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/141041
by Dave Sch oonmaker MOORPARK, CAL., Jan . 14, 197 3 Ab out two hundr ed E x pe r t motocrossers d ecided that they co uld make more riding a m otorcycle than bettin g on th e Superbowl and conseq ue n tly turn ed up at Baymare to do battle . For Bob Messer, Gary J on es, and Bill Payne th at was b orne o u t in fac t. Each of th e three took h ome $3 00 fo r their efforts. T he prolifi c turn out fo rce d th e promoter to div id e all classes into two divisi on s for the first two m o t es. Fo r the third m o t a. the to p fifteen of each quali fier met to p ick a winner. T he 125s ele cted, by a hand vo te, to use th e new " Razorback Hill. " By th e third mo ta about 75% of the m no d o u b t regre tted the decisio n . T he hill pro ved to be the undo ing of n o t only 125 riders but th e larger bikes too. In th e third m o to of the 125s the hill was ab andon ed after a twenty-plus bike pile-u p on th e rid ge. T he 125 class was th e most hotly co n test ed, in p ar t due to the rapidly changing sce ne at " Razo rback Hill." Every lap ano the r rider w ould d isappear accompan ied by a If w silent praye rs at th e start-fin ish lin e. In the end Bob Messer on a Don Eml er Pen ton got up and over more of ten and mo re reliably for top pri ze . His j ourn ey was in the ever presen t co m pany o f Dan La Porte, J eff Vi di c and Mar k Smith . LaPo rte an d Vidi c were actuall y th e favored ride rs in th e th ird mor o , b ut lack lu ster finis hes for bo th d rop ped th em to the second and fo urth p osit io n s. Marty Smit h (Mo n) ca me through with a strong thi rd moto fin ish, accompan ied by a first in the second. to t ake ho me th ird pl ace win nings . The firs t 250 mot o left a fo reboding o f wh at was to co me wi th a firs t lap pile-up and a restart. Rich Eirs tedt fr om American M o to cr os s sure wishes tho se gu ys co uld ha ve go tten over the tunnel as his second st art d idn ' t come off quite as strong as the first. The restar t moto was all Rich Thorwaldson's. His lead Bill Pay ne held out and p ushed on for Op en win . increased from beginning to end , fo llo we d by Bob Grossi, Bill Cle men ts and Eirstedt. T he fi rs t 25 0 B mota was a Gary Jones show o n th e 250 Honda Elsinore, from start to finis h. Kenny Zahrt fo llo wed by ten secon ds o r so jus t as co nv i ncingly. Larry Huffma n, ace A bout four hours ago you all said, "We wanta go up the hill ." This is the last lap o f th e Open . Bill Payn e and Jim Weinert were that close. announcer and gen eral rabble ro use r • in d u lged h im self by sayin g, " Gary J on es has th e tal en t but is tryin g on an unteste d ma chine." It may be "untested", but it sure isn't slow or unreliable. Gary rode with flash , winning every thing he entered. His o nly c o mpe ti tion came 'from R ich Eirs te dt in the fin al m ot a . R ich pursued wildly , b ut wasn 't abou t t o ge t p ast . His efforts d id brin g him second 25 0 and 5 225 . R ich Thorwaldson be at hi s poor body in bo th the 250 and Open and go t himself th ird in th e 2 50. Kenny Zahrt ran co nsist en tly and was fourth 250. (Co n tin ue d on page 16)" Gary Jones was the run away 250 wi nner on a Ho nda 250 two stroke.