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/141044
IJI~I Ah, Sweet Victory I.w. NORTH ~ w Z W ...J U >- U T he three man t eams jockey for po sition approaching a ch eck as each t eam mu st be Togeth er. Mu rphy Cro ss Count ry Team Race b y Joh n M. Larsen :'I URPIlY . ID A ., J an . 2 1, 19 73 - Good ' lu ck an d good we a th er were wit h Don Wilhit e's team for th e 197 3 opene r cross cou n try race as h is te am to ok an ea sy lead after th e first check an d hel d it to the first o ve ra ll t ro p hy. T h is J anuary race w as a fo llo w-u p to th e team even t l ast Octo he r wh er e Wilh it e and com p any were challengin g wh en on e of their mach in es d evel oped irrepar able engine tr oubl e, so t oday's victory was just a littl e sw e ete r fo r D on (H us) , his son Kev in (Puc ) and Ll oyd T hom p so n (Yam) . I t 's th e bre ak s th a t trulv make the gam e , Th e te am of Pat Th ompson (B ul), Tim Gaskell (Bul) and John Lar sen (B u l) wer e in secon d p lace wh en Th ompson · fouled a plug, lettin g minute s an d ride rs go b y . T he team of A aron J eppson, (S uz), Rich Nifty (Bul) and Frank T rafford (D KW) w as set b ack WE ARE PROUD TO ANNOUNCE ...;.. w he n Trafford fouled a chain b ut by the time the le ad er s h ad reac he d check' thre e, T h ompson , G ask ell an d Larsen were b ac k in sec ond. T hei r spo t was sho r t lived as Gaske ll's bike . b lew a com p ress io n rel ease p lug a nd h ad to be p ush ed in t o the p it s, lettin g J eppson, Ni fty, an d Traffo rd into second with Bro ck Crom we ll (S uz), La yton Kite (S uz) and Rand y Mar cum (Pe n) in to th e third sp ot. Fourth w as Bob M o o re (Mai) , Dann y Mo ore (Hod) an d Mik e Coey (Oss). Winners o f th e O ctober eve n t , th e team o f Ric k J en kin s, D ave y Barnes, and J ohn Pakalen ka ( Pe n) wer e th is time d elayed , alo ng wi th a m ass o f riders wh o t o o k a wron g t um in a san d w ash afte r check two, d roppin g th em back to se vent h before they got b ack on th e right track. T h en th ey we nt o u t wi th engi ne troub le. Wh en the wr on g-turn sh u ffle w as fa c t or y r e pl a c e ment p is to n ri n g s • super rings ~ - ;., ~*~ 'a 1::> paris ~,".. sales ~~~ service mail order 501 's all in st ock. selby molors A Go od Place T o Buy A G reat Motorcy cl e 346 EI Camino Real i'~ Sa n J ose, Ca 95125, 408-293-51 1 1 " Sal es Rep rese nt atives WANTED" eM Specialt ies 2134 Old Mid dlefield Way Mt. View, Ca. 94040 (415) 961 ·2446 226 8 Et C." l1" lO RII"I v,..... c.. 94040 BAY AUA DIRT BIKE HEADOUAR TERS MI b efore th ey c o uld retriev e th e bik e an d co n tinue. T he fin al results were J eppson, G risham , and T ra fford in se cond with Crom we ll, Kite an d Mar cum th ir d . Fourth p lace te am hono rs wen t to Mike Coey , Bob Moore . and Dann y Mo ore . . I f p lans go th ro ugh , th e re st o f 19 73 . will se e o rgan iz ed cross co un tr y ra cin g for th e fir st time in S ou th Idah o. ove r, th re e Husk y rid e rs wer e v .in g up through the p ack . with J oh n ~ I'arks , Bud S p a r k s and Butch Th omas even tually w inn ing fifth troph y. R ight behind th e Husk y bunch ca me an all Suzuki team o f Jack Martinsen , Richard Th o mpson alt d J oe Ph illips, wh o were del ay ed somewh a t when a lo o se b ould er ro lle d d o wn o n th e middle o f th eir new 2 50 l\IX, ta king six rid er s to lift it , now fo r-Hodaka 100cc d ykes , Bultaco 125, Bultaco 250 , DKW & Sachs 125, Penton 12 5 FOR ALL FACTO RY PI STON S IZ ES ASK YOUR LOCAL DEAL ER poppy 8 20 N . Holl yw o od Way Bu rb an k ,Ca. 9 1505 (2 13) 845 -67 6 6 (Cy cle \". Mart Sa les Servi ce ~ Triu m ph R ick ma n Maico Ho daka Gem ini R u pp BSA Par t s Mail O r de r 5 4 2 So. Main M ilPita s, Ca li f. 9 50-35 Perf o r m an ce by Bail ey (408) 262 -3388 - --= Sate-, '" Service CU' ;(OI11 wur k " all makcs "'UIltiphY . . CYCLES . E.T. CYCLE SALES Th e winn lnq tea m head s for ho me . Wilh it e (Hu sky), T hompson",( Yam aha), not o nly unbreakab le , bu t ch rome p lated fo r ex tra long life too !! (415) 3694112 676 Au zer a is Av e., ~ <:,.flJ'b' ~ un"Q Redwood City, Ca. A CK PRODUCTS, _ 8 SUZU K I MAICO 1S~ 5.111 Ant oni o Rd. Vi ew , c.ur. 9 ~ O ~(j 9 ~ 1-73 17 ,\1t. Tr an sp la nt ed S oC al Puffer Nancy Thoma s le ft th e fel lows at the starti ng gate and wen t . Medford MX /' b y Michael A . S ta rr MEDORD, O RE., J an . 28, 197 3 Na ncv Th oma s (nee De s R o sier s) ab o a rd h er su per quick Pen ton mad e a sham b les of the 125 Jun io r cl ass today. A fte r so me di ffic u lties in cl u di ng lo c k in g h andl ebar s wit h o ther ride rs in th e firs t m oto, N an cy came bac k w ith win s in both th e second an d third m otes . M uch to th e chagrin o f o the r riders, Nancy w as a b le t o tak e immediat e com m a n d in b oth th e second an d third m ot es and, to add in s u lt to injury , fo llo w ing rider s h ad to sta re a t a strateg ic ally stitched sm il ing face o n the post eri or of Mr s. T homas' m oto cro ss britch es! A ltho ugh the tra c k w as quite rou gh an d h ad d eep ru ts in seve ra l a reas , N an cy w as ab le to o utdis tance h er ma le co un te r parts hy u sin g finesse a nd skill (vers us brute stren gth an d power) . T he 100 Kid s class firs t pl ace go ld w as p ic ked up by Mark Ma th e isen (Ya m), afte r a spec tacu la r c ra sh by Steve Rosec ra ns. R osecran s un loaded on th e first lap o f the third m o to . Wh en the mud se tt led, S teve foun d himself staring a t hi s mount which wa s com p le te ly upsid e d own, restin g o n hi s h andleba rs ! _ Steve weighs all of 10 0 pounds ready to ride and th e bike was so well ove r tu rne d th a t h e had a real st rugg le rightin g it and get tin g under way. Boh De cker, a pere nnia l favori te a t Me d ford , left h is 4 0 0 Hu sky h o m e tod ay a nd instead b ro u gh t a brand ne w 175 Pent on . Wh en Bob signe d u p fo r th e 25 0 S eni or class, a few ri ders raised the ir eve b row. When Bobby ann ih ila te d th e large r bikes with th ree b ack-t o-h ack first pl a ces even m ore concern wa s n ote d . Wh en Bo b by lin ed up for the .u Pro " m on ey ra ce , fe ar broke o ut amo ng th e troops. Sure en ou gh , as so on as th e star ting m e ch anism was released , th e sm a ller bike mo ved in to the lea d an d con tin ue d to p u ll awa y from bikes w ith engines w ell ove r twice as bi g. Th e O pen class Ma ic o s, Husky s a nd CZ's u se' o f th eir horse po wer resulted in re ar wheels ch u rning u p ya rds o f dirt. Me an wh ile De c k er dove -h a rd er into c o rn e rs an d p ic k ed a m ore preci se pa th to ride and m ot ored h om e to first place in "t h e Pro class. T he comb ination of a superb rider, a ligh ter m ore re sp o n sive bi ke an d a ro ugh, deman d ing track wa s the key t od a y.