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/127731
.V T G IN A E.. . GrattanRaceway P ark .A HRMAlBMW Classic Cup Weekend 1952 Dinosaur class goi ng, but the n #1 p ia te h older Georg e Will s pu thi s Harl ey-Davidson WR int o the top spot and stay ed there for the bal ance of the rac e. In the brakeless Cla ssic classes it w as a pair of BSAs w inning - David Athe rto n topped the 500 OHV/ 750 sidevalve di vision, and Danny Ward bested the 2505. Defending champ John Blackstock wrestled his Yamaha twin to the Modem Vintage 750 wi n, while Blake Wilson's Honda topped the Modem Vin tage 600 field and Donnie Warf rode his Ossa DMR to the win in the uncharacteristically small Modem Vintage 250 class. MOTOCROSS Tim Weaver of Hugh's BuItaco was involved in some of the day's closest racing on the grass-covered natural ter - By Matt Benso n 24 GRATfAN, Ml. MAY 19-21 ou say you like your motorcycles loud, fast and obsolete? Can't get enoug h of the innovative thinking th at a bou n ds in m od ern singles a nd twins road racing? Subscribe to the philosophy that yo u ca n never have too many choices? The n Grattan Raceway Park would have been your kind of place during the American H istoric Racing Mot or cycle Association's BMW Classi c Cup weeken d . Th e park-like facility hosted tw o com plete Historic Cup road race national s, a Vin tage Iron motocross, British Bik e Ma ga z in e observed trial , swap m eet, Concours d'elega nc e a nd pa ce laps around the road race circuit led by raci ng g r eats Bart Ma rkel a n d Dick Klamfoth. Tra vel jus t a few miles on Frid ay eve ning, and you coul d also take in an AHRMA/Classic Bike Magazine d irt track at Lake Odessa's 1-96 Speedway. Like th e p ro v erbial kid in a ca ndy sto re, some people inevitably succumb to the temp tation to try it all when presented with an opport unity like th is. More than a few riders participated in two of the four types of competition. But at Gratta n, the person w ho gra bbed for it all was Rich Baulch fro m Speonk, New York. Dashing from one event to a not he r, bikes an d gear s pread ou t at various ' locations, Baulch competed Satu rday in two m otocross classes a n d .o ne road race. With the MX and road race runnin g concu rre ntly (and no wa y of crossing back and forth from on e tra ck to the othe r while th e road race circuit was active), he missed the first of two road race classes he had entered . On Sunday, the timing was better, and Baulch was able to ride the trial and both his road ra ces. He was entered in Friday' s dirt track, but the Bulta co he was to rid e d id not arrive in time. The final score for Ba u lch: In The second U1traLightweight mot o sa w Pol and, Bau lch and Ezell send Wea ver ba ck into the fourth p ositi on. As the fiv e-lap ra ce wore on, it turned into a good battle between Poland and Baulch for the lead, with Poland han gin g on for the overall win. Baulch w a s s ec on d overa ll and Ezell third. . Ha uli ng home the most trophies was Phil Hanford of Big Rapids, Michigan, w ho rode hi s 1956 BSA Go ld Star to wins in Premier 500 and Premier 500 II Expert, and used a CCM 608 thumper to defeat the two-strokes of Charles Emery, Jea n Ramsay and Steve Tucker in the fast plus-40 Expert class . ROAD RACE Grattan's two-mile road race circuit is a challenging mix of turns and eleva- (Above) George Wills slides his Harley Davidson to victory in the Dino saur class du ring vin tage dirt track act ion at the 1- 6 9 Speedwa y. (Right) Darin Emswiler (11H) leads TIm Weaver (143) In the Sportsman 125cc Expert class at Grattan Raceway; Emswiler went on to the overall vict ory . motocross, first overall in Spor tsma n O p e n Twi ns o n a Yam a ha XS650 and second on a Monark 125 in Premier U1traLi g htw ei g ht II; in road r a ci n g , two sixths in Formula Vintage and 10th in Formu la 500 on a Kawasa ki HI; and in observed trials, fir st in Cl a ss ic on a WassaIl. Blake Wilson of West Uni on, West Virginia , e n te red the dirt track, motocross and road race, but his ironman bid fell short when he had to miss all but one of his four motos due to road race conflicts on Saturday. He did, however, take a wi n in Modem Vintage 600 at the dirt track and captured the Pre1940 and Class C roa d raci ng divisions both Saturday and Sun day on his Ind ian Racing Products hand shift V-twins. DIRT TRACK .Pro mo ter Craig Breckon fou nd ou t almost at th e last minute that the 1-96 half mile wo u ld not be available, so he move d the races to the facility's short track a nd made the most of the sit uati on . Th ough dusty fo r p ra ctice, th e tra ck tacked up nicely afte r the su n we nt down and the finals began . It took two restarts to get the pre- rain course, firs t in Spo rtsm an 125 and then in Sportsma n 500 Expe rt. Both 125 mo tos sa w H ond a -m ou nt ed Da rin Emswiler leading and Weaver pressu ring hard, with Ca rl Mabrey (Ho nd a) adding to the mix. Emswiler's 1-1 finishes netted him the overall win; Weaver was second and Mab rey third. . In the first 500cc race, Weaver caught and passed Rick Hudson (Hus qvarna) a nd leader To d d Ha milto n (Maico). Hamilton and H u dson ke p t pushing Weaver, bu t the Bultaco pilo t ma de no mistakes. The second mo to saw Weaver nab Hamilton abo ut the halfway mark, the n han g on for a narrow win. Ano ther good one was the new Premier Ultra -Lightweight II, the category fo r 125cc machines ou tclassed by the Hon da Els in ore a n d ot her Japanes e mot ocr ossers of th e ea rly -to-mid-70s . The first mot o was led by Expert rid er Hugh Weaver on a 71 Bultaco, chased by Intermediates Gary Poland, on a 70 Bultaco, and Rich Baulch with his 7 2 Monark. -Iason Ezell and his '72 KTM weren't far behind. tion chan ges. A bit of rain on Satu rday and brisk wi nd all weekend ad ded to th e challe nge for th e 300 entries each day. Saturday' s vintage hig hlight was the 350cc Gra nd Prix race between Barber Vintage Motorsports' Chuck Huneycutt on a Honda CBn and Team Obsolete's David Roper aboard an AJS 7R. Running nose to ta il, Roper led th e ea rly laps, then Huneycutt mad e his move to the lea d . Roper attemp ted to se t up Huneycutt for a last-la p p ass, but got too close to the Ho nda rider and had to back off slightly, losing.h is d ri ve. Jeff Elings rod e a howling 350cc MV Agusta to fourth beh ind Du cat i-mounted Jay Richardson . Among the modern bikes, Les White rode a MCC Ducati 900SS to the win in Battle o f Twins Formula 1 a nd BOT Open and in the BEARS race. Rick Merhar won one of each - BOT Two-Stroke on his Yamaha RZ350 and Vintage Formula 250 on a Yamaha TD3. On Sunday, the combined 250cc GP and Class C event offered close racing in