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/126988
~ 00 C'1 .... v .c o -' u o Willy Simons leads Ian Fitz-Gibbon through the scoring chicane early in the Open Expert race. but it was Randy Morales taking the win . Open Expert Louis Peic k J r. fi nished eighth . Heavy rains fe ll du ring the Open race but didn't dampen t he rac ing action . Morales masters Rosarito Beach GP By Suze Mann ROSARIT O BEACH, B.C. MEXICO, O CT. II Randy Morales steamed his Team Green Kawasaki KX500 across' the finish line an d through the scoring ch ican e in a downpour of rain to capture the Open class victory at th e Hi llt opper's T hird An n ual R o sa ri to La P laya (Bea ch ) Gr P ' a n fIX . .. H onda-mo u nted WIlly Sim- 14 o ns settled for second af ter dicing wi th Moral es for over half the race, desp it e ha ving "t o sto p for fresh goggles every lap. Oceanside Suzuki's T om Knapp rounded ou t the to p ยท three on his H onda a nd was the on ly rider still o n th e sa me lap wi th Moral es and Sim ons whe n th e checkered flag fell. Open Novice rider Michael Berg stalls his big Honda in the sand while another rider almost takes him out. The deep sand kept riders busy. Morales, sponso red by Kawasaki , Answ er Products, Scott USA an d Sh oei H elmets, lapped fourth pl ace Tony Wanket, Honda -mounted, a nd fi fth fi n is her KTM rider Br ia n Schm uckle, on his fin al lap of th e 75-mi le long race. "This win sure cheered up m y da y, " s mi le d the drippin g wet Moral es. " I'm ge tting in so me practice a nd becoming famil iar wi th th e bike before raci ng the Baja 1000." Mora les go t tan gl ed up w i th a nothe r rider in th e morn in g 250cc race which was won by Pro motocross racer, 19-year-old, Yamaha/ Sco tt US A/ Gea r R acewea rs po nso re d Bill y Frank. Frank sli pped across th e border after racing a t Carl sbad on Saturday a nd " rode for fun because I reall y like th is race - it's different. " Second 250 went to H onda rider Cra ig Ada ms . Ad am s, a se lfsponsored, long time top Amat eur racer who won bo th the 250 a nd 500cc classes in 1986 gav e up the lead to Fra nk o n the sixth of 13 laps. Later in the da y Adams switched from Expe rt class to Expert Veteran for the Open class race. H e topped hi s class and fin ished sixth overall. Moral es had to accep t third in the 250cc race after being d ropped from second to 18th a t the beginning of th e th ird lap when a ovice he was lappin g lost co ntrol of h is bike a nd wedged it between th e rear wh eel a nd sw i ngarm o f Mo ral es ' H onda . Morales charged back up into third by the sevent h lap but Frank a nd Adams were o ut of reach. Mora les grad ua lly closed the ga p until the flag dropped a t th e end of th e 13th lap of the six-and-a -ha lf-m ile long course. Yama ha rider Ia n Fitz-Gibbon , riding for Team Stump a nd H ondamo unted Grant Pal en ske ro unded out the top five 250cc class Experts . Expert Vet, Barry Porter and Ama teur J ack Bongio vanni slip ped into the overall 250cc sta nd ings wi th fo urt h a nd sixth , whi le taking th eir indi vidua l class ho nors. Omin ous looking clouds fill ed the sky Sunday m orning el im inating 'a ny fears the Hill toppers had abo u t dust in the motocross sectio n and on the three o r four blocks of the dirt roads in town th at were used for the pit area. Most of the race was run on the sil ver sand beach , three blocks west of the main street of downtown Rosarito. There were a few sprin kles du ring th e 250cc race. Then it drizzled and sto pped before turning into a del uge towards the end of th e Open event with up to a foot of wat er ru shing down th e streets fro m town to the beach . . The 250cc race was flagged off the line a t 8:20 a. m . a nd ran stra igh t down th e beach for two-and-a-ha lf m iles into a tight swee p ing left hander wh ich funneled th e riders into th e single file scori ng ch icane th en ba ck down th e beach over a couple of sets of double jumps then tucked eas t a block into town to the pit a rea th en back o nto th e beach a nd up a h ill to a pl ateau at the La Pala pa campground wh ere the motocross sectio n was laid out th en back ont o the beach for the two-and-a-half mil e run sou th again. The club wa s on ly allowed on th e beach to mark .the course at dark the night before th e race. It was not possibl e to p u t a ny ch ica nes into th e long straight to slow the ri ders befor e the turn a t the south end. On race morning it was also decided for safety , to start down the beach and _while all the Experts came through the scoring chi cane on the first lap just fin e, th e Novice a nd Begi nners jammed up. The problem was eliminated in the fo llowi ng races by starting fewer riders per row a nd spacing them further apart, Adams led Mora les, Porter, Brian and Greg Fountain (bo th o n Yam ah as), Vin ce Skandunas and Austen Haydis to th e end of the drag race o n the first lap. Frank was ninth. As th e leaders cam e around the sweepe r a nd headed for the scoring chica ne the second time they ran into th e bottlen eck of Novices. Adams, who still had th e lead by a wheel a nd-a -ha lf a hea d of Mor ales, said after the race, " I kept remembering th at the fin ish cap tain and the rider in stru ctions sta ted specially we must go th rough the scori ng ' chicane or we wo uld not be scored. I looked Mo ral es in the eye and dove into the pack of riders." Frank had charged into third a nd a lso ca me th ro ugh th e chica ne but several to p r u n n i ng rider s ro de around and were not scored. They were not d isqual ified, just lost a lap. Greg Foun tain and Jeff H aase both