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/127401
Well over 400 racers enjoyed the scenery of the ski resort town of Steamboat Springs. , Fun in the Rockies By Mall Benson STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, CO, SEPT. 12·]4 here's nothing quite like i t: T hree days of Nati onal Championship Vintage com p eti tio n - trials; mo tocross and road racing - against • a Rocky Mountain backdr op tha t can on ly be described as breath taking (beca u se of the scenery a n d the al ti tude). T he ski resort town of Steam boat Springs welcomes vintage racers with open arms, and this year competi tors responded in record nu mbers. With abo ut 65 participants, en tries in the American H istoric Racin g Motorcycle Associatio n observed tri al were almost double 1990's number. Li kewise .. the Steamboat ro und of AH R MA's Histor ic Cu p Series attracted 154 road racers - sign ificantly more than last year - to on e of the few street co urses in Americ a. Only th e MX rema ined co nstant, with some 250 entries in 33 classe s. A day of modern sprint races followed the vintage events. Throw in a concourse or two , some awards parties and a swap meet, and i t' s no wonder wh y tho usands of enthusiasts hai ling - fro m everywhere T 18 from England to Bri tish Co lumbia trek to Steamboat each Sep temb er. Besides, 'wh ere else can one watch from a balcony as a pack of th undering road racers from two or more decades ago do battle o n a circ u it that winds past condo mini ums and hotels? Or ride in a tr ial in a p ubli c park a t the foot of a ski ju m p? The 11th annual event was a productio n of AH RMA , the local Timberli ne T ra ilrider s Club, and th e Denver-based Motorcycle Roadracing , Association. Sponsorship came from BMW, Vin tage Iron , Bike Journal ma gazine, Metzeler and Coors L igh t. . Trials Derek Belvoir laid ou t the l O-section Stea m boat trial at Howelsen Park, and he also turned in the event's low score in Thursday's competition. Riding a '64 BSA in the , Master's class , the trans pl anted Bri t lost just 3 marks in his three times around the loop. O ne of those points was taken away in the "Toilet," a muddy stream bo ttom wh ich dra ined a smelly su lp hur spring , an d proved the dow nfall of man y a p lonker. Gi vin g up ju st seven points apiece were Bob Ca p istrant of Michigan , ridi ng a '65 Ducati to the win in Pr emi er L ightweig h t Expert; Derr ell J ohnson of Salt Lake Cit y, riding a Bul taco Sherpa T in Modern Cla ssic Novi ce; and Californian Ken Marecak, who pl aced second to Belvoir on a '65 T riumph Cub. Mar ecak entered twice and also rod e a '55 AJS 500 to a score of 21. Georgia 's Beno Rodi also was a double entry: winning on his '61 Matchl ess by o ne point over the factory Royal En field of Fred Mork in Premier Heavyweight Expert, and again on hi s 750cc Norton P I I in Heavywe ig ht Sportsman. Motocross Honda Elsi nore-mou nted Shawn Sm ith put togeth er a string of co nsist.ently h igh finishes to earn three overa ll cla ss wins at th e AH R MA/Vintage Iron National MX Series ro und on Friday. In co n di tion s th at ranged fro m muddy to slightly du sty, Smith scored his wins in Sports man 125cc, Sportsman 250cc and Plu s 30 Expert clas ses. Meanwh ile, Georgia 's Barry Higgins rode hi s 1974 KTM 400 to Expert mot o wins in the Pl us 40 and Sportsman 500cc divisions. T his sixt h edi tion of th e popular vintage motocro ss attrac ted in excess of 250 entri es. An ear ly rain shower created slick conditio ns for th e opening set of motos, bu t on ce the sun track surface became ideal, even.if the ai r was somewhat dusty toward day's end. While Smith jetted into the lead in th e first 125cc Expe rt rnoto, a good battle was going on between riv al s Greg Bastek of Connecticu t and Ca lifornian Ri ck Doughty. The latter moved his Vintage Iron H onda into, second late in the race and held on to th e £lag. The secon d mot o saw Smith and Bast ek pull away from the pack as Doughty sta rted at the back and worked hi s way up to fou rth in th e four-lap mo to. T exan Paul Surnett was fourt h. The 250cc Expert mot o feat ured a good ba tt le between Kawa sak i mo unted Do ug Wentzell an d H onda ride rs Sm it h and Doughty. Wh en Doughty fell wh ile leading on the final la p, Wentze ll was there to capitalize on the mi stake. Gary T ucker bro ugh t his Can-Am in second, follo wed by Smith Burnett and Dough ty. Moto two was a good battle between Sm ith ' a n d T ucker , wh ile farth er ba ck Doughty and Wentzell argued over th ird. A tip over on the muddy " Wall of Death " in Intermedi ate Expert saw Smith give over the open ing mo to win 10 Wentzell. But a second place fin ish in tha t and the hotl y co nte sted second - rn oto - won by Kell y Ow en - were good eno ugh to give Smith hi s th ird overa ll of the day. i Smoo th -ri ding Higgins easil y won both Plus 40 Expert motos, tra iled each ti me by J ohn Saw azhk i an d his Husq -