Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Jeff Reynolds (1 2 6) at the start of the first 250cc Intermed iate division one moto. He captured the overall win with a 2-3 score. CMC/Skoal Bandits Golden State Amateur Nationals: Round 7 Reynolds, Strangio stomp Hollister amateurs By Kit Palmer HOLLISTER . CA, FEB. 16 Suzuki-mounted J eff Reynolds and Kawasaki rider T o ny Strangio domina ted divisions one and two in the 250cc Intermediate classes at th e seventh round of the Continental Mot osport Club/Skoal Bandit's Golden State Series today at H oll ister. Reyn ol ds didn't win either motos in division one, but co nsistency was th e key to h is victory - h e used a 2-3 score to ca p tu re the win , beating Kawasaki rider Jeff Matiasevich 's 5- 1 co m bination. Strangio trad ed moio win s with a no ther Ka wasa ki rider Brad T oms, but since Strangi o won the tie-break er seco nd rnoto , th e ove ra ll went 10 Strangio , A lilli e o ver 400 riders signe d u p to do bailie on th e p icturesque H ollister track - th e co urse was ca rved th ro ugh grass -laden ro ll ing hill s, whi le so me sections weaved the ir way th rough dens e pat ch es o f trees. In stead of a forwar d sta rring gate, a bac kwa rds fall in g-t ype was used th is year, and th e first race o ff th e gat e Saturday was th e 250cc Intermediate d ivi sion o ne class. H onda p ilot Eri c Marnoch grabbed th e holesh ot but was closely follow ed by anoth er Honda rider Mall Vu lk , Re yn olds a n d Kawasaki -m oun ted Frankie Brundage. During th e second lap, Reyn o lds slipped past Vulk a nd set aft er th e leader, Marnoch, wh ile I Brundage crashed and dropped to th e _ • ~~c_k_ ~~ !~~ p_a~~l la p. ate r ~ V1u u .lf 22 .. started to drop off th e pa ck, giving th e third and founh spot 10 Mike Fowler a nd Pat Sparks. Soon after, th e Honda rid er Sparks stu ffed it past Fowler and his Yamaha. At thi s point, th e top four riders: Marnoch , Re ynolds, Sparks a nd Fow ler h ad pulled away from th e rest o f the pack while engag ed in a very close battle. By the founh la p , Marn och had lost h is lead to Reynolds a nd th en dropped back two m ore positions two laps lat er. Spa rk s worked hi s way into seco nd a nd started 10 pr essu re th e new lead er , Revn olds. Th e two sta rted to pull awa vIro rn Fo w ler a nd Marn och whi le th ey fo ught o ver th e top spot. Shortly a fter, Spa rks m ade hi s move a nd snuck by Reyn ol ds, bu t Reyn olds stayed close righ t down to the fin ish. H ow ever, Sparks managed 10 h old on and ta ke th e win a hea d of Reynolds, Fowler a nd Marnoch . Brundage ca me bac k in th e seco nd mot o and led for th e fir st fo ur laps before ge ll ing pa ssed by Mari asevich . Th e two duked it o ut very closely for th ose four la ps, while developing a large lead over th e third and founh p lace riders ~ Marnoch a nd Reynolds. On ce Matiasevich passed Brundage in a fast swee per turn, he cruised on 10 take the win ahead of Brundage. Halfway through the race a Rev, •• ILI • • • YI ,I I & .• . _ ~ I n olds ro osted aro u nd Marn och for th ird a nd staye d th ere until th e finish - Marnoch took founh . T he first division two mo to was co m p letely dominated by Toms - he cap tu red th e holeshot a nd n ever looked back. At th e start , Yamaha rider Greg Pierce he ld down second, but he cras hed in a turn a nd recov ered near th e rear of th e field . This gave th e seco n d spot to Strangio wh o rode sm oo th ly from th en on to fini sh second. Third went to Kawasakilad y, Mercedes Gonzal es. Sh e spen t most o f the rnoto dicing with Yamaha rider Mitch Farmer, who finished fifth . T oms once aga in stole the holeshot a t th e stan o f the second mo to but felt Strangio closing in shortly aft er. By the third lap, Strangio had reeled in Toms and the two started to fight for the overa ll. A lap later, St rangio took control and passed Toms. The win and overall went to Strangio followed by Toms. Third went to Honda rider Dennis Redding, while Gonzales took founh for third overall. Fourth overall went to Tim Wah lberg and his Yamaha with a 4-5 score. The Vet Junior clas s field ed 21 riders, and it wa s Maico-rnounted Kurt Schiffner who went home with the o vera ll after two fir st-place rides. Sch iffner led from start- to -fin ish in bo th mot os and was never cha lIenged. T om Wink leman, Honda-mounted, used two thirds to cla im second overa ll. In th e fir st rnot o, Winkl em an spent most of th e m or o in a dogfight with Yamaha rid er J eff Burnell, wh o fin ish ed seco nd in th e rnot o . Fourth went 10 Suzu ki rid er David Knapik , whi le fifth fell 10 H onda rider Pat G ra ha m. . With Winkl em an wav o u t in front in the seco nd mot o , 'm ost of th e ac tion took pl ace ove r th e seco nd posi tio n. Winklem an held down th a t spot for a whil e until Husqvarna rider Karel Kram er go t in o n th e act. Kramer, wh o finish ed seventh in th e fir st rnoto aft er a back-of-the-pack stan , event ua lly passed Winkleman for second. At th e finish it wa s Schiffner, Kramer, Winklem an and Suzuki rider Mark Arthur. Third overall went to Kramer. One of the largest classes of the da y l •• _ -_ j was th e 250cc Junior class - 34 riders lined th e starting gate, a nd after the pack rounded the first turn, it was , Suzuki rider Ritchie Haselden leading th e wa y. Haselden and hi s Suzuki led for two laps before ge ll ing hung up in a rut thro ugh a turn and crashed. H onda rider Sta cy Magorian then took over th e lead but felt Darrin H oeft and hi s Honda breathing down h is back. For th e remainder of the race , the two leaders duelled very closely, but in th e end , it was Magorian wh o prevailed . Hoeft finished second ahead of Kawasaki rider Greg Smith and Darin Vanderpool, Haselden a n d Suzuki rider Brian Sweaney. Magorian managed to ma ke it a clean sweep by capturing the second rnoto ' win , wh ich was more than enough 10 claim the overa ll. Hoeft and Smith tra ded pl aces in th e seco nd moto with Smith taking second in th e rnoto and second overall ahead of H oeft. Vanderpool took fourth again for fourth ove rall w hi le fifth overall went 10 Haselden , who placed seventh in the moto. Yamaha rider Robert Fo x Jr. used a commanding I-I ta lly 10 win th e Old Timer Jr. class, narrowly beating Honda rider G ary Trower's co nsistent 2-2 tally. In the first m oto, Trower took th e ea rly lead ahead of Mar sh Runyon a nd h is Yam aha, H onda -m ounted Wa yne Howard, Suz uki rider Bill Weav er a n d Kawas aki pi lot Carl Ell ert. Fox had a terrible stan a nd had to work h is wa y u p th rou gh th e pack . By th e th ird lap , Fox had taken o ver th e seco nd spot an d started to reel- in th e leader, Trower. With three laps to go, Fo x slip ped by T rower for th e lead a nd th e even tua l win. Third an d founh went 10 KTM-mounted G ar y Melvin and H oward. Fox didn 't h ave much trouble taking th e second moto win, whil e Trower once aga in fini sh ed seco nd . Mel vin fin ish ed third to claim third overall, while fourth and fifth overa ll went to Runyon a nd H oward. In sidecar racing action, th e team o f Phillip a n d Victor Palfreyman managed to make good use o f a second turn , second , moto pi le-up that put first moto winners, Pete a nd Scott Whitney out of the ra ce. ( 1 1 1 , .1 !.~"J \ f l l ~ f ). •• (1 \ 1•

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