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
M '" " s M .... '" '" 3: w z w -' U >- U A little groov l n' to th e flag . by Gary Van Voorhis LON G PO ND, PA ., April 29 - If you liked Day to na's infield "articifial" MX co u rse you w ou ld have lo ved Pocono. Ga ry Bailey d esign ed anot her o f h is famo us to rt ure tests for the Po co no In te r ·Tr a n s - A M A qu a lif ier , inco rporating 25 tigh t turns , five j um ps, a nas ty wh o op -de-doo a nd THE PIT. O n a normal d ay it would have been great , b ut Sa turd ay 's rain t u rned Su nday 's t rack into slick greasy jumps with muddy straights and a seven-foot-deep p it fille d with ooze. The pit prov ed m ost tr oublesome to th e lightwei ght am ateur rid ers; m ost of whom tried to be either ove rly cautio us or ex tre mely e n th usiastic with th e same r e sults: us in g people po wer to get out. Gary Ch aplin and J ohn Borg were not b othered b y t he muck an d m ire as they rode to ov erall vict o ries in th e 250 and Open class resp ectivel y. J eff Proust p ic ked up th e 12 5 A mateur wi n wh ile Dic k Woodwa rd an d Tom Marsh w on tr op hies for th e 250 and Open Amateur classes. The ad di tion o f the amateurs to th e program gave t he crowd a chance t o see just ho w good some of th e riders wh o race fo r t ro p h ies really are. 2 50 CLASS Bob Harris took it all in m oto one, leading from the gate with teammate ' Gary Chaplin and Bultaco mounted G ary Bailey in pursuit. Harris an d . Ch aplin stayed cl os e during the earl y laps b ut b y the halfway mark in the fift een m inute eve n t Harris had pulled t o a com for ta b le lead . Gary Bail ey m ad e numerous charges at Ch aplin but was never ab le t o close the gap. A tig h t race for fo u rth devel oped with Stewart And erson a nd Fran k Stacy trading p o sition once o r twice a lap . Two laps from the fl ag Stacy slipped p ast Bailey and into third as J ohn Ayers moved up into fifth ah ead o f A nderson. Gary In gham su rvi ved a las t lap crash to fi nish seventh with a badly bruised leg. Bob H arri s 's second m oto lead evaporated in four lap s as first Gary Chaplin th en Gary Bailey passed Harris. The .t rio kept up a tr emendous d uel through out two thirds of th e race, swa p pi ng th e lead on vario us p ar ts of th e 7/ 8 mil e co u rse . Fr ank Stacy and Bob Thompson pl a yed sp oil er s with S tacy finally dropping Harris to fou rth ahead of Thom pson . Ch aplin opened a small lead in the fi nal laps but was for ced to rid e full b o re because of Bail ey 's pressure . Gary Chapl in pic ked up h is se co nd win in m oto th ree to clinch th e ov er all victory with a superb ride. Chaplin spilled in o ne o f the tight t u rns in traffi c a nd lost five p laces by the ti me he remounted. Ha rr is in it ially held th e lead but by t he finish he had d rop p ed to f ourth' b eh in d Ch ap lin, Bailey an d Stacy, with Bo b Thom pson ro u n ding o u t th e top five . Joh n Borg took overall In th e Open class. POCONO INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY J.JI X Q lJALIFIEB 500 CLASS The Open class p ro vid ed much of the ' same exciteme nt and compe tit io n as the 250, since Maico rid er s Ch aplin , Harris a n d In g h am were co n testing both classes. Ingham dropped out of all c o m petition after he aggravated a n inj ury he had re ceived in the 250 class . A 17 ·year·old Oh io rid e r,J ohn Bo rg, served ea rly notice th at he was th e m an to b eat in the Open class as he scoote d to a flag to flag victory in mo to o ne . Chapli n an d Harris kept Borg hone st fo r th e open ing lap s b ut by the m idway p oint all three were ru n ni ng in traff ic, which Bo rg use d effectivel y t o o pen his lead. Borg ca me rig ht bac k in m o to two b ut th is t ime it was So n ny De Feo wh o did th e challenging. Tony DiStefan o po sed an ea rly threat to Borg b u t he slowly lo st grou nd as De Feo, chap lin and Harris moved up . Harris' ride to . fou rth was a lo n g way fro m his first lap twentie th p ositi on . Sonny De Feo charge d in to the lead o n t h e f i rs t l ap o f m o t o three d etermined to wi n th e last race, but Chaplin had other ideas and the t wo engaged in a fo ur lap lead swap p ing meet. Ch aplin' s hard riding was put t o an en d b y a twisted ankle in the race but th e duel with De Feo had open ed eno ug h o f a lead so t hat he dropped o n ly to third b eh ind Bo rg. Har ris had ano t he r to ugh ti me of getting in to fourth af t er being inv o lved in a firs t la p pile-up in the fir st tum. T o ny DiS tefano fini shed fif th. Safety facilities at Poc ono were o utstanding, with th ree a m b ulances an d th e track hospital manned an d read y to insure that any inj uries were promptly attended to. The in augural MX at Po cono was a su ccess b y al l st andards ; the S 5, 0 0 0 Na tio n al MX in A ugust shoul d b e eve n better. RESULTS: 250cc : 1. Gary Ch ap lin (Mai); 2. Gary Bail ey (Bul) ; 3 . Bob Ha rris (Mai) ; 4 . Fra n k Stacy (CZ) ; 5 . Ch ris Ber g (H us); 6. Bob Th ompson (H us); 7. Ed Kopp (Ma i) ; 8 . Gl en Robbins (Mai); 9. Eyvind Boyesen (H us) ; 10. Ga ry In gham (Ma i) . 5 0 0cc : 1. J ohn Borg (Mai); 2. So nn y De Feo (Mai); 3. Gary Ch aplin (Mai) ; 4 . Bob Harris (Ma i); 5. Tony DiStefano (CZ ) ; 6. Ra ndy Mas tin (Mai); 7. Barry Iaco velli (Mai); 8 . J eff Woo drow (Hus) : . 9 . Todd Brewer (Hus); 10. Bill H ubbard (H us) . Amateurs: 12 5 cc: 1. J eff Pr ous t- ( Ric); 2. Ad am Poliko ff (Pen);, 3. Howa rd Hunter (Bul) . 2 50cc: 1. Dick Woodwa rd (Mai ); 2. Bill Col e (Suz); 3. Steve Miller (Bu l) . . Open : 1. Tom Marsh (CZ); 2. Gil DiLouie (Yam); 3 . Doug Mill er (Bul).