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/141027
o M >ro :;; til ;; W Z W ...J U >- U T he Am /Ex. gang charge into th e pi ts. John Dart (GOT) ramb ling along . T erry Clar k return ed to th e d eser t fr om MX -Iand and, surpri singly . WOf" hi s class Light Turnout For J.N. 'Classic" By J an Newton CALIFORN IA CITY , CA L. : May 7. 1972 - The J.N . R oberts Desert Classic was marked b y a Jigh t tumou t aturday (ap p ro xim a te ly 20) for th e "S enduro; entries swelled onl y to 50 o r 60 for the Sunday lI are S cram bl es. The H are S cram b les w as hel d on a ro ugh 17 mil e s.. co urse that riders lo op ed th ree times . Fas t time for th e course w as about 40 mi nu tes, turned in by the overall winner , T om Smi th, rid in g for SoC al ~I.C . on a Glendale Y am ah a 360. The c o urse pr oved to be a real gas-e a te r and most riders h ad to pit at le ast onc e fqr, petrol, \\bitey Mart in o b ro ke o n th e first lap; llill Bogner an d Jack Knebel also h ad Irouble on their first laps but ma naged to finish third and sixth respectively . J .i\" . did not ride the event. The Hare S crambles was a bit dif fe re n t from most desert events featuring a live engine st art , the n onto a cou rse marked wit h ribbons a ni)", no lime . Comple te resu lts were n o t ava ilable. hut it lo o ked like A rt Knapp in fo u rth on a l lu sky , wi th Da le Ne wto n roun ding au t the top ten finish ers ab o ar d h is 250 Ossa. With the experien ce gaine d thi s time, the promo ter hopes to have a better, an d bet ter-attended , ev en t nex I go. T hat Famous Lion s Leap By lluzz Baty WI Ull N GT O N , CALIF .. ~la y 19, 19 72 - If char isma is miss ing fo r the moment fro m motocross a t A sc ot Park . it is a live, we ll, an d in full bl o om at Li ons Dr ag Strip. Fo r the fir st t im e in so me th ing lik e five w ee ks , th e re w as not . I repe a l n ot. a doub le winner in th e 2 50 an d 500 Expert D jvisi ons. Joh n DeS ot o wo n the 250 E xp ert Divisi on o n hi s CZ ove r Bill Payne a n d Bo b He rsh e y . The Candy Ma n , Bob l Ie rsh ey, started the n ight out like he w as go ing to make it a do uble , w inning th e fi rst rou nd in ho th cl as se s . b u t in the secon d ro u n d fo r the 25 0s , he p arted com pany with his CZ ov er th e jum p a n d h ad t o se ttle fo r third b ehind Bill Pav n e an d h is Mai c o . I Iersh e y w as ru n nin g sec ond to DeS o to in the se cond 500 Expe rt m o t o , when . 1 an d b eh o ld , th e rear wh eel on 0 lli g John's CZ , for th e third time in three race meetings that I have witn esscd , com p le tely d isin te gra te d again . l le rsh ev went o n to w in the 500 \ ~ Twi sting , t urn ing, charging thr ou gh the pu ckerbrush . Just lik e foo tball , even the pads. e xp ert cl ass on h is CZ , wi th Dave Pessv and Bill Pay ne fi n ish in g seco nd and third . Th e Lions Leap . c o n tra ry to Pap a \\'c ale y 's d ire predi ction s o f di saster, carne o ff as a fantas t ic sh o w. and a di spl ay of rid ing a n d jumpin g ab ility by th e I. o o n ey Lions Fast C at s. The first man o ver th e j u mp w as Bill Rubl v o n hi s !lusk y . I d o n't thi nk an y one , inclu ding h is co m p c.-tito rs in th e j u m p , w er e p repared for llill's fir st effort. I believe his firs t h igh-Flying, lo n g distan ce jump ps yche d the re st of them out. Bill flew h is lIu sk y , h igh , straigh t, and to a p erfect lan d in g , sixty-t hree fcet , six in ches. Pessy tried an d was sh or t. D eS oto tried and w as short , Ken Zahrt tried. ca me close , but w as abou t a foo t sh o rt. Brad Lac kev gave it a re a l ' go. hut was a bou t th re e ' in ches short o n h is first j u mp . S o. o n their second rou n d , each tri ed " b it h ard er, as Ruhl v stood and waited and w atch ed . Nob od y wa s even cl o se un til Ken Zah rt m ad e hi;" .. .and landing hard. second leap, and th en Ken w as j u st inch es sh or t. L ackey th en m ade h is seco nd run, an d he did it , sixty-fo u r feet, three in ches. Fiv e in ches beyond Bill Rub lys firs I jump. Bill h ad one more ju m p coming, an d as h e left for th e sta r ting area. Lac ke y p ushed hi s scoo ter up to the landin g area w ith a very crooked rear wheel . to watch Bill's sec ond effort. With th o u sa nds of p e op le o n h oth sid es o f th e jump, lIill left th e start in g ar ea, c ame up fairly slow 10 th e righ I sw eeper, go t th e I l usk y h and straigh ten ed out, and then ga sse d it. H igh , wide, and w inning , la ndin g s traigh t and true , sixty-four feet. ei ght in ches d own th e cou rse. as Brad Lack ey stepped o u t on th e cou rse to take a look a t th e ma rking nag, veri fying for h im self tha t lIill ha d j u st b eat en him lry live inch es . Th e I.io ns' Le ap w as o ve r. lIill Rubl y was Kin g of th e Hill , an d a hundred dollars riche r.