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/127220
Ron Clawson (97) leads Leroy Francard (135) in the Old Timer Amateur class. Clawson went 2-2 for second overall; Francard took third. Doyle Cook rode a Rickman Montesa to a 1-2 victory in the Old Timer Novice class. while Tom Mabry (93) went 3-3 for second, Greeves-mounted Kenny Sykes won the first moto in the Lightweight Premier class. but was slowed by a fouled plug in the second moto. Risnes reigns at Palmdale Vintage Motocross finale By Mickey Wood PALMDALE, CA, NOV . 19 Honda CR250 Elsinore rider Blair Risnes won three of his four motos to earn overall victories in the 250cc and Vet Novice classes at the final round of the American Historic Mo torcycle Racin g Association (A H R M A) W es te rn Reg ion MX ' C hamp ionsh ip Ser ies at L.A. Cou nty Racewa y 10 in Palmdale. T he race had to be mo ved from its ori gi na l site wi th just four weeks not ice, but there were sti ll nO-p lus ent ries in the all-vint age program. Ca li fornia Racing Club (CRC) promoted th e event, a nd a tight a nd well groomed track greeted rid ers for an 8 a.m . practi ce sessio n. Eig hteen riders lin ed th e starting gate for the start of rno to o ne of th e Vet Novi ce co ntingent and it was Risnes who led the way virtually from star t to fini sh ov er fellow Honda rid er H ugh Blacka. Veri Craig was th e first non-J a panese motorcycle across the line in th ird, trailed by the Ya ma ha of Thomas Eng elhardt a nd th e CZ of local , Ro n Aldri ch. Risnes was th e o n ly co nsistent rid er in the top three as he again wo n the seco nd rnoto, thi s tim e over FourSpeed H u sq varri a ' s J ud O shier, whose lOth-p lace finish in th e first race was still good enough to give him fo urt h overa l l. T he da y' s runne r-u p was Engelhardt (4-3) with Aldrich (5-5) fin ishing th ird overa ll. T he 250cc Novi ce div ision saw Risn es go 1-2 on th e day to cla im his second overa ll victor y. Ri ckman Montesa rid er Doyle Cook, wh o's always a th reat in any Nov ice category, to pped rno to two, but h is fo urth in moto o ne relegated hi m to second overa ll. Usua l 125cc race r John Figas debu ted hi s new Elsinore. a nd wound up third overall. T erry Prall also went hom e with a co up le of tro p hies for win s in the O ld Timer and Premier Open Twins Amateur classes, Hi s O ld T im er rid es were impressive, as he came fro m o utside the top five each time to pa ss early leader, Maico-mou nt ed Ro n Clawson a nd win each moto, Cla wson ma naged second for the da y a head of Lero y Fran ca rd. Pra tt' s Premi er Open Twins victory ca me .a t the ex pense of AJ S rid er Gerald Rogers. T he Old T imer Novices put o n o ne of the day's best sho ws. Doyle Coo k won the first mo to hand ily over Norm Sh ields a nd Tom Mab ry, bu t race two was q uite a di fferent story, CZ rider J oh nny Stevens ex per ienced prob lems in th e first mo ta , but was o ut 10 win in th e second go-a round. Stevens sha do wed lead er Cook for ·the ent ire di stance wi th Mab ry o n h is tai l in th ird . No ne of the three riders let up one bit durin g the event a nd just when th e cro wd though t Cook had it in th e bag, Stevens stuffed undern eath him in th e fin al turn to win the mota . Cook sti ll go t the overall ahead of CZ-mo unted Mab ry a nd Shields. Speed & Sport /Tsu ba ki-ba cked ride r Mall Hilgenberg was a nother do ubl e-class winner , top ping Dick Mann a nd Peter For d in the Prem ier 500cc Expert cla ss a nd But ch Cochran in th e 500cc Expe rt class, where J ohn Pa vich was third. Kell y Owen took hi s fresh-loo king CZ 400 10 the to p of both 500cc Novi ce m o to s, wh il e Engelha rdt went 2-3 for second overa ll. Coo k rode a Suzuki thi s ti me aro und and fill ed the sho w spot. Former ATV racer J im Send elbach mad e o ne of his seldo m vintage a ppeara nces in the 250cc Expert class a nd aced bo th mOlDS o ver local hotshot J oe Bro ussa rd, both were Honda-mou nt ed. Pav ich was third a t da y's end . The Premier Li ghtweight Amateur class was interesting, as Kenny Sykes piloted his Villiers-powered Greeves MolOCroSSSpecial 10 th e first moto win ahead of twin-par! CZ rid er Rick Nabers and BSA C15mounted Eri c Tucker. Sykes aga in 'led th e charge wh en moto two go t underway, but was soo n put o n the sidel ines with a fouled spark plug. Nab ers' 2-1 gave him th e first-pl ace p laq ue. • Results _ 125 NOV: 1. Dennis Ivarsson (Hon) 1·1 ; 2. John Figas (Vam) 2-4 ; 3. Rod Kirkbride (HonI5-2; 4 . Doyle Cook (Ric) 4·3 ; 5. Thorn Kuhns (Hod) 3·6 . 125 AM : ·1. John Anderson (Hon) 1· 2; 2. Kevin Akrey (Hon) 3- 1; 3. Bill Ripley (Bul ) 2·3 . 12 5 EX: 1. Norm Bigelow (Kaw ) 1-1; 2. Lee Fabry (Yam) 2·2. 250 NOV: 1. Blair Risnes (Hon) 1-2; 2. Doyle Cook (Ric) 4 ·1 ; 3. Jo hn Figas (Hon) 3- 4; 4. Jim Bevill e (Hon) 5-5 ; 5. Phil Anderson 1 C2) 6-7 . 250 AM : 1. Tony Pull iam (Hon) 2·1 ; 2. Kevin Akrey (Honl 1·2 ; 3. Gerald Fasold (Hon) 3 -3; 4 . Charl ie Beck (Ossa) 5-4 ; 5..Chuck McConnell (Hus) 6 -5. 250 EX: 1. Jim Sendelbach (Hon) 1-1 ; 2. Joe Broussard (Hon) 2 -2; 3. John Pavich (C2) 4-3 ; 4. Bill Clements (Vam) 6-4 ; 5. Rick Doughty (Vam) ' 5 -5 . 500 NOV: 1. Kelly Ow en (C2) 1· 1; 2. Thomas Engelhardt (Yam) 2 -3 ; 3. Doyle Cook (Suz) 4 -2; 4. Terry St err en (BSA) 3-4; 5. Bur l Estes (BSAI 5· 5. 500 AM : 1. t.andus KentlC2) 1-1 ; 2. Char lie Beck (M ai) 4-2; 3. Robert Doran (M ai) 3 -3; 4. Kevin Akrey C2) 6 -5 . 1C2)2·4; 5. Glen n Oliveria 1 SOD EX: 1. Man Hilg enberg (Bu l) 2·1 ; 2. Butch Cochran (Bul) 1-2 ; 3. John Pavich (C2) 4-3 ; 4. Rick Doughty (Vam) 3 -4; 5. Bob Cunn ington (Hon) 5 ~~ . OPEN TWIN NOV: 1. Bill Knight (Nor) 1-1; 2. M ichael Malone ITri) 3-2 ; 3. Bill Rianda (Tri) 2· 3. OPEN TWIN AM : 1. John Ford (Tri) 1-1 . OPEN TWIN EX: 1. Butc h Cochran (Tri) 1-1; 2. Dave Walden (Tri) 2-2 . WMN NOV: 1. Ging er Hilgenberg (Bul) 1-1; 2. Ju lie Anderson (Hon) 3·2 ; 3. Jea nn e W ilson (Yam) 4 -3 ; 4 . Candy Hate ley (Bul) 2·0 NS. WOMEN INT: 1. Kay Mann (Ossa) 1-1. VET NOV: 1. Blair Risnes (Hon) 1·1 ; 2. Thomas Engelhardt (Yam) 4 -3; 3. Ron Aldrich (C2) 5-5; 4 . Jud Osh ier (Hu s) 10-2; 5. James Belville (Hon) 6- 6. VET AM : 1. t.andus . Kent (CZ) 1-1 ; 2. Robert Doran (Ma il 2 -2; 3. Gerald Fasold (Hon) 4-3; 4. John Lundgren-IBul) 3 -4; 5. Peter Crunenden (BSA) 5-6 . VET EX: 1. Joe Brous sard (Honl 2 -1; 2. Butch Cochra n (Bul) 1·2 ; 3. J oh n Pavich (C2) 5-4; 4 . Jerry Edie (HusI 4 · 5; 5. Ken Greene (Hon) 9·3 . OT NOV: 1. Doyle Cook (Ric) 1-2; 2. Tom Mabry (C2) 3 -3; 3. Nor m Sh ields IHon) 2 -4; 4. M ichael Kopp (Hon) 4 -6 ; 5. Phil Anderson (C2) 6-5 . OT AM : 1. Terry Pran (C2) 1- 1; 2. Ron Clawson (M ai) 2 ·2; 3. Leroy Franc ard 3 -3; 4 . Jack Mong er (V-T) 5-4 ; 5. Oave Rodgers (Tri) 7 -5 . OT EX: 1. Don Sw earingen IVaml 1·23 2. John McManaway (Vam) 2-3 ; 3. Mike M enesini 1C2) 51; 4 . Jim McClinton (CCM) 7 -4; 5. Jim Keeton (CZ) 6-5 . PREM LTWT AM : 1. Rick Nabers (C2) 2 -1; 2. ' Ken ny Sykes (Gr el 1·3; 3 . Eric Tucker (BSA) 3- 2. PREM LTVT EX: 1. Jim Keeto n (C2) 1-1 . PREM SOD NOV: 1. Charl es Regruto (Vel) 1-1. PREM 50D AM : 1. Jo hn Huegel (l nd) 1-1; 2. Fred Mor k IESO) 2 -2; 3. Ron Clawson (Ar i) 3·3 . PREM SOD EX: 1. M an Hilgenberg (Tril l -I ; 2. Dick M ann (Tri / BSA) 2 -2; 3. Pete r Ford (BSA) 3- 3. PREM OPEN TWIN AM : 1. Terry Pran (BSA) I 1; 2. Gerald Rogers (Tri) 2 -2.