Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Feature AHRMA Vintage Dirt Track/MX/GP Weekend By Matt Benson Pho tos by Benson and Alan Boyd LlNNVlLLE, OH, AUG. 28-29 H&H KTM NATIONAL VINTAGE GP SERIES, ROUND 5 g: '" ~ ,,; - N CI> .c E CI> Ci. CI> en 34 In O ct ob er 1974, th e in a ugu ra l fall Trans-AM A Motocross Seri es op en ed , pitting Am er ica 's best agains t a stellar internation al field on a swoop ing cen tral-Ohio tra ck known as Honda Hills. Hu sqvarna's Heikki Mikkola took hom e th e ove rall that day with 1-3 fin ish es, wh ile th e top Am erican wa s Bultaco jockey Jim Pomeroy, who was third. Some 25 yea rs-la ter, m otocrosser s still test their skills at Honda Hills, but lar ge porti ons of the Trans-AMA track, originally more tha n 2 miles long. have given way to tall grass and trees. Comm emorat ing th e Tr a n s-AM A' s 25th anniversary w it h an AH RMA vin tage · mot ocross, d irt track and GP weekend, orga nizers unea rth ed p ortions of the hi st or ic MX track a n d inco r pora ted th em in to a 2.1-mile hare sc ra mb les co urse fo r th e fifth roun d of the AHRMA /H&H KTM National Vinta ge GP Series . One nota b le sectio n of o ld t r a ck cli m b ed a s teep hi ll of loo s e shal e , plunged back d own, made a sharp right turn at th e base of th e h ill a n d then snaked back up again. Riders who los t mom entum and sta lled or spun out in th e loose roc ks were left wishing they h ad chosen the alte rnate rout e th at added a tenth of a mile but avo ided the tri cky climb. Man y of the open, grassy portion s wound back and forth with the old mot ocross circuit. Tw o woods sections used heavily rutted trails that were full of rocks, root s, mud a nd closel y spaced trees. Th e m otor cycl es fr om A H RMA's pre-1975 Spo rts ma n cla ss felt right a t h ome on th e old Trans -AM A terrain, and Bulta co Pursang-m ounted Ga ry Pola nd took the chec kered flag firs t at the end of an hour plus one lap . Hu sk y rid ers Mike Scho ll and Andrew Hard in were seco n d a n d th ird to Pol and in Sportsm an Expert, w hile Yama ha rid er William Menges topped the Intermediates and Scott Dowler, also on a Yamaha, was the first Sportsman Novice rider in. Ma rvi n Marty 's m ighty H o d a k a cleaned up in Classic Intermediate, Ossa pilot Brad Kennard topped Bob Gind er' s Greeves in the battle for Exp ert hon ors, an d Da v id Bro wn d omin ate d th e Novice class. AH RMA's oldest d irt bikes, the pre-'65 Premi er class, was an all-BSA a ffai r, w ith Co rky Root takin g th e Ex pert w in an d C hris Ma k yn en going uncontested in Intermed iate. Ye a rs o f ISD T a n d cross co u n t ry experience were appa re nt in Jeff Smith's fluid , ene rgy-co ns erv ing styl e as h e bested the Over 50 Experts on his Ca nAm 250, wh ile Jim Cameron tra veled from California to tak e Novice hon or s on his BSA. CLASSIC BIKE MAGAZINE DIRT TRACK SERIES , ROUND 11 Under the lig hts of the th ree-eighthsm il e Ho nd a Hills ov a l, Jo hn Plu m b solidified his na tion a l poin ts lea d in th ree cla ss es with w ins in Sp ortsman 250, Sportsman 750 and Clas sic 500/750 at round 11 of the AHRJvlA /Ciassic Bike Ma ga zine Dirt Track Series. The ra cer from Macedon , New York, alre ad y ho lds the number-o ne plate in the two pre-1975 Sportsman divisions. The even t a ttracte d approxi ma tel y 100 entries as part of an AHRMA vi ntage motocross/dirt tra ck/ GP weekend at the central Ohio facility. Ridi ng a Yama ha, Plumb was un contested in Spo rts ma n 250. The action was all beh in d him , as Montesa-rnounted Scott Blower go t past Larry Barnes and th en Da ve Scheffer to tak e second for ' the evening . In the 750cc race, too, the Triumphm ount ed Plumb m ad e s u re a ll th e excitement was behind him. A racelon g battle for second rag ed between Blower, on a Yam aha, and Dennis William s, on a T ri u m p h, w it h Williams e ven tua lly claimi ng the runner-up spot. The othe r race was for fourth, and this one wen t to Darrell Bryant over N icholas Taylor, both on Yama ha twi ns . The Classic 500/75Occ fina l was interru pted thr ee times by red flags . The first a nd lo ngest s to p page occ u rred w hen Bond Way , comi ng o n to t h e fron t straight out of turn four, high-sid ed so spec tac u la rly that the ambula nce crew decid ed to evacua te him by helicopter. Way's sta y in a Columbus hospital las ted. only a few hou rs, and he reportedly suffered no serious injuries. . When the race fina ll y go t run n in g and stayed runnin g, Plumb found himself chased vigorous ly by Craig Breckon, both rid ers on Tri umph 500s . Bu t Plumb's lead was never in any rea l da nge r . Breck on d id get hi s wi n fo r th e evening, aboa rd th e sa me machi ne in the pre-1952 Dinosaur division. In th e other bra keless class, Classic 250, defending cha mp ion John Bova had his Bu ltaco dia le d in for a n u n ch al lenged win . Agai n, the action took place behind the lead er, this time in the form of a fo u r-way scra p in vol vin g Ossa - moun ted Lee Allison, Harley-Davidson pilot Da v id Perkins , Du ca ti jockey Myron Clary and BSA rider Jim Ackley. Ackley pulled off with mechan ical trouble, and the battle for second continued rig h t to the flag betw een Perkins and Allison, wit h Allison earn ing the position by the slim mest of margins. In the Sportsma n 600cc final, Maico 450 rider Gig Hamilton took th e lead , pursued by Dou g Horn er. Ho rner eventu ally go t aro u nd H amil ton , but th e Pennsylvani an kep t him self glued to the (Above) John Plumb (1) tr iumphantly rides to t he Sportsman 750 victory at round 11 of the ARHMAlC lass ic Bike Magazine Dirt Track Series , part of Honda Hills' Vintage extravaganza. Plum b also earned wins in the Class ic 50on50 and Sportsman 250 classes. (Below) Only one rider took three class wi ns at r oun d 12 of the Speed & Sport National Vintage MX Series at Honda Hills: Mark Mackay (9F) fi nished first in the Intermediate divis ions of the Sportsman 250, Over 30 and Over 40 classes.

• Cover