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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/140926
e "n '" 0- N .... '" ~. e '" ~ w -, Z w -' U >- U 1,000 THRill TO TT SCRAMBLES ATPERRIS By Ed Drec hsler PERRIS, CAL ., Jan . 16 , 1972 .:.. Side hacks, 17 of them. Riders , 3 16 of t he m. Spectators, mo re th an 700 of the m . It all tallied u p to the largest D·37 IT p oint race h eld at th e Perris Motorcy cle Recr ea tio n Center in more than five years. The job of putting the rest of th e day together fell to the promoting club, the Lightweigh ts M.C. w it h cooperation fr om track owner Jerry Burton. Jerry is an o ld h and a t d o in g these th ings, but the Lightweigh ts M.C. is a very new club with not too ma ny point runs under their b elt . As it t u rn ed o ut, they d idn' t need an y h elp as they ran the re cord number of competitors thro ugh their eve nts in a little over seve n h ours. Jerry t oo k advantage o f a few breaks to re-s urface th e track. When we got there in the m o rn ing t he track lo ok ed like Van Buren Blvd . without t he Botts Dots. The track is wide enough at even the narrowest point to all ow three side h acks to charge into it side by side and still have room to make mino r mid-course c orrec tio ns. The speeds which the tr ack saw today were beyond imagi nation. Man y riders were seen scurrying aro und lo o kin g for h igh er gearing. O ne thing is for sure, to ride this track and win, y o u n eed a fast ma chi ne and enough h air to tum th e th ro ttle all t he way on. The starti ng sys te m used is somewhat uniqu e, an d once it was gotten used to ca use a min im u m of problems . Starting seque nce is from a Ilashing red ligh t to a co nstant yellow to a green. First time out a few riders had a tendency to go on the ye llow. WeIl, it was Scott Smith and Bob Hosford in th e 125 Expert motos. Scott sailed to exciting wins with T & 0 Yamaha team r id er a nd Number I Lightweigh t Hosford in hot pursuit. John Rice, who was out of work early last week w ith an injured ankle su ff ered at Adelanto , stuck his foot into a h ole d uring the second moto and was fo rced to sit out the remainder o f the Lightweight contest. Lat er in the da y , John rode his Maico in the 5 00 Expert moto but it was apparent th at something was bothering him . J eff Co leman jumped t o the lead of the second 100 Exp ert m o to a nd held it through th e swe eper into the Big S . He hit a soft spot or something a nd started to high side.iHis e ntire b ody lifted aw ay fro m the m ach in e. In th is awk wa rd p osit ion he managed to sav e the bike but had trouble comin g d own. H e Scott Smi th blasts into the sweeper with Bob Hosford hot on his heels. The remainder of the pack tries in vain to catch the high flyi ng d uo. landed on th e ground to the right' o f the bike, but st ill had both hands on the grips. Forward momentum d ragged him to h is knees and along with t h e bike for several feet . Jeff was not ab o u t to let go as h e felt he co u ld save it. Riders were dodgi ng both to the righ t and left of him. Just when it seemed that he c ou ld save it another IOOcc'er slid into him , knocking his feet out from u nder him and mes sin g up the whole thing. Only two Powder Puffers sh owed up with their bikes today (n o t en ough to make a class) so th ey d ecided to ride with the b oys. Debbi J ones made the 100 Novice Main Event and Pam Bales made third in th e 125 Am ateur class. Charles Soderstrom rode h is 200 Ossa like it was a JAP or Jawa. His ab ility to tak e a class C bike and rid e it class A is somewhat overwhelming. Charles rode to a c ommand ing lead over rival 200 Experts . Bob Hosford and Steve Nichols grabbed 250 Exp ert h eat wins . Steve sec ured a lead in the Main Event to which he was not ab o u t to let go. Danny Ho ckie made a valiant effort to get him, but Steve cam e acr oss the finish lin e so fast th at I was unable to get a p icture of him. Hosford went down durin g practi ce and sheared the fr o n t hub. He rode and won th e heat race but finished b eh ind the likes o f Nichols, Hockie and Gann in the Main . Side Hacks? T wo cl asses o f h acks . Bet that's all th e h acks in the whole Side Hack Ass ociation. Maybe in th e whole U.S . of A. What can y o u say. When th e hacks run, everyone stop s what th ey 're doing an d watches . The 5 00c c Main provided thrill a m inute ac tio n with lead changes and t ight a ction through the race . For the first time that I ca n rem emb er, Whal a nd Hudspith were second best. The team of Parti and Jamison hung in there to win it with BeIl an d Bellows thundering in for third . The h ack 6 50 Main saw Pers on and Darby o n a Kaw as aki powered sled ca p ture th e win with an outstanding exhi b itio n of teamwork. Fea t ure race o f th e d ay h as to go to th e 500cc Exp er t div ision. From th e 100cc Exp erts cau beginning it seemed t o · be between Redding and Sex ton . Kirk Redding won the same class two weeks ago a t Elsin ore (C. N. erroniously reported Vic Ha nno n winning th at one) and looked like h e could do it again. First moto and they 're off. Sexton is aft er Red d in g but Kirk seems to be t o o fast . Jeff charged out of th e pack and in n o time is righ t on K irk 's h eels. Kirk fends off at tack a fter attack to m ai ntain the lead right into the fina l straight where Jeff ch arg es b y for the win. Second moto and they're off. Sexton is aga in after Redding. It's Maico after Maico. Jeff st arts t o close and o n the white n ag lap it lo o ks like he ca n do it. As they co m e o u t of the final sweeper d own the straight ; it's Redding in total comm an d with Se xton putting across for an eas y se cond while fid dling with his clutch c o nt r ols. lt's the third an d final moto with Jeff and Kirk tied for the lead. T hey 're off, Redding grabbs th e jump an d lead s out o f th e sw eep er when h e starts to go over th e h igh sid e. Sexton slip s under him . Redding, som ehow save it and falls in with th e pack . .Ieff rides like a man p ossessed. He rides with his fee t on the pegs as much as possible and when he slides he seems to transfer the weight to th e rea r tir e a nd drives even harder. He go es faster and faster. Kirk is out of the pack and a fte r J eff but there's no way . Jeff wins th e third moto and the 500 Exp er t class ove rall. The lights came o n during th e fin al . laps o f th e Ooen N ovice, third moto , and the Open ' Expert third moto was the on ly race to b e c omp letely run und er the lights. The track wa s th e fastest I have ever seen it , the rid ers were neat guys (and girl s) an d th e Ligh tweight M.C. did a good job. Wha t m ore ca n o ne ask for? The Lightweigh t M.C. rep ort th at the sidehacks will be more th an we lc ome a t all five r ough scramb les to be held at Ad ela n to n ext m onth . A lso , they ne ed six o r m ore Powder Puffers to ma ke a class. T he Adelan t o course is re ally n ot th at hard. (R esu lts o n p age 28 ) t on th e act of releasing th eir cluteh es as th e gree n light flashes .