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/141039
" '" c, '" M .... en <:J ' r: .., '" ~ w Z W ...J U >- U by Bob F. Re ad T in to go raci ng again with three 'TT' s sla ted for As c ot o n J an u ary 14, February 2 5 an d Mar ch 18 . T h e J anuary eve n t st ill b e a w ar m -up for m an y of th e ride rs h eadin g fo r H oust on and th e J an u a ry 26 -27 n ationals. T he Fe b ruary race is a w armup for the reviv ed ann ual "Asco t I 00" lap 1'1' ra ce th a t re tu rns af te r a tw o year absence . A t H o u st on, th e Ca lif ornians lay an u n defeated w in st reak o n the line w ith seve n straigh t nat ion al w ins under the Do m e : all four IT's and th e la st three sho rt tr ack even ts. O nl y G ary Ni xo n and Ronni e Rail have been win ners agai nst th e C alifo rn ia 's h oes. Bultac o-We stern is p lan n in g a sp ecial c ha rt e r fli gh t to H o uston fr om California. T he Spanis h marque h as w o n th e sh ort tr ack tw ice u n d e r Rail an d JiI)lm y Od o m h as had a fl o ck o f J unio r wi n s. Th e new A:>IA Nati o nal Expert-o n ly p ro gr am deb uts a t Housto n bu t th e re w iII b e Jun io r raci ng b oth n ights. It's a spe cia l " Invit atio na o nly " m atch se ries fea tu rin g th e b est from T exas a n d Lo u isian a. A lot of sh ort trac k in th at area, p rodu ci n g Ro b ert E. Lee an d Mike Ge ra ld , the winners of th e last tw o short trac k Na tio nals a t S ant a Fe Park n ear C h icago . . Bu t the Astrodome ma y c o me up th ey try and find s hort wh en experlenced IT riders for th e J unio r m a tch . T oo bad th ey did n't lo o k to last year's N o vic e TT poi n t stand ings and invi te the doze n or so b est w ho will be J uniors this year; wi th out a doub t they are n ot fro m T e xas or Louisiana. So. Ca lifornia fans will b e ab le to ge t . th e Ho uston res u lts qu ickly fo r th e first time . Los A ng e les radi o station KBI G is goi ng to air a fiftee n minu te bro adca st of the res u lts th e d ay fo llowing ea ch e ve n t. Th e sp on s or is Yam aha In te rn a ti on al , wh o is also th e o ffi cial ' sponso r o f b oth H oust on races th is ye a r. Start che w ing b ubble gu m again . T he A:>IA bubbl e gu m c a rds /stickies progr am, wit h action p ic tures of the lop Nat ion ul ride rs, is und erw ay . It fe atures ride rs from all o f the many c atego ries of A me rican racing. Do n Emde is b ac k in S an D iego after a disast rou s trip to Au str alia fo r n umerous road races. li e cou ldn ' t keep hi s ne w lIarle y _t oge th e r an d cou ld n' t fin d any p arts d own under to keep it goi ng . Th e Au ssie s assigne d Don Number One fo r hi s machin e and gave h im th e p o le p osition in al l o f the races. T h e first time o u t, the side rs w ere inform e d th a t it w ould ' b e a b ump, o r d ead e n gine , p ush sta r t. Ro n G ra nt p rotested , stating tha t his b um leg c o u ld no t take it. Em de n oticed tha t hi s Harl e y was to o big to p ush. S o th ey agreed to ha ve a clut ch , runn in g en gine s tart. This is u n til th e fin al rider's me e tin g wh ich Don fo rgo t to attend . The Aussies c ame up with a new versio n 01' a running en gine start. Th e y p ut a c ar ou t in fron t of th e pack and all of th e riders to o k a parade la p . At th e en d o f th e lap th e star te r, standing in the back of the ca r, waved th e. go -n ag . .. ... and th ey we re off to a flyin g start. Don tho ug ht y o u we re su p posed to p u ll in a fte r the p arad e lap and lin e u p fo r an A merican type su n . H e go t th e m ess a ge from last place at th e end of la p o ne. Cliff Carr to ok on e of Kawasaki' s te am me ch anic s alo ng . Th e mech an ic w ent 10 a party be fore th e fir s t ra ce a n d w h ile di spl ay in g th e tale n ts of'a racin g me chanic rode a cy cl e off a Five-fo o t dropoff and b roke hi s arm. Ca rr h as so me we ird luc k, yo u mi gh t say . Wh en yo u 're h o t, yo u 're h ot. T he As tr oworld Ho tel , loc ated acr os s the s t re e t f ro m the A strodom e and hea d q u a r te rs for man y wh o atte n d an d com pe te an nually , ca m e u p wit h a millio n d oll ar fir e e arl y in .Ian uarv, It d est ro ye d aho u t six ty-eigh t ro oms an d arso n is sus p e ct ed . Rep orts are th at th e re ar e st ill plenty o f roo m as i t o n ly affected th e top tw o floo rs o f th e m a in com p lex . Gl ad it didn' t h appen d uring the race w ee k as th e cy cl e frate rn it y is stiII tryi ng to live d o wn th e fire e x ting uishe r ep iso de of a fe w years ago , pul led off b y a co up le of h an e r-ons from Riversid e who could n't get into a par ty in one of the rooms . Wh en yo u 're c o ld , you' re cold. T h e y tried to run an indo o r race in the Kansas City area in De cemb e r. Race h ad to b e c alle d o ff d ue sin ce it was so c o ld tha l al l o f th e wate r and h ea tin g pipes fro ze and broke in the are na ! Th e annual mee tin g of th e A:> IA sche d u led to ta ke p la ce in Colu mb us th is ye ar o n Feb ruary 7 th . T he ne w he adquarters w ill he officially dedicated a t th at "ti m e . Wonder if th ey too k a vote of a ll som pany an d individu a l members, h ow m an y w o u ld vo te to keep GH Q in th e Co lu m b us a rea? T he last ' mile ra ce a t th e o ld fairgr ounds in S ac ram ento w as in 1970. T he h orse -own e r c o m bine th at con tro ls th e n ew mil e tra c k th ere refused man y tim es to allow cy cles to rac e on thei r s tate-o w ned , taxp ay er-supp orted private playgrou nd . These sa me people h ave d on e such a b ad j o b as Bo ar d m e mbe rs th at th e sta te As se mbl y is c a lling for the firin g of all o f th e m an d set tin g up a ne w Board . Th e e ntire grou nds h as drowne d in red in k since it w as built b ut it still m ake s a ni ce p la ce to brin g o u t ol d Ne llie fo r a few s low lap s a fe w time s a y ea r. The sta b le rental fo r on e horse for an e n tire y e ar is abou t the same ' as a y ea r's me mbership in th e A1\IA. T hings mi ght cha nge in the near fu ture and w e just mi ght see Th e Mi le re turn to Sac rame n to . Ont ar io Sp ee d wa y found thei r n ew o w ne r and th e n ew gro up is h e ad ed b y C. Spren ger. o wn e r of radio statio n KS O:>I in On ta ri o . The same st a tio n h as car rie d m an y o f th e h roa d ca sts of cy cl e faces in re cc n t ye ars and Sp renge r is a cy cle ride r a n d race e n th u sias t. T he 1\ lay 6 th N atio n al road rac e at th e " Big 0" is o n. In fact , it w as never o ff. Plannin g on goi ng to Ho uston fo r th e rac es? Con tinent al and . Na tio nal airlines bo th hav e special gro up -fan: di sc oun t prices for te n or mo re peop le trave ling tog ether b o th 'v ays. The same may also appl y fo r th e :>Iarch 5- 1 1 D ayto n a spee d week. Just d o n ' t tak e any torq ue wrenches in your coa t p o c ke t. The body -sea rche rs m ay now kn ow \..hat it's ยท supposed to be used fo r. ... The 125 Junior classes ex pe riments with lines and sty les at CMC Sadd leback. Pho to by Buzz Baty /Creat ive Images . Baymare MX - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - -- - - - - Muntz MX- - - - - - - - -:....- - - ......;;....- - - - - - - . b y A rt Cox SO MIS , C A L .. D ec. 17 , 1972 -r- Wh en Mo t o rsp o rt h olds a S 1000 Exper t eve nt as th e y did last S un day , K en Z ah r t is lik e ly to sh ow up an d en ter . on e o r rna v be tw o classes . Th is ti m e he d id th e unbelievable and en te re d a ll t h re e , rid in g a DKW in th e 12 5 class and hi s S uper Bu ls in t h e 25 0 an d Open classes. When. on e ad d s up th e total tim e: Zahr t spen t com pe t ing agai ns t so m e o f th e top ride rs in S out h ern Calif ornia, it co mes to three busy h ours! T a kin g h ome th e li on's sha re fr om th e firs t an n ua l Ch ristmas cross, Zahrt ea rne d a total o f $2 3 0.00 fo r hi s effo r ts Win ning a first 125 , a secon d 25 0 and a second Open . In rn a to o n e of th e 12 5 Ex perts Zahrt (DK W) led all the w ay w ith n o re al c ha llenge. For th e first tw o lap s barely h o ld in g se c ond sp ot w as J e ff Vidic (Pe n ) w h o was pressured b y " Womba t" R ay Byers until Byers crashed o n the third lap leavin g Vi d is safe. In th e sec on d moto, Dann y LaP o r te ( Pe n) shot in to th e lea d foll owed by Bye rs and Zah rt. After two laps Zah rt w as ha ck in to the lead and finishe d first with LaPorte righ t behind. Over t he start h ill in m ot o t hree it w as V id ic , Z ah rt an d By e rs. 'Bob Bro o ks (H od ) wh o co iled i t in th e ea rlier laps, sne aked u p on th e last lap and p assed both Zahrt an d Byers t o take a se cond che c ke re d. (Brooks w ith . a 6,5 ,2 takes b y :>I a rk Milford ~[O O RP A R K , CAL. , De c. 17, 19 72 Warme r w ea the r (p lu s a $5 00 purse fo r Experts) rea lly bro u ght th e 0 1' crow d s o u t to Mun tz Cy cle Park f o r th e latest . in a lon g line o f WS1\1 all -class d ay s. H oweve r, the 100 J unio r cl ass th a t h e ad th e bill , w asn "t ve ry c row d e d , itself, an d , in th e a bs en ce o f C ase y Wasem an d S tev e S m ith, th e win w as sn a tch ed by J im Gold b er g (Pe n ) . S ec ond an d third w en t 10 Willy Simm o ns (Yam) an d Keith Aron son (Hod). With th a t d o ries, on e of the m ost ' spe ctacular classes of th e d ay , th e 12 5 Ex pe r ts , ro lled to th e lin e. Bru ce 1\lc D ou gal (Pen ), Chuc k Bow e rs' :> le tt c o teamm a te , provide d a re al treat fo r the spe c tators as he just T OTA L LY SN U F F ED e ve ry on e in h is clas s. His pole-to-pole wi n s an d th e h uge lead s h e bu ilt u p left a ll in a we . Me anw hil e , bac k in the pack , Ro n Maed a (Bul) took a pair of se conds in the two twenty minute mo to s to clinch secon d. In fact, consis te ncy w as the trade ma rk of th is clas s, wi th Gary H ube r (M nk] tak in g tw o thirds fo r thi rd an d Frank Matth ews (Bul) , a Kal -G ar d sponsored rider, taking (y o u guesse d it) two fourths fo r fou r th . . Altho ug h the 2 5 0 E xpe rts lack ed th e "Gee w h iz , lo o k a t that guy o u t in fro nt" type - of appea l of th e 12 5ers, they m o re th an m a d e up fo r it in the w h e e l t o w h ee I c lo se - q u a rt e r s third 12 5 Exper t c ash ) Gre g Robe rtso n, M r. Mid-V al ley CZ , did so me super-fas t rid in g. By w inni ng all thre e of h is 2 50 E xper t mo tos, he to ok h ome $ 10 0 .0 0 . T h e on ly 're a l challe nge h e h ad a ll d ay w a s fro m Larry Wat ki ns (Bul) an d Zahrt , (Bu l). T h e Open E xper t class provided th e mo st e xci teme n t. In mo to one Bill Pay n e (Ma i) gr abb e d th e lead n eve r t o b e c ha llen ge d. (Pay ne wa s w ay o u t fro n t afte r the th ird lap ) Zahrt held secon d. In m oto two Pa yne h ad th e lead o ver th e sta rt hill , the n J o e Root p assed him coming ou t o f th e b owl. Payne re -p assed Ro ot. Ne xt Zah rt p a ssed R oo t and lo-and-be h o ld a st ra nge so un d ing (good soun ding) veh icle was m ovin g up fast. It w as G ene Ca nnady (w h o wasn' t he re fo r moto o ne) on a 3 5 0 Ho n d a fo u r-stroke. C an n ad y passed Zah r t the n Pay n e to ta ke 'th e ch ec ke red , h o weve r he di d n o t offici ally ent er and w as not scored, all owing Payne th e win. The third m ot a p rovid ed much o f the sam e wit h Pa yne, Zahrt and Can n ady o ve r th e start h ill in that order. It took C an nady two lap s to pass Payne and Zahrt th is time. Zahrt finall y passed Pay n e fo r th e win in m ot a three. T he Baymare " S upe r Biggie" o f the new ye ar will b e h eld J an u ary 14 with a $30 0 0 " A ll Pr o" m oto c ro ss. Cash w ill be p aid to I Oth p lace in ea ch class. May b e Cannady will officially enter this time and show thos e two-st ro ke a thi ng or four! v v d ep artment. In moto o ne, ' Frank Gi ardin a (C Z) le d b rie fly w h e reup on J eff lI arrio t ( Ya m ) moved in and za p pe d h im . T he n , wi th a n if ty c o m e- f ro m - he h in d r id e , C h ris l\l orgens on (C Z ) sn u ck up , sn uffed Giardina back to thi rd and b egan pe s terin g Harrio t. Th ese two had a t it, b ack an d forth , fo r th ree lap s, wh en Morgcn sc n fina lly brok e int o a c lea n le ad and turn ed it o n unti l th e n a g. T h e secon d ro un d lo o ked lik e an up set fo r th e first tw o laps as T o m Zah n t e r , a n 0 t h e r B ul t ac o ride r s po n so re d b y Kal-G ard lu bric an ts, swoop e d in to a sizable lead h imself. 'T w as n ot to b e , tho ugh , as h e fe ll On the fre sh ly -wa te red turf, leaving th e lea d to Mo rgen sen. A t this p o in t , m any people b egan gigg ling a n d pointing at th e secon d p lace rid e r. Ji m Dawson h ad w o rk e d u p t o th e No . 2 spo t o n th is.i. th is A NCI ENT Bul taco S herpa 200, and j u st st arted fly in' a rou n d . T h is situation was n o t me ant to be eit he r, in the afo re me ntioned a nd, c l o s e -q uarters action , J eff H arrie t accide n ta llv ra mmed the 0 1' Bu l in th e shock a n d turne d it into an inst an t lowride r: D aw so n la te r rep o r ted th a t shocks stuck in the d epressed p osition are, in fa ct , d etrimental t o hand ling (no t 10 men tio n o f rid er c o m fo rt ). an d he qu ickly p u lle d o f f th e trac k. D ur in g all th ise com mo tio n , Giardin a sli the red in to second (to tak e second overa ll) b eh in d Mo rgen sen, w h o wound up w ith first.