Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

The LeMans-style starts on the rain-slick Adelanto streets had the riders run to their bikes. fire them up. and head out on the course. 5th Annual Adelanto Grand Pri* Cold gold at Adelanto GP By Anne Crawford ADELANTO, CA, FEBRUARY 2-3 More than 500 motorcycles took to the streets of Adelanto for the running of the fifth annual Adelanto Grand Prix, hosted by the Desert Vipers M.e. under me on the asphalt and I slid Racers competed on a sevenmile Grand-Prix-style course, which consisted of desert, motocross and scramble sections, 26 and almost three miles of pavement, includi ng a high-speed run down Adelanto 's main street, wh ich was closed for th e two-day event. Weather conditions o n Saturday . . led to some exci ting racmg, with sleet and snow falling on and off throughout the da y, making the pavem ent sections dangerously sli ck and visibil ity almos t impossible. Man y raeers di scarded th eir fogged-up goggles, only to be blinded by the stinging mud and freezing rain , a nd there were a lot of very red eyes a t th e fin ish lin e. Saturday Saturday's first event was the Senior race, wh ich got o ff to a cold start a t 8:00 a .m. The ra ces began wit h a Le Mans start - bikes li ned up a long one side of th e main street and rid ers on the o ther. It was a spri nt to th e bik e, a quick kick, th en a drag race down the main street, round the corner o nto the dirt and over the water j um p. Jim Bringhurst thundered off in th e lead in th e Sen ior Amat eur/Expert class a nd stayed o u t in front for the rest of the four-lap race, open ing up a sizeable lead o n th e rest of the field. ' " He just kept getti ng furth er and furth er away," said second pl ace fin isher R ick Hall , who followed Brin ghurst througho ut th e race. " I just co uldn 't ca tch him." Al Guzman of th e Inv aders, wh o was thi rd off th e lin e, held o n for a th ird pl ace finish a t the end of th e race. Bill Misen er on a ProTec-pr epar ed TT600 led o ff th e start in th e Senior No vice/Beginner race a nd held a 'strong lead until mid-way through the second loop. "A guy hit me a n the back strai gh t," said Misener. " It was one of th e a ma teurs tha t I was tryin g to pass. H e took mywheel out from forever. Then I found I' d jammed th e shifter in a nd could n 't get th e bike out of fifth gear." Misen er stopped to re-arran ge hi s sh ifter, letting Ed Denbow and J im H ammon through to figh t it ou t for first place. Denbow fin ish ed first by a d .h d narrow margin , covere wit mu a nd with very sore eyes. " I thou gh t it was great," he said, " If I cou ld just have kep t th e sno w o u t of my eyes. I couldn't wear my goggl es _ they just froze up . But your eyes sure hurt withou t them. Som eo ne went dow n in front of me off the start a t the mud hole too , a nd I just ra n righ t over him. I coul dn't help it. T hen I went down as well. Wha t a mess!" David Judd, who had also sq ueaked by Misener while he was mak in g repai rs, held o ut for a th ird p lace fin ish. T he secon d race of the day was the Unclassi fieddivisio n, whic h proved to be a neck-i n -n eck battl e between Kenny Parry's Yam aha and Ran dy Norm an 's H onda , a nd provided q u ite a show for th e growi ng crowd of spectators that had gat hered a t th e water ju mp . Parry held th e lead for most of the race, bu t lost it to Norma n over th e water j um p in th e last lap " .I Ii ally go t hiirn on the Jump, " m ei sai d No rma n , " but the n I ha d tos top for gas a nd he went by. I fueled wh en I was goi ng dow n the straight riding wide open, bu t I'd sti ll lost eno ugh tim e for him to draw out a bit. T hen I ran int o a tree down there too, whic h didn 't help ." Parry, who cred ited his win to the turtle. ta nk o n h is bike, said he was ridi ng in th e Uncl assi fieds to check ou t the course for Sunday's 250 Expe rt class. " It was a practice ride. I wasn 't o u t to break the bike," he said. " I'd like to tha nk Gr anada Yamaha. T heir help made me finis h." Third hom e in th e race was Steve Parry, th e race winner's b~C?th er. "~ ll th ree of us are Rovers, he said. -'~ Fi rs t , Second and T h ird. You could Kenny Parry (2) and Randy Norman (20) fly over the water jump together in the Unclassified race. Parry went on to win. with Norman second. say th e Rovers had a good day ." T he sun fin all y started to break thro ug h for th e third ra ce of the day, a spe cia l event for members of the Old Timer MX Club. It was a wireto-wire race for Bob Dalgren, who stretched his lead out to abou t ~- mi le by the fin ish . Dennis Rosenberg, who was third off th e start, fought his way int o seco nd, and built up ano ther ~- mi le lead over third-placed Tom Widick. Fourth pl ace fin ish er and first Novice home was Bob Misen er. The I75cc class was combined with th e women's race, for a large split start. John Ray took the lead off th e Amateur/Expert start, with Duane Summers on a Cagiva a nd John Braasch on a Kawasaki in hot pursui t. But after holding off thecompetitian throughout th e ra ce, Ray did not ap pea r at th e checkered flag . It was Sum mers followed by Braasch , with Keith Senn piloting his KTM into th ird pl ace. " I' d pass th e leader in th e rough , stu ff," said Sum mers. " T he wh ole trick to th e back pa rt was to get off th e tra il a nd just cras h through all th e bush es. You smo ke th em like th at ." " But his bik e was faster th an mine, a nd hewaspullingme on the stra igh ts a nd ge tting away," he sai d. " I go t pas t h im a t th e end wh en he was stopped a nd p us hing. I don 't know wh at happened." Su mmers rode back on th e cou rse after th e fin ish to tow Ray in to th e end of the race. '" ra n ou t of gas ," said Ra y. " We fill ed it to th e top a nd I figu red I wouldn't need to pit, but I was wro ng. It was pretty good of him to co me back and tow me in. It wo uld've been a lon g push." T hi rd -p laced Keith Senn came in strea m ing yards of pl astic from h is ro ll-offs. " My goggles started fogging up rea l bad a nd I cou ldn' t see nothing," he said. '" took my rolloffs off and they must've caught on a bu sh . T hey started pulling on my goggles real bad , and ' guess th ey just all unwound." First woman hom e off th e Arnatu e r /E xp ert s ta rt w a s J o ann a Brow nell. T he Novice/Beginner race in th e I75cc class was a runaway victory for 14-year-old David Alford on a Kawasa ki 125, wh o led throughout the race. Seco nd pl ace went to Bill Crawford, one of ma ny riders to seize o n th e fast sections of th e course. T he real battl e of th e race was for third pl ace. It started o ut in the hands of woman No vice T oni Marcdante, but after a four-lap struggle, was taken by Tom Wells on a KTM , with David Donoho in fourth place, also tak ing the honors as first Beginner home. Toni Marcdanie went on to take first overa ll in th e Novice Women's clas s. " I got a good start and was third over the jum p," she said. "The tips of my fingers froze on the first lap and hurt so bad - .b.11t yo u can' t stop for that. " Second woman Novi ce home was Deana Tomkinson, who was one of the riders suffering from asphaltrash a t the en d of the race. "I fell off where the dirt goes onto the pavement," she said, " And as I fell, I fell forward onto the pa vem ent - right into the street. That hurt. Pavement is definitely not as soft as dirt when yo u fall." The Vets race had Saturday's biggest turnout, with about 100 bikes lined up on the start . Jim Fishback started o ut in th e lead off th e Amateur/ Expert start, but seized his Honda XR500 on on e of th estraights and finished third overall. Fishback's mi sfortune let closelyfollowing Mik e Martin th rough to take th e win. " Wha t a jump," he said after th e race. '" hit m y chi n on the han dl ebar s goi ng over it th e first time. That knocks th e wind out of you ." Martin was followed in by Mike Fit zgerald of Desert M.C., who was also th e first 250 hom e. " T ha t was a tou gh co urse - real h igh speed a nd real bumpy," he said. " Bu t that 's th e wa y' lik e it. The ro ug her th e better for me." First Novice hom e was Bob Alvis o n a Husky 500. " It was a little cool, but it didn 't snow during th e race, so that's OK ," was his on ly com ment. Second-p laced Novice Steve Evers said he loved th e pavement stra ig hts. " I had th is thin g o ut a t a bo u t 110 - it felt g rea t," he said. Bu t no-on e was mor e pl eased wi th his finis h th an the third-place fin isher, Chuck Lennox. " I've been ridin g for years and never won anything," he said. " I actua lly led th e Novices for two laps befor e I fell. It was scary - ' was all by myself o ut in front a nd I didn 't know what to do!" , Onl y six rid ers turned o u t for th e last race o f th e day - the Mini class, wh ich was an easy victory for Ni cky Pounds o n a Suzuki . Pounds opened up a 5.5-minute lead over second pl aced Tim Warden by th e end of th e race. S unday The 250class led off Sunday's racing 15 minutes beh ind schedule, after a del ay to all ow church services near

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