Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

~ (,0 C'J ..c: u .... ~ ~ Over 450 riders (above) lined the starting grid for Sunday's morning race . Mike Baker (below ) finished first Expert overall on his YZ250. D·37 Viewfinders GP: Baker edges Smith at Riverside By Anne and Tom Van Beveren RI VERSID E. CA, MAR . 1-2 Mike Baker and his Yamaha YZ250 captured the overall win at the 18th Annual D-37 Viewfinders GP at R iverside International Raceway, edging H usq varna 's Dan Smith by 10seco nds after th e IOO-m ile race. Although Smith a nd his 500cc Husk y cro ssed th e chec kered flag o u t in front , Bak er foll owed o ne m inute a nd 17 seco nds bac k, and a fter th e sta n time-adj us tm ent h ad been co m p u ted , Baker eme rg ed with the overa ll by a scant io seco nds . Smith wound u p ta king th e 500cc class win, whil e Dan Ash craft fin ished second. A record turnout o f rid ers a ttended thi s year's race, which is th e fina l Viewfinders GP 10 be held at R iver side Interna tion al Ra cew a y. T he nine-mile-a -lap co urse featured so me asphalt sectio ns, wat erhole jumps, waterhol es, a motocross sectio n and everything else in betw een. o 24 The stan of Sunda y's Expert rac e saw Ba ker lea ve th e line-fo u r row, a lmost one-a nd -a-half m inutes behi nd Smi th and Ash cra ft, But out o n the co urse, Baker made up the time needed to sq uea k th ro ugh for first p lace. " My sta rt wa s held u p because a co upl e o f bik es went down in th e fir st corner, or I might have ca u g h t Smi th," sa id Baker , " bu t I g uess th e tim e is wh at C OUIllS, and even 10 seconds is fin e." Whil e Baker was fighting h is way up in th e time-adjusted sta ndings, front-row sta rter Smith was ca ugh t in a head-to-h ead tu ssle for th e Open cla ss title with Husk y teammat e Ashcra ft. Smith go t o ff 10 a good sta rt , winn ing th e holesh ot co mpe titio n for h is row, but Ash craft was hard on hi s h eels into th e first co rne r, with Tea m Husk y's newest member, C hris Cra nda ll, in hot pursu it. Sm ith and Ash craft were neck-in neck for th e first four laps, with Sm ith barely squeezing th rough in front a t th e chec k eac h tim e, a nd by th e en d o f lap fou r, th e two had ope ned up a sizea ble lead over Craig Ada ms (Han) a nd Rand y Norman (H on ), wh o were bauf ing for third in the ea rly laps o f th e Open class race. Cra nda ll, wh o had falle n in th e first la p o f Sa tur day's Sports m a n 's race a nd ta ken a handlebar in th e ribs, was hanging on for fifth posit ion, By th e end o f th e six th lap, Sm ith had ope ned up a 30-seco n d lead over Ash craft that he held until th e checkered flag dropped. a nd th e two were wa y o u t in front o f th e rest o f th e O pen cl ass fiel d. Cag iva 's Du ane Su mmers edged up th rough th e ran ks into th ird and held the p lace th rough most of the lat er laps. but was forced in to fourth place by a stro ng ride by Dennis Vetter (KT M) in th e last two laps . C randall , wh o was ho lding o n to fourth pl ace go in g into lap eig h t, developed p roblems with wh at sou nded like a lunch ed gea rbox o n hi s Husky a nd was forced to sit o u t the last lap. " Bike problems," was his on ly commen t a fter th e race . " It was a g rea t co urse a nd I h ad a reall y good rid e th e wh ol e co urse," sa id Sm ith . "They made it a lo t more li ke a big motocross this year, whi ch co u ld n' t be better for me," Ash craft, who wa s recovering from su rge ry. said h e was gl ad th e rac e was o ver. " It was a lot rougher th an in th e Sportsma n's race yesterday , a nd I'm tired ," he sai d . " I had kne surgery e th ree wee ks ago a nd I'v e just sa t arou nd letting it heal since th en , so I'm o u t o f shape a nd rea lly tired. " Wh ile Sm ith a nd Ash craft fought it o ut for the Open class lead in th e ear l y laps, th e 250cc class bike o f Bak er a nd Todd Ca m pbell (KT M) had beg u n making the ir move from row four o f th e g rid . By th e end o f th e firs t lap, Baker and Ca m p bel l, who were never more th an a few bik elengths apart a t the ch eck, had worked th eir way up to sixt h a nd seventh o vera ll , a nd were clos ing o n the O pen class leaders. Ca mpbell edged a hea d o f Baker lat e in lap seven 10 take th e 250cc class lead a nd hel d it in to lap n in e, but th e rear wh eel of hi s KTl\I exp loded a nd he dropped o u t, g iving Baker a clear shot a t th e lead ers. " 1 fell in th e last lap, " sa id Baker , "and I fell down a co up le of ti m es before that, too. Abo ut th e eigh th la p a lapped rider threw m ud all over me as I went by; I couldn't see a th ing , a n d I had a lo t of problems with m y gogg les. With all that mud, seeing is a lways a problem . but I had a grea t ra ce even so. " A co nsisten t ride from Paul Krause (Suz) kept him in third place throughout th e 250cc class race, and moved him int o seco nd p lace after Campbell 's di sappea ran ce in the last lap, with a fourth pl ace in th e overall standings. It was al so a good race for Dal e Kna p p , so n of lo ng time desert racer An Knapp . Dal e, who sta rted one row behind Bak er in th e 250cc class, worked up from 12th in class at the end o f th e first la p to tak e sixth overa ll a nd fourth in class a t th e finish . The Veteran Open Expert class was a runaw ay victory jar Honda 's Bru ce O gilvie, wh o sa id he has been a regular a t th e Viewfinder 's Riv erside Grand Prix. O gilvi e ope n ed up a huge lead o ver th e rest of th e Veteran Open Ex pert Iield by th e end of th e seco nd lap, a nd never looked back . Well-known ex-spe ed way cha m pion Mike Bast thrill ed th e cro wd with a dem onst rat ion of h ow 10 tak e th e hol esh ot o ff th e sta rt in h is row o f th e Veteran O pen Expert race . Bast told Viewfinder 's race orga n izers th at he rode th ei r cl ub 's first G rand Prix a t Westl ak e in 1966, a nd was racing a t Riverside 10 be a p art of th eir last R iver sid e G rand Prix. Th e Veteran 250cc Expe rt race was a n u pset vic tory for Andre Bu tch er (Yam) , a fter Mik e Si xbery led by a huge marg in th rough ou t the race, but d idn 't appear a t th e end o f lap eig h t. Spectators reported tha t Sixbery fell hard n ea r th e end o f th e lap and needed a few minutes o ff th e bik e to recover. Sunday's morn in g race got off to a n impressive sta rt wi th a record en try of over 450 rid ers waiting on th e grid. Th e Open Novice cla ss looked lik e a n easy win for Dan Wa ller (Hon) , wh o had ope ned up a twominute lead going in to lap seven. But Waller 's lead wa s cu t 10 a lmost nothing a t th e chec kered flag by SCOll Kirmi er, wh o sta rted fourth on th e gr id a nd ma y edge Wall er o u t in th e time -adj us ted results. Duane POllS, wh o led the class a t the en d o f thefirst lap, came in hard o n th eir h eels 10 ta ke third. Waller sa id it was tiredness th at m ad e th e race to uch a nd go a t th e fini sh . I crashe d on th e seco nd lap a nd th at put m e back a bit, " h e sa id . " b u t the n at th e end I just got tired a nd th e o ther g uys ca ugh t up." " I had him passed tow ards th e en d but th en he go t th e rig h t line behind a lapper a nd tha t was it, " sa id Kinnier a fter the race. POllSsa id hi s biggest problem was staying o n th e bike. " I thought the course wa s g rea t. Th e prob lem I had was that I went down - twice I thin k. It wa sn 't keeping u p with th e lea ders that wa s the problem, it was keep in g off the ground!" T he Veteran Open Novice and Veteran 250cc Novice cla sses were easy victori es. Mi chael Burger t (H o n) stormed into th e lead in the first co rner o f th e Veteran Open Novi ce race and never even looked like h e wa s being cha lle n ged, whi le David (Con tin ued to page 32)

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