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/141064
b y Art F rie d ma n Ph otos by Dave S cb oonmaker, H owie Fow le r, a n d Friedman ROSAMO ND , CAL. , May 2 7 - T he fir st tr a ces o f a d ese r t summer kep t things to as ty fo r tod ay 's AC A road race at Will ow Springs and left t hose in ca u t io us en ough t o w ander a round for long periods with out th eir sh irts lo oking li ke crispy critters. De sp it e com p eti tion fr om th e A FM, running a t th e revi t ali zed S ears Pain t, th e ACA h ad a good turn out a n d ran a fu ll racing progr am. T he e n d of th e in surance h assl es th a t h ave been facing the A sso ciatio n a n d th e re tum o f A CA b oss Wes C ooley, see m to promise a re turn to n ormal, . Some surprising th in gs h ap p e n ed. Li ke in the ligh tw eigh t S en io r GP, wh ich w as wo n b y Ralph Le C le rcq on a Duca ti 1 75 (w it h o u t a fu n ny fron t b rake ). Chu ck C am b ell (S uz ) was i 2 5 win n er, and Al Mar k h ad th e 200 class all h is o wn way . Sid Ch ambers (T ar bo) and Brian S hiers (Su z) cop p e d th e 5 0 and 100 classes . T he heavyweigh t Ju n ior GP cla ss ha d som e change s of leader. Th e race was flagged away o nce , a nd Lee Fl eming o n h is H onda 75 0 ru sh ed away fro m everyone. But then there was a cras h in th e first tum sev eral laps in to th e rac e, and it was black-fla gged as a p re c aut ion . On the res tar t Fleming flew away again, b ut Willia m Ed monston on a BSA 75 0 from J o hnn y 's of Ba kersfi eld began to slowly whittle d own his le ad . H e finally ca ugh t him , an d j ust a fte r Edmonston to ok o ver th e le ad , Flemi ng retired with ma gneto prob lems an d an o il le ak. Edmonsto n went o n to take an easy win with Darrell Lee (Y am ) garnering the 35 0 laurels after a long side -by-side fi gh t wi t h John Las sak (Kaw) . Dave S choonmaker w as 500 win n er on h is C alifornia Kawasaki o f Sant a Monic a sp onsored Kaw asaki. Bruce Longson nipped Dan Barney who cam e from a p oor s ta r t to 'finish sec ond at th e fl ag a fte r le ad in g briefl y in the 2 50 Junior class. Both w ere o n Yamah as. T he ligh tweight J unio r GP classe s were sp ar sel y p opulated by the ti me th e flag en de d th e race . J im Y oung (S uz) lost hi s c o m p e titi o n in th e 2 0 0 class and w on afte r fooli ng b rie fly with Dave Dunn (B u l) , winner of th e 1 75 class. Bra d H ickm an and R ick Y ounger, b oth on Yamah as, w on th e 12 5 an d 100 c l a s s e s r e s p e c ti v el y wi t h S teve Zim me rman h olding up th e 5 0 class o n h is h al-J e t fro m .A & R Cycle. Larry K o op was th e 25 0 Pro d u c tio n w in ner on h is Suzu ki. A l thoug h h e expressed .so rne frus ta tion at n ot b e in g ab le to fin d any pl ace s on th e c o u rse to d o wh eeli es. Ken G ill was sec on d . AI Mark (B ul) was 200 wi n n er and Gary Massre y (Yam ) did up the 12 5 class. Paul Wild e and . Steve Zimm erm an each o w ne d - a class , th e 100 a n d 50 resp e ctivel y . Scot Cl ough , aboar d a 35 0 Yamah a w as o ve ra ll winner o f t he He avywei gh t Pr o du c ti o n even t. S ec o nd o ve ra ll wa s also a 350 w ith J ohn Lassak (Ka w) beating o u t D avid Bre etwor (T ri) w ho was th e Open class w inne r. G reg Cavin was 5 0 0 vic to r. A la n E ngel w as th e fastest of the fa st an d quickly w on th e h eavywei gh t Sen ior event o n h is Y amaha 35 0 with D ick Fuller o n a Yamaha 2 5 0 taki ng the New Winners at Willow " '" ~ M .... C> N " ..., c ~ lJ:l ~ W Z W ..J U >- U The heavyweigh t Junior GP class in full flight . Bill Edmonston 12) was overall winner with David Breetw o r 1305) seco nd and Chris Lopo toskv 13531 t hird . Darrell Lee (71) was 350 winne r. William Pattison leads Mike Femister in th e 350 Junior class. . . number tw o sp o t and th e w in in the 25 0 class. Op en win n er was AI Mark o n a T riu m p h . RESU LT S: JR GP CLASSES : 50cc: 1. Steve Zimmerman (It atl . '- Karpy nec (Suzl . 3. Steve Sm ith (Yaml. 125cc: 1. Brad Hickma n IYaml. 2 . Rick Benjam ins (Y aml . 175ec : 1. Dave Dunn (Bull. 200cc: 1. Jim Young [Suz] 250cc: 1. Bruce Longson (Yarn). 2 . Dan Barney (Yaml. 3 . Michae l Prusinski (Yaml. 350cc : 1. Darrell Lee [Yarn}. 2 . John Lassa k (Kawl. 3. Wm. Patt ison (Yaml. "SOOec: 1. David Schoonma ker (Kawl . OPEN: 1. Wm. Ed monston (BSAI. 2. David Breetwor (Tril. 3. Chris Lopotoskv (Honl. SR GP CLASSES 50cc: 1. Sid Chambers (Tarl. 100cc : 1. Brian Shie rs (Suz). 2. Pa ul Wilde (Yam) . 125cc : 1. Chuck Campbell (Suzl. 2 . Ja mes McWorthy (Yaml. 3. Dick Carlson [Kaw) , 175cc: 1. Ralph Le Clercq (Duel. 200cc : 1. AI Mark IBul). 250cc: 1. Dick Fuller (Yaml. 2. Wes Cooley (Yam!. 3 :Peter Kushd ilian (Yaml. 350 cc: 1. Alan Engel (Yam). 2 . Mark Miller (Yaml. OPEN: 1. AI Mark (TrH. 2. Jim Haberlin (BSAI. PRODUCTION CLASSES SOcc: 1. Steve Zimm erm an (Ital. 100ec: 1. Paul Wilde (Yaml. 125ec : 1. Gary Massrey (Yaml. 2 . Ji m Lester (Yarn), 3. Robt . Benjamins (Yaml. 200ec: 1. AI Mark (Bull. 250cc: 1. Larry Koop (Suz) , 2.. Ken Gill (Suz}. 3 . Jim Ta nk (Kawl. 350cc : 1. Scot Clough (Yaml. 2 . John Lassak IKaw) . 3 . Dale McCreary {Yaml. 500cc: 1. Greg Cavin (Kaw!. 2 . Randy Smith (Su i) : OPEN : 1. David Breetwor rr-u. 2. Pat Beacom (Honl. 3. Art Friedman (Yaml , Ralph LeC lercg was the overall wi nner of the Senior lightweight class aboard his 175 Ducat i. (Sorry. no funn y front bra ke.) M N Alan Engel was overall w inner of the heavyweight Senior event aboard a 350 Y amaha .