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/141009
en 'One smart cookie, this cat Roberts' .8> Co. N .... en ~ .ci " LL ~ w Z W ..J U > U By Bill Spencer SAN FR AN CISCO, CAL. , Feb. 18 , 1972 - Nati onal p oint le ad er Ken Roberts roll ed up ano th er vict ory fo r Yamah a t onigh t w ith a wire-to-wire win in th e 15-lap Ma in Eve nt with o nly sligh t com petit io n co ming fr om ano th er Yamaha rider , J im Fo ley. His first w in since the As trodome sh o rt track, R o b ert s nearly had a clean sweep for th e night with the exception of th e trophy dash. T hat he t oo k the ch ecker ed flag in b u t th e lap co un t got mi xed up and fo ur lap s went b y before t he flag fell. Whil e R ob er ts was p innin g th e y oung lady and receivin g th e plaudits, th e ac t ual three-lap winner, Gary Lo za n o, wa s hav ing words with 'r eferee Mast erso n . By th e time that wa s the essential people had settled dis app ear ed and t he flo wer was on th e laa y. T he w in technically goes to Lo zan o , with the money , wh ile R o berts go t the glory. Su ch are t he inequities of racin g. Alo ng th e way, th e yo ung p oint leader set so me new reco rd s. In th e qualifyin g heat , t h e A & A Yamah a was t o be th e first b ike ever t o re cord a 13 sec ond time for eigh t lap s. While this was fairly spectac ular , in th e regul ation h eat , R ob ert s lo were d that t o a 1: 13:047. That should stand for so me time as t he track changes from m inut e to mi nute an d th e fact that it was su per dry an d had lit tle o il mad e fo r ideal circ umstances. This and the fac t that th e Bud Aksland t uned mach in e were righ t up t o snuff m ad e fo r a h igh ly unbeat abl e co mb in at ion. Esp ecially wh en o ne eliminat es young Mr. Stev e Hern andez. Young S teve, t he nation's h ilih money w inner, had succeeded In win ning his q ualifying heat and nearly set a 1 : 13 time along t he way. He h ad tro ubles passing A I Ludwigsen at the end and was a h alf second off that ti me , b ut st ill second fas test time and a win. Came time for his heat an d the thing ftnally gave o ut o n hi m. T he magn et o gave o u t after h avin g won th ree st raig ht and a second. La dy luck didn 't smi le o n St eve t onight, but it was bo und to happen soone r o r later. F or t hat h eat , .Joe H en ry sh o ne b righ tly fo r t he win after getting by J im Ro d aer, Lo zan o succeeded in t he third heat w ith Foley taking the fourth. T he former National Scrambles Champ ion is giving the p ro fessio n al stuff a real tough go and succeeding quite well. The Semi's were rela tively calm with Ro berts winning one and Fo ley th e o th er, th us setting Yam ah a up for the Main Even t. T he 15 -lap Mai n turned out just t hat way with Fo ley and Roberts figh ting fo r the lead. T his exact happening was recurr ed in the first race of the new year with the same results . Foley got a good drive off the line but was just a tad wide and Roberts drove underneat and kept h im wide enough so t hat in the next co m er, he h ad th e edge and eventuall y th e lead. One sma rt co o kie this cat Roberts. Of course, h e is the Na ti o nal p o int leader . Fr om th at p oint, it was all hi s race w ith Dav e Han sen d oing the taking ov er of seco nd . Hansen is st ill the p ro fessional while He nry still lives under the signma of th e first Ya m aha Silver cu p in which he had the pole and led the Main un til Jim Odom go t h im mo ved over. A to ugh battle. Foley got wide but saved a fo urt h while Pat Hennen placed well o n a new E.T. Cycle Ossa with a frame b y so me strange drag racing guy . T h is n ew set -up is very we ll d o n e and mi ght just b e another n ew hot set -up. On e mo re indoor separates th e series fro m the outdoors and w hile Rob erts is still the man to bea t, so me new names are in the offtng and may well shape u p at the new Fre mont short track starting in April. (Results on page 32) '. A. William s WOODLAND, WASH ., Feb. 13,1972 --, . Don Dodge (K aw) o nce again took to p honors in th e 100ce class, w inning both th e Trophy Das h and A Main Events , and p laced th ird in the 200ce Dash , bu t ca m e b ack st ro ng in the A t o take first. The 2 50 and 360 A Mains looked like ""., - • an instant .replay , with the first three rid ers in eac h A Mairrfi rrishing.In the same positions. Bill Ehrens (Kaw) first, Gary Kapus (Yam) second, and Bob Wiggins (Kaw) third. Kapus finished first in both the 250 and 360 Trophy Dahes. Woodland Scrambl ers fi nd many different lines and styles. """ . ,,-' , .. - The Open Class had attumo ut'bf 15 riders and the wins we re wei! spread • with Kent Fackrell (CZ) taking first i ~ th e Dash and second in the A Mam . Robert Davis (Mai] took the win in the AMain. (Results on page 32)