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/140926
DeSoto Sits on Lion Jon V an Dellen plays Th e L one Ranger unwittingly. By Buzz Baty WILMI NGTON , CAL., Jan . 14 , 19 72 As th e headline says, Joh n DeS ot o d id sit o n th e lion , twisted his tail - flic ked his nose, a nd rode him to a standstill. Th e Al oh a Kid pro ved to a full h ouse o f riders an d sp ec ta to rs that h e is indeed "B illy th e Kid" o f SoC ai motocrossers , John won al l th ree o f th e,500 Expert m otos with such eas e, and with so much st yle th at if th er e were an y unitiated fans or riders wa tch in g, th ey h ave t o think th at motocross is an eas y gig. The p attern for each moto was identical, DeS o to wo rking fo r the lead into the first tum, Tim Hart and Bill Payne staying close for the first lap , then DeS oto would open a huge gap between himself and Hart, with Hart doing much th e same to Payne. Hart and Payn e d id t ry, they gave it all they h ad until it was ob vio us that DeSoto was n 't going to pull any strange numb ers. When it became clear t hat they were goi ng to fin ish second and t hird, Hart an d Payne decided to enjoy t hemselves. Wh en they were close they rode th e groove , but when it opened up , it was showboat time, and to be real h onest, th e show put o n by H ar t and Payne was a joy to wat ch . Wh eelies o ut o f the turns, b ig, wide , long p ower slides a t the wide st arting lin e tum , throwing huge ro oster ta ils a t the p it fe nc e spectators . DeSoto h ad ' em b eat , but th at d id n't sto p them fro m having so me fun ; ain't that what it's all about? The h ottest cla ss of t he nigh t was th e 125 Expert . Chuck Bower , wh o hadn't be aten Tom Rapp until las t week at EI T oro, did it again to night. But it wasn 't Rapp wh o gave Chuck a h ard wa y t o go , it was Dave R odgers and h is Bultaco. The firs t moto saw Bowers push his Penton t o th e fron t o n a real h ole shot off the starti ng gate, b ut Rogers sta yed with in h andsh aking distance all t he way to the checkered flag. Bowers th ough t that the first sta rt was so good , th at h e tried it agai n in the second moto, he pulled it off and had a good lead o ut of the first turn but t w o unidentified rid ers b it th e dust beh ind the first five. Whe n they co uld n't get th e tr ack cle are d , the race was st opped and restarted. On the res ta rt Rodger s and Bowers hit th e firs t turn like a p air , of Siamese twins, but co ming off the co rner, Rodgers got a bite that was outtasight a nd grabbed a 30.y ard lead. Bowers managed to get alo ngsid e of Rodgers a few times b u t co uld n ' t ge t p ast. Comi ng into th e last moto, it was tied at a win and a sec o nd p lac e fo r b oth Bill and Ch uck. (Re su lts on page 28) '" " '" '" e, ~ '" '" N ~ ~ ~ w d >- U -