when Diesso went out, but fifth would be as far as the Kawasaki rider would get . Thornton sewed up th e race for first place in the moto as Henden took a second and Irwin third. The second moto had only five of the original eight on the line braving the showery conditions, Thornton once again launched his Yamaha ride to first over Henden who immediat ely moved to second to put the pressure on Thornton, who was a bit surprised to find someone else match his speed. The two battled away out fron t of the others which consisted of Irwin in third, Robby Burkhardt (Hon) in fourth ' and Olson fifth . 125 PRO: 1. Cory Klaudt (Honl; 2. Stacy Thorn ton (Yaml: 3. Todd Paulson (Suli. 250 EX: 1. David Froembl ing (Hon) : 2. Tom Moriarit y (Yam); 3 . Rick Weidman (Hon ). MINI EX: 1. Todd Hoover (Yam); 2. Dennis 001Quist (Yam); 3. Scott Grimm (Yam). MINI B: 1. Scott y Spencer (Yam); 2. Jeff Nelson (Sull; 3. William Dempsey (Kaw ). MINI C: 1. Bor is Portnoy (Yam); 2 . Susan Ch ec man (Suz ); 3. Tony Milo (Yam). 100 EX: 1. Jam es Clendenen (Yam) ; 2. Wade Janssen (Yam); 3. Brad Miller (Yam ). 100 B: 1. Greg Hopf (Yam); 2. Steve Davis (SUl). 100 C: 1. Mike Reed (Yam). PEEWEE EX:1. Grant Bergstrom (Yam): 2. Corylee Bartlett (Yam); 3 . Casey Jones (Yam). PEE WEE B: 1. Shawn Dempsey (Yaml; 2. Amy Anderson (Yam ). PEE WEE C: 1. Boris Portnoy (Yam). OPENEX: 1. Tim Birt<(SUl); 2. Joe Norman (Hon); 3 . Mark Envolson (Han) . OPEN 8 : 1. Clint Calhoun (Yam); 2. Kim Johnson (Hon); 3. Joe Mayerle (Hon). OPEN C: 1. J ay Spadoni (SUl); 2. Randy Konig (Mai) ; 3. Perry Graves (Honl. 25 0B: 1. Gary Snyder (Hon); 2. Tim Larson (Yam); 3 . Brent Andrdi (Yam). 250 C: 1. Jay Spadoni (SUl); 2. Tim Beadle (Hon); 3. Las Handy (Yam). OVER THE HILL: 1. Ric Houseman (Hus): 2. Bill Reese (SUl); 3. Joh n Collum (Mai) . Klaudt, Tyler, Burgett take home gold at Gold Cup MX Series opener By C lay Light SEATrLE, WA, APR , 4 Uncertain skies today greeted over 400 riders in Seattle for the Yamaha Perpetual Gold Cup Series opener at Jolly Rogers MX course. The big winners in th e Pro classes were Cory Klaudt (Seattle Hon) who topped an exci tin g seco nd moto 125cc Pro ra ce for th e overall, beating Dann y Diesso (Burien Suz) and first moto winner Stacy Thorn ton (DG Yam ). Ri ck Burgett (Yam) took the Open Pro class with devastating I -I wins after a spectacular battle with Scott T yler (Devo l Eng.! Maico Northwest ) who cha sed Burge tt a ll the way to the flag in moto two, T yler ca me roaring back to take both the 250cc Pro motos and beat Burgett in moto one.

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