Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

back in the saddle again GROSSI: ~ w Z W ...J U > U By Sam Mangalin MONTEREY , CAL., Jan. 9, 1972 running literally w heel to wheel There can be little doubt left in the throughout b o th m o tos. Walker was minds of those present for the MRA 's able to run just on the other side of that first motocross of the new year that proverbial "ragged edge" several times Boy Wonder, Bob Grossi, is n umber one and that seemed to make the difference. candidate for the Comeback Award of DaCosta has been consistently placing the Year. well in the last few races and should be Grossi made the scene on a new '72 destined for the Amateur ranks shortly. 5-speed Husky 400 and took away top The absence of notable regulars, money in the Open Expert class. Still Cranke, Stockma n and Powell, in the sporting much soreness in his arm, he 250 Expert class was readily evident, seemed to have little difficulty putting but the spectators received an equally the new bike through its paces, but good showing by th ree other regulars commented afterwards that the buckets who took up the cause and p ut on a of additional torque in the new m od el strong display of intight riding. Jerry took some getting use to. The factory Johnson, Pat Legge and Martin Towne also put a little kin k in the Husky style set a fast pace from the start of both by switching the gea r shift to the motos, .Ieaving the fie ld far to the rear. opposite side. The overall winner was still in doubt It was the first motocross of 19 72 o n right up to the closing moments of the the beautiful' ,-&'.pa Seca Cycle Ranch, final moto, o ( " \ f • 250 Expert Mar tin T ow ne, (73m BFAW) leads Pat Legge. Legge beat him for second overall. and besid es Grossi, several other riders ap peared on th e sc ene wi th new moun ts. Mos t n o tab le was Ron Self, wh o h as left his Ajay to ride a new m odel Maic o o ut of T ro p hy Cycles in Mountain View. Mos t no table , b ecau se Ro n gave Grossi o ne h elluva good show in the second Open Ex pert moto after ru nnin g second to Grossi in the first moto. Having won th at forst moto on the fly, it was expected that Grossi would once again leave the gang waiting at the station door in the second moto. But it d idn't come so easy for the Broo kdale Flash , as he got off to a very poor start and then banged h is leg heavily as the pack careened down the straight we evermore know as the shall "washboard", it having come close to cleaning laundry for many riders, including myself. Grossi opted to lay back a bit a nd get it all together on the first lap, the methodically and rapidly, as rapid anyway as this kid can look, worked himself up towards the front where Self and .Bruce Kelly were having a heated go of It. Self was thoroughly enjoying himself on the new Maico and picked up the pace a bit with each lap . Grossi, h owever , was cutting a quicker path to the door and by lap four had Kelly and was push ing Self. With the pressure on, Self finally left the door open on lap six and just as q uickly Grossi was go ne. It is no discredit to Self for h aving fallen under the pressu re as Grossi really put it on h im and t he two riders were never more tha n a bike or two apart for two full rounds of the co urse. Se lf is rapidly picking up experience in the Expert ranks, and with his pair of strong seconds on a new rig he m ust . be considered one of the more potential threats in the MRA's upcoming Gold Cup Winter Series. Another rider to make the switch for the new year is Rob Willis , formerly seen about these parts on a sporadic Ajay, now sporting the pink to a new Husky . The combination works well and . Willis pulled in a very convincing win in the forst 250 Novice 11 race, but had his debut spoiled by a broken coil wire in the second. Willis didn't go away dry, however, as he now claims title to the altitude record for the re-vamped track. Per haps the most hotly contested class of the day was the 250 Novice Div, I, with Ric k Wal ker an d Dan DaC osta Honorable mention must also go to the h ard y gro up of elders wh o compose the Old Timers class, a nother first for the new year and th e MRA. All entrants pro fessed to b ein g 35 or over , an d th ough th e m u scles grow weary and knees ache a bit b eh ind the padding, their enthusiasm for the sport tops all. Good show, chaps! It was another fine program by the MRA and the efforts of the omnipresen t Tim Meyer. How this man can sp read himself so thin and come up a winner is a secret shared only with the dynamic Capt. Marvel set. Tim reports that the MRA will be taking on a new 'lo o k this year with a little more spit , 'n polish here and there to add a little zest to the organization's image. (Results on page 28) . - This rider demon strates Laguna's tricky jump. MRA ANNOUNCES GOLD CUP SERIES No rthern Calif ornia's MRA h as announced th eir p lan s for a w in ter champion ship series to be h eld o n t heir h om e track, the Laguna Seca Cycle Ran ch , in the beautiful coastal mountains above Monterey Bay. The series will be called the " G old Cup" an d ru ns through Jun e, with the first race scheduled for J an uar y 23 . One point race will be held each month .thereafter throughout the series. Experts and Juniors will be competing for separate championship points, the Experts going for cash and contingency awards while the Juniors after a grand merchandise award to be announced sometime in the next few Ro n Self (25) opened the new year by actually lead ing Bob Gross i 115 1 for one mote. weeks. Awards will include leath ers, boots, hel m ets, gloves and o ther t op merchandise. Additional prizes will b e add ed as the series pro gresses. Th e is closed to MRA ch am pi onsh ip me mbers o n ly and you must h ave a card to ride. All your riders who h ave be en enjoying a free ride up to now will have to p ut forth some effort to support the MRA and become an active m emb er in . th e organization, that is if you want so me o f the frosting on the cake. Membership applications are available through Dirt Bike Cycles, 1878 W. San Carlos, San Jose, Calif., or you can pick them up at the track. The fee is S 7 for a full year and will also allow the member to participate in various non-racing functions planned for 1972.

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