Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

.j Rich Thorwaldson (931, above) topped the Over 50 Expert class over Koj i Masuda (811, above left). (Below) Third place in the Over 70 cl ass went to 77-year-old Jack Biery. fourth-place finisher, Terry Fow ler, w ho recently wo n the Californ ia State Cha mpion ship at this same venue. Fo rmer ch amp Rick Johns on was nam ed the event's grand ma rshall. The ga te d ropped for the sta rt of the first moto and 44 rid ers charged for the first turn. Dubach gra bbed the holeshot, wit h Lar ry Brooks , Fowler, Tom Carson and Rich Tay lor close behind . Du b a ch , o n h is Yam ah a YZ400F, quickly d ev eloped a fiv e-second lead . Brooks and Fowler duked it out for second throu g h mo st of th e mote , w it h Brooks d ef endin g a narrow lead a n d Fowler rep eat edl y show ing him a tire. Fowl er appeared to be qu icker but had di fficult y findin g a line aro und Broo ks. By th e fi fth la p , Dub a ch had stre tched his lead to more tha n 12 second s. Fowler kept pu sh ing, and his per sist en ce paid off wh en he passed Brooks in a turn, taki ng se con d . Back in the pack, Robe rt star ted a charge, moving up from 10th place to eighth. Passing the white flag, Dubach held a co m m a n d in g 17- se co nd lea d ov er Fowle r and Bro oks . It app ea red a s though Fowl er had second place locked up until he got cau gh t behind a lapper a t the top of the "Falls." Brooks , taking advantage of the better line on the outside, passed Fowler. Meanwhile, Robe rt ma naged to p ick up th ree more positions, which placed him in fifth. At the checkered flag, it was Dubach firs t, followed by Brooks, Fowler, Taylor and Rob ert. Dubach said af terward tha t he was "rea l happy to win this firs t mo to." Fow ler sai d h e co uld h a ve g iven Dubach a better fig h t if he could have go tten aro u nd Brooks ea rlier. "By the time I go t past him , I was set in that pace, and I cou ld n't p ick my pace back up," Fowler said. Robert jus t shook his head in d isappointm ent. Dubach was not as successful at the start of the second rnot o, ro unding the firs t turn'in 15th . Carson , who is known for h is goo d s tarts , gra bbed th e hol esh ot, wit h lMS rider Brian Manley in second and Brooks in third . By th e en d of th e fi rs t lap , it was Manley in the lead, with Brooks in second and Carson in third. Robert , having s ta r ted in six th, m ov ed up to fourth . Billy Frank held fif th . Fowl e r m ain - tain ed th e number-six s po t, a n d Dubach , dri vin g ha rd , picke d up fiv e places, movin g to 10th. The top p ositions cha nged d ram at ica lly by th e end of la p th ree . Manley s till he ld th e lead , but Robert mo ved into second , Brooks was th ir d , Fowler was fourt h , a n d Frank was fift h . Dubach, on a miss ion , propelled himself into sixth, immedia tely behind Frank, and passed him on Shoei Mou ntain . . Robert took the lead from Manl ey on lap five. Whil e Fow ler a n d Manl e y w er e going at it for second on lap six, Dubach saw an opportunity to squa re off a tu rn an d slide underneath, taking third fro m Fow ler. Dub ach, u sing the same line up Shoei Mountain , powered pa st Man ley for second. Ma n ley wa s again passed , this time by Fowl er. By the e nd of la p seve n , Robert he ld th e lead, follo w ed b y Dubach, Fow ler and Manley. Dubach and Rob ert battled back and for t h fo r the nu m b e r -o n e po siti on . Dub a c h finall y pa ssed Rob er t a n d pulled away . After 26 m inutes of racin g, Dubach crossed the finis h line for the w in , follow ed by Rob e r t in s ec o nd , Fow ler in third , and Manley in fou rth . Dubach ret a ined his titl e as Wo rld Vet Cha m p ion w it h a cl ean swe e p . Fowler, w ith his 3-3, placed nu mber two overa ll, and Robert took third wi th a 5-2. . An ecsta tic Dubach threw his' arms around his w ife, Gin a, and 17-month old d au ghter, Rylee. " It was iffy a t best th at fi rst lap ," Du ba ch a d m itted . "T he re were gu ys going every w hich direction . You had to have a lot of pati en ce." A t th e awards ce re mo ny, Fow le r d ed icated his race to the memory of his wife, say ing , "She was wit h me. " It tu rned ou t just how I wa n ted it to," Fow ler added . "Dou g' s a full-ti me rider, and if I'd beat him, it would have bee n icing on the cake . But I wa s train ing for second, really. I'm a realist, an d I gave it all I had." The World Vet Ch ampionship weeken d a lso included races for rider s of va ry ing abilities and age grou ps. Probabl y th e m ost co lo r fu l g ro u p w a s th e Ov er 60 rid er s. The ge neral conse nsus of this class was that no matter what, they were going to ha ve a good time. Th e o ld est r id er at th e e ven t was Jack Biery, 77, who said , " If I get all the way ba ck in o ne p iece , a n d I d o n 't d estroy .my ma chi ne or m yself, I' m a winner." "My g oa l before I d ie is to beat George Spearing or Zoli Berenyi once, " la u gh e d Expe rt Ove r 60 ri der Tom Hamm from W yo ming . "Eve ry body says in order to do that , I have to live to be 155." Th e Over 50 Ex pe r t cl ass was a homecomi ng for ma ny rid ers who have co mpe ted a gain s t one another in the United States an d through out the wo rld . Koj i Masu d a fro m Ja pa n brou ght a scrapbook w ith pictures of himself and Rich Thorwaldson from the 70s. Masuda finished second on Satur day and fifth on Su nday, w ith 1-3 and 1-9 mot o finishes . Thorwaldson , with two d ays of 21 fi n ishes, took fi rst ove ra ll fo r th e weekend . Also compe ting in the Over 50 Expert class was John "The Flyin' Ha waiian " DeSoto. DeSot o ad m itted that he h ad not 'ra ced for a year a nd that he was riding a br and-new bike su pplied by IMS. "Frid ay at practice, I wa s pu shing my bik e to th e s tarting line a nd I go t ar m pump," said DeSoto, laughing. "I knew I was in tro uble." DeSoto placed fifth w ith a 5-5 finis h on Satu rday and second with a 3-2 finish on Su nday. . Th e Ov er 40 Expert class was fille d wi th riders who helped shape the history of mo tocross. "Radica l Ron" Tu rn er, Gary Jon es, Chuc k Su n, Rich Eiersted t, Fred Vertucco, Zoli Beren yi, Alex Jor gense n a n d Parry Kla ssen were just so me of the racers compe ting in the twoday eve nt. One of the best battl es of the w eekend was' betwee n old friends Hu saberg/ Sp ectro l/ Malcolm Sm ith-spo nso red Sun and Pro Action Suspension / Th ou sand Oaks Yama ha rid er Turn er . Sun took first overa ll wi th a 2-2 finish , w h ile Tu rner swept first on Sund ay with a 1-1. ' l~ co 0'1 0'1 ,..... CO' ,..... l-< (I) .c E (I) ;> o z 17

• Cover