Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Greg Zitterkopf. on an '85 water-cooled CR500R Honda, won the 500cc Pro class with little trouble. He didn't mind the mud. CMC/Skoal Bandit Western Regional MX Chaml!.ionshil!- Zitterkopf, McGinnis, Srnithtake UtahMX by stonn By Kit Palmer ST. GEORGE, UT, JULY 22 Piloting a 1985 water-cooled CR500R Honda, Greg Zitterkopf recovered from a third-place start to win the 500cc Pro class at the California Motorsport Club-sanctioned/Skoal Bandit-sponsored Western Regional Championship MX at the Fly-'n-LD Ranch. Honda mounted Terry McGinnis had 16 to work quite a bit harder than Zitterkopf did to win the 250cc Pro class, while Yamaha rider Brent Smith overcame tough competitors, such as Ron Turner and Chappy Blose, to win the I25cc Pro division. Weeks prior to the race, the St. George area was constantly reaching temperatures over the 100° mark, so most of the riders who came from all over the country came prepared for the heat; but the unexpected happened -the night before the event, it poured rain. When it came time to practice Sunday morning, the track that so many riders said was "perfect" after practice Saturday afternoon was a mess. The course was two miles in length and was laid out over grasscovered rolling hills littered with trees; under normal conditions, it took Pros nearly two and a half minutes to complete one lap. The on/off. sometimes extremely heavy downpours from scattered thunderstorms caused such havoc that only the first round of molOS could be completed (12 races). The Pros were competing for a split $4,500 purse, while the sportsman classes were dicing for $3,000 worth of contingencies from O'Neal Racing Products. Li ule did the riders know that their first-molO score would end up being their second-molO score as well. After th~ rains had SlOpped just before Sunday morning practice, the 500cc Pros were the first to compete on the sloppy track. The rub!?erband start saw Robert "Robot" Rodgers put his CR500R Honda into the front of the· pack, while Brett Cross and Zi tterkopf tried to stay ou t of Rodgers' roost. However, Rogers slid out and handed the lead to Cross, who soon dropped his Honda in the muck. Zitterkopf took over the lead and started to extend it in a hurry. Lone Yamaha rider Russ Wageman slipped into second with M-Star-mounted Pete Terry McGinnis won a hard-fought battle in the 250cc Pro class after dicing with Chappv Blose and Tracy Oswell the whole race. Murray hot on his rear fender. By the halfway point, the track started to show signs of drying out as Ziuerkopf enjoyed a huge lead. Wageman started to pull away from Murray, who began noticing Cross on his tail. While Zitterkopf and Wageman were busy trying to stay upright, Cross tried every trick in the book to get past Murray, unsuccesfully. With a few laps remaining, Cross crashed again, losing valuable time to Murray. Zitterkopf had a calendar-size lead over Wageman, who finished way ahead of Murray and Cross. "The track is super fun! said Zitterkopf afterwards. "It's beginning to dry. I got a bad start, because the starter told us before the beginning of the race he would put a flag behind his back before letting us go. I was waiting for that, but he just all-of-asudden waved the green flag; maybe I misunderstood. When I was second, I just knew Cross would crash - he was riding like a madman, like there was no mud. I was right. After he crashed, it was a piece of cake." By the time the fifth race, the 250cc Pros, rolled around, the track was excellent, but pitch black clouds hoveringover the hills nearby were beginning to threaten. Nonetheless, Honda-mounted Tracy Oswell stole the holeshot ahead of Blose, McGinnis and Honda-mounted Bill Buttram. During the first lap, McGinnis, who lives in Utah, found his way around Blose and then set after Oswell. By the end of lap two, McGinnis slipped underneath Oswell and took control. But Oswell and Blose didn't give up. A heated three-way battle for the lead stayed hot for the next 10 laps. Blose hounded Oswell during most of that time, then the Arizonian Blose ducked inside of Oswell in a tight left turn for second. Team Tamm-backed Lenny Giger, piloting a Honda, worked his way into fourth after a fair start and spent most of the time keeping Wageman at bay, but Wageman wasn't muchofa threat because his Yamaha broke a part in the power valve and cost him ponies. When the checkered nag appeared, M£innis had a semi-eomfonable lead over Blose, who finished just a few feet ahead of Oswell. Giger took fifth. Not more than five minutes after the 250cc Pros had exited the track, those ominous, black douds unloaded, drenching the track and almost everyone in a IO-minute downpour, with thunder and lightening. That did it; the track turned into pudding. Such downpours happened about once every half hour, afterwards, making the track nearly impassable by the seventh race - the I25cc Pros. Smith put his Yamaha into the front of the pack at the start of the moto, while the recent Hawaiian Supercross winner, Cagiva-inounted Turner, McGinnis and Paul Villa pursued. Shawn Davidson, on a Kawasaki, had a poor start but worked up lO third passing McGinnis after he went down. Davidson began putting steady pressure on Turner for the next couple of laps. Near the end of the moto, Turner developed problems with his vision. Once his tearoff were all used up, he had to pull off his goggles. To complicate matters, Turner wears eyeglasses, and when they get dirty, there is nothing for him to do but slow down. With the rain still coming down very. hard, Smith developed a huge lead, which he never let slip. Smith took the win ahead of 'Blose, who put a strong drive after a sixth-place start. Blose took over second after passing Davidson. McGinnis also made a charge after his early-moto fall and ended up third. "I felt great out there," said Smith. "Once I got the lead I decided to slow so I wouldn't crash. The only time I almost did was over the triple jumps - it was pretty close." "I felt a lot better in the 2505," said McGinnis. "On the 125, I slid out early and had a hard time getting the bike resta~ted." Kelly Carson, aboard a Honda CR500R, stole the holeshot in the 500cc Intermediate class, while Aaron Pipes, Rhett Greenhaigh and Dave Donaldson pursued. Dave Roberts and his Yamaha worked hard during

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