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/126626
He also won in '81. Honda was represented in Corce with five riders that included threetime winner Cyril Neveu (also a Baja participant), and two in th e women 's class aboard brand new XR350s . The Honda squad was also equipped with XR600s , and last yea r' s XR550 . The bikes were equipped with 12-gallon gas tanks so they can do 400 miles without pit stops, and very often the riders carry an ex tra two gallons in back packs. Contrary to the American desert races. in the Paris/Dakar the pit crews are Collowing the riders and are not posted in advance on the course. Unt il their crew arrives. the riders are all alone in case of a major problem, and sometimes it never arrives because crew trucks can also break down. At that game there are two theories. Honda played it safe by using a long bed Toyota Land Cruiser, slow but strong. Yamaha wanted to have a fast crew on hand near the riders if they needed them, and used a Britishmade Ra nge Rover, very fast, expensive, and su bject to a lot of problems. Yamaha did need help fro m its p it crew - two of the best riders on the Yama ha squad disappeared after accidents long before the first ha lf of the race was completed. Yamaha, which is still looking Cor a victory since the '79 edition, only managed fourth overall behind BMW, Honda and Suzuki. A consolation was the victory of Marie Ertaud on an XR550 in the Women's class. Marie is a stewardess at Air France and flies to L.A. about once a month. She would like very much to race the Baja 1000 like Vero nique Anquetil and Christine Martin did last year. Defen d ing champion Ho nda lost its chance of another victory when early leader Phillippe Vassard got lost in terrible sandstorm in the Tenere desert. which is the most spectacular desert of the m all. Perfectl y fla t like on the high sea. there is no possib ility of knowing where you are, you can only ride with the compass and when the wind blows it blows sand and the visibility is next to no th ing. The Tenere stage was some 500 miles lo ng and ma ny got lost there. It took several days for the organizers to spot severa l of them. But if BMW, Yama ha an d Hond a have big tea m efforts and lots of help for the riders. who o nce the sta ge area is reached a t the end of the day, have nothing to do o th er than rest and get ready for the next one, the reverse is true for the privateer. He not only has to carry everything with him or most of it. they have nobody to help him or her in case of a major problem . When they reach the stage area, they have to work on their bikes. I saw guys trying to fix a broken shock mo unt or a bent front fork at 2 a.rn, with a flash light in the bitter cold desert of Algeria. They are truly the heroes of the race , what they do is remarkable a nd even if the press in Europe is only looking for big names, since we know none of them here in the U.S.• the place for the privateer is eq uaJ. It is a difficult race not only because the natural difficulties which are similar to the ones found in the southwest, but the length and the variety of difficulties makes it very hard on both men and machi nes. The bikes are, in most cases, completely redo ne every night (for the factory riders a nyway), bu t there are a few parts that you cannot change and African welders sometimes did marvelous work on twisted frames... For us the results do not really matter since none of these guys are ho usehold names here. Bu t the race itself is a fantastic challenge. Like the ISDT is the O lym p ics of motorcycling. the Paris to Dakar ra lly is a tremendous experience -that every desert rid er .lUI:;] WESTERN UNITED STATES CHAMPIONSHW VIEWFINDERS GRAND PRIX llYEllSl1E lin. DCEWII @ MARCH 5TH & 6TH, 1983 MOTORCYCL ES, SIDEHACKS, ATV CHALLE NGE A ND NEW THIS YEAR .. PATRIZIIR a••R PRO RACI" I~ ""'I . PMrim w $15...11 I UIRIITEEI "DE m OFFICIAL USE ONLY VIIWFINDIRS OFFICIAL ENTRY BL ANK (PLEASE PRINn NAM E -'- ~ ADDRESS _ CITY ' STATE, ZIP' _ PHONE NO. AGE JUNIOR CURRENT RIDING NO. _ _BEG. _ _ NOVICE_ _AMATEUR _ _ OTHER(giv e n.me 01OSSOC.)TYPE POINTS WA NTED DIST. 37 _ _ OIST.38 _ _ - - - - - - - - LIGHT WT. EXPERT _ - - - - - -r;m;;;;;;iiF.;== = I PATRIZIER- - - - ' SCRAMBLES ~ BEER, PRO=-:=! SENIOR DIVISION _ _VETERANS DIVISION _ _ SIDEHACKS CLUB OR SPONSER WOMENS DIVISION _ _ HEAVY WT. _ A.M.A . NO. ENGINE SIZE _ MAKE OF MOTORCYCLE OR ATV ATC 0-200 I ATV I - DESERT _ _MOTCl-X_ _ _ STOCK MODIFIED 201-0PEN STOCK MODIFIED 4 X 6 STOCK MODIFIED ODYSSEY STOCK MODIFIED THEUNDERSIGNED ENTRANT BYAFf iXINGHISINTIALSBELOw. ACKNOWLEDGES TH.A HE ASSUMESTHERISKOf T ANYLOSS FROMINJURyOR PROPERTY DAMAGE TO HIMSELF OR TO OTHERS.DUETO HISPARTICJPATION INTHIS £VENT AND HE HEREWITHSPECIFlCALLY HOLDS HARMLESSFROM ANY SAID LOSS THE AMERICAN MOTORCYCLE ASSOaAnoH. SPORTS Co-.TTEE. DISTRICT 37 AllA.lHC.., THE SPONSORING CLUBOA ORG ANIZATION, AND THE OWNERS OF THE REAl PROPERTY ON WHICH SAlD EVENT SHALL TAKE PLACE. (en"_"f" MtCIIor perent" initiall, . "entrenl. under ACK NOWLEDQING HIS OR HERDlslrict c.ns Indgt!ng notartnd con..... on 'lie. P_rentor GUlirdialn fa _ncI does not hue CUffe' MUST SK)N HERE CONSENT TO THE 1£R..S OF ENTRY , "_ c.... lftOIarC,c.. ncW"".."' ....... T... ~ ..... ......,c.tity . .I ..........Iy ....IfIed ~ .. O_. JvnIor 'IE.... ' Nowiu>I .... OUAlFIED A COW'fT(NTOftGANlZATtON. _v It .. ,..,... "' IflortM - " 10 IMI..,...:l ....' ... .... _ t l M~.__ ,.c:_ .... tIt' ~.ptlttullDn.I........ - - . Clutl or ......, _ _. • M,."...... 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C. .... 1EIIII1''''' 1'0: V-......,. .. .C. .......nrtVTO: _ ac. a-v-c..n., IL ""-"-22101 LIUOr1I I1 ,no . ..............7 HO .... L..ft. . . . . . . 97 ••n ..... .........." ..... CA ....' e--. C....1)01' IlleMcla.CA. • I33S CJMI'"'4J7t SATURDAY 1:3 0 P.M. START ~"5-20),t c......... .-.C.... . ' J07 1l1J~" " 1213170.'JI' THE ONLY 1983 DISTRICT 37 EVENT AT RIVERSIDE INfl. RACEWA Y @ ERS Congretuilltions. Do nnie . on two in IIrow. It loo ks like you lind your Vllmllhe lire lin idelll combination, Thllnks for choosing II DUNLOP KID front tire. More cvdes ride on Dunlop ..... anyother tire In the warIcI. ~ D UN.£OP .•. ." ... " i ~ '.. ... , . ,. l h,e, LC?9/{:fl! 9/?qice, , . 17