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/127667
Thanks to an impressive pair of sixth-pla ce finishes at last year's Peoria and Castlerock TT Grand Nationals, Bostrom earned the 1993 AMA Rookie of the Year title, and was considered to be the heavy favorite entering the Willow Springs races. "I r ide a lot of motocross," said Bostrom, "an d IT races reall y suit my style.". But when the green flag waved at the start of the 600cc Pro class heat race, it was Honda-mounted Paul Iwanaga who jumped into the lead ahead of Da n McDonnell and Bostrom . Mc Donnell pressured Iwanaga throughout the sixlap race and the two riders swapped positions several times, while Bostrom seemed content to watch in thir d. When the checkered flag wa ved, it was Iwanaga who nabbed the win ahead of McDonnell and Bostrom. W hen it ca me time for the main event, Bostrom got serious and led the charge in to tum one. "I wanted to get out front because the first tum got kinda pinched off," said Bostrom . ''I'm glad I started on the first row - I wouldn't hav e wanted to funnel through there." Once out front, Ben Bostrom jumped out to an immediate lead over the rest of the field. Jim Rosa, Iwanaga, McDonnell and Eric Bostrom battled tooth-and-na il for the runner-up po sition, and the four ri ders traded the po sition re pea tedly. McDonnell barely survived a near highside on lap three and allowed the ?ther three riders to pull awa y momentarily. Ben Bostrom, meanwhile , r od e . smoothly and consistently while adding to his lead w ith every passing lap. By the fifth lap, he had a five-second advantage over the rest, and kept that margin until the finish . Rosa out-smarted the others for second, while Ben ' s yo un ger brother, Eric, nabbed third. "I figu red that I could get away from those gu ys, but I ne ver look ed back to chec k on them," said the elder Bostrom, w ho lists Aztec Racin g, Ventura H -D, Fresno H-D, Storz Performance, Barnett, W orks Performance and Shoei as h is sponsors. Ben Bostrom also scored the victo ry in the Harley-David son 883 class, ~u t th is time the win didn't come as easily. Boswell's Harley-Davidson-backed George Roeder II shadowed Bostrom throughout the entire race, and almost snuck past for the win on the last lap . "I didn't have my front brake on the 883 but that made for some great racing:" said Bostrom. "Roeder could run it in a lot harder into the comers. We collided in a tight left-hander on the last lap and he almost got by, but I was thinking, ' No way, no way: and I held him off." Finishing a strong third was Bartels' Harley-Davidson's Rick Hutchins. "I felt pretty good out the re, but there were some slick spots that were a real handful on an 883:' said Hutchins. Engines Only owner Frank Nye decima ted the 100cc class aboard wha t was easily the fastest bike on the course. Nye grabbed the holeshot and ran awaJo: wi~ an easy win, though John HIebo did his bes t to kee p the ma st er tuner in sight. Hlebo held on for a distant, yet solid second, The ba ttle for third was a wild one that saw an unexpected rider sneak into th e sho w position when the checke red flag flew. Shawn Ruggio held down third in the early stages, but suffered a nasty get-off in the final tum. This .han ded the position to Phil Cascio, bu t with only two laps to go, he stalled his bike and han.ded the position over to Donn Maeda. Things still weren't set, however, as a hardcharging Jim Rosa made good use of his knobby tires and powered into third with a tight line in a slipp ery comer. Rosa held on to third; Maeda was fourth. a Results 100: 1. Frank Nye (Hon): 2. John Hlebo m (Hon); 3. Jim Rosa (Hon); 4. Donn Maeda (Ho n); 5. Phil Cascio (Hon). n (H 883: I . Ben Bostro m (H-D); 2. George Roeder D); 3. Rick Hutchins (H-D). 250 SPTSMN: I. De n n is Briggs (Ya m ); 2. A.J. Herrera (Yam); 3. Isaiah Canales (Suz); 4. Stev e Hlebo; 5. Ga ry Davis. 500 SPTSMN: I. Ga')' Davis (Hon); 2. Brett Retcher (Ya m); 3. A.J. Herrera (Kaw ); 4. Bob Cobb; 5. Steve J ohnson (Yam). 600 SPTSMN: 1. Sid Pa yn e (Ya m); 2. Dave Rust (Ya m); 3. Bobby Andes; 4. Billy Martin; S. Gary Rog ..... MORN VINT; I . Edd., Muld er (Tn ); 2. Ga')' DaVIS (Tri); 3. Norm Newmann (Tn'); 4. Wayne Warringron; S. Mickey Ahola (Tri). 600 PRO- AM: 1. Ben Bostrom (Rtx ); 2. Jim Rosa (WR); 3. Eric Bostrom (W-R); 4. Paul lwanaga (Hon ); 5. Dan McDonnell (Rtx). Andrews aces Pre65 Scottish T rial By Joh n Dic kinson KINLOCHLEVEN,SCOTI.AND, APRIL 30 he one-day Pre-65 trial which now takes place every year on the Saturda y before the Scottish Six Da ys Trial is cons idered by many to be better th an the SSDT itself. A compara tiv ely recent introduction, the Pre-65 Trial is in its 11th year and th e day is part trial, pa rt nostalgia and part social occasion. The attraction is, li ke a ll Pre-65 even ts a mixtu re of affection for the old machines and the riders who made their na m es on t hem. O n e o f t he bi ggest nam es in t ri a ls is, of co urse, Mick And rews, and for the past two yea rs Magical Mi ck has weaved his ~p eIls with the aid of a 250cc Jam es to w m the Pre-65 Tria l. What Andrews wanted to do this year was ride a 350 AJS in the trial .- his first works rid e wa s aboard an Ajay bu t he wasn't offered a su itable mount so he took up an offer from Julion:Wigg to ride a SOD Ariel. And rews delighte d the larg e crow d with a brilliant ride, and cleaned every one of the 27 sections tha t made up the event. The Pre-65 co u rse is based in the town of Kinlochleven, which is 14 miles from Fort William as the cro w flies - 20 miles by road . And unl ike the SSDT, the event takes place en tirely off-roa d on th e moors up y the Blackwater rese~ voir. It is no eas y course, though , as It tak es in 30 m iles or so of rough going. The old Ariels, Triumphs - loads of 200 Cubs - some mea ty big tw ins, Ajays, BSA C15s, Roya l Enfields, Greeves and what have you, have to be in good order to take the hammering. So do the rid ers, who vary from the odd teenager caught in a time warp, to grizzly veterans like 67-year-old Walter Dalton, who battled around on a 500 Ar iel. He took some bone-jarring tumbles, but still claimed a midfield placing. Mick Grant, the ex-Kawasaki road race ace, was one big name competing, and Grant takes his trials very seriously. Gra nt built and successfully runs a very lightweight Ariel single that really s~rs up those who believe that an old bike should be left original. Grant ha d lost only a single ma:k until .the fin?1 group. He was disappointed with a rune mark total at the end of the day. Another w ho lost out was Swedish rider Stig Karlsson, who campaigned a superb-sounding 350.Triumph.. Superb . unti l the last two sections, that IS, when it went to one cylinder and cos t him three marks. a T Results PREMIER: I. (TIE) Mick And rew s (Ar i) / Roy Wilson (Tri); 3. Dav. Thorpe (Tri). 200: 1. Keith Hobson (Tri). 3Slk 1. Stig Karlsson (Tri). OPEN: I . Nick Smi th (Tri). (Above) Mlck Andrews negotia tes .the Grey Mar es Ridge sec tion at the Pre-65 Trial. Andrews cleaned all 27 sections , and has now won the event three years In a row. (Below) Ben Bostrom boomed to the 600cc Pro-A m wi n during the Eddie Mulde.r Inaugura l TT at Willow Springs Internatio nal Racew ay. Bost rom also topped the B83cc main event. Komer homers at Moreland Trial By Don Allis MORELAND, NY, MAY1 At MIT (The Moreland Institute of Trials, aka The Peter's Estate), the District Four Trials Co~. mittee held its second round of Champ ionship trials where Pro fessor John Knapp an d Assis tant Professor Car l Peters trea ted the ride rs to a lesson on the technical side of tria ls rid ing. Th e Expert class valedi,ctorian. wa s ,Mike Kom er wit h a total of 63 pomts. Keith Wmlers pla ce second wi th 76 points. In the Advanced cla ss the winner wa s Emmett WatkinS over Da v id M. Reed wit h a sco re o f 128 to 13 0 po ints . Section four The Staircase> was a very challenging section for the top classes with .a ll of its steep climbs with short runs, wet, slip pery, mull iple logs a nd mudd y banks. The staircase in the creek bed seemed to be the easiest part of th e section. It wa s he re thaI Ihe water was running and there was plenty of tra ction . ' . The Intermediate class win ner was Charlie Camin with a total o f 63 po ints. Benn Williamson was second with 89 points. Senior A Class winner was Laverne Bowen with a great ride of only 34 points. . The No vice Class winner was DaVId A. Reed with 75 points, whi le the second- p lace finisher was Joh n Pileski with a to ta l of 89 points . Richard Oli ver was the Senior 8 Class winner with 47 poin ts, a nd Ron Bors won the Super Senio r Class with 81 points. ยป