Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

on a 71 BSA 500 to fini sh second and thi rd, respectively. Sunda y' s race was a carbo n copy, except for an exciting inciden t h a lfw ay throu gh th e race, w he n third-pl ace rider Ka t Kov acs took o ff in to the dirt on the ou tsid e of tum four. Stayi ng upright, sh e mot ocrossed h er 450cc Honda back on to the track, on ly losing a few seconds and still managing to take third place at the flag. Th e For mul a 750 ra ce o n Saturday gave fans the chance to see the first MV4 win at Willows for at least 20 years, as Ste phe n Ma thews took the ex- Ag osti ni chain drive MV750 (speci ally constru cted for Daytona in 1973, but never raced th e re ) in to a co m m an di ng lead in the F750 eve nt. Seriously outgu nned, Yamaha 750 - m o unted A n thony Morris on stayed behi nd Ma thews for three laps the n fad ed as Triumph-mounted Chris Stobau gh br ough t his Big-D Cycles 750 Tr iumph twin in to seco nd place, w hile John Holton took third on his ' 64 No rto n At las 750. Mathew s' luck was ou t ne xt d a y , as th e M V q uit h a lf w a y thro ug h th e r a ce w hi le in th e le ad , ha nd ing the trophy to Stobaugh . Mo rrison kep t go ing for second, and Holton added ano the r thir d place tro phy to his colle ction. In Satu rd ay's classic 60s eve nt, Santa Ba rb ara rid er Jeff Elings p u lle d fas t s ta rt on hi s Ma tchless G50 in fro nt of Rusty Low ry's side-valve Ha rley-Davidso n KR750 a nd Dave Roper's AJS 7R. The H arl ey was a t a disadvantage on the twisty parts of the circuit, and Virgil Elings passed him, taking third spot on his 7R. Ro pe r was pl a y in g a waiting ga me, and mad e a passing move out of Eling's draft on tum nine of the last lap, but he couldn't ma ke the pass stick, and E1 ing s took th e wi n . On Su n d ay, ex world speed record h older DonVesco jo in ed th e fray on h is Team Ob sol ete Ma nx N orton . Even wi th only one eye (he w as perm anen tl y bl inded in the oth er by a stone while specta ting at a di rt track car race recentl y), Vesco is still fas t - his biggest p roblem on th e race track, he says, is lack o f depth perception that cau ses him to run up the back of other racers who ar e slow ing d own too m uch for comers - and he proved it b y tak ing s e con d pla ce fro m Rope r . After the race, Vesco w as di squalified for running a high pipe on his No rton, and the revised official order mirrored the previous day' s results. . The top vintage eve n t both d ays was the 500 Premier race. The Premier class may h ave lost th e ' cut and th rus t duel between Team Obs olete an d the Barber Mo to rsp orts' team that en liven ed the championship last year, but the Barber team seem set to prov ide their o wn competition. Last year , the team's number two rid er Chu ck Huney cutt was responsible for fixing lead rid er Stephen Mathews' bikes, and got a ride when a spare bike was available, but he showed su ch promise in the Cinder ella role that this year, .h e ' s e n te r e d on his ow n machines in the premier race, and he's giving Mathews a run for George Barber's mo ney. Team Barber racers Mathews and Huneycutt are tied at the top of , the poi nts race in this series, an d neither gives an inch . Hu ney cu tt took the lead from the start in the premier on his Seeley -framed Matchless 500, but plainly didn't ha ve the same p ow er as his teammate Mathews did. Ma th ews hugged H u n eycu tt's back wheel as th e Seeley ri d e r tried every trick to pre vent hi s teammate getting past, including weaving on the straigh t, and an on-off-on-off braking technique th at ea rned him a verbal reprimand from race director Jack Turner af ter the race. Lea ving his best sh o t for la st, Mathews tried to a (Left) Dave Roper was the "brides maid" three times; here he heads out for the parade lap on a slx-cylinder Jim Redman Honda. (Below) William White (75) won the BEARS clas s, while Kent Kimitsugu (50), here passing White, was leading the So und of Singles division ' before blowing up his Dubbs Honda 600. slings hot past on the last turn, but Huneycutt blocked him to take th e w in . Feverish work in the Barber pits on Saturday nigh t found ne w power in bo th bikes, and Mathew s rem o ved a fork brace tha t had cau sed a weave in ul trafast tu rn eight. At th e sta rt, Ma thews showed his AMA pro racing experience w ith a scintillating holeshot that set him 10 bike len gths ahe ad of h is teammate by the first turn. O nce ou t in fro nt, he stayed there, brooking no challenge by Huneycutt. Making the first thre e places a Matchless sweep, Jeff Elings kep t his G50 in third place. The tightest racing of the da y was in the Sound of Singl es race. Run concurren tly with the BEARS class, favo rite fro m the st art w as th e jewel-like Over OV-16 660cc single, ridden by Taka toshi O n ishi. The sin gles class and BEARS class started together (some rid ers, like ' Kevin Johnson, riding in both classes at the sa me tim e) a n d th e early leaders were the 900cc Ducati twins of William White a n d Geoff M ell ing er. Soon thou gh, the singles battled to the front, with th e su rp rise front-runner be in g Kent Kunitsugu on his first ride of the Dubbs Honda 600cc sing le. Underpow ered compared to the Over XTZ, Kunitsugu used local kn owled ge and a stro ng right wrist to keep O n ishi a t bay in a classic Da vid and Goliath battl e, in the process knocking a second off the Willow Sprin gs lap record for Singles, until the Japanese rider starte d increasing the pace even more, passing Kunitsugu for one lap . The Japanese rider was trying for a result at his first ever visit to Willow , an d w as "st arting to ge t pretty wi ld" according to Kunitsu gu , before he totall y lost control at the top of the hill at Willow's tum fou r, and bike and rid er parted company with a loud screech of fib e rg lass and a lu mi n u m hitting th e new willow asphalt. Narrowly avoidi ng Onishi as bike and rider se p a r a te d , Kunitsugu' s bike p romptl y bl ew up from the stress of bein g over-revved (no ta ch was fitted ). Kevin Johnson p icked up th e win on hi s 600(c Woods-Rot ax, after a race-long tu ssle with Bill Giltner on a 680cc Sp ondon-framed Husaberg single. By passin g all the twins, Johnson also took the ove rall BEARS win for the da y. N ext d ay, th e O ver sing le was repaired, and w ith Kunit su gu out of contention, Onishi took no ch a n ces (although he confirmed hi s new track record, with a one minute, 29.70 second fas t lap) and rod e his way th rough the twins to take a singles win that almos t seemed easy, until a lurid slide in tum one on the sixth lap that lost him all his lead over Du cati -m oun ted William White . A fe w s p o ts of r ain fell, bu t didn't mar th e new , sticky surfac e o f Willow, and Oni sh i stayed on this time to take the win. Second place in the sing les F-l we n t to fell ow Over rider Tosh ikazu Maeda on Over's TM-3R 660 Yamaha single, vivi d ly painted w ith a jellybean pattern. William White on his Du cati 90Q stayed a hea d o f th e third placed single, Kevin Johnson' s WoodsRotax 600, took th e win in the BEARS l:'l race. AHRMA NationallCORSA Motoclassica Willow Springs Raceway Res ults: April 28-30, 1995 S a turday BOT F-2: 1. Charl es Burn ett (Hon); 2. Kurt Mund (BMW ); 3. Mick O field (Du e); 4 . Norman Last ov ica (Du e); 5. Hamate Kataoka (Du e). BOT F-l: 1. Taka toshi Onishi (OV-15A); 2. Cra ig Cook (Duc); 3. William White (Due); 4. Geoff Mellin ger (Du e); 5. Micah Stevenson (Duc). BO T F-3: 1. Cha rl es Burnett (H o n); 2. Ja m es Lickw a r (lio n ); 3. Mik e Frib e rg (H -D ); 4. Sa m Wagenseller (Hon ). SOS 2ISTRK: I. Ton y Murphy (Rtx) . 50 0 PR EMIER: 1. C h uc k Hu n e ycutt (Ma t); 2. Ste p he n Mat he w s (Milt); 3. jeff rey Elin gs (N or); 4. en Michael G re (Du e); 5 . Larry Poo ns. 350 CP : 1. Chuck Hun eycutt (Hon); 2. David Roper (An); 3. Michael Green (Due); 4. Ch ar les Sexton (Bul); 5. Chris Gordon (Ha n). 250 G P: 1. Charles Sexto n (Bul); 2. Michael Green (Due); 3. Cra ig Morrison (Bul); 4. Ha rold Par ks (Due); 5. Mark Henry (Bul). 200 GP: 1. Craig Morri son (Bul); 2. Charles Sexton (Bul ); 3. Scott Wate rs (Due); 4. Ke n Light hou se (BSA); 5. Pa ul Shoen (Tri). eLSe 60: 1. Jeffrey Elin gs (Ma t); 2. Dav id Roper (AjS); 3. Virgil Elings (AjS); 4. Rus ty Low ry (H·D); 5. Gordon Menzi e (Tri ). c: 1. Gordon Menzi e (Tri); 2. Joe Schmid t (Tri); 3. Fred Mork (Nor) . F·750: 1. Stephen Math ew s (MV); 2. Ch ris Stob aug h (Tn); 3 . Joh n Holton (Nor); 4. Dav e Russel l (BSA); 5 . Pau l Shoen (Ric). F·500: 1. Rick Newma n (Ya m ); 2. Yoshi Kasa ka (Yam); 3. je tt rey Elings (Yam); 4. Rick Frew (Yam); 5. Norbert Nickel (Yam) . F-250: 1. Mick Prew (Yam ); 2. Norbert Nickel (Yam); 3. Tupper Robin son (Bul); 4. Yos hi Kosak.a (Yarn); 5. Rick Doughty (Yam). 750 SPTSMN: 1. Kevin Jo hn so n (Nor); 2. Ch ris Sto ba ug h (Tri) ; 3. Ja mes Comstock (No r); 4. Glen n . Campbell (BMW); 5: joe Hammond (Yam). 500 SPTSMN: 1. Ralph Aucr (BMW); 2. Tim othy Stanc ill (Hon) ; 3. Ken Ligh tho use (BSA); 4. Paul Shoen (BSA); 5. Kat Kovacs (Ho n). 350 S PTSMN: 1. Timothy Stanci ll (Han) ; 2. She r m a n Lee (M -M); 3. Ga ry Swan (Hon) ; 4. Iwao Yamahzaki (Due); 5. Mike Kirby (Han). F-VINT: 1. Kevin Johnso n (Nor); 2. James Coms tock (Nor); 3. Glenn Ca mpbell (BMW); 4. An thony Morrison (Yam ); 5. joh n Holton (No r); 6 . Rick Newman (Yam). BEARS: 1. Kevin johnso n (W-R); 2. William White (Due); 3. Geoff Mellinger (Due). BOTT OPEN: 1. Takatoshi Onishi (OV); 2. Wilham White (Du e); 3. Geo ff Melli nger (Due); 4. Kensci Sate • (OV); 5. Homarc Kataoka (Due). 50S F-1: 1. Kevi n joh n son (W-R); 2. Bill Giltner (Spo); 3. Jason Weir (Rtx); 4. Toshikazu Maeda (1M); 5. Micah Stevenson (W~R) . . '" 50S F-2: 1. Mark jaret (Hon ); 2. Eric Sherrer (Ho n); 3. Glenn Tan ner (Yam); 4. Pa ul Peczon (Hon); 5. Scott Fabbro (Hen) . Sunday BEARS: 1. William Wh ite (Duc); 2. Kevin Johnson (W-R); 3. Kurt Mund (BMW); 4. Mid Ofield (Du e); 5. Lloyd johnson (Due). 750 SPTSMN: 1. Kev in Joh nso n (Nor ); 2. C hri s Stobaugh (Tn); 3. Paul Lima (Nor); 4. Glenn Ca mpbe ll • (BMW); 5. Joe Ha m mo nd (Yam). 500 SPTSMN: 1. Ralph Aue r (BMW); 2. Timo thy Stanci ll (H on ); 3. Kat Kovacs (Hon); 4. Da vid Fiorell i (No r); 5. Steve Stone (BSA). F-VIN: 1. Ke vi n Jo hns on (No r ); 2. An t h o ny . Morrison (Yam); 3. Jam es Com stock 4Nor ); 4- Gle nn Ca mpbell (BMW); 5. john Holton (No r). F-750: 1. Chris Stoba ugh (Tri); 2. Anthon y Morrison (Ya m); 4. John Holton (Nor); Da ve Russe ll (BSA); 5. Gary Slabaugh (No r). 350 SPTSMN: 1. Timo th Stanci ll (Hon) ; 2. She rman 1.

• Cover