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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/141037
o M " '" If N .... m Brutal, Fast ARROYO IS REAL MX: and Unforgiving - r-, N " ..., c: ~ ~ w Z W -J U >- U ,. By ~like Ke rley DEVOR E , CAL. , June 18, 19 7 2 Re ach-out Ri alto go t it to geth e r o u t in th e canyo ns north o f San Be rnardi no Sunday, sp onso ri ng a rough, fas t moto cr o ss which served to u nveil Southern Californ ia's' new est Cycle Par k and Cheese Sand wich Em poriu m. A fter a hot day spen t sc ra m b ling through th e pu ck er bu sh es an d avoidin g the o dd ra ttles n ake . I can say wi th some It 's a tho usan d fee t f rom t he st art line t o the first uph ill turn. A pac k of a nx io us Jun iors start the r un. auth o ri ty tha t the course is one of the best aro u nd . T h e less sa id about th e cheese sandwic hes, the better. T he cro w d t u rnout Was sp arse for the inaugurual MX at Arroyo Cy cle Par k , but if Sunday's racing was any sample of th e w ay it' s go ing to b e o ut th ere, then wh ether y ou ride or w at ch, yo u' re going to h ave to st an d in line. A rroyo h ad been advert ising a " true European sty le co urse " , with' lots of h ills, jumps, d ownhills an d w at er, and the y've co me through spectacularl y . T he o wners , tw o broth ers named Dave an d Ch ar lie Obe rh elman , an d the ir partne r De Way ne . Ho lm an, are rac ers th emselves an d th ey've made Arroyo in to an MX er ' s dream - o r ni ghtmare. It's a fas t , twisti ng co u rse with some ro ug h, scary hill s an d a lo t of mud to keep the du st d own and the rid ers h one st. Ve ry fast san d w ashes lea d into tri cky h illcli m bs and turn s, th en d rop back d own in to more o f the ro ugh, fast stuff. The mud is ju st wh er e yo u d on't want it (w hat else is new?), in th e off camber tu rn s and a t th e bo tto m of so me nice, stee p hill s. It's re ally. a h ellu va co u rse , and the ow ne rs b oast they 've figu red-out 120 different co urse variations, so sp onso ring organizations shou ld be a ble to ad vertise along the "neve r b een raced " vein at least that many times . . You can say one thing for sure abou t Arroyo: it's a true motocross track , not just a jazzed-up Scr ambles o r TT tr ack like so many o f the others around. It's also being built to last. A p erm a nen t building with showe rs , towel ren tal , e tc . is in the works, as is a bike sto rage facility. T hey also have a course mascot named George Coyote who eats rocks. He'll never go hungry at Arroyo, as several riders who got off hard should be w illing to testify . If it's any consolation , the nearest hospi tal is only twelve m in utes away by meat wagon, and Arroyo p icks up the tab for the ride. T ha t w as n o re al p ro blem S unday , as every one who go t off seemed fit enoug h . to lim p away. Fo rty pe rce nt trophies and a $500 purse for the Experts had the hotshoes hanging it out all over the co urse , and co m p etition was so tight th at b oth th e 125 and Op en Experts had ties for firs t p lace. In the Open Expert bash, Brian Bre cker (H us) and L. Peterson (CZ) fought it out to a tie finish a nd a sp lit purse . Instead of the $80 w inner's money , t hey h ad to settle fo r $65 each, a split of fir st and second money . In the 250 Expert , Jeff Wecker (CZ) had the ---- Grou-C By John lo ot all to himsel f, th ough he was pushed h ard b y B. Henderson (Yam) . The 125s had an other toe-to -toe, with B. Haag (H us) and D . Emler (Pen) spli tting that purse. Two firs t p lace ties o u t of th ree E xpert classes m a y sound a bit stra ng e , but Arro yo is th at kind o f co u rse : tricky , unforgiving and very h ard to be consistent o n. The Junior s w ere pushing it fo r tr ophies, but th at d idn 't n otice abl y dimin ish their en th u siasm . E. Strommer (CZ) p icked-up' firs t pl ace brass fo r going fas ter than an y on e else in the Open ra ce, and R . Braga did the same in th e 250. S . R o berts wo n the fa rily ragged 125 J unio r class, and K. Long did it in th e 10 0. It seemed like a go od day fo r every one ex cep t o ne gu y wh o broke his fo ot in a mudh ole, but it was best for Southern Cal ifornia motocrossers who've been lo oking for an o th er go od co u rse. There a ren' t too many really great ones around, and there m ay be none as good as Arroyo. It's got everything you co u ld want in a true MX course, and probably a few things you don't. Most of all, there's going to be some fine racing there . Co rners were generally we ll hay-ba led . 12 5 Jun ior S . Roberts pilots his DKW to a first Todd scalps at Indian,D unes - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ._---- .- There are no course specialists at Arro yo •..yet. Each turn an d jump produced a bat tle. USMRC at EI Toro - - - - - - By Pat Gross EL TaRO, CAL., J une 16, 1972 Friday w as a night fo r cleaning up at USMRC, moto cross as well as m o ne y -wise , Half the classes we re swept clean by a platoon o f talented regular s. Brad Dutoit (Hon) and Kirk Hazard (Yam) d id it fo r th e Schoolboys , and J ohanna S te ne rsen (D KW) showed th e girl s her own sweeping st yle. Dave Carlso n (Yam ) and Kelly Hayes (H B) dusted off th e tra ck for 100 Expert an d 10 0 Junior Division 1: 25 0 class es w ere mopped up by the CZ of Ron Hanson in th e In termedia te an d - - - - - - - - - - - - Mark Bandy in Division 11 of the Junior. Dave Carlson went on to grab the 125 Expert from its fo rm er owner, Bru ce Baron . Baron's sec o nd pl ace finish in th at class di dn 't faze hi m, h o wever. He retreated to his citadel in the 250, wh ich he still co mma nds , Mark Tyer (Y am) an d Larry McCarty (Bul) we re close in th e 250 w ith second an d th ird, but C arl son co uld pull o n ly fo u rt h . Jack Hazard is o ne n ew Expert that d efin itely deserged the tran sfer. He p o wered h is Yamaha to a good sec ond behin d C arl son in th e 10 0, wi th Mike (Please t urn t o pg. 40) VAL ENCIA , CAL. , June ' 11 , 19 72 Mike T odd, wh o rolle d out a fir eball of a Mai co, co llected three straigh t fi rsts at the e xpense o f a talen t-lo aded brigade o f Open Sen iors at today 's A.C .E . moto cross. T odd was ab le to give the many sp ec ta to rs a glim pse of his new-found smoo thness as he roared to an eas y vic tory. R ick V arvel, who sits o n the swiftest Greeves on the Pacific Coast, fough t back constant bids d uring his 250 Junior A even ts from Mike Quisenberry (CZ ), Mike Green (S u z), Bob Carter (Yam), and Vern Buwalda (CZ) . . For h is grand slam effort , Varvel carted home a beautifu l set of m otocross b ar s, donated by Cycle Parts in Santa Monica. J ohnny G rant (Yam ) acco un ted for hi s three straigh t wins while drubbing a 33 ·rid e r field in the heats for 125 J unior, Division B. Though he appeared 10 be buyi n g tr ouble in a co u ple of his m ote s, Grant display ing m uc ho p rofessio nalism - came zip ping righ t b ack. Will Harper, Bultaco -mounted , reco rd ed three -straigh t agai ns t ano th er excelle nt group o f Open J unio rs. Tom Hoyl e an d Bri an Fa b re - Expe r t and ' ovice, • rid ers, respectively worked hard to gain their th ree straigh t win s ov~ r an ove rflo wi ng gang of Old-Timers, While you ng Mike Bruno gra b bed his grand slam m e r duri ng the mini-cycle avalanche. Lynn Stokey: ·the Penton pilot from Hawthorne, garnered a 2 , 1" 3 score while gaining a n arrow victory over the 125 Experts. His ov era ll win came after Fred J oe h nc k, who sailed h is Bultaco to a first p lace fin ish in the first moto, dropped o ut of th e remain ing two hea ts. Finishing be hind winner Stokey were Shane McDonald (Bu l) and Rocky Morrison (Pe n). The 250 Senior/Expert struggle, wh ich marked the re turn to action of the sen satio nal Doug Gran t (he's be en sidelined with a broken ankle), was full-bo re from the first gate-drop ... ! With an e n tire p assle o f talent waiting to get unleashed, Tom Claire, finally gained the narrow w in. Other victors included : Don Win ters (O ld -T im e rs}, Steve R awson ( 10 0 Juniors), Tom Barnett ( 125 Juniors, Division A), Bob Schwartz ( 25 0 Junio rs, Division B). ACE will agai n p resen t an all-class rno to cross this next Sund ay a t Indian Dunes Park . A nd d on't forge t th e ne x t TT scram b les at th e O ld Reservati on o n July 4th.