Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

class - Lane Leavitt. The former National cham p ion , riding for Italjet, made o n ly hi s secon d appearance in national com pe tition in th e pas t three vea rs. Lane, now ac tive in film stunt ~'ork a nd no longer training regu larl y, elected to com pe te in the less intens e cla ss. Mik e Read (SW M ) s u rvived a broken triple cl amp to fini sh two points behind T om a nd Lane. Super Sen ior cha m pion Don Wi lcox ca me to Mik e 's rescu e with a spa re. Wilcox ga ve Glen :\IcNeal (Fa n ) hi s first 1983 loss in Super Seni or. Bill T hom pson (Bu l) came do wn from Washingt on to ta ke seco nd . Art Webster (SWM) edged McN eal by 1.8 p oints for thi rd , Da le Mal a sek (Bu l). 1981 Senior clas s cha m p ion, n ot ch ed h is seco nd '83 vi c to ry , a Ii ve -- p o i nt er o ver Nat ion al rooki e Boh Kirkegaard (Bu l), Bill deGaris (Mo n) look th ird . Results (Above) Jack Stites was the Arizona winner. (Above right) Scott Head went 3-2 on the weekend . (Below) Don Sweet returned to active competit ion and won in southern California . AMA I NA TC Observed Tria ls Series: Round 4 How Sweet it was! ,18. SAU GUS, CA, MAY 28 " It feels great. I' ve been wait- ing for this opportunity. I got tir ed of seeing the kids win ." T he speaker? Don Sweet , one of th e old-timers of Am eri can trial s. Don, 26, is th e onl y National co n tender wh o ha s co m pe ted in every cha m p io ns hi p series since 1974 p lu s By len Weed th e 1972 and 1973 two-day cha m Photos by David Edwards pi on ships in Michigan. Don has been ,and Jeanie Flippin .•..• . .••. . . •• Moruesa mounted since. 1976. • • . From 1974 th rou gh 1977 Don ra n ked seco nd or thi rd nar ionall v, just mi ssin g th e cha m p io ns h ip {n 1975. In recent yea rs a g ro wing fam il y ha s kept Don close to New York wh ere he's a n I I-time New En gl an d Tria ls Associ ati on cha m p ion . Th is yea r he decid ed to ge t five start s in th e best-five-of-eig ht Nat ion al series. Sout hern Ca liforn ia's first Nat ion al in three \'t. ITS returned to Drinkwater Flats in ' Sa n Francisqui to Ca nyon . The 1980 event was orga n ized by th e V.O .T.E . cl u b a lo ne , but this time aro und th e entire Am erican Trials Associ ation participated. V.OT.E " responsibl e for th e loop an d sectio ns, came up with a IS-mile, 20-section loop ridden twi ce. Support riders skip ped six of th e sections. Winter flooding rearranged eno ugh rocks in th e three ca n yo ns to crea te one of th e tough est n ationa l loops in years . Extensive rocking was required to reduce loop time to less than two hours. Clerks of th e course Reyn old Hicklin was assisted by Andre Pl o uffe, Denn v Wolff, and Le n Weed in select ing sections. Bru ce Bernba u m and Bob Schaltter supervised the loop. ATA Vice President Katy Feland coordi na ted event administration. Bernie Schreiber, winner of thi s year's fir st three Nation a ls, wa s busy o verseas placing second in th e French world round . Th e sta rters, however, d id include Am eri ca' s o ther worldra n ked rid er , Scott Head, making h is first o ffic ia l sta rt since finishing runner -up to Marland Whal ey for th e 1980 cha m p io ns h ip. (Head did post low score a t a 1981National but as a n exh ibitio n rider on an Italian licens e.) The event marked Head 's debut as a Montesa team rid er. After th e first loop th e leaders were Steve McN eal ( 10), Kip Webb ( 15), Head ( 19) a nd Sweet (20). Don turned in th e best loop card , a 14, on th e second try. Mor gan Kavanaugh scored a 15 on his second effort while Head repeat ed hi s 19. McN eal's 27 on th e second loop dr opped him three points behind Sweet. H ead fini shed a point behind Steve to tak e third , Dwa in e Walters took fourth , follow ed by Kavanaugh (who topped a ll rid ers with 24 cl eans ), Webb, and Ja ck Sti tes. High Sch ool winner Dean Dorcas (Fa nt ic) sco red a 36, th e low for a ll Support rid ers, R u n ner-up Mik e West (Fa n tic) had the day 's second best Support ride, a 50. Cycl e deal er Torn Young (Montesa \ \' est ) won Sportsman on clea ns over a familiar name in an unfamiliar CHAMPIONSHIP; 1. Don Sweet (M an) 34 ; 2 . St eve M cNeal lFan } 37 ; 3 Scon Head (M an) 38 ; 4 . Dwaine Walters (Dan ) 41 ; 5 . Morgan Kava naugh (SWMI 44 ; 6. Kipp W ebb 18ull 45 ; 7. Jack St ites (M on) 47 .2; 8 . Curt Come r (Fa n) 67 ; 9 . Brad Skreen (MonI68; 10 . Dal e Dorca s (Fan ) 71. HIGH SCHOOL; 1. Dea n Dorcas(Fan) 36 ; 2. Mike West IFan 150; 3 . E"k Sod erquist IFan155; 4 . Dean Wright IFan ) 66 ; 5 Jud Scha efer (Man) 90 . SPORTSMAN ; 1. Tom Young IMon) 52 ; 2. Lan e Leavitt (ltD 52 ; 3 . MIke Read ISW MI 54 ; 4 . Jo hn Robertson (Fan) 55 ; 5 . Kevin Norton (SW M ) 63 ; 6. Ted Ar ment (Mon ) 66 .2; 7. Reimund Kroeck (M on) 70; 8 . Bim Miller (Fan) 76 ; 9. Steve Holla nd 76 ; 10. Rick DeV il biss (Il j) 92 .2. SR: 1. Dale Malasek (Bull 55 ; 2 . Bob Kirkegaard (8 ul) 60; 3 . 8i ll deGa"s (M an) 63 .7; 4 . Guy 8od ,n (SW M) 71 ; 5 . W iltz Wag ner ISW M) 71 ; 6 . Reij i Nakayama (Han) 82 ; 7. Dav e Russell (Fan) 125. SU PER SR ; 1. Don Wilcox (SW M) 68; 2. 8 i ll Thompson (8 ul ) 75 ; 3 . Art We bster (SW M ) 8 7; 4 Glen McNeal (Fan) 88.8; 5. Len Weed 18ul} 94; 6 . John Hem inway (Bul) 97 ; 7. Bill Wachendorfer (SW M) 112.5 . AMA INA TC Observed Trials Series: Round 5 Stites gets it right By len Weed Photos by Jeanie Flippin FO RT H U AC H UCA , AZ, MAY 30 "It wasn 't hot and the wind blew, T he wind never blows here." O rgan izer Ron Sau m sou nded a lmost disappointed. "The who le tria l was set u p for the fact it was su p po sed to be 20 degrees hotter. Second p lace cha m p io nsh ip got 40 points; that 's a bo u t wh ere we wanted th e winner. " Thankfull y, th e wind did blow and th ermometer didn ' t sha tter. Tucson hit I 10 th e day befo re, but th e weather gods sm iled on th e sta rters, m ost a lrea dy weary from California 's battering loop a nd a n II -hour desert drive. Anti cipation o f torrid temperatures may have reduced th e ent ry. Fift y-five riders, 24 from California, started th e even t. Although th e weather cooled, th e Montesa team got hotter. A win , pl ace. show effo rt cl in ched a weekend swee p . The seco nd a nd third Spanish-bike ch a m p io n sh ip class win s in th e last two yea rs (a ll by Montesa ) prompted one Bultaco owner to say, " It's ni ce to see som ething not Ital ia n win for a cha nge." And , as two da ys earl ier , a n o ldtimer prevailed . Jack Stites, ranked second last year, fina lly found form aft er an 8-3-5-7 stan to score his sixth ca reer win . His string of four consecu tive years in the winner's circl e leaves J ack second o nly to Ma rland Wh al ey's record o f seven . Th e ' 29-year-old manager of th e Tryals Shop in Florida won the event on th e fina l loo p . Steve McNeal (Fan) a ga in posted th e best first loop score , a nine, one bett er than Stites. The pair were deadlocked at 23 after two loops with H ead a nd Sweet trailing

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