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/141063
;!1 I" M ..... m 1lJ ' c " .., " ~ w Z w oJ ·u >u Ydiandro Returns at the DRA Desert RESULTS: 500 EX : 1. B . J. Ydiando (Hus) ; 2 . Bob R iley (Hus l : 3 . John Sands (Yam). 500 AM : J im Francis (Hu s) . 500 N OV : 1. Bob Jack' (H us); 2 . Allen Poznoff (Y am) ; 3 . Jef f Jensen (Hus). 250 EX : Bill Ho lman (Y aml. 250 NOV: John Fisher (Y aml. 175 EX : Jeff Wr ight (Pucl. 250 BEG : 1. Jerry Cox (Suzl : 2. Kirk Kandt (Ya m); 3. Jamie A llels (Ya ml. 500 BEG : A. Gill man . 250 POWD ER PUFF : Jane Jensen (Ya m). 125 EX : J . Horvath (DKWI. 125 NOV : Greg Kam merman·( Pen). 125 BEG : B. Ray ne (Ya ml. 175 BEG : W. Brq wn (Puc). O LDSTER: Wes And erson. 100 EX : R . Baxt er (Hod l. 100 BEG : M . Lew is (Hod). M INI: Fr ank Shader (Han). Th e w inners: B.J. Yd iando , Bob Riley . Jeff Wright , John Sands and a host of oth ers. CA LIFORN IA CIT Y, CAL ., May 20 B. J. Yd iando, a fast desert Expert who broke his lef t leg in 1970, chose the ORA race p rogram to get in shape and test his leg. Everything came up perfect for hi m as he rode a clean, feet-up race and won the first Expert class race pu t on by ORA . The Desert Racing Association has been pu tting on beginners and novice races for some time. In fact, th ey have 63 perfect com pliances with BLM. This race was t he first effort at p utting on a f ull p r o g r a m i n cl u ding ' experts, ama teurs , novices, begi nne rs, girls and .hacks. T he rep or t we go t fro m th e riders was that it was real ly a lot o f fun and was w ell m ar ked . T he course Was to be tw o loo ps on a 27 -mile course, co nsisting of o pe n boondocks, rolling hills, a co uple of sand was hes and a couple of can y ons. T he first start included everyone but the begi nners. An official wi th a tape recorder ma de a ru n-d own at the starting line of approximately 185 riders. After he got all the nu mbers on a tap e , the banner went up and th en it was dro pped. The firs t rid er at the smoke bomb was big Bob Rile y, an Expert of eleven-year standing. The pack that followed included Jim Fra ncis, Jeff Wright and Ydiando, The race see med to be a battle between the Ex pert riders who were try in g to get in shap e after a lo ng layoff, as Jeff Wrigh t br oke his leg a year ago an d is trying to ge t h is rh y thm b ack and th e o ther tw o rid er s ha d likewis e h ad long lay offs. On the choppy d own hill fire road, Wrigh t was ab le to pass Riley and take over the lea d and co me in to the pits wi th a two-minute lea d over Ril ey and Sid ehack - Superhaw k w inners: Mit ch Mi ll er & Kenny Wolfe . Ydiando. But Wright had lost his b rakes on th e down hill section and it took him five min utes to wire them . back tog ether. In the me an tim e , Ydiand o m oved into first place, and pulled in to take the ch ec kered flag , where all his friends and future bride Peggy Kogly were waiting for him with open arms. The old pro Bob Riley pulled in next, followed by Jim Francis. All three were Husky mounted. Wright go t back on his 175 Puch and finished fourth . "It was a little hairy when I lost my rear brake _ wn the hill , and I am tired , but I h ope do to be in shape fo r the Viewfinder's G P in J u ly ," Jeff said . First Novice went to John Fisc her o n a 250 Ya ma ha; second Novice went to Bob J ack o n a 500 Husky. There was a large fiel d of 100 Begi nners . First Beg inner went to 15-y ear old Jerry Cox on a 250 Suzuki followed by Ku rk Kend t on a 250 Yamah a. First gir l was the very petite J an e J ensen on a 250 Yamaha. The hacks were out in force. It seems th ey all have the same sponsor, but we neve r got h is na me . Firs t hac k in was Mitch Miller and Ken ny Wo lfe on a Honda rig. At the finish line, Ydiando said, "This was really a lot of fun . You w o u ld really have to be stupid to get lost or miss the danger marks. This is a good set -up to get in shape in. After I get married next \"..eek I am going to come back and take them on again." The O RA, headed by Ron Burpo, is offering an aI ternative to riders who may feel that some of the District 37 clubs are not laying out as good ru ns as they should In any case , California City is a very popular area and everybody e njoyed the r a c e . ' Professio nal ly p rom o ted desert raci ng h as a pl ace in ou r California scene because the promoter knows that if he doesn ' t lay out a successfu l run , nobody will come ba ck next week. Burpo seems to have his program together; flying checks, ta pe reco rded numbers and p oin t system for all classes. He 's able to get good areas and has a good reputation with the BLM and the property owners.