Moreno Valley MX at De Anza Cycle Park
Moreno Valley MC
at
DeAnza Cycle Park
Saturday January 11, 1975
By: SCM Staff
When the flag dropped for the first moto this Saturday at De Anza, 250 Experts Jack Murchall (Yam) and Wesley Bachman (Mai) laid down the traction and came through the early turns out in front, closely pursued by the likes of 250 Intermediate Jeff Ritz (Yam) and Junior Marty Wells (Hon). By the following lap, though, Ritz had managed to work in between the pair of Experts, and within a couple more had captured the lead. The trio remained practically on top of each other for quite some time until Bachman put on a hard charge at the very end, getting by Ritz and taking the Expert win. The next moto came off almost the same, except that when Ritz captured the lead, he held onto it, and even though Bachman and Murchall were still on his tail, they had to let the rapid Intermediate have his way. Not far behind them, 250 Junior Ed Schnitzer (Bui), who had managed to work his way past Wells in the previous moto, once again had a strong lead over the other Juniors and pulled off a second win. The final moto saw Bachman put down alot of early power in an attempt to break away, but for the third and final time, Ritz slithered past him, once more keeping the lead till the end. Bachman collected the Expert overall, but it sure would have been nice not to have had to follow anyone doing it. Schnitzer was also right behind them again and picked up the Junior overall for his efforts.
When the 125's lit off the line, Junior Pete Schaffhauser (Hon), who is still recovering from a recent knee injury, got a well-timed holeshot and disappeared with the lead while the pack got itself sorted out. Richard McGee (Hon), also a Junior, came flying past the scoring booth on the downhill, passing two riders simultaneously to snatch second place. He got out of shape, though, and went down, losing about four places. Jamie Lanari (Hon) took over second for a couple of laps until Intermediate Ron Cain (Suz) tucked inside him in a hairpin turn to take it away. After that, it developed into a cat-and-mouse game between Schaffhauser, the leader, and Cain until Cain once again got past on the inside and assumed the lead. Back in traffic, Intermediate Gary Cain (Hon) was attempting a pass into fourth place when he missed a shift and went over the bars through the whoop-de-doo's. Mark Ellis (Suz), the rider he was attempting to pass, made another half lap before his throttle grip rotated itself off the bars at a most inopportune moment, spitting him off too. All this time, McGee had been picking up places at an alarming rate, especially with those banzai charges of his on the downhills, and he weaseled past Schaffauser for the Junior lead. It didn't last long, though, since he got out of shape and went down again, letting both Schaffhauser and Lanari take the checkered before he could catch them.In the second moto, Ron Cain became the leader before the second lap, with McGee breathing down his neck, but neither made any mistakes, and that was the way they finished. Gary Cain also stayed up on two wheels long enough to put some heavy pressure on McGee, while Lanari and Schaffhauser held down second and third Junior. Behind them, Richard Apodaca was enjoying a long Beginner lead with his super quick Kawasaki, and he picked up his second win.
Going into the final moto, there was a three way Junior tie, and Schaffhauser made another one of his holeshots to put in a convincing bid. Ron Cain maneuvered into second, and McGee took over third. Gary Cain was in fourth, while Lanari kept his hand in with a fifth. For awhile, it looked as if no one would advance any further than that, until McGee chose a couple of handy downhills to capture the lead. Schaffhauser didn't let up the pressure for a minute after that, however, since he wanted it back. But going through the uphill sweeper, he missed a shift just before the berm and watched his front wheel climb up and over the top, sending him tumbling. He got up, but since he was on the uphill, there was just no way he could get back his momentum before Lanari came wailing past. So from first place, he dropped back to third, and since they had all been tied, the way they finished was the way they placed.
