Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Jim H olley be rm s his way to the 250cc Pro win at the Dunestown GP. Zitterkopf zips to. CMC Sunrise win By Ken Stein ADELANTO. CA. MAY 16 I t was a lon g race day a t Su n rise Cycle Park tod ay, bu t G regory Ziuerk opf (Yam) did everything poss ible to end it ea rly. 34 fin ishi ng bo th m ot os near ly half a la p before th e rest of the O pen Pro riders. A fu ll day of racing was sla ted. includi ng two races for the O ver the H ill Gang. a sidecar class and a welcome ret u rn o f a wo me n's class. Freq ue nt wa teri ng o f th e tr ack, dicta ted by th e a r id, wi ndy cli ma te. fu rt her d el a yed Miller ti me. Despite Ziuer kopf's best ef forts , th e last rider left th e track at seven a t night. Zitterkop f started hi s fir st m o to m idfield, but by th e seco nd lap h e had ca ug h t everyo ne but Don Turk (Hon). Ziuerkopf took th e lead when T u r k stalle d in a turn aa nd quickl y pulled a way. Andy JeHerson, m eanwhil e, had nearl y kept pace with Zitterkopf since the gate fell , a nd was making progress on Turk. H e bum ped Turk back to third just before the fini sh line. The seco n d moto was a faster ver sion o f th e sa m e rac e. T u rk agai n h ol eshot, but Zitterkopf ca ugh t h im o n th e seco n d lap. j effer son did so o n th e third, a nd that 's h ow th ey fin ish ed . Joh n Dow n ey (Ya m) g ave it his a ll for d a yli ght-sa vings in th e 250ccJu nior class. H e passed J eH Ragsdal e (Suz) o n th e thi rd lap o f th e first rnot o a nd held the lead to th e flag. T hi ngs we re rever sed in the second moto as Ragsdal e snatc hed th e lead from Downey o n the th ird lap. With o ne lap to go Ragsdal e dropped o u t a nd wa tched Do wney walk oH w ith th e trophy that wa s a lmost h is. P ro I25cc rider Doug Dubach (Suz) is not o ne to lengthen a race. Afte r a secon d- la p co ll isio n with leader Pat Hubbs (Ya m) that resulted in a broken clutch, Dubach flew up from last place to finish second in the moto. H e showed the crowd what a difference a clutch ca n make in the second moto, He led every inch of the second race, finishing far ahead of second-placed Tim Lunde (Suz) . Jim Tarantino (Hon) made short work of the 250cc Pro crowd. With amazing lap times , Tarantino worked up from an eighth-place start to pass leader Don Turk by lap six. Despite a broken rear brake, David Hopwood (H o n) ca ug h t Turk on the eighth lap for a cre d ita ble second place. Tarantino was ted no ti me in th e second race. H e led th e field from th e gate on a nd aga in left t he rest of the field figh ting over second place. H opwood's br ak e DN F aga in , bu t he still h eld oH Woody Carlso n (Ya m ) for , seco nd. Eri c Dickerho ff (Hon ) twice took the lead from Gary La cy (Ya m) on th e fifth lap for th e winn er 's trophy in the 125cc J u n ior cl ass. Bob Wa tson (Ya m) led bo th Open Junior events in their entirety. . d estroyed a lot o f berms, but couldn 't wedge by th e haul in ' H olley. There was a lot o f changi n g in th e lead o f the 125s in th e first tw o laps, but A.J . Whiting had jumped into a co m m a nd in g lea d a n d went o n for th e win. Mov in g into th e ch aos from behind were Roger H en sley a nd Chris H ei sser. H en sl ey h ad hi s Ans we r Yamaha in second by lap three wi th H eisser im med ia tely be hi nd. Heisser was a head o n th e n ex t lap , a nd th e next we nt to H ensley. So it went to th e last la p. A t th e last turn , H eisser showed u p a lo ne beh ind Wh itin g and got the checke red flag for second just a head o f Maki . The bi g race o f th e da y was th e 125cc Intermediate, Novi ce a nd Begi n ne r even t with over 100 bikes entered. Steve Va n Duz en wa s 10 yards a head a nd pulling a wa y before the race was 30 seco nds o ld. H e kept hi s Kal-Gard Kaw a saki cra n ked a nd ex tend ed th at lead throughout th e race for a n easy win . Ri ch Arnold a nd R ich ard Fl eming m oved into second a nd thi rd, but Arnold went d o wn , lea ving seco nd to Fleming. All these resul ts are co m p iled from tracksi de n ot es a nd sho u ld not be co ns ide red final. Griswald garners PRRO grandslam By J o hn A . Bu rrus Resu lt s P HOEN IX, AZ, MAY 15 60 JR : 1. J eff Ray (Kaw) ; 2 . David Cogg in s (Honl , 80 JR : 1. Craig M ill er (S UI) ; 2. Dere k Wert IKawl; 3 . Gary Dellgan e {Su zl. WOMEN : 1. Carol Donney (Ho n); 2. The resa McCassy (Honl. OPEN PRO: 1. Gregory Zinerkept (Yam); 2. Andy Jefferson (Hus); 3 . Don Turk (Hon). OPEN INT : 1. Kelly Saul ie (Yam); 2 . Kurt Dietrich (Su z); 3 . Pete Vetrano (Hon). 250 PRO: 1. J im Tarant ino (Ha n); 2 . David Hop wood (Hon l; 3 . Woody Car lson (Yam l. 250 tNT: 1. Tim Winslow {Yaml; 2 . Ss m Gr oce (Su z); J . Pat Vernols (S uz). 125 PRO: 1. Doug Dubach (Suz) ; 2 . Tim Lunde (Suz ); 3. Mark Denning (Yam). 12 5 1 NT: 1. Rand y Rush (Han); 2. Jo hn Ray (Suz); 3. Ray Romero (Yam ). 250 JR : 1. John Down ey (Yam); 2. Rich Rourke (Hon) ; 3. St eve Baker (Yam ). VET JR : 1. Bill Hair; 2. John Baker (Hon) ; J . Mike Yaro (Han) . . ' VET MASTER: 1. Peter Dill ; 2. Jon Hall {Honl; 3 . Malcolm M cCassy (Kawl. 125 J R: 1. Eri c Dicker hoH {Hon ); 2. Mitch Breuer (Suz); 3 . Gary Lacy {Yaml. OPEN JR : 1. Bob Watson (Yam ); 2. Luther Wi nn (Suz); 3 . Joey Carter (Yaml . H e wo ke up a t three o'clock in the morn ing a nd dro ve 100 miles from Prescott, Arizona to show the bo ys in th e desert how Locey sandblasts Dunestown GP By Terry Rezek VALENCIA, CA , MAY 15 Indian Dunes was in its glory today . Green hills, flo wing rivers, damp 'sa nd a n d beaucoup riders. The California Racing Cl u b staged it s Budweiser -sponsored Dunesto wn G rand P ri x under perfect co ndi tio ns a nd th e rid ers responded in force. . T he Pro eve nt saw ma ny of th e Grand Prix regula rs, plus so me who j ust lik e to ri de the Dunes. Fi rst o rr th e line were th e big bik es, a nd Randy Moral es thundered th rough th e fir st turn in a good lead. Kenn y Zah rt , o n a PAC Brass Honda, a nd Louie Franco had already locked elbo ws and wer e sid e by sid e in front o f th e 250s. · Danny Kudrave;: Robert Laughlin and Rick'Maki led th e 125s. By lap two Tim Locey had taken the overall lead on his Answer Products Yamaha a n d went on for the win with no further interruptions. Willy Simons was in seco nd for most of the race. Mark Wh it e fin ished third behind Simons. Lap two also saw the 250cc winner , Jim H olley , push hi s Yamaha past Zahrt ,a nd hold o rr Zahrr 's repeated a ttem p ts to get the lead back . Zahrt smoke a road circui t a t Phoe n ix Internat ional Racewa v. Unsponsored Todd G riswa ld limit ed ou t h is Suzu ki 1000 for top hono rs in both th e GP a nd S u per St ree t Open classes a t Phoen ix Ro ad Ra cing O rganization 's last co ntes t before th e sum mer sh u tdow n. Sh u ttin g d o wn th e co mpe ti tio n is what Todd accomp lish ed in a ll but o ne of th e four, 10-lap sp r ints he ran in . Nail ing th ird p la ce in th e open , ing GP di ce until lap n ine, G r iswald j um ped in to fir st o n the final lap o n ly (a be edged o u t in th e last turn by M ik e Williams (S u n Suzu ki) o n a pers isten t 750 hauling nothing but box stoc k equi pmen t. H eat tw o p u t W ill ia m s a nd Griswa ld in d ifferent displac ement classes a nd Mik e, w ith th e sma ller scoot. we n t a head for a n 800cc "place" fin ish behind Sta r Cycle's M ick Frew o n a ho t 750 Kaw a sak i. G ri swald took the O pen Su per Stree t win , wh ile Gerry C line, w ho ha d led in to lap nin e, fried a piston fo r a DNF. H eat two a lso sported Craig Sk inncr 's strong- ru n n ing classic T ri urn ph T rident, which acq u ired a si x-i nch h ol e in its cra n kcase j us t before the end of the race. . G ri swald sta rte d h is second GP co n tes t, th e third scooter bash o f th e da y, wa y up o n th e p ow er cu rve a nd led for a ll 10 laps, while Mike Will i· a rns a nd Pat Palmer, o n hi s S ta r C ycl e 750 Kawas aki, swap p ed second and third every few la p s. Williams finally hooked up to number two. Leading the sm aller classes, Eddie Wright's 550 Kaw asaki (Performance Consultants) took two wins in 600cc Super Street and two more in Box Stock 600cc, while Norm Benedum , pi loting a 450 Suzuki (Quadrifoglio, Young Cycle a na Street Machines), . ea rned tw o Box Stock wins'. Gwynn Coffman got the Open Box Stoc k overa ll win o n a n 1100 Suzuk i, Ron Ares, supported by Continental (0 Tires a nd Maxi Products, ra ced a 750 Kaw a saki to th e o vera ll 800cc Super Street trophy. Results 600 BOX STK : 1. Ed Wr ight (Kaw) ; 2 . Bennen Darance (S Ul ); 3. Bob Eaton (Yam) . OPEN BOX STK : 1. Gwynn Coffman ISuzl; 2. Richard Kahn ($uzl; 3. Tom Eatman (La v) . 450 SUPER STREET: 1. Norm Benedum (Su z); 2. Doug Seitz (yam); 3 . Ti m Hask in s (Yam) . 600 SUPER STREET: 1. Ed Wright (Kawl. 800 SUPER STREET: 1. Ron Ares (Kaw); 2. Greg Schm idt IKaw); 3 . W ill iam Pryor (Hon). OPEN SUPER STREET: 1. Todd Gr iswald (Sud; 2 . W illie Adams (Due); 3. Rich ard Kahn l Suz). GRANO PRIX : 1. Todd Gr iswald (Suzl ; 2. Mike W illiams (Suz l; 3. Pat Palm er (Kaw) . SINGLES : 1. Jeff Anderson (Honl ; 2. Kevi n Elliott (Honl . Wageman wins at Summer Series a B y Tom Griffith VALENCIA, CA, MAY 6 Amer ican Mo to cro ss Enter-, prises hosted th e l Oth Annual Budweiser Su mmer Night Motocross Series at Indian Dunes Internati on al Track un der the lights with 4,000 festive specta tors a nd a n im press ive field o f nea rl y 400 co rn perito rs. As th e gate dropped o n a fu ll fie ld o f l 25cc P ro s, Do ug Gentry showed the wav in to turn one ahead of An swer P rod ucts/ Ya m a ha rider R ick Maki a nd R uss Wageman aboa rd h is Kal Gard/ DG-sponsored Suzuki. Yamaha Su pport rider Gentry powe red arou nd _ the track with ease. As G e ntry p ulled away , Wageman a nd Maki kept th eir battle hooked u p in a three- bike freight- tra in . By m id race the exci tement foc u sed o n Ji m Si mons as h e n ud g ed into first w ith Mak i th en Wag em an beh in d . U.S. Suzu ki's C h ris H eisser passed Gentry, a nd th e five sett led in for th e re ma ini ng few la ps a nd fin is hed in th at order. Mota two sa w five fewer rider s take th e green, but th ose 10 p u t o n a sh o w th at brought th e crowd to th e fen ces. J oining th e top five from moto ,o ne was hard-ch arging Doug Dubach , Anah eim S u zu k i-mou n ted . Wagem an , H eis er a nd Dubach batt led th e Simi C ycle Yamaha o f Jim Simons a ll race long with G en tr y following in fifth. Often j u m pi ng side by side, Dubach m ov ed in to first for th e rnoto a nd a so lid thi rd o vera ll with a 6-1 tally. R id in g strong finishes in bot~ m OlOS, Russ Wa gema n a dded to hI S co ffers w ith a 3-2 ride for first overa ll. In J unior cycle ac tion a good fiel d lin ed u p to ra ce the same la yout as th e bi gger bikes. So meti mes finding th e fa sl grooves as tall as th eir bikes, Doug Huston a nd J ohn Shav er ro de m ost co ns is te nt ly to fini sh first a nd second overal l. In Expert ac tion Ka yle J ohnson wa s the winner goi ng I -I in a ha rd fough t battle wi th Sha wn Bates. Mini cycl e P ro William S u rra t t bested a stella r field o f d ollar-ra cer s, g o in g I-I a nd co llecti ng a ll th e co ins . This wiri wa s no walkawa y with co n s ta nt pressure from th e l ikes of second-place La rry Brooks a n d a field incl ud in g Yamaha Motor's Bobby Moore. Th e biggest field of the night be- · lo n g ed to the Mini Beginners , who pu t on a good show. Over 20 co ntestants diced th ro ug ho u t th e even ing , ch eered on by friends, a n d produced a n a ccident-free run to the checkered in both motos. Ri ck R euben will move to th e Junior ranks with his runaway I-I ride. Mid-pack racers showed outstanding improvement as Jason Yosida, Michael Griffith a nd Steve Edwards m oved up many plaT

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