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/141060
OPA? OPA? WHERE IN HELL IS THAT? by Richard Creed '" " i6' e, M r0C) '" . > I ::;: '" 3: w z w oJ OPELOUSAS, LA., May 6, 1973 - Jim Weinert and Mike Hart wig to pped a talented field in the seasons first National motocross event. Kawasaki star Weinert, the Tex-AMA 500cc victor, switched back to his first love, the 250 , to score an impressive win over a veritable who's who of motocross racing in the United States. Mike Hartwig, over shad ow ed in practi ce by t he blitzi ng sty le of Yamaha m oun t ed Pierre Karsma kers, gave not ice th at he wo uld no t be seco nd rated, clashing wit h Karsma kers in a brillian t ride o n t he nar row , brut al Cherokee t rack . 250 The da y's first race elim inated hal f o f th e Yamah a team as Tim Hart went sideways and cras hed violently at th e end of th e grands t and straight whil e lead ing. Racers and spectators scattered in an attempt to avoi d the catastro phe . Hart could not get away from the cartwheeling bike and loo ked to be seriously inju red as he crawled to the relative safety of tra ckside and co llapsed . .Further exa mination luckily showed o nly a sprain ed wrist. The excitement continued as Gary Jones and J im Weine rt were handlebar to handlebar , passing and repassing. Louisianans enjoy anything competitive from a bar fight to a football game and Jones brought them to their feet cheering as he passed Weinert in the tight switchback berm at the end of the front straight. Jo nes went on to win the first moto by a wide margin as Weinert had problems with traffic . Richard Thorwaldson on a factory Suzuki was a distant third followe d by Noguchi equipped Barry Higgins. The second moto was another WeinertfJones bash until halfway through whe n Jo nes' Ho nda froze its lower end and left Gary mot ionl ess for th e rest of the day. Th is left Rich Th orw ald son in seco nd and Barr y Higgins third . Kawasak i Jim had no pro blem do minatin g th e fina l round with Gary Jon es o ut of th e way . DeWayn e Jon es ke pt th e Honda co lors flying with a seco nd. placing in the last U. S. Leads First Round CAN -AM Trials Series KAWASA K I SCOTTISH T RIA LS TEAM Kawasaki Motors announced that there will be an all-out three man effort this year in the Scottish Six Days Trials. Headed by th e 34 -yea r-old veteran Don Smit h, the tea m will include two to p Brit ish riders - Rich ard Sun ter and J ack Ga lloway. Sm ith, wh o led the Spanish Montesa factory to three consecutive Scottish wins, has based his Kawasaki plonker around . the 450cc, piston -port engi ne. Don was responsible for the deve lop ment of the Greeves Anglican and the Mon tesa Cota when he was wit h those firms, and if he doesn't know what is needed, no one does. Although the other two riders aren't very well known outside of the British Isles, they are well respe cted names in world class trials riding. Sunter is a 21-year-old farmer from the North of England. He will contest all of the European Championship rounds for Kawasaki. . J ack Gallo way will complete the three-man team for the Scottish and has > moto , and Rich Th orw aldson was third. U 500 Amid wild rumors and rampant speculation about which class he wo uld ride , Pierre Karsmakers o pted for the 500 class and during practice astounded everyone wit h a brav ado sho w of excellence t hat clearly displayed how he won the Florida win t er series. It looked like a rep eat perfo rmance until Pierr e fo u n d h imself withou t any rear suspe nsio n in th e first moto . Mike Hart wig (Hus) took o ver the lead from Wyman Priddy o n the second lap. and rockete d to the finish . Peter Lam ppu took o ver seco nd fro m Pridd y on the fourth la p and held it to the end. The seco nd moto saw a fierce co ntes t .between Hartwig and Karsmak ers, with Hartw ig victorious as Pierre co uld n't get close eno ugh to challenge t he flying Husky rider. Pridd y o nce mo re rode to a co nsiste nt third positio n. With t wo firsts behind him, Mike Hart wig stroked it to fo urt h as he let Gary Semics by to challenge Karsmakers who respo nd ed by up ping the pace enough to win the mo to and finis h third overa ll. Peter Lampp u got around Wym an Priddy and placed third . Later it was discovered that Lamppu's frame was bent which kicked the front end out several inches in "chopper" style. So now the circus is on with a passion and time wins slowly down 10 the main event , that three ring show of delights and titillation, the Trans-AMA. RESULTS: 500 : 1 . Mike Hartw ig (1-1 4. Husl : 2. Peter Lamp pu (2 4-3. Kaw); 3 . Pierr e K arsamakers (7-2-1. Yam); 4 . Wyma n Priddy (3-3-5. Kawl: 5 . Mike R uny ard (4 -6-6. Suz ); 6 . To ny Wyn n (5-5 -9. Kaw) ; 7. Mark Blackw ell (8 -8-8. Hus}: 8 . F red Hanna (6 -9-10 . H us); 9 . Anthony Destefano ( 13 -7· 7. CZ I 10 . Gary Semics ( 14·13 -2. H usl. 250 : 1. Ji m Weinert (2 ·1-1. Kaw ); 2 . Richard Thorwald son (3 ·2 -3. Suz) ; 3. Barry H iggins (4 ·34 . Yam) ; 4 . Dewayne Jones (74 ·2. Han) ; 5 . R icky Jo rdan (5 -7-7. CZ) ; 6 . Scott Jordan (10-6-8. son. 7 . Bill Clements (14-6-6. Hu s): 8 . Bruce Baron (8 -1 1-5. Han) ; 9 . Ralp h Bagwell (18-9 ·10 . sen. of VANCOUVE R, B.C., Apr. 15, 1973 U.S. riders jumped out to an early lead in the CAN-AM Observed Trials Challenge Serie s by decisively winning round number one. Top riders from the Pacific Northwest and Western Canada turned out to do battle over the tough lo co course . Twenty percent of the original entry fell by the way a's the day progressed, but the determined pressed on regardless. Lanny Pet rick of Seattle " ate it" on the exit of Section Fourteen , but recovered to fin ish sixth overall. Joe Guglielmelli, current PNT A point leader by the small margin of one point, took the overall win wit h a "loss of 38 marks . llis rival in t he po int sta ndings, U Del Orser of Por tland, was next in line wit h 57 marks lost. The first Canadian rider filled in the third overall positio n as Martin Spriggs of Victoria, B.C. carded a 60. Bob Todosychuk of Vancouver followed with 64 as he also won the best small b ike award on his new Hodaka Challenger. Gemini Indust ries Ltd . of Vancouver import a sumper trials chassis from England and mate the Hodaka 125cc engine to yield the new Challenger. With two rounds to go the points stand as follows: I. Joe Guglielmelli (USA) 6; 2. Del Orser (USA) 5 ; 3. Martin Spriggs (CAN) 4 ; 4 . Bob Todosychuk (CAN) 3; 5. Kelvin Marshall (CAN) 2 ; 6. Lanny Petrick (USA) I. been retained fo r one year to ride in ' ot her major eve nts. Also fro m Yorksh ire, 27.year-old J ack has been riding fo r Montesa and has several major Bri tish National wins to his credit. . INTER-AMA Su mm er Series- 250cc 7-1 Salt Lake City , UT $1 0,000 7<' Los A ngeles, CA 12,000 7-15 Lawrence , KS 10 ,000 7-22 Toledo , OH 10 ,000 7·29 Unadill a, NY 10 ,000 125cc WORL D CUP 8-5 St. Lou is, MO $6, 000 T RANS-AMA Fall Series-5OOcc 9 -23 Loudon , NH $15, 000 9-28 Ph iladelphia , PA 15 ,000 10-7 Lexington, OH 12 ,000 10-14 Washington, IN 12 ,000 10·21 Atlanta , GA 12 ,000 10-28 Or lando , FL 12 ,000 11-4 Ho uston , TX 14,000 11-11 Pho enix, AZ 12,000 11-18 Puyallup , WA 14 ,000 11-25 Livermo re, CA 14 ,000 12-2 Orange, CA 18,000 ~L. ~N01:AGI eUL.T~CO What is to become the largest, specialized Bultaco sales and service facility in the Southwest is now open. With a full range of models, parts, and "know how': . We have the new'175 Pursang"E"model that is so ideal for you Div.n desert riders [it comes with a 4.00 X 1~·· rear, and a 21--frontJ. Also the new MkllI 250and 350 Pursangs; Astro 250 and 350's. Attention!! you Enduro riders. Don't miss our special on all Alpina mpdels; the 125:175: and 250 s ..... save $dollars!! You've complained . "" about service for your Bull. Now do something about it! Ride;Trail;Drag; or carry your bike on down 't o the best service west of Spain ~ny rider w ith a COMPET ION CARD [of any type] can buy al l parts arid accessories a t big discount. STOP BVand pickup your d iscount card. AL ANDERS BULTACO 1140 Cypress#G, La·Habra,· Calif. 90631 [7~4] 870-9990