Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

a: w ~ .... ~ ... i2 >- lZl lfl ~ :I: lL Darren Gallagher (016) grabs the holeshot-at the start of the first 125cc Junior division one moto. He finished third. CMC/Pioneer Elec:tronic: Amateur Trans-Cal Series: Round S Surratt sDiokes InterDiediates at Trans-Cal By Kit Palmer BRENTWOOD, CA, OCT. 20 Sand Hill Ranch was the sight for the fifth round of the amateur portion of Continental Motosport Club's Pioneer Electronics TransCal Series, w)1ich saw the wild man (kid) William Suratt and his Honda easily win both 250cc Intermediate motos. Surratt, 16, is one of the busiest riders of the series 16 the finish, it was Surratt 15 seconds ahead of Rieman, then followed Whitlock, Ensign and Posca. Suzuki rider Dorin Driscoll stole the holeshot in the first I 25cc Novice moto with Honda-mounted Mike Steinhoff trailing closely. Before the first lap was completed, Steinhoff made his move, passing Driscoll and taking over the lead. However, Driscoll quickly retalliated; but the next time around, Driscoll was in fifth apparently he had crashed. This gave Yamaha rider Tony Olivieri second, Honda riders, Steve Parent third and Anthony Giammanco fourth. A lap later, Olivieri dropped out of the scene, while Driscoll moved up another position when Giammanco dropped back. When the white flag appeared, Steinhoff was a few seconds ahead of Parent, who had a large cushion over Driscoll. Honda rider Mike Henson came into the picture during the last few laps and was hounding Driscoll for third. After Steinhoff and Parent had already crossed the finish line, Henson made a last-ditch effort to pass Driscoll following a fast left turn, a few yards from the checkered flag. Henson pulled up alongside of Driscoll but came up a front wheellength short. Fifth went to Olivieri, while sixth went to Chris Ranta (Hon). Steinhoff jumped to an early lead at the start of the second moto with Giammanco a half bikelength behind. However, a few turns later, Parent charged to the inside and passed Giammanco. Driscoll had a good jump off the line but experienced all kinds of problems through the first couple of turns dropping back LO eighth. Up front, Steinhoff and Parent blew away from the pack engaged in a terrific dogfight for the lead. The duel became very intense as the moLO riding in both the 125cc and 250cc classes on Saturdays and the 80cc Expert class on Sundays. Today, along with his 250cc Intermediate win, he also finished seventh in the 125cc Intermediate class with a 2-13 tally. The first 250cc Intermediate moto saw Surratt take the inside line through the first turn and emerge with the lead. Close in pursuit were Honda-mounted TimWhitlock and Jack Azevedo, Yamaha support rider Lance Rieman and Suzuki rider Mickey O'Shaughnessy. By the end of the first lap, Surratt had already jumped to a nine-second lead, while Rieman dove past Azevedo. Once into third, Rieman began puttinj1; heavy pressure on Whitlock: The two riders fought fiercely, at times side by side. Rieman passed Whitlock during the second lap, but Whitlock returned the favor a turn later. However, Rieman made another attempt for second that again succeded. This time it held. From this point on, things settled down with Surratt extending his lead for the win. Rieman took second ahead of Whitlock, Ensign and Azevedo. Surratt used the same line through the first turn as he had done in the first moto and met with the same success - the lead. Yamaha-mounted Juan Posca, Ensign, Rieman and Honda rider Loren Pochirowski followed. While cruising in second, Rieman was unaware of Whitlock making his way up through the pack. After passing Posca for third, Whitlock started to close in on Rieman - slowly. As the eight-lap race neared the end, there was too much distance still separating Rieman and Whitlock. At ........ • I • • -'. c.' J ,•• , t. I :.. •••••• I Ric Reynertson (N22) and Steve Helm (C27) dice in the 125cc Junior division one class. Chuck Arman (T55) finished second in division two. came LO a close. Parent pushed Steinhoff to the limit, but the leader wouldn't let up. With only two laps remaining, their battle carried them way out in front of the rest of the pack to nearly 45 seconds. Parent made a final attempt for the lead with a lapand-a-half left: He pulled up alongside Steinhofflor a few seconds before Steinhoff slammed the door on Parent retaining the lead. This caused Parent to get a little out of shape, blowing the wind out of his sails and giving Steinhoff the win and overall. There was a 1.4 minute gap between second and third at the end of themoLO. Olivieri finished in the third spot ahead of Giammanco, Driscoll and Galtasso. Kawasaki-mounted Buddy Antunez roosted LO the front of the pack at the start of the first 60cc 9-11 class but crashed a few turns later. This gave the lead LO another Kawasaki rider Jacob Swain. After Swain followed Honda rider Ephraim Benjamin, Kawasaki pilot Don Piantanida and Antunez. Antunez was on the move. He powered past Piantanida in a long, slightly uphill straight, then passed Benjamin and reeled-in Swain in just two laps. Less than a lap later, Antunez pulled up alongside of Swain in the same long uphill straight and passed the leader. Once into the lead, Antunez pulled out LO a comfortable advantage. Meanwhile, Kawasaki rider Joel Tokarsky started LO labor his way through the pack after a poor start and moved into third with three laps remaining, and his bike was spuddering badly. The top three positions were very spread out as they crossed the finish line. Benjamin settled for fourth ahead of Pian tan ida and Brian Gouveia (Kaw). The second moto was all Antunez's; he stole the holeshot and never looked back, but the battle for second was .) ( J ) r J " exciting. Benjamin held control of second after. the first turn ahead of Piantanida, Swain and Tokarsky. Tokarsky was the first to make a move by passing Swain. Then Piantanida was passed by both Tokarsky and Swain. By the end of the second lap, Tokarsky pressured Benjamin for second and eventually passed him. At this point, Swain decided to get on the gas and passed Benjamin; then he caught up to Tokarsky and the two battled over second. With only one lap left in the moto, there just wasn't enough time for Swain to make a pass. Antunez won easily while Tokarsky held on for second. Swain settled for third ahead of Benjamin and Pian tan ida. • Results 60 O-B: 1. David Ochoa (Kaw); 2. Ben Phalen (Koow). 60 9-11 : 1. Buddy Antunez (Kawt 2. Joel T...rol

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