Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1960's

Cycle News 1966 09 01

Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles

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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~V!O~LU!M!E~I~"~NUMBER" • 25-Lap Short ·Nat:- Bart .EKOFH"~~_HPTmBER1,1~ SANTA FE SPDWY., WILLOW SPRINGS, iLLiNOI5--Bart Markel worked hard for his second national championship win of this ·season at the 1/1O-mile Santa Fe dirt saucer located in a suburb of Chicago. It was the 17th national win in Markel's career. Wearing the #1 professional Expert plate by vir t u e of having been crowned Grand National Motorcycle Champion for points accumulated in 1966, the remarkable Markel added another wad of winnings to his already commanding 1966 points lead last Friday, cheered by the largest crowd of Harley Partisans in the track's 6 year history. Markel at one point fell to dead last in his qualifying race, but fought back and passed thr~e riders on the final lap to snatch away the last transfer spot for the national. Sprint-powered, Bart then batUed Santa Fe point-leader Freddy Nix and fourth place national points contender Chris Draayer, all on duplicate machines, to take away the National on the 20th lap AND keep it to the last. Final Results were: (time: 6 mln.~.17 sec.) 1. Martlel H-D, 2. Gary Nixon Triumph, 3. Chris Draayer B-D, 4. Darrel Dovel B-I),~. Mert Lawwill H-I), 6. Roonie RaIl H-D, 7. Gene Romero Triumph, 8. Art Bania B-D, 9. Eddie Molder Tri- .' IIIIIph, 10. Eddie Wirth H-D, 11. Dan Welty H-D, 12. Nix H-D. Nix was the first rider in the lead but on lap 3 his engine quit. Draayer then took over but seemed to tire out physically on the 19th lap, when Markel took charge and Nixon moved up to second on lap 21. All through laps 17, 18, and 19 aod 20 they were a very close threesome. The heats had found Draayer beating Roger Reiman,· Bennie Bowden and Romero. Nix was the fast qualifyer with a 15.77 sec. laP. He won his heat over Dusty Coppage, Lawwill and Wirth. Dan Welty beat Dovel, Mulder, John Tibben aod Markel in the third heat. This was another one where Markel bareley "made the show." Chicago's John Lemme, a first year Expert, became a brand new hero on his home grounds by walloping Nixon. Rail and former National Champion Dick Mann in a photo finish With still another qualifying semifinal to go, Reiman'.s carburetor broke and other notables were eliminated. Nix had the win all the way. It was the second and final semi main where Markel came on like a real champion on the last lap to eke out the Bonneville 1966 - Salt! with speed for Pepper. transfer spot. Dan Welty won the race, followed by Dovel, Nixon, Rail and last cycle driven by Robert LeppaD of Mt. Clemens, but still fast, Bart Markel. CYCLE SETS SPEED MARK Of OVER 245 It It AMATEUR SHORT TRACK SHOW • Texas Jac k McNairy took the lead from Keith Nadler to carry off the Amateur class gold at santa Fe the same .ni&bt. BoUl.arlWlarley sPrint-men. Third was Keith Krause on a Cub. BIG SUR LOOMS • , California's Loners Motorcycle Club will convene at 811: SUr on the rocky central coast for their 2nd Annual 81e SUrPrize Ride-In for the entire three days of the Labor Day weekend. Fiercely proud of their ondisl>Uted title as· the "World's Least-Grllllnized lotorcycle Club-, the Loners will feature a refreshing lack of planned festivities far all of the riders attending . There is no formal membership. there are no dues or admission fees, nor will any money be charged for this special meeting of the Loners. It is a well known tact that many or the campsites in Big Sur are free, but the club gives fair warning that local resiaurants and motels are crowded and expensive. Loners are advised to bring cooking and camping gear from home. There are grocery stores in the area. In an attempt to clrcumve nt the LODers ban on crass commercialism entering into the club activitles, Cycle ews will donate enough balloons and rolledup newspapers (guess whicb!) to stage a balloo bust con est on motorcycles. This semi-scheduled event will take place somewhere on acimiento Road around 3 pm Sunday. In keeping with the no~rules and vague regulations of the Loners. no tropbies, pdzes or purses wlll be awarded for the aforementioned contest. POINTS. RACE Pace Ouickens With their finishing positions in the Peoria and short track Nationals, the leadine points scorers in the 1966 Grand National Champion race are first, Martlel Nixon second, Molder third and D';"'yer fourth. sammy Tanner is ~, 6 is Buddy Elmore, 7 Reiman, 8 White, 9 George Roeder,tO Babe DeMay, 11 Dick Mann, and 12 Mert Lawwill. Next on the liSt of points batUes are the three.. western nationals this month at Ascot, Carlsbad and sacramento, California. All three are J.C. Agajanian promotions. Watch .Cycle News lor lurther developments. ·A torpedo-shaped motor· Mich., set a world speed record for cycles Thursday of 245.667 miles aD hour. Leppan, pilotia~ the Gyroaaut Xl designed by Alex Tremulis of Northridge, CaUt, smashed the former mark by more than 15 m.p.b. with two day runs I)f 243.572 and 247.'l63 m.p.h. The American MotorcyCle Assn. timed and certified the record, set during the week-long Bonneville National Speed Trials on the western Utah salt flats. The Gyronaut was powered by two 650cc Triumph motorcycle engines operating on alcohol fuel. It used Goodyear land speed record tires. The old motorcycle speed record of 130.27 m.p.h. was set Aug, 24, 1962, by Bill Johnson on a nitro-powered streamliner. southern California Timing Assn. officials stated that the salt was in the best condition in seve'n years. The racing surface was nine miles in length. Two miles led from a starting line to quarter-mile speed traps and more timing lights were set up at 3, 4, and 5 miles, leaving four miles as a sh ut-off area. The salt is tremendously corrosive to mechanical devices. It is not only upon the ground but in the air and sticks to any metal surface with tremendous adhesi ve powers. I saw jets removed from carburetors that appeared as though they had been preserved in salt. Various nuts and bolts had to he chiseled from their positions and what had been lustrous paint jobs were destroyed by corrosion and abrasions. The human hide became dry and burnt and if your eyes were not protected from the dazzling glare of the white salt, a form of • snow blindness· could set in. Even though dark glasses were the uniform of the day, competitors eyes resembled Bloody Marys with stuffed olives. Competitors & Machines All of the high speed enthusiasts (better known as "nuts-) did not arrive together but came one or two at a time until the cycle pits became impressively full. . Mr. Earl Flanders was the man responsible for safety checking and validating the legality of each machine. His work had begun far in advance of "speed week, - receiving pre-entries and making classification. At the salt, Mr. Flanders was assisted by Rich Richards who was invaluable in rapidly expediting entries. Only a small portion of the competitors aspired to break an existing record, but many played the game of juggling classifications to run for a guaranteed record in a class that hlj.d more. As time goes on the classes will be void cif empty spots and everyone will have to break an existing mark. This will be much of the case next year. There were three machines that eclipsed all others in speed attainments. One was the old salt' pro Burt Munroe and his Indian. Bert unloaded his streamliner from the trailer and made a run through the traps at a speed of 172 miles per hour. This little bullet has no skids or other stabilizing devices and upon coming to a stop it falls upon its side like a tired runner. The Indian powered streamliner set an official record of 168.066 (two-way average) in the S-A-lOOO Class. The S-A designates, streamlined with altered engine and 1000cc maximum displacement. Boris Murray rode the twin-enl!:ine Murray & Cook Triumph that you com(Continued on page 9) • .p. PEORIA TT NAT~L EDDIE MArES IT fOUl District .:rl's major contribution to AMA }l'Ofessional racing, Eddie Mulder, led Oag to flag taking his fourth straight TT championship at the Peoria steeplechase last Sunday, Pausing on the yellow·Oag lap to motion Bart Markel (running far behind in second) to catch up,' showman Eddie hoisted his front wheel, cocked it and roared across the finish, to the deafening delight of the largest crowd ever. With no-grandstands. and the fans packed densely around the hilly course, Eddie probably felt as much at home on the Illinois landscape as he does (or did) at Hopetown regularly. This is the second Peoria win in a row for Mulder and the Triumph brand. The results were: (no time) 1. Eddie Molder Triumph, 2, Bart Markel H-D, 3. Gene Romero Triumph, 4. Dusty Coppage Triumph 5. SODllJ' Burres Triumph, 6. Ronnie Rall Triumpb, 7, Bennie Bowden H-D, 8. Jack Simmons Norton, 9. Jim Corpe BSA, (following did not finish) 10. Dick Mann Matchle s (mechanical lap 12), 13. Don Howell Triumph (Mechanical lap 11), 14. Chris Draayer H-D (out lap 5 while running 2nd), . Eliminated in the preliminary struggles were Dick Hammer. Swede Savage, Skip Van Leeuwen, Ralph White, BobQy Winters, Jack O'Brien, Roger Reiman and Eddie Wirth. Gary Nixon, Buddy Elmore, Mert Lawwill, Dan Haaby and Fred Nix were unable to qualify. The event was recorded on Videotape by Wide World of Sports for presentation on L.A. Channel 7 (watch our calendar for the time). . In the 10 lap Amateur Final Harold Lyons of Indianapolis rode his BSA to win in a time of 5 minutes, 32.32 sec. Complete Photo coverage in Cycle News next week, !iOB06 'J!le:» 'q:Jeas auol 'PAIS q:Jeas aUO' 'N LLt9 SM3N 31JAJ

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