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/140933
RAPP SPARKLES By Buzz Baty WIDlINGTON, CAL., Jan. 21,1972 Tom Rapp had one of those nights that a rider most times, can only d rea m about. Tom put five wi ns and a third in the record book in winning two events. But the sweet taste of victory was turned sour by the serious injury to fellow competitor Dave Smith, of Escondido, Cal if. As usual, when a real bummer like this happens, it's almost impossible to get "eyeball" reports to agree, but I b elieve this is what occurred. It was the last lap of the last 500 Expert moto, Dave was running hard in third place, J oh n DeSoto leading. Dave set-up to p ass th e second p lace rider at the right tu m jump on the back section of the course when he highsided, the big Maico di d an endo, lain g o n Dave's uppe r b ody . It is tho ugh t that the rear fe nder caught Dave in the throat , cutting h im sever el y, an d causing majo r inj uries to his h ead , nec k, ches t and should ers. The guys in the ambulance had their h ands fu ll with Dave, bleeding heavily fr om his neck wounds, in m uc h pain , a nd h e d idn ' t want to b e moved. But th e am bulance guys did a great job in getting Dave to Harb o r Ge neral H osp ital - SMITH INJURED M ~ '" N .... en 0.. .: .ci " u, t ~ w Z w oJ o >o in Torrance. mi gh ty ti red bod . As he said later, he "cooled it in third spot all the way" fo r the overall win. T he "Aloha Kid" started his nigh t with one of those hig h side whoop-dee-docs, got going again in last p lace so tried having some fun , and d ropped it again at the starting line t u rn while he was in a fullpower slide. All of this in just the first lap, so Mr. DeSoto put on a show for the folks b y doing his full cross·up jumps and giant wheelies. Bob Hershey of Woodland Hills, Calif. , pushed his CZ in for the win. Even though DeSoto won the next two rnotos, Bob stayed tough to pick up first overall. DeSoto was in for second money with CZ ·mounted Jim Co oke pocketing the show dough . (Ed. Note: As of 11 pm Sunday, the report from the hospital is that Dave Smith is showing steady improvement and is expected to recouer i] It was unfort unate that a bad scene like Dave's accident took the gloss off of the superb perfo rma nce turned in by Tom Rapp. Tom won all three of his 125 Expert mo tos, heading his Bultaco without a hint of a wrong number. The only time he wasn't in front all night was during a short period in the second moto when he had t o get b y Dave Rodgers. Tom d rove by Dave righ t in front of the scorers booth and grandstands, to the de ligh t of a large crowd. At the start of the last 250 Expert moto, Tom was sitting on the line with three 125 wins, two 250 wins, and a (Results on page 28) win $150 WORTH OF PROTO TOOLS GET A HE A D START ON SUMMER • . . Win a set of tools - SEND $ 1 FOR OUR '72 CATALOG - the lat est in Comoetition Parts and A ccessories. FENDER MOUNTS. Englneerea for prec i se mounting nar c w are. BULTACO . A JS . C Z , M AI CO . HO D A K A. ALL SUZU KI. Y AMAH A 90·125 . OSS A. PUCH . R ICHM A N $6.95 EA . VAMAHA 12~ ·3f>O, K A WASA K I MINI -ENDURO $791:. EA . .. • S5.95 'l~O WORTH OF PR OTO TooL.S SEL'fCTEO ESPECIAL.L v F O R MO TORCVCL.E WOR K . SET INCLVD£S SUC H ITE MS AS SOCKETS. SCREWOR,vERS, FEELER GAUGES . E TC . ALSO INCLUDED : PROTO TOOL Box WITH LIFT OUT TRAV . I C ,",O l C E OF STANDARD OR METRIC TOOLS .' NO PURCHASE N ECESSARY , DRAWING MAY 211".1912. MAVRICK SHOCK ABSORBERS Outstanding performance at special discount prices. Frank Munoz holds a slight lead only because he came down first. RAWHIDE PARK By Buzz Baty ELSINO RE, CAL .,Jan . 23,19 72 - The CMC Mo tocross inaugural event at th is new lo catio n can only be considered a reso un d in g tri ump h (despite th e fog) . More than 400 entries showed up and rode in 54 motos. A ll of the comments for the most part were comments of praise for the new track. John DeSoto had the highest praise eve n if he did forget to t um on his gas in the las t 500 moto. Gary Harris had pushed DeSoto in the first two motos chasing Joh n's Suzuki with his Husky for a pair of seconds to DeSoto 's wins. But when DeSoto forgot the gas, Gary picked up a win and put a lock on first overall. T he new course is all natural te rrain , some steep cli mbs, a ridge run, and th e course crosses eigh t st reams, no t m u d sp o ts, but nat ural running water st re ams; clean water wi th sa ndy pebble bottoms , number p lates st ay ed clean all day . It was obvious that many of the tro op s have a great deal to learn about wa te rproofi ng, with flameouts being the rule ra ther than the exception. The course, 1-1/3 miles lo ng, could be a bit too long, and may have to be shortened. Some of th e lap times for a Cou rse that long doesn't jell with 54 motos. Mo re than 1000 spec tators (paid) were a ugmented by many who didn't pay. Sneaking in was really an easy task as that low fog was present all day. Jerry Van Dellon picked up another 500 Jr. victory today; that makes three Van Dellon victories in eight days of CMC racing. N ow that a race has been run on both courses.Carlsbad and R awh id e, it looks as if the anniversary motocross series can o nly be a total success. T he next event in the series IS scheduled fo r Feb. 15 at Carlsbad. (Results o n page 2&) Honda SLl2S Reg. $ 2 9 .9 5 Yamaha D T -1 Reg . Heavy D u t y 12"''' Reg . Delu x Desert 13" Reg . MX 1 H ," or 12 ~." Reg . Rebu ild Kits Mavri ck Shocks availab le $32 .00 $29 .95 $34 .00 $32 .00 to f i t $24.95 MAIL IN ENTR Y BLAN K BELOW $24.95 1~~!!!!~!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!~~ $24.95 MONARCH 4" HI ·RISE FENDER. $24.95 Guaranteed unbreakab le . l IS"~ Supertough. $24.95 f l eXible pla st ic . Fits 18 to 21 inch w he el s. $ 4.95 B l ac k. Gra y , or W hite. can b e p ai nt ed. most bikes. Reg. 59. 95 SPECIAL $5 .95 SPE C I FY MAKE, MODEL, YEAR M /C AND EYE·TO·EYE O R EYE· TO-CLEVIS LENGTH DES I RED . BLAC K MX SUPERBARS. Super tou gh CHROME MOLY handleb a r s. 4" , 6" , 8" rise. NG K PLUGS sre rvee s 1.00 $ .48 BSHC & B 9 H C P' u gs $ 1.50 $ .78 N Suff.x Plugs $1 .89 S p ec if y EXACT Type . (3 Plug Llm l' ) Wit h crossbar WIn Reg . c r c ssc e r R eu $17 .Y5 $1:! .9!:l J & R SILENCERS S 9.95 SILENCE R/SPARK ARRESTER $15.95 COMBIN ATION 4" MX FRONT FENDER T o ug h ASS Black , f t ex rb te pt as t!c w ! h an · cell fin ish. L t. w ei ght & durab le . Can c e p ai nted . $ 5.95 $ 2.99 SPECIFY SIZE STING ER. AND OIAMETER OF CUSTOME R PAYS FREIGHT AT DELIVERY . CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS AD D 5% SALES TA X . SEND CHECK OR MONEY ORDER TO ADDRESS BELOW. ~~:TE.TE~~:V.L~~Kl ~~8:;~~ I TVPf. C VC Lf oYfNE O cc-s oeer , CNW3 ~ .O . Bo x ~00 59, Sant.a ~na. Calif 92711