Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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(Above) George Galling (14) leads the way In Sportsman 500cc Intermediate action from the motocross portion of the AHRMA meet at Sandhill Ranch. Galling finished second with Bill Clem (4)taking fourth. (Left) Two-time Grand National Champion. DickMannand his Matchless prepare for trials action; Mann finished third In the Premiere HeavyweightExpert class. and ending about two hours after the last competitor was finished. The result was slip pery ground in many of the sections, along with some mud-clogged low-mounted fenders . After the event, the sun ca me out for t h e aft e rnoon party. Fisher, on a Keith Lynas Ossa MAR, showed the way in the Mod em Classic Intermedia tes , finishi ng the d ay with just five points. Scott Chapman was the runner-up with nine, followed by Bultaco-mounted Rand y Dawson. Modern Classic Exp ert vic to r Jeff Naff edged Paul Miller by one point, 2526, for that w in; Mike Kroeker w as third. The Expe rts rode the mo st difficult "one" line through the sections, as did the Master class, which was headed b y Yam a h a TY250 -mounted Tony Sigala, despite his running out of gas in a section about as far away from the pits as you could get. The only clean ride of the da y came in the Mo d ern Cla ssic No vice class, w her e Barbara Don Carlos and her trus ty Yamaha TY175 did the deed. Close competition was to be found in the Premier Lightweight Intermediate a nd Expert classes. Ron McCabe plonked his Triumph Tiger Cub to the Intermediate win with 30 points, besting the. 33 tally of BSA B40-mounted Jim Cam eron and his nephew Dee, who piloted his Greeves to third with 35. The Expe rts were topped by Lee Dodge (37), who nipped Ernie Stair (39) and Peter Cruttenden (42). MOTOCROSS By Matt Hilgenberg BREN1WOOD, CA, APR. 23-24 akeside, California's David Fisher had an up-and-down weekend at the first West Coast rounds of the American Historic Racing Motorcycle Association's (AHRMA) National Trials , and MX Championships, winning the Modern Classic Intermediate class in the trials and the 12Sec Expert division in the motocross, before breaking his ankle in moto two of the 500cc Expert MX. The Saturday trials event was conducted by Starman' Productions, an d L featured 11 sections laid o u t in the infield of the MX circuit, and in the surrounding hills; approximately 50 riders competed. Sunday's Hap Jones Distributing-sponsored MX was hosted by Dick and Kay Mann, and featured a rugged, technical course with plenty of . large hills and tricky turns to keep the 315 entrants on their toes. TRIALS In the tradition of English-style observed trials, Saturday brought plenty of precipitation, with a steady rainfall beginning two hours before the event, Saturday's rain threatened to make the Sunday motocross a quagmire reminiscent of 1992, but a lot of wind and not much more rain made the MX track nearly perfect by the time practice began. As it turned out, any less moisture on the track would have resulted in dust at the tops of the hills which are normally inaccessible by the water truck. With the large rider turnout and a long race track, motos were shortened after the first round from five to four laps. Many areas of the course were also quite choppy, making the shorter races welcome. Fisher dominated the 125cc Expert class, sweeping to both moto wins ahead of Rory Muscatell and Norm Bigelow. The 12Sec Intermediates started on a second gate behin d the Experts, but wasted little time in catching up to the Experts. Overall winner Brian Shives was fourth overall in the firs t race, w in ni ng th e Intermediate class ahea d of Tony McFarland and Bryan Davis. Dav is beste d McFarland in the second race to take the runner-up honors overall. Fisher's bad luck came at the start of the second 500cc Expert moto, where he colli ded with another rider in the first turn and cra shed, breaking his ank le. After surgery for pi ns and plates on Tuesday, he's on the road to recovery. In the 500cc Expert race, Tim Nash flew his Vintage H us ky 400CR to a cle an sweep, w hile Bu ltaco-mounted Pat Brown comb ined 2-5 finishes for second ahead of Rick Lund gre n. H onda. rid er Ray Weber and John Gulliford traded first- and second -place finis hes in the +40 Novic e clas s, w ith Gu llifor d coming o u t on to p in the tiebreaking second race; Howard Johnston was third. Mike Atkins debuted his Rickman Triumph 500 and went home w ith the first-place plaque in the Premier 500 II Expert class. In the opening moto, Dick Mann led aboa rd his 1959 Monark until the fin a l lap, when Hus ky-mounted John LeFevre passed to take the win; Atkins was th ird. Mann elected not to ride moto tw o, and LeFevre led until getting into a tankslapper through a rough section, then stalling the motor. This allowed se ve r a l riders past; LeFevre worked his wa y back to third by mote's end, behind w inner Atk ins and David Dewhurst, whose 4-2 score was good for third overall In the popu lar Past Ma s ters r ace, Tacoma, Wa shington's Buck Murphy and his Maico led from wire to wire to take a ha lf-bike length win over the Triumph 650 o f John Hateley . Murphy sa id: "For the las t lap and a half, my hands hurt so bad I could hardly hang on, and all I could hear was that big Triumph going 'roar, roar: getting closer and closer." Hateley just smiled and said, "One more lap ..." Tom Rapp was third aboa rd a Bultaco Pursang 360. The +30 Expert overall win also fell to Murphy, who had van troubles on the way to the event, and borrowed another van from a complete stranger (but definite motorcycle enthusiast) to finish the trip from Gold Beach, Oregon, to Sandhill Ranch . Georgia's Jason Ezell made the long trip payoff by winning the 500cc Novice race aboard a Penton with a 3-1 day; second went to the consistent 2-2 rides of Honda four -stroke rider John Figas, while Joe McCoy went 1-4 for third aboard a Huqvama. Ezell also won the 125cc Novices. ~ Sandhill Ranch Brentwood, california Resutts:April~24,1994 TIUALS MORN CLSC NOV: I. Barbara Don Carloo (0): 2. Ginger Hilgenberg (8). MORN CLSC INT: I . David Fisher (5); 2. Sco tt Chapman (9); 3. Randy Dawson (24~ MORN CLSC EX: I , Jeff Naff (25); 2. Paul Miller (26); 3. Mike Kroeker (31). MORN CLSC MSTR: I. Tony Sigala (20) ; 2. Paul Olliges (39/19 cleans); 3. Jim Porter (39/17). PREM l TWT INT: I. Ron McCabe (30); 2. Jim Cameron (33); 3. Dee Cameron (35). PREM llWT EX: I. Lee Dodge (37); 2. ErnIe Stair (39); 3. Peter Cruttrnden (42). PREM LlWT MSTR: I. Ken Marecak (7). PREM HVYWT INT : I . Fred Mod (29). PREM HVYWT EX: I . Matt Hilgenberg (6); 2. Mike AtI:ins (IS); 3. Dick Mann (45). PREM HVYWT MSTR: I . Steve Darrow (I) . PREM RIGID INT: I . Sieve Martin (31). PREM RIGID MSTR: I . Ken Dodge (20). JUNIOR INT: I. GregErwin (51). MOTOCROSS PAST MASTER: I . Buck Murphy (Mai); 2. John