Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/125443
ASCOT cont. from P 1 Ke • .. .. Nicholson , who began riding th e J oe Dudek Triumph oply thr ee we ek s ago, turned in sup er- sm ooth low groov e performance" a nd narrowed th e ga p to a co up le of bik e l en gth s at th e fini sh. Dan Haaby s pe nt th e fir s t s ev e n lap s lookin g for a groove , finally found t he co mbinat io n and moved rapidly from s e venth to th ird, windin g up j us t ahead of BSA teammate Ralph Whit e. C hris Draayer (H-D), t hi rd in t he ea rly goi ng , s li ppe d to fift h but managed to sta ve off the advanc es of las t we ek' s main e ve nt wi nner, H-D mounted Mer t Law will. Aft er the rac es, e ve n Du d e k s e emed surprised a t Nicholson ' s rap id progre s s on th e unfamiliar mac hi ne , a nd J im ( refe rri ng to las t week when he mis s ed t he main by a wheel) grinned, "I' m not a fa il ure after a ll !" T a nner a nd tu ne r C. R. Axt ell were qui ck to ag ree . "Too c lose ," c ommente d Axtell. "I had to WORKl" a dded Sam T. " T wo more lap s a nd it wou ld ha ve be en handle bar to hand leb ar! " E xper t he at ra c e win ners we re Tanner, Dra ayer, White a nd L ou is ; T anner led Nicholson, White a nd L oui s to hard-fought victory in t he 3-lap E xpert Da sh. Th e Ama t eu r Ma in Eve nt was a real t hrille r t hro ug hout . Ron Krus ema n led t he snarli ng pa ck fo r two lap s, th en Tim Ha rri s too k over. Not until th e seve nth tim e a rou nd did point lea der P ete Bod et t e move up to challeng e, gra bbi ng th e le ad out of turn on e and hol ding off Tim ' s s pirited bid s for th e remalnin g t hre e laps . Bert Ershig wa s a s ol i d third ah ead of J oe Sc hmidt, down from Nort hern California for th e eve nt . Caspe r Gri ef wound up fifth , making it BSAs 1-2-3-4-5 . Attesting to th e c lose ness of Amat eur action, las t week's s econd plac e finis he r, J ohn Carter , s li ppe d from runn erup s pot in th e poi n t standings to fifth whe n an out-ofco nt rol whe e li e at th e start of hi s heat rac e s ide lined him for th e evening. Happy firs t-time N o v i c e Main E vent wi nne r was Yamaha-mounted Don Rob er t s . His per forman c e was e s pecia lly impr es sive consid eri ng that he unl oad ed fro m Mik e T uck er's dra g bik e a t a bout 110 mph la s t Sun day at Ir win da le , a n unnervin g e xpe rie nce in a nybody's book . T wo-ti me Novi c e fi nal winn er Marty McD onal d wa s a ver y c l ose s e co nd after a ba d start. McDonald pushed hi s Sprin t from sixt h place on t he fi rst lap to fourth on t he seco nd , assuming s econd by lap Iour, Then he bor ed in , t akin g a t empo ra ry lead on t he next to la s t lap , losing it , a nd fighting hard to the c he c ker. Larry Pruitt (Ya ma ha ) gra bbed t hi rd in hi s bes t fin i sh to dat e ; Dick Turner (Bultaco) wound up fourth. (Results on page 22; (P hotos on page Ill) 25 You're in Good Company - SALES MANAGER JOE HOPE Wheeling and dea ling• • • with feeling. He'll put you on tha t new BSA or Honda at LONG BEACH HONDA 5105 Atlan ti c Blvd. 438 E. Anaheim St. 423-1433 439·0943 BSA Headquarters in Long Beach 431 W. Pacific Coas t Hwy. - · PRADO SCRAMBLES • .. • ~ • Although the s un never came out, the weath er was pleasant if a li ttl e windy on the afternoon of April 17th at Prad o Park. Shy a few members, the promoting 13 Rebels M.C . nonetheles s did a good job. A lot of li ttle bikes were on hand to start things off at 9:00 a.rn, It 's really wonderful to see the valuable pract ice these kids are getti ng, tuto red by the older ex-champs who now do their tuning. Gene Ca rte r, Presid ent of Dist. 37 Sports Committee was pres ent to check number plat es and engine sizes in the vari ous classes. Man to beat in the 200-250cc Expert class was Doug Yer kes; he won two of his three moto-cross es. All of the 500cc Expert motos were tak en by "Spaghetti King" Jim Hunter, and then Bill Riley foll owed up wit h another three-race s weep in the Open Expert divi sion. Amateur events found Mike Pos ey working hard for 21" Amat eur M nonai1l ors . He fell down in his heat and had to fight through the s emi to the final - a very good day' s ridin g. Vet eran desert competitor Vic Nelli ca me through for the 500cc Amat eur M win, while Lonny ain W ers, looking ab out as smooth as you alt can get , took the check er in the Open Amateur final. Novice winners included John ny Carbone in the 250cc cla s s (over a tota l of 60 entries ), John Verardo, best of 23 ent ries in the 500cc class , Ken Enbler, topping 19 other 40" competito rs , and Open Class champ, John Bass . (Res ults on page 22) I own a: Make Model1 ye ar' Motorcycle Name' _ Add ress; _ City' ~ ~at e' _~ S _..L Z;p, - - - -_ _