Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

~ ~ > a:: w :2 w ><: a:: :5 u > CC o lo J: l!':l e, 00 O"l ...... ~ O"l C'I >-- ,'" ~ A couple of entrants go for it as locals look on at the Hilltoppers GP in Mexico. Gordon Ward was the overall winner. The Coca-Cola series final at Porterville saw Jon Nelson take the 250cc Pro class over Damon Webb and Pat Sparks. F-T-OPEN: 1. Vance Bree se (H-D): 2. Elme r 'Bud ' Riddle (Yaml: 3. RIck Weber (BMW). OPEN SUP ST: 1. Rich Oliver (Kaw); 2. Den ny Dohe ny (Kaw): 3 . Ron Weiland IKaw). 750 SUP ST: 1. Don Biava (Kawl: 2. Vince Costa (Kaw ): 3. Doug Filangeri (Kaw ). 600 SUP ST: 1. Ed Woo (Yam): 2. Mark Ruffner (Yam): 3 . Jeff Murray (Yam). 450 SUP ST: 1. Paul Van Zuyle (Yam): 2. Malcolm Hill (Yam): 3. Chr istopher Mast (Yam). OPEN MOD PROD: 1. Paul La Fonta ine (Kaw): 2. Barry Saudan (Kaw); 3. Charles Below (Kaw) . 750 MOD PROD: 1. Marshall Palmer (Kaw): 2. Jim Jepsen (Kaw); 3 . Guy Outland IKaw). 600 MOD PROO: 1. Kevin Schwantz (Yam): 2. Rich Oliver (Yam): 3. Robert Sells (Suz). 45OMODPROD: I .E r ic Kondo(Yam); 2.John Hill (Yam): 3 . Ray Carson (Yam). 250 MOD PROD: 1. Greg Overman (C-A): 2. A.J. Parks (C-AI ; 3. Ken Callahan IC·AI. OPEN STK PROD: 1. Scan Grey (Yam): 2. Barry Saudan (Kaw!: 3 . Paul La FontaineIKaw). 750 STK PROD: 1. Kurt Bickel (Yam): 2. Marshall Palmer (Yam): 3 . Eric Hernandez (Han). 600 STK PROD: 1. Scan Grey (Yam I: 2 . Welter Nitta (Yam): 3 . Rich Oliver (Yam). 450 STK PROD: 1. Pete Homan (Yam): 2. John Hill (Yam): 3 . Ray Carson (Yam! . YAM RZ SERIES: 1. Paul Van Zuyle (Yam): 2. Malcolm Hill (Yam): 3 . Scan MooreIYam). OVER 40: 1. Ray Straka (Yem); 2 . Bud R,ddle (Yam): 3 . James Wi lliams (Yam). VINTAGE : 1. David Walden ITri) ; 2 . Michael Green (BSA!; 3. Chris Quinn (Ducl. Cook cleans-up Colorado MX By Larry Johnson P UEBLO, CO. MAY 5 Stacey Cook (Kaw ) returned to action today for the first time since injuring a knee while racing in California early in th e 42 yea r. The defending 125cc Pr o sta te cham p styled to the overall victory as though he had never been off. In moto one, Cook moved from third to first before lap one was compl et e. By lap four , Cook, Kevin McKnight (Kaw) and Tim Buchli (Yam ) were a ll a lo ne . while top ch a llen ger Sha wn Smith (Kaw).charged through the pack after gating dead last. The top th ree rem ained th e sa me fo r th e ne xt five circ u its, as Sm ith thr eaded h is way up from 33rd to 10th. T he il, wit h three la ps to go, th ing s began to happen. Fi rst Cook SpU II out giving' the lead to :\IcKn igh t just as Sm ith was goi ng dow n , shortcircuiti ng his co me back. T hen, a few turns before the wh ite flag. th e leaders had to slow fo r th e ambu lance flag whil e a do wn ed rider was rem oved from th e track. Once pa st the acc ident, Cook o u t-thro u led McKni gh t down th e next stra ig ht a nd .regained th e lead. Two turns in to the last lap , McKnight and Buchli co ll ided, dropping both off Cook's winning pace. McKnight edged Buchli for seco nd, while Smith regrouped enoug h to finish 13th. Cook holesh ot round two , and by midway enjoyed a five-second lead over Smith , whil e th e real bailie was brewing for third am ong Bran t McCoy (Yam ), Buchli and McKnight. Two laps later, Buchli broke loose and was alone in third to th e checkers, ahead' of McCoy as Mcknight's da y en ded with a breakdown. U p front , Coo k aga in laid it down a nd Smith took advantage and qu ickl y stre tched it to three seconds over th e remounted Cook. But Cook fought right back only to be dela yed by lappers, a nd Smith barel y beat him at th e wire. The win ga ve Smith fourth ove ra ll behind Cook, Buchli an d McCoy. Jim Mitchell (Hon) earn ed hi s first 250cc Pro points race o vera ll this sea son after co ming up just sho rt behind T erry Kyle (Ya m) and Boo St ichter (Kaw) in th e pr evious three events. A massive fir st turn p ileup claimed a third of the field in moto one, in cluding Kyle a nd Albert Firestine (Yam). Stichter a nd Mit ch ell avo ided th e mess, and Stichter led from flag-toflag. Mit ch ell chased Kansan Troy Rhoten (H o n) until lap nine wh en Rhoten took a brief o ff-trac k excu rsion, allowing Mitchell to ga in second whi ch he held to the chec kers. Stichter aga in was leading round two until halfway wh en he roll ed to a sto p as hi s bik e seized. Mit ch ell inherited th e lead and mo tored hom e a hea d of Kyle a nd Firest in e. Results 60 NOV: t . Ale. Neir (Kaw ): 2. Jason Wright(Kaw). 60 AM : 1. Shawn Morga n (Kaw ). 80 NOV DIV 1: 1. Dina Del Turco (Yam!: 2. Chuck J en se n (Kaw) ; 3 . Brand on J ohnson (Yam ). 80 NOV DIV 2: 1. Jeremy M idda ugh (Kaw); 2. Chris M cCr ea (Yam); 3. Br ad Barlish (Yam) . 80 AM : 1. Robert Revoir (Kaw ); 2. Troy Lessa r (Han): 3 . Je ff Hopkin s (Kaw). 80 EX: 1. Robert Rose (Kawl: 2. Gil Murray (Kawl: 3 . Andy Atkins (Vam). 125 NOV : 1. Todd Hayn es (Kaw); 2. Michael Lorenz (S uz); 3 . St acy Ditter (SUl). 125 AM : 1. Robert Rose (Kaw) : 2 . Jay Rut erborie s (Yam): 3 . Mike Surrat1(Yaml . 12 5 PRO: 1. Stace v Cook (Kaw ); 2. Tim Buchli (Yam I: 3 . Bran t M cCoy (Vam ). 250 NOV : 1. Bryan Bird (Ho n); 2. Ben Vahshol tz {Suz!: 3 . Rodn ey Sadler (Vam). 2 50 AM : 1. Ch uck Wr ig ht (Yam): 2. Don A nderson (Yam); 3. Dou g V ickery (Yam l. 250 PRO: 1. J im M itch ell (Han): 2. Terry Kyle (Yam); 3. Darr en Rhoten (Hon) . OPEN NOV : r . Ph il An ton uk (Yam): 2. Lee Houchin (Hon) ; 3 . Dua ne Lin ku s IKa w) . OPEN AM : 1. Robert CoullS (KTM); 2. Kevin Virden (Yam); 3. Thom as Drake (Ho n). OPEN PRO: 1. Dav e Newell (Kaw); 2. Cli ff Freder icks (Ho n t 3. Brad Bolt on (Yam). VET NOV: 1. J i m Anderson (Ka w) ; 2. Edga r Per rito n (Han): 3. Gill Bent (Ylm). VET AM : 1. Don Doubleday (Yam): 2 . Jo hn EI scheid (KTM): 3 . Bobby Hancock (Kaw). VET EX: 1. Monty Kyl e (Yam): 2. Richard Dosta l (Han): 3. Dwight Catalano (Kawl. . 5R NOV : 1. W illiam Packhlm (Cag): 2. Jo hn Frid lund (Yaml. SR AM : 1. Edgar Perr iton (Hon). SR EX: 1. Dive Wollaston (Su z); 2. V ic BarJish (Yam). Wa rd wild at Hilltoppers GP By Dave Oakleaf ROSARITO BEACH, BAJA , CA, MEXICO, APR. 21 Rosarito Beach, Mexico, exploded with life and the roar of motorcycles today with this year's running of the Hilltoppers Grand Prix. The race for the money was a close one for the first co up le of miles. in a showdown between Gordon Ward Jr. (Ya m) and Larry Fife (H on). Ward and Fife raced wheel-to-wheel until Fife went wide in a swampy area outside of town . Only a half-mile lat er , Randy Norman (H o n) passed Ward in the lava rock bed. Norman 's lead wa s shortlived however , as Ward passed him back within a mile. Ward went uncha lle n ged from that point and col lected the overall win and the $1000 bonus donated by Grand Sport Tires. Mike Sixbery (Hon ) rode an excellent race, finishing fifth overall and first 250cc Vet Expert, beating a ll the 250cc Experts who started in front of him. Larry Fife was running a stron g second when he tried to stretch out one more lap a nd run out of gas on th e third loop. Craig Adams took over second place and di ced with Bruce Ogilvie for th e remaining two laps. Ogilvie ca ug h t Adams napping a nd go t by him on th e last lap. onl y to lose it back wh en his rear tir e went fla t. It wa s Adams closely foll owed by Ogi lvie a t the fini sh. Mo rgan MaJocco (Hon) had p roblems a nd had to retire fro m th e race ea rly. as d id Tea m Husq varana 's Dan Ashcraft wh o experienced base gasket problems. Ashcraft running fifth a t the en d o f lap o ne, a nd had moved up to fourth at lap two before hi s gask et let go . Th e co u rse, o nce again. went through the streets of Rosarito Beach . T he ra cers were cheered on by a cro wd o f well -wi sh ers including Ame rira ns a nd 1 000I inhabitants. Vern H erh (Ya m ) was th e winner of the 81-200cc Sen io r Expe rt class, a nd next to h im o n th e sta n ea rlier in the day was J erry Smi th (H us) winner of the O pen Am at eur class. Smith and H ess spent th eir da y ban ting side-byside the entire five laps; just before th e fin ish Smith passed H eth. Sm ith fin ished 39th, a nd H eth was 40th overa ll . respecti vel y. The winner of th e Vet Open Expert class was J irn Lat endresse (H on) who cross th e finish line 12th overall. After th e rac e he indicated that his greatest concern was Gordon Ward Jr. , but Ward had it dialed' in and th ere was no catching him. Second Vet Open Expert was Jim Hawkins Sr. (Hon). In th e 250cc Expert class Leonard Johnson took th e win and seventh overall, followed closely by Larry Thompson who was second 250cc and eighth overall. Both riders were. on Yamahas. The 200cc Expert class was a real battle with Duane Summers (Cag) finally coming out on top over Greg Itson (Hon) and Randy Lowell (Yam). Summers passed Itson on the last lap after th e two had changed places numerous times throughout the race. The Open Novice class was another classic battle, with Ron Dominquez (Hus) leading for four laps, only to be passed on the last lap by Jim Lichlyter (H on). They finished 33rd and 35th overall, respectively. In the same class, Scott Essman (Hon) pulled the same move on Kent Duncan (Suz), passing him on the last lap for a welldeserved third place. Results eo BEG: 1. Keith lDonsfoot (Kaw); 2. Devid Ondos (Yamt 3 . Brandon Ramirez (Kaw). eoNOV : 1. seen Shafer (Yam); 2 . Octavia Lopez (Kawt 3 . John lad< (Hon). 200 UNC: 1. Michael Roth (Suzt 2 . Paul Sanders (Hon); 3. Doug Hopper (Hon). 250 UNC: 1. Rob HIli (Suzl; 2. Hozltlr Escobar (Hus); 3. Eric EVlno (Suz). OPEN UNC: 1. Kevin Roseberry (Han); 2. James Spowart: 3. Scan M. Say (Han). 200 SR BEG: 1. Raymond Montoya (Han) . 200 BEG: 1. Bobby Stark (Hon): 2. Carlos Fuentes (Han); 3 . Jeff Kelley (Suzl . 250 SR BEG: 1. Barry Simon IMai): 2. Jlmes Sweeney (Han): 3 . Mark Glrcia (Honl . 250 VET BEG: 1. John Shaw (Ylml: 2. Richard Stuelke (Han): 3 . Steve Clugston. 250 BEG: 1. Todd Rumsey (Hus!: 2. Patrick Ber· nard (Yam); 3 . Steve McCaslin. OPEN SA BEG: 1. John Hamilton (Suz): 2. Richard Montiel (Yam); 3. Richard Giarusso. OPEN VET BEG: 1. Frederick Deane (Han!: 2. Jon Steven Grace (Yam); 3. KaV Maclean (Honl. OPEN BEG: 1. Plul Rankin (KIM); 2. Robert Ben igar (Hus ); 3. Jeff Adams (Hon) , 250 VET NOV: 1. Bob Mills (Yam ). 200 NOV : 1. Ma n Zack (Han): 2. J im Wentz (Han): 3. Oscar Alvarado (Hon). 250 SR NOV : 1. Larr y Randal (Kaw): 2. David Shafer (Han); 3 . Dwayne Boye r (Suz). 250 VET NOV: 1. Sheldon Hower (Yam): 2. Eddie

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