Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

AMAJAHRMA Speed & Sport National Trials Round 5: Sears Point Raceway Triple Win for Trials Team By DARLEN E WILLIAMS SONO , CA, APR. 29 MA a n a former factory motocross racer teach winning tr ials-riding skills? Apparently so, as the Foresthill Trials Team , coached by Danny "Magoo" Chandler , topped three classes in the AMA/American Historic Racing Motorcycle Association National Observed T rials event held during the Sonomafest 2000 Vintage Motorcycle Days West at Sears Point Raceway. Leading the team to victory was Foresthill's John Si lva, who topped the Modern Classic division. His son Matt Silva tied for first place in the Youth class; and rounding out the winning team was Dave Pile of Pilot Hill with first in the Beginner class. The trials competition attracted riders from all over the United States and Canada and drew a record turnout of more than 100 participants. Vintage Motorcycle Days West activities featured the Vintage Trial , as well as motocross, hare scrambles, dirt-track and road-racing events, and also a Bike Show and Extreme Tr ials Demonstrations by former Wor ld Cha m pion Tommy Ahvala. As usual, the Sears Point competitors were required to complete three laps of the 4 -mile course, Youths , Beginners and all oth e r number-fourline riders traversed e ight sections, while the more advanced competitors tackled 10 "traps." Although the AHRMA events are primarily for Vintage and C lass ic motorcycles, the AHRMA Tr ials ' Beginner class is open to any "tria lstype bike." The largest and most competitive class was th at of the 37-rid er Modem Classic Nov ice rid ers, who com pete on the d ifficult number -three line . (There are a total of four lines, with the number-one line being the most difficult.) While the majority of riders struggled to a first-loop average of 15 or more points, Mark Townsend made it all look easy as he took the early lead with a clean first loop. Silva was second on his Yamaha TY250 with a one -point first loop , wh ile Michae l Wallace , Wes Baker, Fred Cameron and Rod Brasel (all with three points); Jerry Erikson , Ed Parsons and Mike Moore (all with four po ints); and Erik Beeson , Chris B iddy and Mike McPeters (all with five points) were among the riders keeping the contest close with s ing le -d igit scores. Th e lea derboard changed after the second loop. A solid th ree- point second-loop attempt let Silva take ove r C 42 JUNE 14. 2000 · cue • ... first place with a four-point score for the two laps. followed by Parsons and McPeters (both with five po ints), then Ba ke r and Townsend (both with six points ) and then Ralf Gester (who had a clean second loo p for a six point total). Going into the final loop, it was anybody's trial - but time was runn ing out, adding a new element of suspense. the tria l was finished , the kids - both riding nearly ide ntic a l Yam aha TY80 s - had tied with identical sco res of 13 points each. Both riders were is sued a first-place award. It should be noted that both riders rode the nu m ber-four line a n d showed good form; their s c o re s would have place d th em in good standing against th e oth er fourline riders, regardless of their age. In the past, Dave Pile has competed in hare scrambles and motocross events , with much success, an d he decided to give Observed Trials a try, making the event his first-ever tria ls competition. Inspired to become a contestant after spectating at the recent NATC National Observed Trial at Mammoth Bar OHV, Pile competed Albany Motorsports Park Leach Latches On to the Win By CUly I.JGHT ALBANY, OR, MAY 13- 14 Yamaha VZ426 -mounted Ryan Leach topped the list of multiple-class winners during the Supercross do ubleheader at Albany Mo torsports Park. The Albany. Oregon. rider eamed five overall wins on the weekend, taking the 250cc Pro and Four-Stroke class wins on both days and the Before The H;H victory on Saturday. Another of the weekend's biggest winners was KTM and Suzuki rider Ajay Olinger, who aced the 60cc Senior and 80cc (9 -11 ) classes during both days of the CMC'sanctioned rac ing . Olinger's closest competition i n both classes was Kawasaki jockey Danny Gubser, the second-placed finisher to Olinger in eight motes of 60 and 80cc action. Yamhill, Oregon's Ryan Huege posted a two-class decimation with his 80cc (14.16) and Supermini-class wins on Saturday, topping Alex Hill in the 80cc contest and then defeating Yamaha rider Brock Chappelle in a mete-two shootout for the Superm ini win. However, Kawasaki rider Tyler Fick ruined Sears Point Raceway: Th ree thu m bs up, dudes! The Foresthill Trials Team of (from left to ri ght) Dave Pile, John Silva and Matt Silva show off their fi rst-place trophies for wi nning the Beg inne r, Modem Classic Novice and Youth classes, respectively, at the Speed & SpOrt National Trials in Sonoma, California. The big turnout and the tough sections had created some bottlenecks, slowing many of the ride rs on the popular number.-three line, including Silva. "S ta rting the la st loop, I only had about 30 minutes to c omp lete th e trial and tum in my card ," S ilva ex plained, "but I felt confident I c ould do it, and I a lso knew som e o f my competition like ly wouldn't make the cutoff.' Silva equaled his best earlier effort with a s ingle-point final loop to sew up the win with a five -point total. "When I can move briskly and get a rhythm going , I ride my best," Silva said. "I've got to g ive a lot of c redit for that to Danny 'Ma goo' Chandler's training programs.' Baker finished second with a seven-point total. McPeters, Beeson and Moore were among the many riders finish ing the tria l with 10- p o in t totals ; they were assigned their respective finishing positions based on the number of cleans. Matt Silva . 10 . was one of only two riders und er . 14 years of age to give the difficult tri al a try. Silva faced off aga inst Willie Hilgenburg, and whe n n e .... s on a mod ified la t e - m o d e l Honda XR200 Dualsport, and his traction grabbing ways kept his feet glued to the pegs, resulting in a perfect firstloop score of zero. Pile dropped only a few points on each of his next two loops to best the other seven beginne rs and win th e class with a score of s ix po ints tota l. Fin ishing second was another first-tim e tr ials competitor, Donna Kelle y, with 10 points. 1:11 SaJS PDiDt ba!way s-., c.rlhnlia IIeSIIIts: ApriI2!I, 2DDD IIIDamI 51 I'IDRN CLSC EX; I. PIotr Serek; 2. Alfredo Rod il; 3. Gary Nordstrom; 4 . Jeff Nell; 5. James Smi th, I'IDRN CLSC INT: I. DavId Boydstun; 2. .Jlm Row; 3. Gerald Biggers; 4. Rory Muscatdl: 5. Terry Hyde. MORN CLSC NOV: I . John Silva: 2. Wes Baker: ers; 4. Erik Beeson; 5. Mike Moore. 3. Mike _ PREI'IItJW EX; I. Steve Darrow. PREM H/W IrtT: 1. Dere k Belvo ir; 2 . Don RK:haroson; 3. Da n W"liKm 4 . Stephen Mt:ye<. i ; PREM1./W EX: I . Ken Burningham. PREM 1IW INT: I. Martin Spr;ggs; 2. Marty Paulson: 3. Jim I..en!r; 4. Kevin Kelley;5. Don Kelley. PREM UW NOV: 1. Bruce Stevens; 2. Steve Lawrence: 3. Wayne Mooneyham: 4. Marl< RoIer; 5. Roger Fonke. CLSC INT: I . Wendell Clark. CLSC I'IOV; I . Earl Burrow... SR: I . Chuck BuIwinkIe. GIR DER EX; I. Beno Rodi. I'IDRN SGl. SHOCK EX; I. Robert W"dHams .h~ 2. Robert Iluskart; 3 .l'Ilke Stupek. I'ID RN SGL SHOCKNOV: I. Larry Melteaur . TW SHOCK EX: 1. Jgn W"1Iltc:r. 1W SHOCK (NT: I . Don Slupek. YTH: (lIE) I . Matt Silv./Will.. Hilgenberg . BEG: 1. Da ve Pile; 2. Donna Kelly; 3. Steven l.eYin: 4. G;"ger Hilgenberg; 5 . Lawrence Rciter. Huege's plans for a weekend sweep; on Sunday, Fkk was the overall winner in the 80cc ( 14 -16) and Supermini classes, and Huege finished second. Leach, who has placed im pressively at the first several rounds of the N'.A Westem Four Stroke National Se ries, netted his first of three overall wins on Saturday in the combined 250cc Pro/lntermediate class. Leach led fellow Pro Gary Terlecki to the finish , followed by the top Intermediate rider, Devin Connaghan. Afte r also posting a win in the combined Before The Hill Pro /Junior and Intermediate class ahead of Connaghan and the top-placing Junior, Aaron Tunnell . Leach a lso put his Yamaha at the head of the field in the Four Stroke class, topping his older brother, Roby, and Michael Gamby. On Sunday, Leach again thumped to an uochallenged win in the Four-Stroke class, and then immediately retu med to decimate a large field of 250cc Pro/lntermediate contestants. Leach landed both moto wins, followed by Honda-mounted J ason Mathews. Roby Leach. John Sabo and Ryan Hageman, who filled out the top five overall in the Pro portion. Con naghan (who was a two- class winner on the weekend) dominated the Intermediate portion. On Sunday, Washington's Landon Currier scored convincing wins in the Pee Wee (7-8) and 60cc Junior classes, while riding Cobra and Kawasaki machinery. respectively. Steele Ang le-Davidson. who finished second at the recent NMA Mini Grand Prix race in the 50cc Stock (0 ·6) class, showed the competition the fast way a round the sandy course on his way to the win in the Pee Wee (4 -6 ) class. Results . ~ PNI (4-6): I. VftT1Cn F05Ift (KTM); 2. Celin Baker (lAm ). PN/ (7.8t. I. GIonn .......,. (Cab); 2. K ..... floonb CJmy ( _I. 80 (9- 11): I. "'JayCXinger (Sea ); 2. DannyGubse' (Kaw). SO ( 12· 13 ): I. Kenneth Hl!Il'TVT'IDl'1~ (Yam) ; 2. Brodt Chappdle (Yam ); 3. Ricky WuorI (Hon). 80 ( 14-16): 1. Ryan Huege (Hon ); 2. Mex HID (Hen). S/MfNI 1. Ryan Huege (Han ); 2. Brock Chlllppell~ (Yam); 3. : ROy Wuori CHat); 4. Alex Hill (Hat); 5. Jnse Wuori (Hen). 125 BEG: 1..JoeI Warnic:M {yaml; 2. JIlIk~ 'Whitt (Kaw ); J. (iar. IIlIndTmd (Yam) ; 4. ChrisIiIlImpCDn (y1lIm); 5. He.m y~ (Yam). I~ JR: L "-on T.-wII (Yam) ; 2. Ry8n Thornp8cn (Han); 3JU5tln .kmen ( Hon ); 4. Nichol.. Nowlllk (Yarn): 5. Mlltt Crawford (s..). 125 m : I. Jason PIlIrb (lion); 2. Seen CoMaghan (Yam). 250 BEer. L eu- Hrtbmirw (Han); 2. KftWWth Eesdidl (Sc); :l Tyt..-_ C-); 4-.J........ C-t. 5.1.

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