Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

minutes off th e C lass 21 wm n mg time . T he C lass 30 BMW of Ra h ier and H a u won the class af ter being down 19 m inu tes a t ch eck eight. From check eig h t (at Sa n Feli pe ), th ey made up th e 19 m inu tes a nd 10 more m in utes! In fact, the Rah ier /Hau team had a n elapsed time o f 3:33:52.1 (fro m Sa n Fel ipe to th e fi nish) which not o n ly smoked th eir co m peti tio n bu t bea t Mora les by 10 fu ll m in ut es. The C lass 38 win wen t to Ro n Bish o p a n d J ohn Wa tkins, lo ng- tim e ve teran ~ of Baja off -road racing .on a R on Bish op Motorcycl es/ Malco lm Smith/ L ub rad yne/Husqv arna-sponso red H usk y. " Well , it was a rea ll y good test," said Mora les la ter. "T h ere was p len ty of va riet y o f terra in , wind , fog a nd en ough ni ght ridin g to determ ine who had th eir ac t togeth er. I t wa s a • long, to ugh race." Results OVERALL: 1. Randy Morales/Derr ick Paiement (Hon) 17:18 :18.3; 2. Gasto n Rahier /Eddy Hau (8 MW) 18:28:22. 1; 3. Chris Hain es/ Ji m Fishback (Hon) 18:38 :00 .7; 4. Tom KellylWarren Reid/Dave Chase (8 MW) 19:10 :5 2.5; 5. Larry Roeseler/Kurt Pfeiff er (Hus) 19:13:oo .D(penal1Y); 6. Chuck Miller/ Bru ce Ogi lvie (Han); 19 :51 :15 .0; 7. Eri c Ande rso n l Mark Ander son 20 :26 :47.6; 8. Ron 8ishop/ John Wa t k in s (Hu s ) 20 :55 :43 . 1; 9. J im m y Son e s 21;18:56.6; 10. M ark Vanscourt / J oe Bolton (Hon) 2 1:2 1:46.4 . CLASS 20(1 25cc): 1. Steve Buckley/BobJohn son (Hon) 21 :25.58.9. CLASS 21 (25Occ): 1. Mark Vanscourt / J oe Bolton (Hon) 2 1:2 1:4 6.4 ; 2. Fra ncisco Gonzal ez/ Artu ro Vazquez (Hon ) 22 :08 :15.4; 3. David Calla wa y/ Joh n Homes 23 :28 :06 .7. CLASS 22 (OPEN): 1. Randy Morales/Derri ck Paiement (Han) 17:44 :42.3; 2. Tom KellylWa rre n Reid/ Dave Chase (BMW ) 19:10 :52.5; 3. Larr y Roeseler/ Kurt Pfeiff er (Hus) 19:13 :00 .0 (penalty ). CLASS 30 (OVER 30 VRS): 1. Gast on Rah ier /Ed· dy Hau (BMW) 18:28 :22.1; 2. Chris Haines/ J im Fi sh back (Han) 18 :3 8 :00.7 ; 3 . J im m y S o ne s 2 1:18:56 .6. CLASS 3B (OVER 38 VRS): i . Ron Bishop / John Watkins (Hus) 20 :55 :43.1; 2. Gene Dempsey/Sam Dempsey (Hon) 21:2 1:49.3; 3.John Etchart /Ri chard J ackson (Hon) 21 :53:07.9. Why Roeseler/Pfeiffer didn't win Checkpoint politics By Larry Langley T h e Husky tea m of Larry R oeseIer and Kurt Pfeiffer were pen ali zed one -n inth of -their total time for missing check th ree. T he p en alty dropp ed th em back to third in class, fifth ove ra ll a ft~r th ey appa re nt ly wo n the 1985 Baja 1000. Roeseler was rid ing th e ~eam ' s four-stroke Husk y; approach m g th e co u rse turn off o n th e h ighwa y nea r Sa n ta Maria, he encou n tered a police off ice r wav in g h im down the highway, rath er th an turin g off towa rds the check . Roeseler o beyed th e p ol iceman, th inking th at someth i n g h ad h a ppen ed o n th e co u rse (a n acci de n t maybe?). The time difference was n il , according to Team Husky' s N iles Ussery. " La rry (Roeseler) had a slig h t lead o ver Mill er when h e left th e last gas pit, before th e turnoff a nd had th e same lead at th e n ext gas. N o tim e wa s ga ine d by R oc seler m issi ng th e check. H e mi ssed it d ue to co m p lying with th e loca l authorities. T he pe na lty wa s excess ive an d q uest iona ble since a m em ber o f a co m pe ting factory tea m was on th e assess me n t co m mi ttee sai d Ussery. "T he re was some co nfus ion a t th e same point with th e ca rs bu t pe na lty didn't ca use th em to lo se a ny class sta nd ings so they did n ' t pursu e it. It cos t Larry Roeseler a nd Kurt P feiffer th e overall victory. SCO RE shou ld have had more p eo p le on hand to mon itor th e si tua tio n ." T he SCO RE co mm ittee that assessed th e pe na l ty co n s is ted of SCO RE's Sa l Fish, H DR'A's Wa lt Lo u , Gen e Calvin and Dave Holeman , B ~.W ' s te~':ll m '!n ~ ger. ,. "1 , 1. r : .. t o f -: ( I J. I Z ~.J r . -. - - , I r.r c r: , Mike Jones (9EI escapes .a pile-up, which includes Billy Frank (3W) and Bader Manneh (9W). (Below ) Rick Johnson got mad, started In the second row, and fin ished sixth on a privateer Yamaha YZ250. . Rodil SX (Co n ti n ue d fr om pag e 9) delayed ga te, " sa id Wa rd , " bu t I wait ed a nd wa ited on the line for the m to ca ll my nu mber fo r a starting' position. By th e ti me they got to m e I h ad last p ick , which was n' tfair at a ll. My othe r number was tw o o n th e fir st gate, so I had to go down th ere. I' m sure the spec tators didn' t like that, bu t th a t's racing.'.' A fter makin g t h e s pectato rs th orough l y co n fu sed, both gates dropped much less tha n five seconds apart , wh ich ca ugh t m an y second row starters off guard. Ward wound u p wi th the holeshot ahead of O 'Mara , Burnworth, va n den Berk , Holley, Wageman and Ba iley. J o h n so n w as 13th . Ward quickly opened u p a fivebikelength lead over O ' Mara , who started closi ng in by th e fifth la p and was p u ll in g a wa y from Burnworth. In the meantime, however , Lech ien , who had a p oor sta rt , crashed into a downed rider through th e q uad j urn ps and bail ed hard, p utting a n en d to hi s ni ght. T hrough th e same sections of j u m p s o n th e sa me la p , va n Doorn cl ip ped th e fo u rt h j u m p wi th h is rea r wheel an d took a scary-looking getoff. H e en doed at hi gh speed wit h his bi ke co mi ng cra sh in g down on him renderi ng him unco ns cious for a few secon ds . J oh n so n [Jew over the jump, a nd i n a effor t to avo id h i ttin g va n Do orn , went in to th e h ayba les an d o ff th e track . H e re-entered th e track a lmost last. Van Doorn was carried o ff th e track with a concussion, but was other wise uninjured . By th e h alfwa y p oint, th i ngs had sett led down with Ward and O ' Mara batt ling for th e lead a long wa ys a head of Bail ey, who held a co m fo rt a ble advantage over the fourth-place rider Burn worth. H oll ey wa s fifth. T h e dogfigh t for the lea d rem a in ed intense throughout the race; O ' Mara wo uld close to within in ches of Wa rd , then drop back a few feet, then close and so o n . Bu t Wa rd n ever back ed off and held h is q u ick pace. Van den Berk wa s runn ing top European in seventh fo ll owed by Jobe in 13th ; Tofu kuj i was 15th with Poppel 17th . Wi th th e checkered [Jag in sigh t, O'Mara was in ch es beh ind Ward bu t co u ld n ' t fi nd enough ro om to make the p ass. Wa rd took th e win i nch es ahe a d of O'Ma ra. Ba iley crashed on the la st lap th ro ugh the whoops bu t had en ou g h ti me to sa ve his th ird place position at the fin ish . Fourth went to Bu rn worth, followedby Hol ' 15 (2: .1 ·,· q L ~: t1 (· ( i ,I ~ ~ ·d.l :l ' ley, Johnson, van den Ber k, Larson, H o lland an d Kehoe. "O'M ara was rid ing rea l good," sai d Ward , " he wa s pressuring m e all th e wa y. Lap pearid ers kep t getting in o ur way; so me times i t wo u ld h elp m e, so meti mes h im. Lappers rea ll y h elped him a t th e end whe n h e got right on me. But I didn 't break down fro m the pressure and st uc k right in th ere." Keh oe, who finishe d 10th overa ll sa id , " In m y thi rd qua lifi er, I finished third, g ivi ng m e a spot on th e firs t ga te, but (Mike) Goodwi n ca me to m e, a nd so me of the othe r Am er ica ns, offered th em $250 to start on th e seco nd gate, so I went ahead an d agreed with it. This wh ol e thing was screw ed u p , an d if I were a Europ ea n , m y feel in gs would be h u rt for be ing pu t on th e first ga te - I just don 't th ink it' s very sport sm an -like." A somewhat-dejected J o be sa id after th e even t, " I a m u p set. When I first signed my co n tra ct to come here, th ey sa id i t wo u ld bea race between Europea ns and Americans, a n d they said th ere wo ul d be rul es, like th e best America ns would start on the seco nd row a n d we would start in the first row . Bu t I come here, I h av e good q ua lifica tion h ea t by p lacing a real second pl ace, an d the n I find m yself si tt in g o n th e seco nd gate. I was pu nished for rid in g good. So h ow was it p os sible for m e, a Europea n , to win h ere , wh en I race on ly five su pe rcro sses all year. I'm still happy I ca me , the spe cta to rs are grea t a n d I . had a lot o f fun, a nd tha t's m ost importa nt." East/West 1 25cc shootout The Nippondenso East vs. West 125cc shootou t was won by the wes t, bu t eas tern rider Rodney Barr starr ed as top rider. T h e event feat ured three motos, with points being awarde d in each . T he top 10 East and West Coast R egi onal Ch ampions met h ead-tohe ad in this first-ever event. Barr started th e eve n ing off o n th e right foo t by clai mi ng the fir st moto win a head of Suzuki's Mike H eal ey, East Coast R egi o n a l Cha mpion Eddie Warr en (Ka w), Ray So m m o (Kaw) an d 125cc R ookie of the Yea r Bill y Frank (Ya m) . Ro u nd tw o fea tured an exci tin g duel for the lead between Warren a nd Kawa saki rider Bad er Manneh, Manneh led m os t of the race with Warren in close pursuit. Near th e end o f th e race, Warren tried to dive u n dern ea th Ma nneh in a turn at th e bottom o f the peris tyle but p lowed into Manneh , causing bo th riders to crash . It was a -Ii' • ') I p 1, I , ~ U I ,I I JI t I ~ r I r c l J ra ce to restart th eir m ounts an d Warren won .but not before Frank and Barr cr u ised by. Mann eh recovered in fo urth but was passed by H onda rider Larry Bro oks shortly af ter. Frank and Barr d uel ed dow n to the fi n ish with Fran k taking th e win by inch es. Wa rren fin ish ed th ird ah ead of Bro oks , Manneh, H onda rider Drey Dircks, Sommo and West Coas t Regional Ch ampion Bo bb y Moore (SUl) . Kawasaki ride r J ason Upshaw led off th e start i n th e th ird a nd fin al race followed by Barr , H eal ey and Tyson Vohland (Kaw ). Duri ng the second lap, Barr jammed to th e o ut side and slipped by U ps haw for th e lead , wh ile Vo h land jum pe d p ast H ealey. Barr , U p sh aw a nd Voh la nd sta yed close for the next few laps until Upshaw did a spe ctacu lar somersa u lt over the h a ndle bars when he landed a li ttl e sh ort over a double jum p. He slo wly cl i mbed to his feet a n d re-entered th e race but out of con ten tion. Barr fo und h im self with a good-sized lead wh ich h e held onto even after stiff challenges by Vohland a t the fin ish . Vohland cla imed second a head of H ealey, Warren , Mike J o nes, Frank and Jeff G la ss. • Results 250 MAtN: 1. Jeff Ward (Kaw); 2. Jo hnny O'Mara (Hon); 3. David Bailey (Hon); 4 . Scott Burnworth (Vam); 5. Jim Holley (Vam); 6. Ric k Johnson (Vam); 7. Jon van den Berk (Han); B. Phil Lar son (Kaw); 9. Georg e Holland (Suz); 10. Erik Kehoe (Suz); 11. Russ Wageman (Yam ); 12. Rick Ryan (Kaw ); 13. Georges Jobe (Kaw ); 14. A.J. Whit ing (Suz); 15. Vasuo Tofu kji (Hon); 16. Gordon Ward (Yam); 17. Ja n Van Peppel (Vam); 18. Eric Geboers (Hon ); 19. Gert -J en van Doorn . Yam ); 20 . Ron Lechi en (Kaw l. ( 125 : 1. Rodney Barr (Kaw ); 2. Tyson Vohlan d (Kawl; 3. Mi ke Healey( Suz); 4. Eddie Warre n (Kaw ); 5. Mi ke Jones (Kaw ); 6. Bill y Fran k (Vam); 7. Jeff Glass (Hon); 8 . Ray Sommo (Vam); 9. Bart Shifl ett .(Suz); 10. Drey Dircks (Hon); t t . Larry Brooks (Hon ); 12. Carro ll Rich ardson (!\aw ); 13. Bader Manneh (K8W~; , 1:4. J ason ,Upsh a~ (Ka.w )" •.. r ( I "" 1 'I ) ) ~ ;; lf r ) ), 3 1 ] . 1 .~£·,41 :) . l~ ~ I l(. .-

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