Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

(Above) Honda XR-mou nted Chuck Miller (not the Baja winner ) negotiates a narrow bridge on day two of the M ammot h 250. (Left) Calvin Rayborn III starred for the American team in the Trans Atlantic Match Race Series , held at Cadwell Park in Englan d. VansonlTeam Obsolete Trans Atlantic Match Races,Round Two:CadwellPark Brits, again By Dave Roper and Erik Green CADWELLPARK, ENGLAND, JULY25-26 he latest roun . of the co n tinui ng Trans Atl an ti... Match Ra ces took place at Cad well Pa rk in the scen ic incolnshire Wold s, held in conju nction with the Forgette Era Super Challenge . Cadwell Par k must ra nk among the finest of the Britis h short circuits, as it wi nds its way throu gh the pic tu resque farmland . The most unique aspect of the circu it is th e "Mou ntai n," a steep rise after a sharp left-right combina tion that levels abru p tly, p ro vid in g th e perfect opportunity for crowd-p leas ing ju m ps. TIll! circuit combines a tight, tw isty section throu gh the woods with an open high-speed sweeping portion. The Tran s Atlantic Ma tch Race for mat pits 500 and 750cc classic teams in a o rth America vs . UK/ Eu rop e cha llenge. After two races during round one at Laguna Seea in Mon terey, Cal iforn ia, Yanks led the Brits, 207-200. Fo r C ad w e ll Park , tea m ca ptain Dav e Rop er, on an ex-Agos tin i MV Agus ta 500 Triple, led the USA Team com prised of Nancy Delgado (on a Seele v G-5 0 ), Don Ve s co (o n a N orton Ma nx), Erik Green (on a Team Ob solet e -50), Yvon Du Ha rnel (on a BSA Tr i p le) , Jo hn Lon g (o n a Triumph Tr ip le), Cal Rayborn III (also on a Tri um p h Triple) a nd Ma lcolme Tunst all (on a Du cati Specia l) - agains t the UK Tea m, which wa s co m p rised of Da ve Pithe r (the team captain, rid in g a Tr i-_ umph Triple), Chris McGah an (also on a Triu mph Triple), Verno n Glashier (on T 'a Seel ey G-50 ), Da vid Hu gh es (on an Ar ter Mat chles s G-5O), Colin Breeze (on a BSA Triple), Karl Bell (on ano the r Triumph Tripl e), Stef Sind orf (also on a Se elev G-50) and Mick e v Carter (o n anoth~r Seeley G-50). Don Vesco wa s a la st-m inute nosh ow, as good sa lt con d itio ns at th e Bonnev ille Salt Flats beckoned. Th e 500cc ra ce was g rid d ed in the first wav e, with a f O-secon d lead on the 750cc grid . A t th e st art of Saturda y' s race, Vernon Glashier ju m pe d in to the lead , wi th Stef Sindorf hot on his heels. Roper followed , his ea rly pursu it temp ere d by a co u p le o f s lides , wh ic h all owed Gl ashier and Sind orf to p u ll awa y. On the second lap, Sindorf pulled in to the lead, ahead of Glashier. Mea nw hile, Cal Ra yb o rn III was chas ing Dave Pither a t the fro nt of the 750cc class. Both passed Rop er midrace and we re cl osin g on Si nd orf a n d Glashier. Behind Rop er, DuH amel was lead ing Mickey Ca rter and John Long . On th e la st lap , S indorf, fe e li ng in tense pressure from Glashier, tried too hard corning ou t of the Gooseneck, ran off the track and lost contro l of his bike on the wav down to Mansfield Com er. Gl a shi e r iook th e 500cc win and the overall, and Pither jus t bar ely bea t Rayborn to the finish. Th e fa st est la p of th e race w ent to . Ra yborn , wit h a 1:42.5 - an exc ellen t ti me, as he was ju s t com ing to g ri ps wi th his Triple and the u nfam iliar, challen gin g track. The d ay ended with the UK Team winning, 118-112 .5, w ith a cumulat iv e s core o f 318-3 19.5 in th e favor of Team USA. A sc an t 1.5-p oint ga p promised to make for an exciting Sunday eve nt. Sunday's Mat ch Race began like Saturday's , with Glashier immed iately taking the lead , followed by Rop er and Sind orf. Rope r qui ckl y to o k away Glashier' s lead on th e fir st lap on his MV 500 /3 . H is charge, how ever, w as sh ort-lived, as the MV started to misfire and Glashier w ent past. On the third la p , the MV misfir e deteriorated and Sind or f passed him . Roper then pulled off into the pit s and retifed his machine. In th e 750cc cla ss, meanwhile, Bree ze, back in actio n after repairing his BSA Triple (w hich he practically totaled in Satu rd ay' S mo rning practice), led Pither and Ra yb orn , with "S upe r Frog" DuHamel and Malco lme Tunstall di cing behind them . Rayborn charged to th e fro nt, passin g Pith er, Breeze and Sind or f. Pith er a nd Breeze passed Sind orf s h ort ly thereafter . Ra yborn , pull in g mon ster w heelies over the "Moun tain," took th e o v e ra ll lead an d p a s sed Glash ier. Breeze, setting the fas tes t lap o f the rac e a t 1:41.3, passed Pither for second place. As the last lap wo und d own, atte ntion was focused on the di ce between DuHamel and Tuns ta ll. As DuH am el e n te red Hall Ben d s, h is ri ght clip-on bro ke, and he a ppe ared to be he ad in g for one of Cadwell Park's ever-present d irt embankmen ts. He ran off the track, for ci ng Tunst all to follow . Incred ibl y, both seemed to recover as thev went out of sight tow ard the hairpin. When they came into sight agai n for the run to the checkered flag, Tunstall had a clea r lead , whil e DuHam el limped home slowly . Unfazed , DuHamel ja m med th e u nattached clip-o n in to the fairing and twi sted the thro ttle agai nst the br ake lever in his d etermination to fin ish and salv age seven th overall. After Sunday, the Brit s led, 440-430. The man of the meeting mo st certa inly was Seeley G-50-mo u nted Glashier, wh o won bot h 500cc ra ces and was overall high poi nts scorer. Pither, who wa s high p o ints scor er a t Lag u na , passed th e Ha ilwood Trophy on to Glashi er ,'who will keep it until this year' s final Tran s Atla n ti c Ma tch Ra ces a t Day tona o n l':\ October 25. Results 500 DAY 1: 1. Verno n Glashie r (St-to-); 2. DIlYl' Roper (MV); 3. Mickey Ca rter (See); 4. Dav e Hu gh es (Milt); 5. Na ncy Delgado (See). 750 DAY 1: 1. Dave Pithe r (Tri): 2. Cal Raybo rn III (T rD; 3. Yvon Du l-iamel (BSA); 4. John Long (Tri): 5. Ka,1Bell moil. 500 DAY 2: 1. Vernon Glashier (Sec); 2. Stef Sindo rf (See ); 3. Eri k Gree n (Ric); 4. Dav e Hu ghes (Ma t); 5. Nancy Delgado (St."C). 750 DAY 2: 1. Ca l Rayborn III ITn); 2. Colin Breeze IBSA); 3. Da v e Pithcr (T ri ); 4. Malcolme Tu nstall lDue); 5. Yvo n Dul-lamel (BSA). POINT STANDINGS, 1. UK (....0); 2. USA (430). CountDown Mammoth 250 Geezers' revenge By Chris Jonnum MAMMOTIi LAKES, CA, AUG. 12 ho u g h precedin g weeks saw the sce nic Ma m mo th Lakes re g io n besieged by the pierced bodies and d ied hair of you ths a ttendi ng the Mammoth MX a nd NORBA mountain-bike races, nary a nose ring was spied at this weekend ' s d u al -s po rt rid e, w he re the only blue coiffu res belon ged to many of the rid er s' wi ves (Kim Bennett , Shelly Morefield and Patrice Payne - w ho all rod e their ow n motor cycles - we re not among that number ). "I do n't kn ow what it is, bu t my rides always se em to d raw the older guys, " said orga nizer Jerry Counts, whose signup sheet includ ed such aces of yo re as Jesse Goldber g and Cal Bottom - riders" only slightly you nger th an the rid e' s woo llv nam esake. I In cluding op tio nal hard ways, day one's 130 entran ts cov ered 160 miles of m ostl y Jeep ro ad s throu gh th e ln yo Craters, Lookout Mo u nt ain , June Lake and Owens River areas, and as .rnost riders' a ttention wa s at least partially distracted by the num erou s im pressive vis- . tas, it was a g-ood thin g said har d ways we re som ewhat mistit led , While ma ny a rider was spo tted flailing in Mammoth 's infa m ous fr ont-end-sucking pumice" predicaments were limited . A mo ng the m wa s Brookings, Oregon's Lee Riddle, who, whil e coming to terms with the T

• Cover