Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Events g in trail , along w it h some cree k beds and existing sing le-track, as well as an ISDE-style special-tes t g rass-track section near the pit are a, to form a lO.5-mile co urse . H ig h tem pe ra tures and very dusty tra ils kept th e leaders' average speed at just over 20 m ph, wi th Thiele co m p leting h is fo ur-lap rid e in tw o hours, three minutes and six seco nds. At the start of the race, Thiele was in fron t, w ith Brandon Forres ter and Rick Matteson , on a pair of YZZSO in second s, and third. Matteson pinned the throttle and wh e elied acro ss th e fir st cr eek crossing to take over the lead . Matteson' was able to ho ld on to th e fron t p osition for sev eral miles before he made a mistake that allowed Thiele and Forrester to move ahea d . At the end of lap one, Thi ele and For rester' s gap to the rest of the field wa s alread y beginning to gro w . Matteso n wa s 20 seconds down in third, and lSDE member Mike Windmann was ano ther five ticks back in fourth. Steve Leivan , wh o ha d clai me d th e overa ll wi n in seven of the previous eight rounds, had go tte n off to a less-tha n-stellar start and he rounded ou t th e front five , 30 seconds beh in d Thiele. Thiele and Forrester held their positio n s th rou gh out lap tw o, a l thoug h Thiele was qu ick ly d ist ancing h im self fr om hi s ch a lle nge rs. Wi n d ma n n a p p lied so me pressure on Mattes on , th en made his move w hile cross ing a fast field . Soon af te r, Matteson w ent d own while neg ot iating a creek crossing. Leivan was hung up on Matteson 's downed bike momentarily, but he broke free to take over fourth. Thi el e ' s lead o ve r Forrester h ad stretched to more than a minute by the end of la p two , with Windmann and Le ivan ano th er 30 seco n ds down . Leivan stayed close to Windmann, look . ing for an op portunity to pass for nearly three-q ua rters of th e third lap . Th e opportuni ty fina lly ca me in th e same place in which Windmann had ove rtaken Mat teson a lap earlier. . O n ce Lei van moved into th ir d , h e qu ickly closed the gap on Forrester and, a fte r a co up le o f n ear co llisio ns , h e passed the young Yama ha rid er with an alterna te line choice a nd moved in to second. "I haven't ridden w ith Brandon that mu ch, so I di dn' t know what to expect," Leiva n exp la ine d . "I had a hard tim e ge tting by, because when I caught him, he tried to pick up the pace and he go t a little wild -,He was bouncing off trees and roosting all over me, so 1 had to get by quick before I lost an y more time ." The final circu it through th e dusty wood s wa s anticlimactic, as Thiele d id eve ry th ing ri ght a n d kept it o n two wheels to claim the overall wi n. With five rounds to go, the win - Thiele's second - along with his five runner-up finis h es , kee p s a live th e cha m p io ns h ip hopes of the number-three-plate hold er in the series. Leiva n still collected a sizable chunk of points and kep t his poin ts lead intact. Fifteen-year-old Forr es ter was thi rd a nd Wind man n wa s four th . Dwight Maggar d carded ano ther consistent finish in fifth. eN Spare Parts Hare Scrambles Knob Noster, Missouri Results : J uly 25, 1999 (Round 9) O /A : 1. Ch ris Thie le (Kaw): 2. Steve Leivan (Ya m); 3. Brand on Forrest er (Yam); 4. Mike Wind mann (KTM); 5. Dw ight Magg a rd (Yam): 6. Ryan Wuebbcling (Ya m); 7. jaso n Stegal l (Kaw) : 8. Bobby Dun can (Ya m); 9. Tim Gibson (Yam ); 10. Tann er Engla nd (Yam) . ~ AA:' 1. Steve Lei van (Yam); 2. Bran don For rester G; (Ya m); 3. Mike Windmann (KTM); 4. Dw ight Magga rd (Yam); 5. Tanner Eng lan d (Yarn) . . A: 1. Rya n w uebbeling (Ya m); 2. Bob b y Du nca n (Yam); 3. Jtm Simo ns (Yam); 4. Charles Thiele (Ka w ): 5. Matt Faletti (KTM). w) 125 B: 1. Jason Dill (K.1 ; 2. Steve Akers (Ya m); 3. j ames Slo an (Ya m ); 4. Ma tt Jam es o n (KTM); 5. Mike Hulse y {Kaw) . .c E li G> G> en 48 Costa Mesa's Randy DiFrancesco leads the Sideways Saturdays Handicap main event at the Cal-Expo Speedway . facility in Sacramento, California, while Ryan Fisher (center) gets around Tommy Hedden. DiFrances co took the win, Hedden took second, and Fisher cras hed. 200 B: 1. Steve C re w s (Kaw ): 2. Robe rt A rmon (K.. 1W); 3. Pat Declue (KTM). 250 B: 1. Jaso n Stega ll (Kaw): 2. Tim Gibson (Yam); . 3. Matt w cis (Yam); 4. Joe Straat mann (Kaw): 5. Bryal,l Roy (Kaw). OPE N B: 1. Dua ne Ram bo [Hon): 2. Ma tt Coffma n (KTM); 3. Chris Sloa n (KTM); 4. Karl H arris (Hun): 5. Kur t Mirtsching ( Hon). 4· STRK B: 1. Gary Plian t (Ho n): 2. Nick C raw ford (Yam ); 3. josep h Annon (Hen): 4. Mel H ind s (Hon) : 5. [ames Ross (Han ). VET: 1. Rick Kin kelaar (Yam) ; 2. John Banes (Knw): 3. Kreg Simons (Yam) ; 4. Carl Dobson (KTM) ; 5. Don Haney (Kaw). S R: 1. Brad Barnett (Ya m ); 2. John New be rry .(laM) ; 3. Keith Kibort (Yam); 4. Dave Osborn (Ha n), 5. Jay Williams (JaM). S /S R: l . Eric Hansen (H e n) : 2. Gera ld Frericks (KTM); 3. Frank Leivan (Ya m); 4. Tonv Schladet (Hon). 250 C: t . Dan Ha lbec k (Kaw): i Wayne Leeman (Ka w) : 3. Zachary Perry (Ka w) ; 4. M ich ael Ha milto n (Ya m); 5. Aaron Highto wer (Yam). JR: 1. Zach Mabery (Hon), 2. Patrick Mvers: 3. 5.1m La w so n (H o n) : 4. Trav is Lappe (Han ); 5. Cameron Mi ttelbe rg CK.1w). WMN: 1. Miche le Eidam (KTM) ; 2. Shern Declue (Ka w): 3. Amanda Lappe (Kawj: 4. Rebecca Jackson (I<.1w) . • TR: 1. Ash ley Zlun (Hon): 2. Erik lawson (J<:n..t) ; 3. Adam As hcroft (Yam); 4. David Leesman (Kaw) , 5. Pat Welch (Kaw). A AW HRM estern Regional TT Hocking, Netto handle Hollister By Denn is Sute r HOLUSTER, CA, AUG. 8 he Santa Clara Rid ers Unlimited held an AHRMA Western region al TT o n th e original H ollister TT track, wh ere manv of Northern Californi a' s flat-trackers grew up . Th e tr ack was gr oomed to perfe ction and grooved u p int o an excelle n t traditional stee p lechase course. Former nation al num ber an d current Bay Area res ident Rick Hoc kin g went flag to flag in the day' s lead -off eve n t, Seventi es Sing les. Rod Lake d ropped his Yama ha at the right- han d er on the first la p, and then Brad Sp encer w ent in to the tree turn too hot on the seco nd lap, with the same resu lts. On the sixth lap, Paul Herma n and Dom Dema rio tan gled, resulting in a DNF for Herman . The race settled down for the final four la p s, as Ya ma h a- m o unte d Ho ckin g pulled ou t a big lead over Yamaha rider Ron Hinton . Long time SCRU member But ch Coch ra n , on a Triu mph Twin , absco nded with the holesh ot in the Classic Open main. Cochran's graceful, arch ing slid es on the left-ha nd turn before the finis h line we re real crow d pleasers. Gary Da vis , on another Triumph, and Harl e y rid er Ch ris Rud y foll ow ed Cochran to the check ers . The Vet Over 3S class saw four vete r- T an AHRMA racers put on a ridi ng clinic. Ca n-Am-moun ted Ken Ne tto led Brad Spencer's Bigh orn Kaw asaki d own the back straight from the start. Jeff Lessley, on a Bultaco, held third over Tom Horton 's XL Honda. Horton passed Lessley go ing d o wn th e back straig ht on th e thi rd lap, while Spen cer was ap plying pressure to Netto on every Corn er. On th e s ix t h go- a r ou n d , H ort on div ed in s id e both Netto and Spencer a t th e tree turn; his pass of Spen cer stu ck, bu t Netto rode to the next corne r in the lead . Tw o laps. later, Horton again d ived on N e tto in th e sa me co rne r, t h is tim e bumping and making the pa ss. Ho rton waved Ne tto back aro und, but Spe ncer a ls o gra bb ed a p osition. H or ton was ab le to ni p Sp encer o n th e long back straight, bu t he ran out of time an d was unable to catch Nett o'sflyin g Can-Am . Se nior O ver 50 favo rite Mike Van Lienden drew the ire of the ve ry tough s tarter an d was se nt to th e ba ck ro w befo re the flag ever fell. Steve Lacy held the fr ont p osi tion u ntil Joel Sweene y motored by on the second lap. Van Liend en roared through the pack and pa ssed Sweeney by the fourt h lap. Ma rty Lewis nipped Sweeney at the tree tu rn on lap seven , o n ly to ha ve a n exhaust p ipe come adrift, end ing his cha rge . The finis h in g or der was Va n Lie nd e n; Swee ney , Micky Alzola and Lacey. The combined Classic 2S0-S00cc race sa w th e SOOcc cla ss st art on th e fr ont row and take the early lead. By midrace. , Ossa -mo unted Horton and BuItaco jockey Jeff Lessley hau led int o the first - and second-overall posi tions. Gold Sta r rider Gary Da v is, and Ch ri s Ru d y o n a Ma tchless, finished 1-2 in the SOOs. Nine Super Seniors took the gr~en flag for their 10-lap Ov er 60 main. Triumph rid ers M ick y Al z ola and Ga ry Swa n (a ovice) won their res pective cla sses aga ins t a se a of BSAs. Wa y ne Sumner pushed Alzola the wh ole event but was never able to pass. Ca n-A m pil ot Ne tt o s n atc hed th e holesh ot in the Vet Ov er 3S ma in over Bul taco riders Lessley, Horton and Nick Nassisi. Horton pulled off the track on the second la p, as his fro nt bra ke had go ne away. Nassisi passed Lessleyon the ou ts ide of th e tree turn on the last lap and held on for secon d place. The Sports ma n 7S0cc main event was al mos t anticlimactic, as the second 7S0cc h ea t h ad to b e t h e ra ce o f t he da y . Yamaha rider s John Pr ot o and Horton di d ba ttle wit h Triu m ph-m oun ted Rod Spencer, w ho wo n the heat. Van Lienden 's BSA was thrown int o the mix for the mai n, as he was first up the hill at the sta rt. Spen cer nipped Van Lienden on the inside of the right-hand er on the second lap and was never head ed . Horton a n d Pr oto fou gh t o ve r th ird , as Spencer motored awa y. Ho rto n ma na ged a pa s s o n Van Liend en on th e white-flag lap, but Spencer was gone. Th e final order was Spencer, Horton, Van Lien d en, Proto and Marty Lewis . Ronni e Brow n w on the Pr o class , wh ile Rick Hocking be sted the 600cc Support class, a nd Rod Lake fin ished . fi rstina larger ·SOOcc Su p p o r t fie ld. Rand y Bel em an fini sh ed fir st in the XR100 race, a nd Rodn ey Spenc er held off Mik e Rush in the Under 16 XRI O O event. eN Hollister IT Track Hollister, California Rltsults: August 8, 1999 '70 s SG L: 1. Rick ~ oc k in g (Yam): 2. Ro n H in ton (Yam); 3. Dom Demario (Hon): 4. Rod ger Bowerman (Yam); 5. Brad Spencer (Ya m ). · eLsC ~ PEN: 1. Butch Cochran ITri): 2. Gary Davis

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