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/141029
N en ~ W Z W ..J U >- U The 125 Juniors are off into the Gardena night , tee th clenched, eyes straight ahead (or closed) , knuckles white. AZIEST G: CASCOT By Buzz GARD ENA, CALI F., May 24, 19 72 DA F FYNITIO N: Ch in ese Fire Drill, mass co nfusion fo llowed by sys te matic chaos. Th e above dallian ce with wo rds ap tly describes th e actio n in the 500 Exp ert class ton igh t. The first 5 00 win we nt to Bill Pay ne and h is rad ial-finned Maico, Bob Messer ru nn in g second wit h his CZ, and Ron DeSoto taking thi rd o n another CZ. T h is first ro und was orderly and precise, th e w ay you come to expect a field of Exper ts to be, from that point on the Chinese Fire Drill virus seemed to bite the 500 Expert field enrnasse, Bill Payne couldn't find the front of the pack in the second round, and ran the tail end Charlie spot fo r the first lap. Bob Messer got out in front, being chased by Ron DeSoto . The rest of the field, including Dave Pessy , Bob Bary Hershey , Brian Lendl, etc., wer e busy trying to keep from being passed by the hard charging Bill Payne . T hey were very successfu l, Bill ended up in sixth p lace, Messer taking the win, DeSoto)n second. • Bill Payne may have an excuse fo r h is erratic behavior and riding style. He ca me up to me all fu ll of hap p iness, singing out for all to hear th at he is now engaged. The lucky gal is the b eau tiful Miss Lin da Archer, an eigh teen -year ol d San Fernando Valley resident, Congratulations, Bill and Linda. The last round would be the round to put the ieing on the cake... At least fo ur guys had a shot at first overall. Now wouldn't you know that Bob Messer and ' Bill Payne, the two who were lead ing on poin ts, would get off the line dead last. Dave Pessy pushed his Ossa to Bill Pay ne, 500 E xpert w inner, in one of the biggest Chin ese Fire Dr ill s ever in the class. Jeff Wright leading V olkmann (58K) and Gerber. The Style and concentration it takes to wire , and win, Ascot MX . the front, followed by Ron DeSoto's CZ . From the half way poin t of the first lap of this last moto , for these 500 Experts there was passing, lead changes, and falling back that went on in wholesale bunches. Pessy lost the lead to DeSoto and fell back to sixth, Payne mo ved from dead last past th e whole field to second. On the second lap! Bob Hershey came fro m abou t sixth to take the lead fro m DeSo to and Messer came from las t spot to take four th. It was too mu ch , Hersh ey we nt wide on a t hird lap comer , giving the lead b ack to DeSoto, w ho just as quick go t zapped by Payne. Bill man aged to hold the lead to th e fin ish with DeS ot o second , Pessy th ird an d Messer fo urth. How close was it? Fin al score afte r th ree rounds: Payn e, 89 5 , Messer , 869 , DeS o to , 8 25 . Jeff Wrigh t h as a secret weapon, he roll s up to the start ing line, he has his own spot m arked with a special dy e th at only he can see . Whil e every body else watch es th e starter, J eff reaches d own an d p ick s up th is super stro ng , super invisihle wire that is laid in a perfect groove aro und th e Ascot course . Jeff put it there one da rk nig ht in the mi d dle of the day. He attaches th is strong invisible wire to what the casual observer thinks is a Puch engine in his scooter. Ah ha, I now know his sec ret. It 's not a Puch engine , it's a fantastic h igh speed take-up reel, he attaches th e super s trong, super invisible wire to the sup er h igh speed take-up reel in the disguised Pueh . When he releases the clutch, it's not driving the rear wheel, it 's turning the take-up reel, n o mistakes, always the same line through all the comers to the checkered flag, 1·2·3 , first overall. Now who says h e doesn 't have this track w ired. .