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/141050
v '" .. . '" M .... C> Q. • .... '" . ~ ::;: ~ w Little Bikes and Big Money at Arroyo 2 w ...J U >- U • On ly six w ill t ransfer fro m this horde and get a chance to try for $ 1000. M arty Sm ith (2) is already mov ing into the,lead . wh ich he will kee p-to w in the consolati on. Chuck Bow er: Second overall . Th e w inner and , presumably top 125 rider in the U.S., Ray Lope z after he too k .t he lead in second moto. T hem guys out fr on t had some very rapid machiner y. Formula: 83 Professionals, 125cc Racers, $3200, and 1 Winner - Ray Lopez b y J oh n Huette r Phot os bv Chris Os t lind and Huetter DEVORE , ·CA I.. , Mar. 8 , 1973 - Eighty mo ne y -hungry, top-rated 125 class p ros en te red Arro yo Cy cle Park 's 12 5 Ch ampionsh ip in search of that b ig thousand fir st place m o ney out of a $32 00 purse . Th at w as a lo t o f b read for th e 125 class alo ne. So me of the mo st trick 125 motors this side o f Honda R&D we re brought up to th e lin e fo r th ree el imin ation moros. The top nine for the qualifiers transferred directl y to the two mains and o nly six would transfer fr om th e single co nso latio n mot o . ~: n r those who did it the hard way, th at meant four lo ng rn o t os agains t th e best 125 riders th e U.S. can m ust er. Marty S mith (!\Ink) led the co nsy by an ever-wide ning lead followed by T exan Mi ke J o hn son (Mn k) . Jim C oo ke on a ll o yd & Stell ings DKW and Morr is Malo ne (N e g-Yam ] also mad e it the hard way. An other Texan , Mar k Harrington (Mn k] transferred th rough the co n so la tio n and h e was the last non -Ca li fornia rid er to make it . Pabat co 's Harry T aylor (Hod) had alread y made it direct. Wh at h ad to be .the biggest co llec tion of te en -age motocross talen t ever assemb led sat o n th e lin e for the fir st moto o f th e two tw enty-minute ro unds th at reall y co un te d . T hir ty -th ree were s u p po se d t o t ransfer : 1 co un te d th irt y -five and there we ren 't ha lf a do zen that needed to shave more than o nc e a we ek . T he y we re key ed up to the rafters for $32 0 0 t o be had for go ing 40 minutes o ver a new A rroyo course layout th at ra n backwards for a mile and a half.. givin g th e spe ctat ors plen ty to watch. FOR OPENERS . Harry Tay lo r , H od ak a ' s superan nuated whiz kid, p ut his Co mbat Womb a t in to th e fir st tum fir st, but it wa s Billy Payn e wh o led o u t of th e tight down hill h airp in . It wa s a bl eedin g madhouse in th at fir st t urn an d th en the pack charg ed through some nice , big , soft wh oop-de-docs int ers pers ed with mud. Fo r th e firs t few laps, Pay ne (Pen) set a blistering pace follo wed by Chuck