Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128154
AMA Vintage Days West Sears Point Raceway Ken Lighthouse leads RocId Lighthouse during road racIng action at the AMA VIntage Days West In Sonoma, California. The two were factors In many races over the weekend, with Rodd winnIng the Sportsman 750CC class. By MARGIE SIEGAL PHOTOS BY STEPHEN JACOBSON SONOMA, CA, APR. 27·28 9he Western edition of the ever· U growing tribe of. vintage enthusiasts gathered at Sears Point Raceway in Northern California for a two-day tribute to Spanish motorcycles, and a celebration of all old bikes. In addition to racing action, the Sears Point event featured a swap meet where you could buy parts for anything from minicycles to pre-1970 BMWs, a rolling concours for owners of road-worthy classics, cooking demonstrations by Biker Billy, seminars by Craig Vetter, a trials competition on Saturday and motocross on Sunday. Road racing, sanctioned by AHRMA, was a large part of the festivities, with 300 entries - a significant increase in participation from last year's Vintage Days West. Competitors raced in 26 different classes grouped in 12 separate events. As is normal with the AHRMA format, each class had a chance to race on both Saturday and Sunday. The AMA picks a featured marque and a Grand Marshal for each year's Vintage Motorcycle Days. In 2002, the featured brand was not a marque, but a country: Spanish motorcycles. The Grand Marshal was Jim Pomeroy, 38 MAY 15. 2002' cue • e whose win in the 1973 Spanish GP on a Bultaco made him the first American to win a European GP. Pomeroy was around to sign autographs on both days, as was Brad Lackey and other legends of the past who made their name on Montesas and Bultacos. The AMA even brought in Senor Oriol Puig Bulto, one of the founders of Bultaco Motorcycles and a current FIM official, to give a talk on the history of motorcycle manufacture in Spain. Saturday's racing kicked off with a parade of champions, including Pomeroy, Lackey, Jim Odom, Gary Jones, former trials champion Lane Leavitt, and former women's trials champion Debbie Evans-Leavitt, all mounted on Spanish motorcycles. The first classes on the grid were the crowd-pleasing pre-1940 class and the 200cc GP class. Al Knapp - at 78, the oldest active racer in the United States - was forced to retire when his 1940 tankshift Harley developed mechanical problems. A three-rider battle developed on the first lap between Norbert Nickel's 1939 BMW, Will Harding's Indian Sport Scout and Ozzie's BMW David Breetwor was also a factor In many different races, winnIng the Classic 'aOs class aboard his Matchless on both cJays. n __ s rider Ralph Auer. Despite the BMWs' foot-shift advantage, Harding, last year's pre-1940 champion, held on to finish second behind Auer, one of the fastest AHRMA riders - no matter what he is riding. Nickel came away with third. The 200cc GP class was a romp for BSA-mounted Paul Shoen. Racing for Satisfied Cycles, he had predicted before the race, "As long as everything goes as supposed, we'll finish in the wood." The awards for the first three places are wood plaques, and AHRMA racers kid each other about "finishing in the wood." ("Wood is good!") The next green flag dipped on four classes for modern bikes, sponsored by Motorcyclelndustry.com. AHRMA has added classes for recently built racers that don't quite fit into the AMA rule book, including classes for production and development singles and Battle of the Twins bikes. While some of these classes attract the most exotic machinery, a good rider who carefully tunes a cheap used bike can win others. Steve Allen, riding a 1982 Honda 500, diced through the eight laps of the Super Mono Two race with Richard Capps Jr.'s 1979 Yamaha. Gary Davis won the Production Singles race on an MZ. Skorpion, Dante Dambrusco won Battle of the Twins Two-Stroke on a 1989 Yamaha, and Joshua Gustin came out on top in Sound of Singles Two-Stroke with a 1991 Honda 125.