Motocross
Glen Helen Raceway
YAMAHAIVINTAGE IRON WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
By Ki t Palmer
Photos by M itch Friedman,
Scott Rousseau and Pa lmer
SAN BERNARDINO, CA, ocr. 31
0, yo u d id n' t mi sta ken ly p ick
up o ne of you r old co p ies of
.
Cycle Neuis, but wi th names like
th es e in the hea d li n e, you proba b ly
th ou ght you d id . Sco tt "The Bu rner"
Burnworth, Mi ke "Too Tall " Bell and
"Rocket" Rex Staten were just some of
the former factory stars who came out of
the woo dwork to mix it up - just like in
the good 01' days - at the Yamaha /Vintage Iron World Championships held on
the "International" track at Glen Helen
Raceway.
It was only fitting that the Yamahasponsored event was dominated by former factory Yamaha riders, such as Bell,
Burnworth and Staten . You can even
th ro w the name "Ron Lech ien " in the
mix if you want. After all, Lechien bro ke
into the pro ra nks as a Team Yama ha
rider in the early 1980s, and he came out
of retirement to compete at Glen He len,
bu t Lec hien rod e a Hond a , the same
brand of mo torcy cle on which he wo n
h is on ly Na tiona l MX tit le (12Sccl in
fiYJ
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(Above) Rex Staten (1), Mike Bell (39)
and Joe Bonnello (11x) drop the clutch
for the start of Vint age Iron 's own
version of the MX des Nati ons.
(Right ) A bad start lell Bell (39) having to
work his way through the pac k. He
caught up to the leader, Staten, then
crashed, inj ured his hand and br oke the
clutch lever 011 his bike. Bell , who hadn't
raced mot ocr oss in over 15 year s, st ill
fi nished fourth.
1984. Even three-time Nationa l Cha mpion Gary Jon es, who won the very firs t
AMA National MX title in 1972 on a
Yama ha, was present. Jones, though,
rode to victory the sa me Ca n-Am that
he wo n his third title on in 1974, in Vin-
tage Iron's ow n version of the "MX dei
a tio ns" with teamm at es Staten a nd
Bell.
But the man of the hou r was Burnwo rth, w ho rode to vic to ry in the Evolution (non-lin kage, air-cooled, drum-
brake bikes) Exp ert class. In the firs t
moto, Bu rnworth prett y mu ch led fro m
sta rt to finish over Sta ten, Lechien and
Ma ico 490- mo u n te d Tim Na sh. Bu rn w orth was clearly th e fa ster rider of
the group , as he s tea d ily p u lled away
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