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By Peter Baker
th e first turn . When the dust cleared,
each of the first three hea ts fell to
Crump, beati ng the trio of Americans
in one a nd lowering the fou r-lap
record in another. That record had
sto od since January 1982 to the cr edit
of Bruce Pen ha ll, and is th e onl y
tr ack record listed at Mildura that
Crump did not hold prior to this
meeting.
'
Hea t four was a good one [or
Schwartz, as he bes ted both the Aus sies, a nd then wen I on to fin ish ahead
o f Miller and Moran in the race that
Crump sa t out.
Miller batt led on well after th e
mi shap o f th e previ ous night. and h is
best effo r t ca me in th e last heat as he
grad ually ca me 10 grips with th e
tr ack . Moran had a few br ight mom ents, a nd was never far behind
Crump or Schwartz in a ny of the heats.
Points a t the en d of the heats wer e
Crump with II. Schwartz eig h t.
Moran si x, Hunter th ree (n ever a
threat 10 the top three of the night)
and Mi ller two.
Again, a six- lap feat ure ended the
program. Schwartz and Moran had
only a very brief break si nce their
final heat. whereas Crump had a gap
o f seven even ts before the feature ra ce.
This differen ce appeared to be the
lelling factor: in the end Crump
pounced o n a tiring Schwartz, while
•
Moran just held Hunter off.
SYDNEY. AUSTRA LI A. DEC. 17
SYDN EY. AUSTRALIA. DEC. 22
" Some fun in th e su n an d a ch ance to win
some money," was how Bobby Schwartz
described his sixth successive trip Down
Under d u rin g the Northern H emisphere
Bobby Schwartz narrowly escaped injury in a cras h at Ro und
three of the series. he ld a t Liverpool Ci ty Speedway.
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Bobby Schwartz faces keen competition in Australian speedway rac ing .
American speedway
racers in Australia
wi nter.
Accompanying Schwartz is
Shawn Moran , o n his fourth
trip to Au stralia , a nd fir st-ti me
24
visitor Rick Mi ller.
Form er Bri tish Lio ns captain Nigel
Booco ck is helping to organize me etings [or the trio. Particu larly with
Schwartz involved . "sell ing" American riders to A ustra lia n prom ot ers is
n ot d iff icult. Eve n in th e present de pressed state o f th e Au st ralian so lo
scene. American rid ers - Sch wartz in
pa rticu lar - inva riably provide keen
co rnperirion .
The original in te n tion was [or th e
American trio to co m m ence their
tour with two weeks in Pert h . b ut
th ei r eq u ip m en t was mi sr oured to
Syd ney and th e cos ts o f transpo rting
it across A ustra lia ruled o ut the West
Coast da tes. Thei r tour actua lly comm en ced with a hecti c 2 175-mile tre k
[or m eetings o n co nsecu ti ve nights at
Adel aide. Broken Hill a n d Mildura .
At Ad elaide (Decem ber 14), th e
Americans m et Phil Crump. Rod
Hunter, visiting Englishman Mike
Sp in k, a n d lo cal stars headed by 1983
European Junior Champion Stev e
Baker i n a series wher e a ll riders had
[our sta rts.
Throu ghout th e m eeting Cru m p
had troubl e ge tt ing 0 [[ th e sta rt ing
line, but this in va ria bly led to so me
sp irited racing as he pulled o ff ro us ing
passin g m aneu vers to score maximum
points,
Bobby Sch wartz. in top form a ll
n ight. lost j us t o ne h eal to Crump
- after having led [or three o f the
four la ps.
Similarly, Sha w n Moran had three
wins a n d a secon d to Crump in a
cl assy di splay. bu t stra ngely. Moran
a nd Schwartz d id not m eet in direct
compet iti on.
Those two American s had previo usly ridden a t Speedwa y Park .
whi ch ha s a ver y heavy cl a y co n te n t
and this was something Rick Miller
had trouble adjusting to . Nevertheless,
h is two seconds a n d tw o thirds was a
good perfo rmance; th e o n ly rider s to
o u tscore him wer e H u n ter an d Baker .
Leadin g scorers fo r the c u ri n g wer e
Crump with 12 poin ts, Sch wa rtz a t
I I , Mo ran wit h II. H u n rer ut 10.
Ba ker with eigh t a nd Mill er wi th six.
The top six scorers then co n tested a
fea ture eve nt wh ich was eventua lly
wo n by Crump. a head of Schwartz
a nd Bak er. M oran had been run ni ng
second before bein g forced o u t wit h
m echanical problems.
At Brok en Hill (Dece m ber 15), th e
Ame rica ns agai n haul ed C r u m p a nd
H unter in a five -heal ser ies where o ne
rider sa t ou t ea ch ra ce. Sch wa rtz
o pe ned proceedings with a decisive
wi n over Crump. and in the process
set a new fou r-lap record lim e. T he
nex t heat saw Crump win over Moran .
with Hunter in third ahead o f Mill er.
H eat th ree proved a g rea t co n tes t,
w i th Sc hwa rtz m an a g in g to pass
Miller in the shadow ol the fin ish lin e.
U n fortu na telv, th is eve nt was Mill er 's
la st o f th e eve ni ng; hi s th rottl e
jammed wide-open go ing down th e
stra ig h t a nd forced him to bai l off. A
sore wri st and bent frame were the
co nse q ue nces .
Moran m anaged to beat Crump in
the next race. but th e tw o remaining
Am erican s trailed bo th Au ssies in th e
fin al heat. At th e end o f th e series,
Crump had 12 points from rive rides
(he repl a ced Mill er o nce ), wh il e
Sch wartz a nd Mo ran got seve n each ,
a nd H unter four.
Final e o f the ni ght wa s a seven -la p
feature race (i t sho u ld ha ve been six
laps, but th e flag man got m ix ed up ).
Schwartz led for half the race before
Crump worked hi s wa y past to tak e
th e win . Hu nter finished third ahead
o f Moran.
At Mildura (Dece m ber 16). organizers co ns tr ucted a series sim i la r to th e
previous night 's m eeting a t Broken
H il l. Rider s were kept o n th eir to es.
as there was no easy hea t.
The first heat had to be restarted
after Schwartz was brought down on
The first heat saw a close tuss le at
th e first co rner betw een Shawn Mora n
a nd local rider Billy Sanders. Sanders
was abl e to hold th e lead a nd take th e
win . sell ing th e stage for the second
hea t. ,
Sch wa rtz got a good jump a t th e
sta rt o f th e seco nd heat. a nd held a
narrow but co m forta ble lead o ver
locals Ra y Palmer a nd Dav e Mill s.
Moran lagged beh ind with cl utch
trouble - never far beh i nd th e fr on t
ru nners, but never posi ng a threat. A t
two and th ree -q ua rte r laps the three
leaders we re st ill in a right pack wh en
Sch wartz's bik e shed its cha in . Ioc kin g
the wh eel a n d th rowing him o ver th e
ha nd lebars. Palmer had no tim e 10
evade the sp i ll a nd p lo wed into the
downed bike, clipping Sch wa rtz's hel m et o n th e wa y by. Mi raculously.
?ch.wa rt z escaped with o n lv minor injuries
T he Scra tch fin al was a super b race
betwee n Sander s a n d th e tw o Amer ica ns. Miller wo n th e start. a nd for
three a nd o ne- ha lf laps Sanders wa s
in th e awkward pos ition o f tr ying to
a ttac k Mill er while under seige [rom
Moran. Miller fina ll y wen t too wide
en ter ing th e back straight , lettin g
Sanders get undernea th for the win.
Mill er , sti ll with a so re hand follow ing last week 's sp ill at Broken
Hill . had spen t co ns idera ble time
stra ig h ten ing his frame and overhauling th e en g ine prior to th is m eeting.
That effo rt paid o ff in the pursuit
race. where he sta rt ed off 10 meters in
front o f Sanders a n d Moran. On th e
second -to-las t co rn er, Miller m oved
Palmer high on th e track to grab th e
lea d . while Moran was fourth just
behind Sander s.
Sa nd ers ag a in triumphed in th e
final, a h ead of Pa lmer. Miller. Do le
a n d Moran. Suffice it to say th at
Sa nd er 's advantage over the Am erica ns in the heat and final wa s a ll
ga in ed a t th e sta rt .
Talking to Schwartz 36 hours after
the m eeting. he sa id that hi s ac h es
a nd pains from the crash sh o u ld be
go ne within the week. H e is confident
of being able to ride the first of th e
three meetings upcoming in Bri sbane.
Latest Poop
{Co n tin ued from page 3)
Prel iminary work 0 11 a new section of
tra ck a t P ennsvl vania 's Poco no Internat ional Race way has been finished.
A new ser t io n ha s been add ed 10
cha nge t he en rra nce 10 the infield
portion, T he cha nge el imi na tes the
former barrier-lined en tra nce a nd the
ultra-s low second turn .
Nippondenso is offering a $ 100
U.S . Saving s Bo nd to the winners
ofclub-sanetioned road races . motocrosses . dirt tracks. desert
events. enduros and ATV events.
To be eligible. riders must use NO
spark plugs and take first place;
registration forms are available
from Team NO. Box 55578. Riverside. CA 92517. 714 /68 2 9649.
In memoriam: Herbert L itch , 70,
died January 6 a t San Berna rdino
Mem oria l H osp ital fo llowing br a in
tumor surgery . L it ch was a n ex pert
m achin ist who worked for . for mer
Baja racer Al Bak er, Pa rnell i J ones,
and the la te Bi ll Bell at Long Bea ch
Honda. Services were held January 8
near Litch's home in Apple Valley,
California; he is survived by his wife
Jeanie, two sons and a daugh ter .
Cards and letters can be sent to Mrs.
J eanie Lirch, 24174 P a la L ane, Apple
Valley, CA 92307.
~ORCYCLE
INDUSTRYS
CUANGE
Retired
As o f J anuary 16. U. S.
S uz;' ki Mot or Corp. Vice Presid ent of
O pe rat ions Dick Onh , a fter 17 yea rs
wi th the co m pa n y.
Hired
As Account Manager fo r
Motorcycle Indus try Shopper. Debbie Winkl er . effect ive February I :
formerl y the to p phone sa les per son
for Ni ch ol s Motorcycl e Su p p ly o f
Ch icag o .
.
Scheduled
A California orrH ighwa y Mo to r Veh icle Recreation
Comm issio n m eeting in So u th Lake
T ahoe City Co u nci l Chambers. 1900
Lake T ahoe Blvd .. South Lake T ahoe,
on J anuary 25: su bjects will in clude
development o f Martin Ranch as an
O R V recreation a rea . poten tial O R V
projects and introduction o f new Depu ty Di recto r for Off-Highway Vehicles of the Depa r tmen t of Pa rk s and
R ecr ea tio n , Le t' Cha uvet,
To double
The field sales
forces of Vetter Products, In c., of
Ra nto u l, Illinois, from the curren t 10
people to 20 during 1985, according
10 a relea se from th e firm.
Filed
By Bell Helmets, Inc.. a lawsu it against Griffin Products , In c. i n
federal co u rt , alleg in g trademark infr in gem ent and fals e advertising and
see king d a m ages. injunctive relief
and d estr uction of all Griffin P roLi ne motocross helmets a nd molds
related to th eir production: docum ents filed by Bell with the U.S . District Court for the Central District of
California in Los Angeles call the
Griffin helmet " a cheap, shoddy imitation and copy of Bell 's Mota 4
helmet."
