Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Team Green 's Larry,Roeseler captured five class wins at the Desert Vipers' Adelanto Grand Prix. Roeseler reigns at Adelanto ,G P By Donetta and Bob Murray ADELANTO, CA, FEB. 4-5 T eam G reen 's Larry Roeseler won five out of the five races he entered and a $1400 share of the p urse a t the Desert Vipers" Adelanto G rand Prix. A total o f 3 1 pro riders charge d through th e wellbal anced course o f motocross section's, desert terrain and th e downtown stree ts of Adelan to in hopes o f end ing up with a pi ece o f the $5255 to ta l purse. Roeseler's hopes for a slice of the pi e look ed slim a t the begi n ni ng of th e race. Ri d in g back-to-h ack races ' in the two previous cla sses, he missed the drop of the starting flag for the P ro ,ra ce, He p icked off r iders througli the first 10-mi le loop to pass throug h the home chec k ch u te in 18th place with a host of to p-rated riders still in front of him . The ea rl y lead er o f the race was T ed Hu nn icutt who had a two -kick start on his KX500. H e was sho ved wid e in th e first tu rn where he was able to o verta ke ha lf of the class. Most o f th e riders sti ll in front of H u nnicu tt were trea ted to h is dust by th e second turn. Blazing down a pavement section, he passed the fin al remai ni ng riders a nd gai ned a dustfree lead as he entered th e desert. Hu nni cu tt zig-zagged through th e home ch u te in first place followed , by G reg Zitterkopf on a n ATK a nd Suzuki's Kenj i Gauthier. Zitterkopf a n d hi s four- stroke mach in e took com mand of th e lead d uring th e seco nd lap , a po sition he was to maintain th roughout most of th e eig h t-loop (80 m ile) race. Although the wi nds - u p to 70 m ph - were bo u nc ing the riders around a bit, Roeseler 's determined cha rge for th e win saw him move up to 10th a t th e end of th e second loop a nd third by th e th ird tim e th ro ugh th e mot ocross sectio n . T he cold weather sta rted p la yin g havoc with Hunn icu tt, whose arms p u mped u p ca using him to slo w his pace and a llow both Roeseler and Derrick Pa iem ent o n a Kawasaki to pass him. , Su dde nly, halfwa y th rough the race, Ya mah a 's Dan Ash craft fired up and ma de his presence known. " I didn 't know a stick had ca ugh t in m y shi ft lever in the first la p ," said Ashcra ft. " I tho ugh t my tra ns m issio n was go ing out so I was taki ng it easy. O nce I found the problem , I p ulled out the stick a nd started raci ng." He raced a ll the wa y to the third slot by the next-to -last la p , th e same la p that Roeseler fin a lly took over the lea d. Zitterkopf fell prey to Roeseler 's a mazing charge during th e seventh loop. " My bik e was set u p ' for mo tocross ," said Zitterk o p f, who thanked h is spo nsors AT K, Arai , Sm it h Gogg les , Ha llman a nd Nol en e. "T he suspensio n was too stiff and it a te up m y hands. I co uldn ' t ha ng o n anymor e." Roeseler padded his lead during the final loo p a nd took the checkered flag with a little tim e to spa re. Zitterkopf ma naged to han g on wi th his blister ed h a n d s for seco n d. Hunn icutt .passed Ash craft three mi les from the finish and made " o ne lar/?e cha rge" for hi s third-p lac e Iinish with Ash craf t crossi ng th e finish line fourth . Rounding ou t th e mo ney win ners were Paiem ent, fifth ; Mike Ba ker, o n a Yama ha , sixth ; Gauth ier , seven th; . Ken P a rry, eig h th; Gra nt Pal en ske, ninth; a nd , Mike Hooker, 10th. The Pro race was th e last race of the da y o n Sa turday. T he first race o n tha t cold and blustery mornin g was the Unclassified race incl ud ing four loo ps of the co urse. Many riders used the even t as a warm-u p for subseq ue n t races. _ H unni cu tt, o n his Ka wasaki Team Green /Du n lop /Tsu baki / Rent ha l/ P ro Circuit/Trick Ra cing Fuel / Sco tt US A/ AXO /Bel -Ra y-backed Ka wasa ki, co nt ro lled the race fro m wire-to- wire. " I was p re tty pumped up the fir st loop a nd then I tri ed to find different lin es on the co ur se," H un n icu tt told Cycle N ews. "Greg (Zitterko p f) came up three-fourths in to the race and gave me a good run. I had to push hard ," Zitt erk opf was slow ed in the first part o f the race by hi s front bra ke lock in g up. R o ger H urd , on a · Kaw asaki 250cc had no problems with the co u rse even th ou gh he no ted it was rea lly du sty a nd ro ug h towards the end. He started in th e back ro w but ma naged to wo rk himself u p to a th ird-place finish . Gauthier rolled in fou rth. Cleo n Loonsfoot led the pack o ff the start line of the Senior even t. T he lead soo n cha nged hands as KX500 p ilo t J im Berry bo lted by Loons foo t, as did Bill Saltzman, o n a Husky. Berry led the charge th rough the home ch u te, trailed by Sa ltzman wh o had a sp ec tac u la r ge t-o ff o n ly moments earlier ove r the wa ter hol e. Sa ltzm a n man eu vered past Berry during the seco nd pass th rough the co u rse a nd was to con tro l the lead to th e end of th e race. Dave Kersting, aboard a Kaw asaki , a nd Al Hull o n a Yam ah a, a lo ng wit h othe r 250cc rid ers, were held u p at the sta rt lin e by a dow ned Open bike. T he duo worked their wa y up through th e pack an d , in spite o f Kersting being a ttacked by a Joshu a tree limb, fini sh ed seco nd a nd ' third, respectivel y. Berry crossed th e line in fourth place foll owed by Ro n Pa p roski. Roeseler 's first win o f th e weekend came in the Vet race Saturday morning. He go t a fast start , ridin g a - smooth a nd unchallen ged race , The Kawasaki T eam G reen /M alco lm Smith/Scott/Dunlop/Bel-R ay/ Arai H elmets/Pro Circuit/ Acerbis/Rentha I/T rick Racing Fu el/CTI Kn ee Br a ce/Tsubaki Chain -sponsored rider was never o u t o f contentio n a nd led eac h of th e five loops th rough th e cou rse. The real race was for the next four rungs do wn the ladder. Mik e McDonald, mounted o n a Kaw asa ki, held on to th e second rung for two rounds until he was kn ocked down to third by Mike Sixber y aboard a Yama ha. " Your bike is not su p posed to be faster th an m ine ," McDonald to ld Six bery at th e fin ish. " O f course, mine's three years o lder. " Husky pilot Mike Mu lconery, who was in third behind McD onald during the first loop, was passed by Six bery and Pa rry by th e end o f th e th ird la p. "Sixbery passed me over the big roa d crossing co m ing in to town," not ed Mu lconery. " I let off the gas, he did n't." Mu lconery returned the favor to Parry in 'the fin al la p o u t in the ro lle rs, giving himself a fourth-pl ace fini sh . Parry brok e a chai n a llowi ng G ary Sche i d le r to ta ke the fifth overall pl acing. Roeseler 's next win ca me a t th e expe nse of the 125cc riders. H e and new Cagiva recru it Eri c Hallgath di ced back a nd forth th e first two loops, passing eac h other six or seven times , dependin g on which rider had the bett er lines. Battling with H allgath a nd Roeseler for the first two • posit ions was Jimmy Lewis on a Yam ah a. " I' m an end u ro ri der a nd th is was a little fast for me," sa id Lewi s. "I prefer th e 'rocks and slo w stuff." T he co n test be tween th e two leading riders, Roeseler and Ha llg a rh , was ov er w he n Hall gath tang led with a lapped rider during the th ird loop and inj u red himself. Roeseler ro lled on to take ano the r win . Lewi s was seco nd to pass th e checkered flag . Bob Reiger, wh ose Kawasa ki was sti ll geared for th e Parker 400 a nd wou ld n 't p ull fou rt h gea r, was ' breathi ng down Lewis ' neck thro ug h most of the race, H e fin ish ed fourth, j ust a head o f Brad Ho well o n a Kawasaki, . Firs t wo ma n to cros s the lin e was _ Ka wasa ki pilo t Vicki Sco tt. "I go t leg cra m ps o u t there a nd had to sto p," sa id Sco tt. "The co urse is so chop ped up 'a nd I'm o n a starva tio n die t - I' m getti ng married in 28 days (to Brett H ow ell ), I was p ro bably low on potassium. Bu t I was able to finish a nd end up first." Su nday morning daw ned bri gh t, clea r a nd cold, T he hi gh desert winds of the day befor e had ca lmed down ' considerab ly, o n ly to be repl aced by bitin g cold tem pera tu res a nd a few snow flu rr ies in the a fternoon, The co ld didn 't keep away the spectato rs o r the lin es of ri ders queu in g up fo r late entries. T he tota l number of entries over the two days exceeded 1100. T he 250cc race proved to be one o f th e more exciting races over the week end. Ga ut hi e r a n d Sco tt Stearns, a lso rid ing a Su zuki, batted the lead back and fort h through the first half of the race. "We went back and -Iorth every loop," .sa id Stearns. "At the end o f a stra ig ht, he'd bra ke too early and . I'd pass h im . In the motocross sectio n, he'd get me back." . Both riders kn ew th at lurking be hind th em somewhere was Roeseier and nei ther was " loo king for a toss of th e co in as to who wou ld win th e race," said Ga ut hier. Roeseler had a seco nd ro w start a nd had to fight th ro ugh the du st to pa ss th e slower riders. The Team

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