Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

250 JR DIV I: 1. Tim Dyke (Kaw); 2. M ike Bell (Hon); 3 . Andrew Thompson (Kaw). 250JR DIV II: 1. Ron Kent(Hon); 2. Don Robins on (Kaw); 3. Mo nte Bloemke (Hon). 250 INT: 1. Deve J uba (Hon): 2. Rick WyI der (Kaw); 3. Kirk Gigge rs (Han). 250 PRO: 1.Tim Michlitsch (Kaw); 2. Rick Bozart h (Hus); 3. Jeff Cropper (Suz). OPEN JR : i . Pat Nelson (Hon); 2. M ike Hickman (Vern): 3. Rick Johnson (Han). OPEN INT: 1. Gre yson Hart (Yam); 2. Mike Perry (Suz); 3. M ike Smothers (Yam) . OPEN PRO: 1. Derryl Semm ler (Han). OTH A: 1. M ike Perry ISuz); 2. M ike Hickman (Ve m~ 3. J im Perk (Yem). OTH B: 1. Deve Devis (M ei); 2. Jeff Vaw (Yem); 3. George Dennis ( K a w~ . OT: 1. Larry Seuse (Hon); 2. We lle r Dreke (KTM ); 3. Gery Bonds (Kew) . Grossi/Rapp race to Ridge Runners marathon win By Gerry Reagan WATSONVILLE, CA , MAY 2 Two hours of solid racing on one of the best motocross tracks in the area brought riders from all around northern California 32 to Watsonville today to co mpe te in th e Ridge Runners' first mar athon. The track was in excelle nt shape a nd had been expanded 10 add almost a mil e to it length, a mil e o f virg in grass land. A stra ig h taway nearly a quarter mile in length led from th e sta rt ing line into a smooth right-h and swee per, foll owed by an excu rsio n through what used to be th e pit a rea for th e club's motocro ss events a nd onto th e tr ick y, natural terrain co urse. T he riders followed th e existi ng track until th ey got out into the back section wh ere more gr assy, new land was ut ilized . The machines were lined up accord in g 10 cla ss with Open bik es ge tting the firs t sh o t. R iders had to face th eir bikes, stra ddling th e front wh eel, en gines silent until th e sta rti ng gun so u nded . This method proved sa tisfying to all but one rider who had trouble getting his en gine 10 fire, leaving him kicking furi ously at th e kickstarter while th e o the rs dashed headlong into th e first turn . The leading Open class rid ers were back to th e ch eck sta nds a t th e en d of th e first lap in about four and a half minutes, a nd at th at point th ey fun nel ed into a chute wh ere they passed si ngle file p ast th e chec kers. Their scori ng system a llo wed relatively easy go ing fo r th e chec kers. ena bli ng th e results 10 be posted within 20 minutes aft er th e race. Bill Grossi. th e Nati onal class Husqvarna rider, teamed with form er motocross cha mpion Tom Rapp 10 tak e th e ea rly lead in the O pen class. Grossi took th e first leg and opened up a secu re lead over secon d p lace runner T im Alar co n. After abo ut a q ua rte r o f th e event, Grossi pitted. and Ra p p took over. Alarcon , wh o o p ted to ride th e entire two ho ur s by h imse lf, did not p la n 10 pi t unt il lat er in the race and was a ble toga in quite a bit o f ground on th e Gro ssilRap p team. Ra p p got o u t ahead o f Ala rcon but was sti ll so rti ng ou t th e course when Alar con passed him to tak e th e lead . At mid-race, G rossi took over again and was able to ca tch a nd pass Alar co n wh en the solo rid er mad e h is p it sto p. Near th e end of th e race. Grossi had a bo u t a 25-second lead over Alar co n and, after excha ngi ng signa ls with Rapp in th e p its. decid ed to rid e o n to th e fin ish . A p it sto p would have serious ly jeopardi zed th eir lead, but the y were a lso lo w on fuel. G ro ssi held on 10 h is lead and fin ish ed a head of Alarcon by about 25 seconds. Wh en he returned to th e pits. he indica ted he had pl ent y of ga s left a n d held up his fingers 10 indicat e abo u t threequarters of a n in ch on th e bottom o f his tank. " I think I m ight hav e been a ble to make two more la ps" he said. Firs t place in th e 250cc .class was taken by the team of Sco tt Kell er and Greg Pen n in gt o n who captured the lead about th ree-quarters o f th e wa y through the race . T he duo had ru n consistently behi nd th e leader, Curt Wilcox, another solo rider, th ro ugho ut most of the race a nd held o nto th e lead a fter passing Wilcox. Brian Bow en took th e win in th e I25cc class. riding a lo ne a nd lead in g most of the way . A supreme effort was giv en in this class by David Thorpe, who rod e th e entire event a lo ne on a little 80cc Kawasaki. Riders o n th e bigger bikes comme n ted on h ow well Thorpe kept himself ou t o f th eir wa y. And even though he had to mi ss a lot o f his lines to avoid th e big bik es, he still managed to fini sh third. The team of Lawson a nd Winkl em an won the OT/ Veterans cla ss, finishing 25 of th e 27 laps, two laps a hea d o f their near est co m petitor, In addition 10 th e mar athon. th e Rid ge Runners al so held a tr ia ls event th e same morni ng. Twentytwo rid ers enjoyed th e tricky sections . Expert class rid er Bim Mill er had th e low score with only 4 1 mark s. Spec tators a nd racers wh o arri ved ea rly for the marathon th oroughl y en joyed th e slo w, p reci se ridin g as did th e club mem bers who ra n the event. Altho ugh it hasn 't been officially a n nou nced , club m em bers are bu sil y d iscu ssing th eir next ma ra thon. T he riders go t pl enty of track tim e a nd so me good pract ice as well as th e exci teme nt of co mpeting on a team , a nd th e Ridge Runners had a good time runnin g th e even t. Resu lts MARATHON OPEN: 1. GrossilRapp; 2. Alarcon; 3. Nessen/ so me serious argui ng o ver seco nd. For several la ps, Ward a nd Hoov er fought bac k and forth, but fin ally Hoover slipped up, givi ng O ster the room he nee ded to ge t seco nd a t th e flag beh ind Wa rd. H oover p lace d third. It was Ward getti ng into th e early lead once again in rnoto two . O ster was seco nd with J amie Munson in th ird. H oover came aroun d in sixth on the first lap but was in th ird by lap th ree. It was o n th e downhill wh ere Oster o nce aga in p assed Ward j us t as h e had done in moto one.After several passes back a nd forth. OSler led Ward out of sigh t from the pit crews and most of the specta tors. But a few seco nds lat er. so meo ne yelled, "He got him!" And wh en th ey ca me into view it wa s Ward in first. At the flag, the o rde r was Ward. Oster and Hoover, with Ward ge tt ing th e overa ll. O ster got hi s revenge later. however, when he took overall honors over Ward in th e 83cc Stock class. T he 250cc Expert class saw severa l Pro riders ente red because o f the G old Cup ra ces th e n ext da y. Jim Ander son placed fir st in both rnoto s o ver R o y Da vis. St a cy Th ornton p laced third. In th e 125cc Expe rt class, it was aga in Jim Anderson going I-I , th is tim e over Dennis Fen ne ll. Lowell T hom pso n turned so me heads in th e Junior Cycle 9-11 yea r o ld class with h is speed a n d riding sty le. Lo well was bar el y tall enough to see over the sta rti ng gate, but o nce on th e track looked like a p ro , winn in g h is class. Results JR CVCLE STOCK 9-" : 1. Lowell Thompson (Varni. JR CVCLE STOCK 6·8: 1. Butch Smith (Vern); 2. Joie Depew (Yam). 83 NOV STOCK 9-1 1: 1. Damon Scheeler (Vom); 2. Arran Fitzpatrick (Yam); 3 . Jeff Richardson (Yam) . B3 NOV MOD 9· 11: 1. Ar ron Fitzpatr ick (Vern): 2. Je ff Richardson (Yam). Marquez. 250: 1. Pennington/Keller; 2. W ilcox; 3 . Sm ith . 125: 1. Bowen ; 2. Vanhorsen /Gillene; 3. Thorpe . OT: 1. LawsonlWinkleman; 2. Steinhauer; 3 . Ga rcia/Oka mura . 83 INT 9· 11 STOCK: 1. Lowell Thompson (Varni· 83 INT 9-1 1 MOD : 1. Lowell Thompso.l" 83 NOV 12+ MOD : 1. Billy Berry; 2. ~k ip Wh ite (Vam); 3. Brian Hale (Kew). 83 NOV 12 + STOCK: 1. Billy 8erry; 2. Skip White (Vom), 3. Joel Sitts (Suz). B3 INT 12+ STOCK: 1. Scott Myers (Yem); 2. TRIALS Corey Barton (Yam); 3 . Matthew Ramey (Yam) . EXPERT: 1. Bim Miller; 2. Mike Read ; 3 . Clive Belvoir. Corey Barton; 3. Billy Boresek. SENIOR A : 1. John Husmann; 2. Bill Davey; 3. John Moore . AMATEUR : 1. Ted Cullen. NOV ICE: 1. Joe Gingerell i; 2 . Robin Crocket; 3. John Lute. Ward wins Clarks Branch NMA qualifier By Delbert Longbrake RO SEBUR G , OR, MAY I One hundred twelve riders con verged o n the C larks Branch mo tocro ss track today to ride th e Na tio nal Mot o rsport Asso ciation/ Yamaha/Northwest Region al :\.1 ini cycle Na tional. This was th e second of th ree races where rid ers co u ld try to q ualify to ride th e Min icycle National at Pon ca City. O K. in Ju ly. Good wea ther and gr eat track co nditions gr eeted th e rid ers on Sa turday morning . race day . T he 83cc Mod ified Expert cla ss p roved to be one of th e most exciting cla sses of th e day.Jn mot o one, Kaw asa ki su p po rt rider Larr y Ward pulled in to th e lead ah ead o f Suzu ki rid er Steve O ster and Yamah a support rid er Todd H oover. Soo n th e th ree riders were side by side, but it was Os ter who applied th e brakes the la test o n th e gi a nt downhi ll , the reby moving into first. He th en pu lled away, leaving Ward a nd Hoover to get down 10 83 INT 12+ MOD : 1. Ritch Thurston (Kew); 2. 83 EX 12+ STOCK: 1. Steve Oster (Suz): 2. Larry Werd (Kaw ); 3. Todd Hoover (Yam). 83 EX 12+ MOD : 1. Larry Werd (Kaw); 2. Steve Oster (Suz); 3. Todd Hoover (Vern). 100: 1. Denn is Fennell (Yam); 2. Brad Miller (Yam); 3. Wade Janssen (Yam ). 100 MOO: 1. Denn is Fenne ll (Yam); 2. Wade Janssen (Yam); 3. Corey Barton. 105 12+: 1. Todd Hoover (Vern); 2. Lar ry Werd IKaw); 3. Scott Myers (Yam). 105 9-1 1: 1. Lowe ll Thompson (Yam); 2. Aaron Fitzpatrick (Yam ). 125 NOV MOD : 1. Tim Heckett (Suz). 125 NOV STOCK: 1. TIm Heckett (Suz); 2. Bret Gilkson (Suz); 3. M ike A llen (Yam). 125 INT TOCK: 1. Lonny Seyles (Vern); 2. John Mitchell (Yam); 3 . M ark Simme t (Yam). 125 INT MOD : 1. M ark Simmet (Vam); 2. J ohn M rtchell (Yam ). 125 EX STOCK: 1. Stecy Thornton (Veml; 2. Brad Halka (Yam). 125 EX M O D: 1. J im And erson (Yam) ; 2. Den nis Fennell (yam ); 3 . Stacy Thornlon (Yam). 250 NOV: 1. SCott Ave ry (Yem): 2. M ike Allen (Yaml; 3. Casey Stuve (Suz). 250 INT: 1. Ted Perr eard (S UI);' 2. Troy Jaurssen (Vern). 250 EX: 1. Jim And erson (Yam); 2. Roy Davis (M ai); 3. Sla cy Thornt on (Yam) . OPEN JR : 1. Kevin Dunnavin (Yam) OPEN INT: 1. Gary Boult (Vern). sunny skies. A beautifu l sunset greeted the large turnout o f rid er s, wh ich a t race time n umbered over 300 with a ll classes well represented. Leadi ng the way in the Pr os was J oh n Beem an taking th e 250s with C h ris Pl ain ta king th e 125s. T he first moto in th e 250cc P ro s saw one su per fast race as 20 of th e fastest bikes in the nort he rn Ca lifornia area burned ou t the ga te and blazed do wn the fro nt stre tch . J ero me Heiberger slid into turn o ne first foll owed by seco nd year Pro Doren e Pa yne, Beem an and Donnie Ha wkins. With two laps left in th e mot o , it was Heiberger pulling out 10 a bi g lead, Payne falling back with her a iling Honda. Wh en the checkered flag fell , it was H eiberger taking th e win followed by Hawkins and Beem an. The seco nd rnoto was a show of power a nd grea t riding skills . At the sta rt it was Kimo Ca sey a nd J ack Barton getting into turn one first with Beeman getting held up in the back o f the pa ck. Beeman fought and overpow ered th e o the r rid ers and finally ca ugh t the leaders on only the fourth lap. With a sudden burst of speed co m in g down th e back stretch, it was Beem an taking the lead while Barton an d Mik e Hern an scra p ped for second and third. Wh en th e chec kered flag fell , it was Beem an with th e win follow ed by Barton a nd Hernan. The o the r Pro cl ass saw th e popular 125cc dirt burners invade th e co u rse in great style. The first rnoto sa w 26 riders tear down th e front stre tch with fo ur ri de rs ge tt ing int o turn o ne a t th e same time . Coming o u t o f th e tu rn , it was Ri ck R yan with th e lead foll ow ed very tightl y by Scott Ca staneda an d Ch ris Pl ain. With th e race coming up 10 th e white flag lap, it was Pl ain using hi s knowledge of the track 10 make a bid for th e lead as he passed Ca staneda on th e high side of turn four a nd put hi s sights on leader R yan. In th e fin al turn, it was Ryan a nd Plain pull in g up dead even down th e home str etch . At th e checkered flag. it wa s Ryan narrowly edging out Pl ain for th e win with Castan eda taking th ird . In th e seco n d moto, veteran Pl ain did every th ing. At th e start it was Pl ain in th e ga te o n th e h igh side. He burst o u t fir st whil e pulling hi s front whee l o ff th e groun d, taking th e lead and en tering th e fir st turn in front. T hroug hou t the race, Pl ain showed h is m a st erful a n d overpoweri ng stre ngth as he ra n away. T aking seco nd was Steve Aren a a nd in third was H awkins. H eiber ger also rook the win in th e Open Pro class wi th h is powerfu l Maico . • Result s 250 PRO: 1. John Bee man (Han); 2. Donnie Hawkins (Yam); 3. M ike Hernan (Han). 125 PRO: 1. Chris Plain (Yam); 2. Donn ie Haw - .kins (Yem); 3. Jeff Nichols (Vam). OPEN PRO: 1. Jerome Heiberger (M ai); 2. Jerry Brandt (Yam); 3 . Tim Alarcon (Ha n). 250 INT: 1. Jeff Holder (Veml: 2. Derr ick Luches (Han); 3 . Randy Kerslaker (Yam ). OPEN INT: 1. M ike Lane (Vern): 2. Robert Stone (Han); 3 . Jim Yunkair (SUI). Plain, Beeman, Heiberger blast huge Baylands MXopener By Jerry R. Newray FREMO NT, CA, AP R. 29 Once a ga in it was back to business a t hand at th e very busy and popular Baylands Raceway, with warm weather and bright 125 JR DIV 1: 1. J err y Ston e (Han); 2. David M injar es (Suz); 3 . Baily Scott (Yam). 12 5 J R DIV 2: 1. Cleu s Holp i (Han); 2. Russ Beker (Suz); 3. Denny Sell (Suz). 125 JR DIV 3: 1. Merty Cooper (Suz); 2. Scotty Dupont (uz); 3 . Linfred Kennedy (Hon). 125 INT: 1. Scott Cummins (Yam); 2. Don Hall (Yam); 3. Ma nny Ornellas (Kaw) . OPEN J R: 1. M ike Schuegmonn (Han); 2. Jeff Irw in (HanI: 3. Bud McElroy (Veml . VET EX: 1. Peul Best rem (Han). VET INT: 1. Bill Spinola IMai); 2. Hank Wessel (Suzl; 3 . Larry Baker (Kaw) . VET JR : 1. Jer ry Caton (Suz ); 2. Robert Cranston (Yem). or INT: 1. Rod Brosel (Hus). OT JR: 1. Douglas Barer (H us); 2. Glenn Pruitt (Suz). BOINT: 1. Tony Flores (Vern). 80 JR : 1. Albert Berends (Yam); 2. Terry Bastard (Vam). 60 JR: 1. Jimmy Cley (Vern).

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