E.C.R.A. at Escape Country
ECRA
at
Escape Country
Sunday February 2, 1975
By: SCM Staff
It was a perfect day for racing. Riders arriving at Escape Country Sunday morning for the pre-race practice session found the course in top condition. Wet down by the rains earlier in the week the track was very fast, offering excellent traction with no mud in sight.
In numbers it was the Mini's and First Day classes which dominated the action, with more than half of the 150 competitors racing in these categories.
Jeff Ward (Hon), former Mini National Champion, highlighted the Mini action. Jeff rode to victory taking easy firsts in all three of his motos. Declining his trophy. Ward let the honors go to Ken Morgan (Yam) who finished a distant second.
Jeff Ward also competed on his supermini in the lOOcc Expert class but only managed to take third behind Bobby Quintin (Hon) and Steve Gauin (Pen).
Competition was thin in the 125cc Expert class with only three riders going for the money. Paul Schones, an Escape Country regular, finished first in all three motos. Neil Petrill (Kaw) finished second in the first moto but was unable to finish the last two motos. The overall second went automatically to Steve Steel (Hon) the only other competitor.
The most exciting race of the day took place in the 250cc Intermediate class. In the first moto Tom Mayfield (CZ) and Shannon Bargsten (Mai) battled wheel to wheel throughout the entire five lap moto. Mayfield first out of the hole, retained the lead holding off several pass attempts by Bargsten. In the second moto Bargsten took the hole shot, keeping the lead by holding off Herbie Shelton (Mai) who was following close behind. Tom Mayfield running fourth most of the moto passes Don Jarrin (Mai) in the last lap to take third position. The third moto was almost a repeat of the second with the exception of Tom Mayfield finishing up in fourth, to take the overall second. Overall first was Shannon Bargsten, Herbie Shelton finished overall third.
In the 250 Expert class, Dave Foltz, consistent Escape Country winner, finished first in all three of his motos for the overall win. Good racing took place in this class between Dave Foltz, John Estes and Richard Mullin, all riding Maicos. In the first moto, Estes lead the close following Mullin throughout the race preventing him from getting by. In the exciting second moto the lead went back and forth several times between Estes, Foltz, and Mullin. Foltz after being in second most of the moto made his move in the last lap to take the lead from Richard Mullin, who had earlier taken over the lead from John Estes. In the first lap of the third moto, Dave Foltz crashed and dropped to last place. Showing his opponents how to ride Foltz overtook the entire field, passing John Estes just short of the finish line to take the overall first. Estes wound up second overall, and Richard Mullin third.
Competition was very thin in the Open Expert class Sunday, with a scant five entries, with only three finishing. First finisher in all three Open Expert motos was John Hrynkiewicz (Mai).
