Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

l Hukhirson ond his '79 Cn25O tills the Helen ides hL'82 iir^t 25 like o modern ro rh everyone else in Rbb Nolin r bike, much hir clqsr. , Jerry Reyes while khuGklbs ir rhrough Flounder Freewoy. {l o ays Don \lqndertookS '74 @ '/ Irfoko rrc tte hellrr o{ style when fins wEre irL - D I aa f ffi ..ui*f, I t "r'. I ' ,lL It \ 1\ Dennir Middleton's lg74 CZ vvos on iron hqmmer from --: behind lhe lron Curtoin. & it intage racing, like all racing. t rflchanges over time and fie Vin- A # oeuT*"-S,-ke world Champi- Qfl oir'ipu reflects wherc the spon V has been, where it is today and where it is going in the future. And this could not have been any more evident than it was at this year's running of the Vintage and Two-Stroke World Champi- onships at Glen Helen Raceway. lnitjally, vintage racing was re$riaed to the pre- 1955 era in Engbnd and Europe. When it carne to the United SEtes in *le mid€os it was expandd to indude pre- I 975 rnachines. ln the mid-gos everE of,ganizer Rkk DouShty attempted to work with the U.S. vintage-sanc- tionirE My to include machines of the post- 75 eras but found litde far'or wi$ tr|e concept. He then embarked on promgting the "Evolution" chsres on his o/,yn around dte co.nrry and around the vrorld. Erolution classes are now dle fastest{ro,tr'in8 segment of the vinqge-racing scene. Eraen the once reluctant U.S. sanctioning body has now accepted de $eory of sr'olution as ir penains to vintage racing and is creatirg classes to accornrnodate ob6olete race bikes, This opened-min& approach tas been the hallnurk of the Vintage World Championship,s over d|e past nine years and has seen the development and implernenta- tion of d6ses for Evo 2 (preInkqe bikes), Evo 3 (pedix-brake machines), Ero 4 (pre- 1990 motocrcsers) and the Decade class (bikes orer I 0 yearc old). V\r'lpn asked about the method and moti- vation to his madness, Doughty responded, "lf we can find a technologl, phteau or some clear defining line in the derelopment of the race bikes, we can qeate a class for thoae bikes. B)r doirE so, we create an erwironmem where those tikes are no longer obsolete. They become competitive and worthy of bringing back out to the track again. Wthout an +propriate dds and place to race, maryl if not all, of these great, old bikes would be rel- egated to *re iunk heap or a dark comer of sorneone's gamge. For all of us that have a pan of our p6st tied to the6e bikes, that would real- ly be unforu.rnate. As it is, we get to Eo reliw a pan of that past, if only just for a weekend. The added benefit dtat kkls, who hare never seen nBny of these bikes, get to see flem at a racetrack instead of a m6eum." One of Doughty's newesr prEsenaricn auses is fle two-syoke motocrocs bike. As four-stroke engine technology improves the two-strokes are becoming the ne\.r'est in a lo16 line of mednnical dinosaurs, so they ha/e been gi\€i fieir orn champiorEhip classes for the past two ),ears. This year's atterdance wat up considerably for the two-st ok€s, so the idea is slanirE to catch llre. Vnage racir6 is also a much about *re off- u-ack eryerience as it is about the rdcing, CampirE and camaraderie b stardard fair at virtually €r,ery s/ertt, dle VIWC is rb excep- tion. A stroll through the pis is a st"oll through a muddy museum, where $e animated char- acters are larger than life ard rnore thah lEppy to edkate even the casual observer on every hcet ofdre nEchani:al marvel. The broad grirs and belty lzughs seem to be reward enough for this crowd. Cll GttN lbrN RAcEra,AY SAN 8a$raiDllo, CalroiNra REUU$ JurI 34, 2(x)6 SATURDAY lR NOV: I Ja'ffi 5hi6. 2 'lj '$an P6ri 3 Vnnrri v.lde.: 4 Chris v&derc@ki 5.larus Ftu. lR lM[ L . Ollon Bropry lR EX: l'1(hael Snr rh PRE-72 (25q50O) ltfl: L l"1kh*l Johnstone. PRE-72 (itlr5lD) EX: I Rr.k Ddghr/i 2 Ca./ Lde PRE.72(125) INT .MdofMotrz 2 weDdellClark. PRE.75 (500) Ex: L t{ FiEseEu. EvO 2 (250) Nr: I Bli CBr ! sEn Spek I lim E\.o 2 (250) Exr L lay Pa/ioGi ?. D llon Brcphy. EVO I lMli l. Trm l_larB. E\rO 3 (ORUH) NOV: I Erct Bonhami 2 Don wallacel EVO 3 (DruM) ll{li L Bn,n Bxker E\rO 3 (DRUM) EX: L Rob No,.n. 2. C'lb6n vardel E\rO 4 (PRE-90) Nol/l L lodd HueSel. Evo 4 (PRE.90) lMr: l. Brent Kchle. MX DES NATIONS TEAM* l. Tff loB USA| 2 _Isn Briti+ L&nmorel; l. Tem l"lalp€cticei 4 Tff OawE: St,NDAY PBE{5 EX. L Cha ie Be

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