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/126631
become a yearly event, with an even purse anticipated next year . The Viewfinders G rand Prix grew lo ut of a desert ra cing club of movie I an d TV stu n tmen who raced on their I off da ys to keep in shape a nd sh arpen thei r skills. T en years ago , th e race' was opened to th e general racing p u blic. The course itse lf was com posed of nearly three miles of pavement, with the remainder divided fairl y even ly between desert , mot ocro ss a nd flat track formats. Wh ile most of the races were 10 la ps each , th e ATVs were sched u led for only five 10-mile laps. Saturday morni ng's race, wh ich included Amateur a nd Expert 0-2ooccs; as well as th e women's classes, was shortened to 90 miles in the interest f time. The Expert 0-200 class started with American Honda's Kevin Hopkins in front. It ended 90 miles and nearly three hours lat er the sa me way. What happened in between was sim ply a question of how far a lead can be stretched. The onl y real battle was for second and third places. Darin Cartwright (Hus) emerged unscathed with a firm grip on seco nd for th e last 25 miles. Karl Davi s (Yam ) fough t his way up from 10th place to finish th ird. The Open Expert clas s started as a much closer co nt est. Racing was fast . and furious for th e first few laps, with less than 10 seconds separating the top four riders through the third lap. Mike Sixbery, last year 's winner. took the holeshot on hi s Husky and held first place for a lap and a half. Dan Smith (Hus) charged past second placed Dan Ashcraft (Hus) and caught Sixbery. Rand y Norman (H o n), tucked in behind Smith and took over second place. In the third lap. Ashcraft briefly retook second, but held it less than a lap before Norman overtook him again. All th is jockeying for pos it ion allowed Sm ith to extend his lead over the pack. Once Normanwas free of Ashcraft, he began concentrating on the leader. Slowly he began gaining on him, pass ing the slower. bikes Smith had already lapped. He got to within seconds of the lead by the ninth lap before dropping off the pace. exhausted. Third place went to Danny Sanchez (Hus), who caught Ted Hunnicutt (Yam ) on the last lap. Expert 250cc rider Craig Adams (Hon) took th e holeshot in his group, with Tim Sinclair in tow. Dennis Vetter caught Sinclair briefly onthe third lap, but co uldn' t hold him. Trying to retake him. he fell on th e fourth lap and was passed by John Rudder (Hon)and Kurt Pfeiffer (H on) before he go t up again. Vetter squeezed by Pfeiffer forfourth on the fifth lap, but Rudder was hot; ou t of Vetter' s reach . pa ssing Sinclair and ga ining on Adam 's lead. By th e eigh th lap Rudder was tiring. Dropping off the pace. he was caught again by Sinclair, who held seco nd unt il th e end. Vetter took fou rth. j us t behind Rudder. Karen L eitinger (Suz) led th e Women 's Experts flag to flag . with Debbie Mathews working her way • th rough th e field for second p lace. I The com bina tio n of Ralph Whitney and Ramsey Harris Jr. led all the · way o n th eir Wasp for a trophy in th e Sidehack division. Second went to Rudy Softi and T revor Harrison. • 'I bigger ."Result s KC» Adjustable Shock Absorbers Kooi ... shocks 1!hat make the difference. The ever-popular 76 series and the new, externally adjustable, high performance 7610 series. Available from your local dealer. DistributBd by ROCKY CYCLE pos 1431 co.. INC. Sunnyvale. CA 94086 . PATRIZIER PRO: 1. Bruce Ogilv ie (Han); 2. Craig Adams (Han); 3. Jim Holley (Yam). OPEN EX: 1. Dan Sm ith (Hus); 2. Randy Norman (Han); 3. Danny Sanc hez (Hus). 250 EX: 1. Cra ig Adams (Han ); 2 . Tim Sincla ir (Yam); 3. John Rudder (Han I. 0-200 EX: 1. Kevin Hopkins (Han); 2 . Darin Cartwright (Hus); 3. Karl Davis (Yam). • WOMEN 'S EX: 1. KarenLeit inger (Suz); 2. Debbie Mathews (Han ). SIDEHACK: 1. Wh itney /Harris (Waspl; 2. Soft i/ Harrison ~ 1!I~pJ . 29