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When Gale Webb, then 33,
received a call from well-known Larry Huffman asking her to represent
the United States of America at the 1982 Coca-Cola Supercross in Tokyo, Japan, she could
hardly speak. Then, after the initial shock wore off, Gale said
"Sure thing, but I think I shouldn't be the only one going".
Shortly thereafter, Gale met with Larry and came up with a plan to
invite selected women competitors to join Gale in Japan. From that
point on, it was all history. The five women who were picked did not
compete in the main event, which pitted man against man, not then.
Still, they would be running in the half time competition that would pit
Webb head-to-head against her friends, and it was expected to introduce
women's motocross to the international sports world. |
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From left to right:
11 - Dee Dee Cates,
1w - Karen Leitinger, 2w - Charline Ho, 8 - Gale Webb and 10 - Kimi
Douglas
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| Accompanying Webb to Japan were: |
| Kimi Douglas, 19, from Garden
Grove, CA - Winner of the 1981 California State National Pro Class,
winner of the 1982 Big Mammoth Pro Race, who so far that year had lost
one race only because of mechanical difficulties. Douglas lived
with her parents and was training full time. By Webb's account,
Douglas was the fastest of the group, with the strongest potential for
hitting it big in motocross. |
| Karen Leitinger, 20, a saleswoman
for an Orange County cosmetics firm. A six-year veteran of the
motocross circuit, she was running first in the point standings among
Southern California women riders. She was also in the top five in
the state. On the circuit, she was considered an up-and-coming
rider. |
| Dee Dee Cates, 21, 3 Time Women's
National Champion, who lived in Anaheim Hills. She had appeared on
ABC's Wide World of Sports in the Women's Invitational Motocross at the
famous Carlsbad Raceway in Carlsbad, California. |
| Charline Ho, 27, an accountant at
Cal State Northridge, and the only woman in the group who did not live
in Orange County. In 1980, she finished frist among women
motocross riders in Southern California. |
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Credit: The Orange County Register
Thursday,
November 4, 1982
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