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/141020
By Dick Wright FOUR CO RNE RS , CA L., April 16 , ~ 19 72 T he Prosp ec t ors MC always Q. '" have a big t urnout for their even ts and N t his Har e and Ho und was no different. Ol T h e race tu rn ed out t o b e a wil d b attle between Jack Kn eb el o n a 400 CZ and Jeff Wrigh t on a 175 Puch. '§' Bo th got lost and Jack found the lim e - wash. The banner dropped at 9 am and () all the Amat eu rs and Experts h eaded for th e wash . A m ile up t h e wash, Jack was in the lead follo wed by Ken Buc kspan o n a 175 Bultaco and Wrigh t. Larry Pfutzenreuter, Jim Fishback , Tom Poteet and Larry Bergq uist were also near th e fro nt. A t hi rd of the wa y aro und the first lo op, J eff too k over t he lead, despite miss in g t wo turns, and p ull ed in to t he pits in front. As he le ft, second p lace Knebel cam e' in and t h e tw o w er e sid e-b y-sid e and J eff passed him as J ack pulled up to gas. T he second lo op was a lit tle longer , about 4 5 miles, and as it wo uld tum out a few riders go t los t . Wright still h eld a go od lead , bu t h e kept missing th e t urns. T he third time he go t lost. He went to a to p of a h ill and loo ked ar ound hoping th e other rid ers would cat ch the right tu m . Bu t they d id n 't and Knebel , and Fish back cam e up t o him and th ey eac h took off in a different d ir ection with J ack fi nding the co urse first. T hen the battle was o n. Wright came up and d iced wi th Jack and Fish back but Jim go t a flat tire a nd had t o h an g it up. T he n , Jeff d id an en d o in th e rocks j ust aft er h e go t b y Knebel and J ack came in fo r a hard -fought win. " Man, am I happy, " he said a ft er the run. HI've been rid in g two y ear s an d this is what I h ave b een working for." Poteet came in next and took first 250 o n his Bultaco . It is su re good t o see T om back ; it 's b een a year since hi s b ad crash in a pile o f ro cks. Wright got bac k o n his Puc h and p ulled up th ird to take first 175, co m men t ing, "Well, th at 's de sert racing fo r yo u." H ow ard Utse y was n ext o n his 4 00 Suzuk i, follo wed b y St eve Kirk o n a 500 Montesa . Wes Anderso n, Jr. was nex t o n a 2 50 CZ topping a very happ y Ric h Ma rk, first A mateu r o n a 250 Bultaco. Sec o nd A mateur was Ri ck Ownes on a 25 0 Yamah a. First 500 Amate ur w ent t o ·A .C. Bakkin . That 's a bat ch .o f Am ate ur w ins for h im. Mit ch Maye s did h is thing on the 12 5 Ha rley af ter having a real battle wit h Cordis Brooks o n a 125 DKW. Brooks got a flat b u t managed t o fi nish a minut e beh ind Mit ch . First 100 wen t to Cordis ' b rother, T om, o n a Hodaka. This pair always see m s ' to fi nis h together. Firs t 175 Amat eu r was J oe Von Moos o n a Yamaha. Tom Bradgo n's Yamaha was first T rail Amateur. The N ovices, as usu al, w ent o ff about 15 mi n utes aft er th e Ex perts and the guy who led it just about all the way was Randy Brown o n a h o t 250 Bultaco. Randy is 20-y ear s-o ld and has b een rid ing fo r two y ea rs an d d oes his o wn tuning. He h as won th e 2 5 0 Novice class before, b ut this is the firs t time ove rall. KNEBEL '(NOT EVEL) WINS PROSPECTORS N N ... '" ... r-~~\ ~ Jeff Wright endoed i n som e r ocks and wa s only ( 7 able to gar ne r third on his 175 . - Win ning a desert race is always a th rill. Th e crowd is almost uncontr ollable. Bob Hogan pulled in and grabbed o ff first 5 00 Novice o n his Husk y . T his 17-y ear-ol d is a st u dent at San Dimas High Sch ool and lik e R andy , has been rid ing fo r tw o years wh ile d o in g h is ow n bik e-work. T his just go es t o show yo u the No vice ran ks co ntin ue to p roduce mo re and more great rid ers. T he Pro sp ectors M.C. d eclare d war o n the p it rac er s af ter a th ree-y ear -ol d go t h urt a few weeks ago. T h ey had at least 15 signs co mi ng in to the pits which sta ted pi t racers would be dis q ualified an d b e sent away. A few we re dis q ualified including a co uple o f racers wh ose so ns we re d oing t he p it racin g. It is t im e all th e cl ub s got to gether o n this; th ere has b ee n mo re th an one racer tiC\lEMENTI THHILl~~ --~Jt~~;~;~~I~~f:~~~rti~~~~~~:~;d-;r250~-; . . • • • I st prize $ 150.00 2nd ... .... ... . . ... . . .. . . . . .. . •. ... . . 125 'OO 3rd 10 0 .00 4th . . . . . . .... . ... . • . . .. . ... . ... " . . . • . 75.00 5t h ... .. .. . . • . . . ..... . . .. .. ... . , 50.00 " d o n e in " by a k id makin g a U·t urn o n t he co urse. By th e way, th er e were six men o ut fro m the BLM an d ac c o rd in g t o Old Man L und, "They liked w hat th ey saw - - sel f-clean up, etc. It appears th at so me o f th e no n-sanc tio ned runs have left a lot o f trash. " . (R esu lts o n p age 40) I;;;S:-Rid;;; ;iilha;;;ct;;;~;f~;;t;;;;;;s-;;o;ce~ raci;;;6th pr ize . ......... • .. . ....... ... ..... $35.00 7th 35'OO 8th 25.00 9th 25.00 10th 25 .00 And a special p rize for last place. All fin ishers will receive a beaut if ul ce rt ifica te . On Sunday, May 7th, we w ill hold a Ha re Scrambles of about 50 mil es in duration over var ious' ty pes of desert t errai n. Entrants w ill be ove r and u nder 250cc's and again a rider ma y enter as a novice for t rop hies o r as an expert for cash . 1st pr ize wi ll be a mini enduro 2nd prize : $200.00 7th pri ze $50.00 3 rd 175 .0 0 8t h . . ... ... . ... . . . . .. . . .. . • . .. . .... .. 50.00 4 th 1 50 .00 9t h ·• .. ... .. . . .... . . . . .. 50.00 5th 100.00 10th 50.00 6th . . . . . . • .. . .... ... .. . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 50 .0 0 Last special pr ize IA BEA FUL TIME Of 'tEAl1 UTI l atCAL IFORN IA CITY J...., 12 Milft From MOI_ oH Hwy I .. A SAFE, SAFE COURSE