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/141006
o .g u. ~ w Z w o >-" u Witt Takes Dual Wins on Sprockets Ground By Car ol Witt Ph otos b y Karen Hartman WICHI T A , KANS ., J an. 23, 1972 After a heavy fog lifted Sunda y m orning, a mass o f riders turned out for th e re gular m o tocross races at the Sp ro ck et s track. Th e sun emerged around 11 a.rn., sh in ing in all its glory for t he rem ainder of the day , ma kin g it terrific fo r racin g. O f th e 106 rid ers signing in. a gro up of six riders, came in from Omaha, Neb raska and three came from Iowa. These riders came a lo ng way to co mpete with us. Real nice pe op le. It mad e us feel good wh en they co mme nted t h ey p lann ed to ret urn. Eddie Morgan and h is crew worked very h ard to comp le tely cha nge th e t rack and put n ew sand o n the fro nt stretch. Mar vin Whitham took firs t overall in th e 125 Seni or class, wit h Gar y Clement an d David Dix on battlin g over second pla ce. Dixon almost had it mad e twice, b ut h is chain bro k e o n him, so h e h ad to set tle fo r third . The 125 Junior class was wo n b y Larry Fu n k of Coffeeville , on a Yam ah a. Ga ry Witt (Yam) o nce aga in too k first in th e 250 Sen io r class. Lo y Burnett took second and Ken McCleave h ad to se ttle fo r th ird place. The Open Senio r class was a very good. fast paced race . Witt go t off the 250 and he climbed directly onto a new 360 Yamaha for each of the three rno tos. "like Krebs.vwho rid es a Maico, and is a very good friend of Witt's, rode neck and neck. giving hi m some darned good competition. This is what Witt needs as he will be able to get a professional license this year and p lans to follow the T rans-AlvlA, Today, Witt too k the first moto, but o n the second, d uring the fo urth lap , h e boo-booed by taki ng the bowl h igh, Kreb s took it low, and raced ahead to grab the checkered 125 Junior winner Larry Funk shows determination as sec ond -placinq E lbert Swartz 1341 watches him tru ck . flag. In t he last m o to , Witt shot off the line, kept his eyes on the track, never loo ked back, and took first for the day. Krebs was seco nd and Rob Knoettgen FIRST 1972 SPROCKETS RACE By Car ol Wilt Photos by Karen Hanman WICHITA, KS ., Jan. 9, 1972 - It was one beautiful day this first ra ce o f th e year for th e Sprockets , and a fine turnout of riders comb ine d to set th e pace for the o n co ming year. The track was rough from the previous race, a sligh t b reeze from th e north, and the air was just crisp enough to set y o ur b lood tinglin g for th e day 's races. Thi r ty-o ne riders en tered fo r th e 125 Jr. class , h olding th e prospect o f a good group of riders fo r th e co m ing ye ar . Photogra pher Kar en Hartm an rid e in th e 12 5 Jr. class an d has two trophies under her bel t. In th e third mo ta , she spi lle d in th e san d in fron t of the gra ndstand. Good ph o tograph ers are h ard to fin d . so we d o h op e she takes it easy - m aybe a third troph y ne xt tim e. Sh e reall y d oes give th e track he r all. The m ost excitin g race today wa s that o f th e 125 Srs. Two of th e rid ers, Marvin Whitham a nd David Dix on, have n ew 12 5 Yam ah as and were eq ually determined to take first sp ot. In the first m oto, Wayne Lee was first off th e lin e, cl osely fo llo wed b y Leonard Turner . Next was Whith am with Dixon righ t behind. By the fo urt h lap, Whi th am h ad ta ke n ove r first, Le e second, and Dix on th ird. These posi tio ns h eld until durin g the six th lap when Gary Van S ickle ro de h is Suz u ki to fo urth spot. The checkered flag ca ught Wh ith am first, D ixon second , Lee third, and Van Sickle fourth. ADR MOTOCROSS 'I tried to lay it down like Tim Hart, but the berm moved.' By Mike Murphy PHOENIX, AR IZ., Jan. 30, 1972 T he Rider To Watch is 12-year·o ld Penton pilot Mike Whart on in the 125 Despite t he cold weather , Arizona Dese rt Raceways hosted its First Novice class . T he 125 Nov ices we re run An niversary race with a fair rider with the 10 0 Novices with Sco tt McA fee ta king 1-1-3 fo r first 10 0 turnout. AJS rider Ed Wille finished t he day Novice h o n or s and Whar to n with 3-3- 1 for first 125 N ovice. wi th a 2-2-2 record in t he 250 Novice Lack of riders in th e 250 Pro class cla ss to take h ome to p go ld . The firs t m o t o saw Ra n d y Carney (Ya m) first a t fo rced Dave Miller o n his '72 five speed Hus ky to rid e with , but not co mpe te th e ch ec ke re d fo llo we d by Wille and Suzu k i rider Don Stephenson. Cal with , th e Open Pros . Whe n told th at Redman (Mai) saw th e checke red first in Miller would b e compe ting with them , th e Op ens protested : "We aren't go ing moto two with Wille and Do n Bulitta ast ride his wife 's Honda 12 5. to rid e against a ny 250 , especia lly with Cal Redman se ems to b e one of th e HIM in it." So Miller rod e for fun and beat th em anyway. to p 25 0 No vice ride rs at AD R if he wouldn 't spend so mu ch time o n th e Arizo na Desert Racewa ys is now in its t hi rd seaso n of m oto cr oss. Not a gro und. "I tried to lay it down on th e week goes by that th e tr ack m an ager , b erm like T im Hart did last week," said Phil A ue rn hei mer , do esn 't imp ro ve th e Redman, "b ut the b erm m o ved. " Mo to th ree saw Fritz Holly on b oard track in some wa y. An d ye t th e tra ck is no t su p ported as it should b e. T he few h is ne w Yam ah a 250 MX get out of t he pack an d stay there. In th e first two Ca lifo rn ian s who have come over to race say th at it's o ne of th e b est motocro ss rno tos, Ho lly " played in th e tra ffic" but tracks th ey've see n. T he track is o nly 20 when he got out in th e lea d in th e third rno to h e put it together fo r the first miles west of Ph oen ix o n Hiway 8 0 , th ree mil es so u th of Lib ert y. Phil has spo t and second ove ra ll. been giving out th e largest and th e best In the Ope n Novice class it was Gary Tussing (Hus) and S teve Wilks (Mai) in looking t rophies fo r m oto rcycles in Arizo na , bar n one. I o n ly hope that th e all three m otos. T uss ing 's rid ing has grea tly im proved since he stopped riding track begins to flo uris h . Com e o n Arizo nans. Mari n Mo tocro ss, whe re a re h is Triumph 500 , b ut Wilks is not going you? to let T uss ing's win ning go ' • , (Results on page 32) u nchallenged. ~HIGHL Y SUCCESSFUL' In the second m o t o, Dix on , wh o is a short I fi-year old, swung around Jim T ieszen for first , and held this position until a fter th e ninth lap, wh en he took a comer o n the ba ck of th e tr ack hi gh. Whitham saw his ch ance, took it low and grabb ed the ch ec kere d fla g for first. Dixon had to settle for sec o nd. The third moto be gan with Lee first off, Ti eszen seco nd , Dixon th ird , and Whitham fourth . By the second lap, Tieszen h ad taken first where he st ayed un til the fourth, wh ere Whith am to ok it .' '. ' took th ird on a CZ. (Res ults on page 32) and finis he d first, T ieszen second, Dix on third, and Van Sick le fo urth . . Someth ing lik e th at. F or th e 250 Jr. cla ss, a new rider, J am es Martinez, t ook first for the da y, w ith 1100 p oints for tw o firsts and a second. Second p lace went to Jerry Atkinson, on a Maic o, a nd third to Bill Shumway , wh ich puts him up in the Senior Class. In the 2 50 Senio r class, Gary Witt, on his Yamaha went h om e with first place and 1200 poin ts.