Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126823
Virginia Cit y Sheriff Bob " Goober" del Carlo (above) was an early eontender in the Old Tim ers class. (Below) Pasqualotto was second over all . Overall winner Roeseler (above) had to charge hard to beat Pasqualotto and Grossi. (Below) Part of the race course took riders "through town. Roeseler victorious at Virgina City GP By W. H. Spencer ' VIRG IN IA CITY, NV, MAY 11-12 A new 22-mile-Iong course greeted nearly 1000 riders' who entered the 15th annual Virginia City GP, run -by the Western States Racing Association. Factory Husqvarria d . I ese rt ace L arry ~o e s e er eme rged theoverall victor as h e whipped on by Tony Pasqua' . lotto and Billy 'Sugar Bear' 44 Grossi o n th e sixth of seven laps to win by nearl y two m inutes, a fter a deficit of n earl y 20 minutes on the . second lap: " 1 knew I had m y work cu t out for m e wh en the crew £lashed a minus 20 minutes on the board at the start of th e second lap," said Roeseler. " Whe n I pitted th e next time, they gave me lots o f encoura gemen t and we ran 'em down." Both Pasqualottoand Grossi related th e la st lap syn dro me of fa tigue. " I kn ew h e wa s com in g up on me a n d there was nothing I could really do. I tri ed but just couldn't hang o n to h im ," sai d Pa squal otto. Grossi a ppea red very tired o n th e start of th e sevent h lap as th ey both pitted ." I wa s h ati,ng life th e las~ t,~o times around,' related Grossi. I p assed Pasqualotro two laps ba ck, but couldn't hold on; wh en Larry ca me by, I just let him go . I'm happy I finished and I'll be back." The weekend was , as usual, a blast from early in the week right through th e Saturday night shows where yo u couldhave dinner in th e Delta and watch the Iloor show from th e Bucket of Blood right across the sp eer co m pl et e with sirens, fights a n d just pl ain good o ld Western-style fun . With the Marin County M:C:. winning th e trophy for m ost parti ci pants (a bo u t 23 with all finishi ng), the lin e up began abo.u t 9:30 a.m . for a .10:0.0 a.m. start. Enc McKenna on his HI ' Point H onda liv ed up to th e zero tart number and led o u t with G oober del Ca rlo an d Bru ce Mcffougal in tow . That order h eld good through th e first chec k with Pasqualotto and Gary Vanderpool over Scott Davis and Dave Porter in front of Robin Bennett. The usual Vanderpool versus Davis battle stopped a t the hal£way point with Davis having wat er troubles and Vanderpool th e same except in different places. Davi s with a motor that ex p ired because of th e lack o f it , a n d Vanderpool for too much under th e kn ee. McKenna pitted in th e lead o n lap o ne with in structi ons to th e p it for so me cha nges while h e went to th e men 's room. Refr esh ed with new goggles, h e fired up and left th e pits with a 20-seco n d adva ntage o n del Carlo . Dean' J o yner pitted in third, but su ffered th e first of three flats an d was passed by McDougal's Honda with Pasqual otto's M-Star looking in fifth over Grossi , Shawn G erber on a KTM , Curt Wilcox and Conrad Stitser. At this point th e point board sho wed Roeseler 16th overall. Th e Brown brothers wh eelied through on the completion of lap o ne on th eir Hondas with Kevin leading Darrol. Brad Hinson seemed in charge of th e 250cc Junior class just behind with Doug Noell on the move, just behind Hinson, who was riding a Mac Robertson/SK Cycl e-backed M-Star. McKenna led through the streets on the start of the th ird lap, having turned the fastest lap of the weekend at just under 38 minutes; but he had bike problems hal£way through th e lap a n d was out for some time. McDougal held second over Pasqualotto and Grossi 's YZ490 with Gerber fifth over Joyner's YZ and Wilcox still leading Stitser. Ron Dillon pitted in ninth over Mike Marquez with Roeseler eventually moving on by. John Georgett e, Ron Knarr, Dave Porter and Andy Segale rounded out th e top 15 overall , with Joyner, Porter , Dillon and Segal e on 250s and the rest o n Open class mach in es. Goober del Carlo retired to a welding shop to repair a broken frame but returned th e next lap. while Noell led the Sportsm an class rid ers (but maybe not on corrected tim e)as Duke Dowell, rolled th rough traH ic. Pasqua lotto's M·Star wa s all a lone sta rt ing lap four as both Grossi and McDougal p itted while Gerber went by and Joyner had his thi rd £Iat and Roeseler was up to sixth. Pasqua fotto pitted at th e sta rt of lap five wh ere.Grossi wen t through a n d took a br ief lead with RoeseIer in and out for his last pit stop in quick time and third. McDougal went by in fourth. but his bik e was not sounding real h ealthy. Wilcox maintained over Ron Na ylor, and Charlie Halcomb sh o wing in th e top 10 for the first time, over Noell a nd Sh awn Mahn. With just a n hour to go in the 4l!· hour race, Pasqualotto had a 45second advantage on Grossi , who was over a minute in front of Roeseler - and this was the lap he passed th em both. McDougal still had fourth pl ace over Gerber, with Noell over Wilcox and H alcomb pitting in front of Du ane Su m me rs. With 18 minutes until the checkered, the leaders cam e by as Roeseler rode like lightn ing over Pasqualotto and Grossi; Gerber pitted along with McDougal , wh ile Noell pitted with a Ilat rear tire a nd go t back out without losing a pl ace. T he checkers fell on Ron LaPointe. who was unhappy because he had gone six laps and was now really ready to do a n o ther. Finishing seven circu it s a nd ta king th e unofficial win was Roeseler by a wide two -minute margin over Pasqualotto, with Grossi ano ther three minutes behind for third overall. Gerber, Halcomb an d McDougal rounded out six places. Noell was first Sportsman with Dowell and the Brown brothers close in tow. Saturday's thriller saw Mark Darby the winner on a YZl25 in a great show. The form er MXer dazzled the troop after a first-lap crash for the overall and 125cc Junior win, while Roger Lindsay rode his last 250cc Novice run with second overall and first in class on his Marin Motorsportsponsored KX; Butch Cochrane took third, first Vet -Novice. • Results UNOFFICIAl OVERALL SATURDAY: 1. Mark Darby (Yam); 2. Roger Undsay (Kaw): 3. Bu.ch Cochrana (Yam): 4 . Shawn Gerber IKTM); 5. Charlie Halcomb IHuit 8. Bruce Mc Dougal (Han); 7. Ooug NoeIlIM-St 8. Cun Wil COJl (Yam).