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/141018
Brian McMillan, on this Easter day, has risen. By Steve Lamkin Photo By Imogene Rees ADELAN TO . CAL.• Ap ril 2 . 1972 T he w eather was a bi t warm fo r early Spring. th e track was sm ooth an d fast o n b oth t he h alf-mi le and t h e IT course . and Brian McMillan ca me to take h om e the big bore go ld. T he lanky Ex p ert who usually rid es to win or crash. stayed upright o n his roaring T riumph to co p the Open class gold. M~V1illan fo und t he fas t an d ha rd . sometimes slip pery groove to h is liking o n b o th co urses and doubled up in the first p lace wins. In fact. this wr iter. w at ch ing the h ard charging st yle o f the long legged speedster, saw flashes o f the likes of Jim Goldsmith. Feets Minert and Fred Moxley. Starting dead last in both the Open Expert half mile Main and the IT Main, McMillan wasted no time in charging to the lead and opening an unbelieveable gap in the eight-lap events to finish well ahead of any competition. In t he 250 Expert class IT. an exciting dice develo ped betw een the 19 71 n umber 1 and number 3 HRA rid ers, D ennis Briggs on a Bul taco, and Bob San de rs on a Kawas aki. Sanders fou nd t he hi gh-b an k ed no rth swe eper to his lik ing. an d Briggs seemed to eas ily mo tor th ro ugh the flat so uth h alf mi le tum. Each too k advantage of tractio n , horsepower. and ap parent co rner p re feren ce to over h aul the o ther, with the lead changing h ands five ti mes in eight laps. Briggs, ho wever , finally fou nd the rig ht groove and p ull ed o ut of the draught of San ders and screamed to the checkered flag with a couple of lenghts to spare. Sanders go t his revenge in th e 250 Exp ert half mil e Main though an d doubled up in the 125 Exp ert fla t track Main. Sometimes Sanders showed th e ma kings of an A sco t Champ io n in fu ll lock co ndiito n o n th e b ig turns. T erry St annert d omin ated th e No vice class events . tak ing t wo firs t p lace trophies in th e IT race s an d two in the half mile go . Stan nert did it on a st able of flyin g Kawasaki's. T h e da y was topped off with a fun ride as eigh t ride rs from each cla ss t oo k to th e tra ck in a staggere d st art sweep stak es race. backward s on t h e 7/8 mil e IT course at the High Desert facili ty. Again it was Briggs an d Sanders flying to the lead b ut being chased b y McMillan o n h is th roaty T riump h . McMillan , th is time however, d id a high sid e fling in a right h ander t hat was a beauty and ch ose to sit astride h is tw o wheeler and watch the finis h from a rat he r p oor vantage po int. Bo b Sanders led th e way to th e finish lin e with HRA Ch am p io n Uen ms Briggs hot o n his trail. T heir rewards fo r the fin e effort agai nst a large co nti nge n t o f spe edsters, was a large p izza each furnish ed by a local Adelanto merchant who supports our sport with great enthusias m. During a pre-race riders meeting, it . was announced that HRA had form ed a competition co mmittee, made up of a Rider represen tative, the HRA Referee and Pr esident Do nald England.Rule changes were explained regard ing t h e advancemen t of'rid ers to a higher class and ch anges in the point system to ma k e a fair er spread of p oints among the rid ers . Po ints will be awa rd ed in the future on a one-for-one b asis, with the Main Event winner in each class receiving one point fo r each entry in th at class. Next Sunday will see another HRA point run h alf mile and IT at 395 Cycle Park in Ad ela nto . California. Night raci ng will b egin o n Satu rday, April 15. with an HRA hal f mile that n ight an d an AMA smooth scrambles on the next day , -Sunday April 16 . p ut on b y IT M.C. (Results on page 56) BETOR AMERICA A new co rp oratio n h as been form ed by LLOBE . S .L. . Barc elona. Sp ain and J erry Perrin e. LLOBE, S.L. , th e Spanish factory ma nufactu ring Betor suspension co mponents , front fork assemb lies and sho ck ab sorbers, is the maj ority stockholder in the new corp o ratio n. Betor Ame rica Corporation is importing all produc ts p roduced by th e p arent co mp any, LLOBE, S .L. , and is cu rr en tly t esting the new road race fork asse mblies an d a new ser ies of " co mp etit io n only" shock absorbers de sign at ed as " Series X". R equests fo r in fo rmat io n o r ca talogs shou ld b e m ad e to: Betor America Corpo ratio n , P.O . Box 1020 . MCID Par k, Lewi st o wn. Pa. 17 044. Ph o n e: A. C.71 7-24 2·0388. .: c. ~ ~ w Z W ...J U >- U Brian McMill an : HRA troop -smok er of t he w eek . Impeccable. Impeccable? According to Daniel Webster, impeccable means " f ree from fault". He is right. Remember the year the Cota 247 was introduced to the world of Trials? It was 1969. It was impeccable. Englishman Don Smith rode his Cota all the way to th e top . •• the World Championship. He and his Cota were free from fault This is the f irst year f or the Cota 123. All of the painstaking research and testing that made the big Cota a winner has been faithfully repeated with the Cota 123. Weighing more than forty pounds less than the Cota 247, it's obviously a serious effort The Cota 123 has a 250 x 20" front wheel, and a 375 x 17" rear. Its Pirelli Trials tires are especially manufactured for this model. It's got a six-speed gearbox, and shifts on the left You can start the Cota in any gear. It, also, has that certain " impeccable" quality. Look for the Cota 123 soon at your local Montessa dealer. He'll be expecting you. ,\~I\ . 1Montcsa 3657 Beverly Blvd./los Angeles. Calif. 90004