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
i Hart ~ .: .ri " u. ~ w Z W ...J U >- U Inaugurates ACP With Win Over Gran t By Randy Bailey PHOENIX, ARIZ., Jan. 23, 1972 Some Arizona riders are sure Tim Hart has the Midas touch. Hart came to compete in the inaugural AMA Amateur motocross at Arizona Cycle Park (ACP) today, and took home a big chunk of the gold . Hart, along with American Motocross Team cohorts Preston Petty, Mike Cram, Warren Burrell and Dick Eierstedt were imported to add some spice to the competition. AJS teammates Doug Grant and Morris Malone also made the trip to Phoenix for a look at the new course. The ACP course is wide, sandy and full of steep downhill sections with ~teeper uphill sections and pl enty of Jumps. The California riders said after practice they were concerned about the downhills. The loose, sandy soil was becoming rutted, m aking the sections hard to negotiate. But, if they were concerned it d idn't slow them down much. In the 250 Expert contest it was all Hart. The Maico rider blasted into the lead of the first m o ta and began turning the fastest lap times of the day - 1:46.0. Following Hart to th e finish were Grant (AJ S ) and Eierstedt (Mai) . It was a replay o f the firs t mota when Hart pulled a lead in the second m ota . Hart powered to a seven second lead . over Eierstedt on the second lap. The positions remained unchanged to the finish. Grant pulled a sneaky o n Hart in th e third mota wh en he p assed th e Maic o rider on th e fifth lap. Hart pressured Grant until he regained the lead on the following lap . Grant made a desperate attempt to out-leap Hart at the jump ne ar the finish , but he co uld n ot make up th e d istan ce a nd Hart took th e win. Overall positi ons in th e cla ss were : Hart, fir st: Gran t, second ; and Eierstedt th ird. • It w as Hart, again, on a Maico ahe ad of the Open Expert first m ota. He eas ily o utdistanced the pack to take a win with Bria n Ross (AJS) in second followed by Byron Boaz (Mai) . In the second mota, Hart was in front with a battle between Boaz and Cram (Mai) for third position. Boaz gave way to Cram on the fifth lap . Cram made up th e five seconds separating him from Ross and claimed second at the finish dropping Ross to third. The final mota found ' Hart with an easy win. Overall it was Hart , first; Cram, second and Ross, third . Gary Hickerson (Puc), Jesse Owens (Car) and Mike Moser '(H a n) diced their way through the 125 Expert motos. In the first mota, Hickerson grabbed the lead and held it for a win . Owens jumped ahead in the second mo ta , spilled, and gave Moser the checker. Then Owens came back in the final mota to beat Moser by 21 seconds to the finish. (Results on page 2S) PALAC E SOLID WIT H SHORT T RACKS. Each Friday night during the month of February will see the strong cycle action on the Cow Palace arean 1{IO-mile oval under the promotion of Bob Barkhimer Asso ciates and John Soares . . The sanctioning AMA will provide over 100 Expert, Junior and Novice riders on 250cc ma chines for the fo ur-race series . In a recent announcement " y th e b promotion, it was revealed that the women riders will return to Cow Pala ce action for the full fou r programs . The ladies had their first e xperience at indoor o val tr ack racing on January I. The adde d at t rac tion was so well re ceived b y th e spectators and girls alik e, that a women '5 indo or ch am p io nshi p has been sch eduled for th e fo ur races with the January 1st eve nt in clud ed as part of th e series. Hot Flash! Steve Hernandez Beats Everybody at Madison New York , Jan. 24, I 972-Steve Hernandez, a n IS-year-old Northern Cal~forian, yanked out a surprise victory tonight at the second Madison Square Gardens Indoor Short Track. Now the Yamaha Silver Cup belongs to Ossa. No one touched Hernandez during the 20·lap Main. In fact, no on e touched Hernandez all weekend as he wrapped up a victory the night before at the p lush Spectrum in Philadelphia. Since then, he has lead every lap of every race he contested. Riding a machine with a special frame built by Dick Mann, the youth also won the Trophy Dash and was preseted the trophy by fellow enthusiast Joe Frasier. By the time the last flag fell , Hernandez had pocketed 5,000 of the $ 15 ,00 0 purse. Last ye ars winner Al Kenyon fell in his semi. This year's crowd was somewhat less than ex pected , due to the poor publicity of the event. This y ear's cro wd was somewhat less than expected due to the lack of publicity . In 1971 the Garden was so ld out but this year it was abo ut th ree-fourths full . To find out what happened to all the big-name shoes and other notables, watch Cycle News next week for complete details and snappy photographs. Steve Hernandez? PROVIS IONAL RESULTS M A D I SO N SQUARE GARDEN S teve Hernandez M i k e O'Br ien R obert E. Lee Rick HOCking Dave A ldana MiKe Kldd Frenchy LeB lanc Steve Foster Oss Bul oss Bul Trl Yam Yam Bul SPECTRUM Steve H ernandez R obert E. L ee Gary Bailey Chuck Palmgr en AI Kenyon Greg H odges Oss Oss B ul Yam Bul Su z