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/127122
They need to put on good ti~ht courses for a National, not this wide open stuff." Kawasaki 's Roeseler agreed. "There were some good ro ck y canyons but most of it was really fast open desert ," he said. " It was marked well and it was long, but there are a lot of challengin g obstacles ou t th ere and I think they should try to find some of them, not just make it a drag race." While Ashcraft and Roeseler were wishing for tight terrain, Griewe was more than happy with th e route. " I thought it was really challenging. It was a good course," said Griewe. " It had lots of different terrain; rocks, sand washes and stuff. It was really well marked too ." The hard-charging Husky pilot continued to dominate the race throughout the long final loop a nd, at times , dr ew out his leading margin to as mu ch as two minutes. "I 'd get out in front a bit and th en the y'd ca tch me again," said Griewe. "I got lost on ce too , which didn 't help. I missed a turn and kept going stra igh t, and then my silencer broke and my rear end got a bit warm for a while th ere." Further back in th e pack Ashcraft was using th e fast-paced terrain to his advantage and was steadily closi ng th e gap on Cartwright. H e swept past to claim second before the halfway point in the second loop and Roeseler soon followed su it. "Larry got by me on a rocky uphill right befor e' the alternate gas," said Cartwright. " I had a pr ett y good race with no problems, except that Larry kept going too fast." Roeseler's trouble-free ride ran into difficulties soon after he blasted past his 250cc rival. " I got by Cartwright and then I bent my rear disk which left me with no rear brakes," Roeseler said. " I had to pump them to get them to work and it made things a bit tough, so I just cruised in for third after that. " Naylor disappeared somewhere out on loop' two leaving Thomas in charge of Iifth overa ll, while back in 12th Ogilvie was making his move. "There wasn 't a nyth ing too tough - no kill er uphi lls or downhills but there was lo ts of challenging terrai n ; challenging to nego tiate fast, anyway," Ogilvie said. " I had trouble at first because of my start but once I got out of all the dust and into the top lO I had a good ride." In front of th e pack , Gri ewe was still holding his own. Despite a ra celong push from Ashcraft that finished with a n impressive last -minute spri n t as loop two dr ew 10 a close , the Husky pilot was still out in front wh en th e checkered flag fell. "This is th e firs t National I've ever won and it feels great," Griewe said. Gri ew e, who thanked Cagiva North Ameri ca, George Earl, Spectro, Husky Products, hi s wife,mom a nd dad, said he has high hopes for th e rest of th e National series. " I'd lik e to do well in the series, so I'm going to try to do the rest of the races," he said. "We'll just have to see how the funds hold out." Ashcraft was not quite as' happy with his second place finish. " I'm a bit disappointed," , he said. "I reall y wanted to win again and it bums me out wh en the club puts on a race like this." The Yamaha/ Pro ' Circu it/ Dun lop/ ] T / Rent hal/F8cL/Spectro/Dallas Baker-spo nsored Ashcraft added, "I didn't like the co urse muc h and I thought it was way too fast. It would 've been nice to win the first two but I guess I'm pretty happy with second. " Kawasaki /Tsubaki /Scott/Maxima/Ma1colm Smith/Dunlop/ Rentha llAscerbis-sponsored Roesel er • Register to win valuable prizes • Hundreds of motorcycles, ANs, accessories and apparel • see the latest models • see the best in touring cycle equipment • Free Rider education seminars • see motorcycles of the future and collector cycles of the past • Hundreds of g ift items and occessorles for purchase AMiJ --- 00 Endorsed by Produced by Edgell Expositions and Conferences Thursday, March 3 11 am-10 pm Friday, March 4 . 10 am- 9 pm saturday, March 5 10 am- 9 pm MAXIMA RACING LUBRICANTS 10969-A Whea t lands Ave., Santee. CA 92071 (619) 449-5000 19

