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/127125
An estimated 1800 riders stormed Riverside .International Raceway for the two-day Viewfinders GP, most likely the last Viewfinders GP at RIR . . During Sunday's Expert race, Vet Expert winner Rex Staten (24) leads Ward through a man-made mud hole. Staten finished fifth overall. All smiles after w inning the Expert race Sunday was Gordon Ward riding' a 250cc Cagiva. He also rode Saturday's Sportsman race, but seized. 18 steady. I went through th e mud rea l slow, too; I didn't wantto crash. I'd also like to thank ' Dick Higa a t Malcolm Smith, without his help th is win wouldn't h av e been '. posible." " I ran out of gas on th e third lap," said Davis . " Once I got going and after th e first pit I really started . finding the good lines, felt reall y good and was on th e ga s." After spending Saturday morning's Vet Pro race dicing with Staten an d jeffrey Haase, Roeseler had a brief rest before hopping back on his Kawasaki to win the Sp ortsman even t on his 250. . Roeseler started near the back of the grid, while H onda-mounted Scott Clifton jumped h is bi!?-bore Honda into the lead, starting In the first row. Also starting in th e first row was (Dan ) Smith and his 500cc XC Husky. Smith was running up front before his shock blew forcin g him to pit early and replace the ' shock. Smith reente red th e race a lap dow n but wi th the front ru nners, giving Roeseler someon e to battle back and fort h wit h. . As th e pack made it aro u nd for the • first la p it was Clifton with abou t a 15 second lead on Honda rider Ll oyd T homas, wh o was chased by j im Kapka, George Penn ington, Ashcra ft, Shawn Mahn and Ri chard T aylor. Roeseler had worked up to I Ith overa ll and was closel y chas ed by Baker. Also running in th e top 10 was Kawas aki's Paul Krause. By lap tw o, Clifton was sti ll leading the pack bu t Ashcraft had taken over second place and was ga i n i n g on Cl ifton. Thomas dropped back to third with Krau se ' moving up to fourth. After Krause was Roeseler and Sm ith. just before heading into the scoring ch icane for the third lap, Krause wicked up hi s Kawasaki and .ou tpowered by Thomas on Riverside's b anked, hi gh-speed turn n ine. " Smi th's big-bore Husky scooted by Roeseler 's 250 in th e same sectio n (bu t Smith was still a lap down). . Rapidly gaining on leader Clifton, . Ashcraft was soon to be setting th e lead pace, but a nail punctured Ashcraft's rear tire. Heading into lap four, Ashcraft limped into the p its and was ~ut for th e day. By the . fourt h la p , attr ition was p lay i ng a m aj or facto r. Cl if ton p ulled into the pits surre nderi ng his Iead , while Krau se dropped out wit h a broken chain. Sunday's overall Pro winner Ward ha d his 125cc Ca giva suffe r a seizu re o n th e firs t lap , so Ward ended up cru ising around the track, chec king o ut the hot lin es f3r Su nday's bout, T h is m ad e th e fie l d clea r for Roeseler and Baker wh o battled for th e rest of th e eigh t-lap race. Roeseler finished just ahead of Baker for th e overall win. Third went to YZ250 Yamaha-mounted Greg Fountain, while Lloyd T h omas took fourth. . In th e Vet Pro race Staten, Roeseler and H aase battled throughout the ra ce with Staten finishing on top over Haase. Roes eler finished third ahead of Honda riders Craig Adams an d Danny Sanchez. • Results (Unofficial) . . VETS 0 / A: 1.' Rex Staten (Kaw); 2. Jeff Haase (Kaw); 3. Larry Roeseler (Kaw); 4 . Craig Adams (Han); 5. Danny Sanchez (Han). . SPTSMN 0 / A: 1. Larry Roeseler (Kaw); 2. Mike Baker (Yam); 3: Greg Fountain (Yam); 4. Uoyd Thomas (Han). BEG/NOV 0 / A: 1. David Rose (Han); 2. David Simon (KTM); 3. Mike Manin (Yam); 4 . Alan Heffernan (Han); 5. Peter Voigt (KTMI. AM /EX 0 / A : 1. Gordon Ward (Cag); 2. M ike Baker (Yam); 3. Ty Davis (Suz); 4. Greg Zitterkopf (Yam); 5. Rex Staten (Kaw); 6. Terry Fowler; 7. Jeff Haase (Kaw); 8. Paul Krause (Kaw); 9. Todd Campbell (KTM); 10. Kun Pfeiffer (Yam).