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VOLUME 56 ISSUE 48 DECEMBER 3, 2019 P101 trade show, and Formula 750 was born. The new class was opened to "all solo motorcycles from 251cc and under 750cc" and took its name from the maximum capacity permitted. Formula 750 restrictions called for major components to be those used in standard production motorcycles, and a minimum of 200 had to be built. The ACU tested Formula 750 in 1972 with good success, and, of course, the Americans were already using the formula, so in 1973, the series was given FIM sanction. It was not a full world championship, but rather an FIM Prize Series. FIM Formula 750 launched with the Imola 200 in April of 1973. Jarno Saarinen won the race aboard a Yamaha TZ350, proving that smaller displacement two- strokes could be a match for the big 750cc four-strokes. In fact, the big four-strokes that were expected to play a major part in Formula 750 were never a factor. Not a single four-stroke ever won a race, and by 1975, four-stroke riders failed to score a single championship point. The series came to be dominated at first by the Suzuki TR750, and then the Yamaha TZ750. The Yamaha was perhaps the demise of the class. The Suzuki at least started life as a GT750 street bike, but Ya- maha's TZ750 was a pure racing machine. Sure, it met the regula- tions of at least 200 being pro- duced, but the dream of Formula 750 being a production-based championship was pretty much out the window after just a year or two of the series. America was supposed to host a round of the series at Ontario Motor Speedway in May of 1973, but the track was undergoing financial difficulties and manage- ment changes, so the event had to be rescheduled to October. The AMA asked for a change of date, but according to FIM rules, this could not be accepted after the ratification of the calendar, so the event went on as an AMA Road Race National only. Barry Sheene won the 1973 title on a Suzuki TR750. Then it was Aussies John Dodds and Jack Findlay winning the series in 1974 and '75. America finally hosted a round of the Formula 750 Champion- ship by way of the Daytona 200 in 1975, won by Gene Romero. The 200 was again part of the series in 1976 and 1977. The AMA National at Laguna Seca was also part of the Formula 750 calendar for three years starting in '77. By all rights, Gary Nixon should have won it in 1976, but the results of the season finale in Venezuela were thrown out be- cause of scoring issues. Without the points from that round, Nixon lost the title to Spaniard Víctor Palomo. The series was granted world championship status in 1977, and American Steve Baker dominated, becoming the first American to win a road racing world champi- onship. In spite of missing several rounds due to scheduling con- flicts, Kenny Roberts nearly won the 1978 Formula 750 title, coming up a few points short of Johnny Cecotto in the season finale at Mosport in Canada (won by young American Mike Bald- win). The series came to an end after the 1979 series, won by Frenchman Patrick Pons. In all, 102 Formula 750 races were held in the seven years it ran (many were doubleheader rounds, much like WorldSBK and MotoAmerica today). Johnny Cecotto goes down in history as the all-time wins leader with 13 victories. Steve Baker and Kenny Roberts were tied for second all-time with 12 wins each. The great Giacomo Agostini even won three races in the now nearly forgotten championship. By the late 1970s, AMA Super- bike racing was catching fire and seemed to get the production- based part of the rules right finally. Eventually that formula would provide the FIM with a longer-lasting world champion- ship road racing series in the form of World Superbike, but even though it didn't turn out the way the original founders visualized, the birth of superbike racing can be directly traced back to the old Formula 750 class co-founded by the AMA and the ACU. CN Subscribe to nearly 50 years of Cycle News Archive issues: www.CycleNews.com/Archives