A classical simulation of near-resonance energy transfer in collisions between two dipole linear rotors with slightly different moments of inertia is carried out. It is shown that, for initially unpolarized partners, the sudden approximation (i.e., the conservation of rotational polarization of colliding partners during a collision) provides a satisfactory approach to the calculation of the cross section as a function of the energy mismatch. Cross sections for energy transfer in collision of rotors, one of which is initially polarized, are also presented. The method is applied to the interpretation of near-resonance rotation-to-rotation energy transfer between HCl molecules in jet expansion experiments.