Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1960's

Cycle News 1966 09 08

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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• .. • .. • " • Although TT doesn't stand for Twist and Turn it might as well for that is what the boys do in these events. On saturday, september 3rd, J.C. Agajanian presented another of his monthly twist and turn sessions at Ascot Park, the home of the champions, The Novices opened the program on their shortened version of the track with a new four-lap record in the fourth heat of 2:33.25 set by Joe Roseberry on his hot Benelli with Bultac~mounted Gene Cannady in full chase behind him. The first heat saw Phil Todd and Mike Lithicum charge away from the pack, building up quite a lead on third place man, BSA-mounted Dan Kelly. Lit hi cum challenged really hard on the last lap, but couldn't quite catch Todd and his Montessa. Rich Thorwaldson, Jim Berry, Jack Konle on Triumphs all met in the Amateur heat, with Thorwaldson turning in a great ride, In fourth place was Johnny Fishburn on a 500 .Ariel which must be the fastest Ariel in the world, as Fishburn went on to win the semi in good style, take a 6th in the Maln and show· the crowd in general that the days of the big singles aren't quite over yet. Eddie Mulder won his heat after 6etting his usual good drive off the line, and went on to take the Trophy Dash win. The Dash consisted of Mulder, Skip Van Leeuwen, Gene Romero and Travis Patton. Van Leeuwen caught Mulder just before the half-mile, getting under him as they started into the sweeper and pulling almost side-by-side, but Mulder cranked it on and pulled away. For Main Event excitement, the Novices and Amateurs almost sbowed better than the Experts. After a restart when Lithicum and Todd went down, John Sprague got into the lead on his Bultaco with RoyalEnfield rider Roy Spiker behind him. but Gene Cannady got past Spiker before the end of the first lap. Spiker appeared to be having troubles. but hung onto his third place with Phil Todd taking the fourth position. The Amateur Main was also a restart when Konle decked it and Justin Glidden almost landed on two surprised ducks when he got out of shape in the same mix-up. Dewayne Keeter led the pack into tum one. with Rich Thorwaldsoh hard after him. Thorwaldson soon had the lead, with Keeter giving him a tremendous battle, never letting off for a second. Be finally made his bid on the yellow flap lap but dropped in on the turn by the coke stand, leaving Thorwaldson with a well-cieserved lead built up over the now second place man. ·Jim Berry who had had quite a sqrap with Konle now in third. As an idea of the lead that Triumph-mounted Thorwaldson and Keeter had built up, as Rich was taking the checkered flag, Berry was just starting the drive for the halfmile turn. After Keeter had gone down, he had time to bounce up, remount and still end with a fourth place before Del Shirley could catch him. In six was Johnny Fishburn on the ArieL The Expert Main had Gene Romero beating Eddie Mulder off the line with Jack Simmons on his big Norton in third. As the race progressed, Skip Van Leeuwen had a good little scrap with Bob Bailey before getting past him. then developed engine over-heating troubles that made him slow down again. Dan Baaby on a BSA tried to beat off Travis Patton's attempts to pass. but Triumph rider Patton finally got him and ended up 6th over-all with Baaby in 7th. On the 8th lap, Romero went way wide at the end of the straight. and Mulde.r, who wasn't far behind, jumped into first place. with about 5 laps to go, as they approached the jump, Mulder slowed, signalled to Romero to pass with both riders then going into the air side by side. On landing, Romero re-took the lead and Mulder remained behind him to the end. (Results on a e 16 .'''IH31"W a31"a SS"'3 aNO~3S WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 811n1g11 SEPTEMBER 14, 1 . RoadRiders Flock To Carson City ROMERO BEATS MULDER IN TT " "" -PINE r.ONE '66 STYLE By JOM Sledd Carson City, capital of Nevada, is the smallest state capital in the' United states. This picturesque city, established in 1858 and named for the famous frontiersman Christopher "Kit" Carson, provided an enjoyable Labor Day weekend for 350 cyclist on the 1rth annual Pine Cone run. The run was presented by the Southern California Road-Riders committee. The rally didn't have an organ(Continued on page 10) "Catch me If you can,· taunt· ed Eddie Mul del. And Gene Romero did! Sizzling Santa Maria ShortTrack , • I • . , • DRAG RACING By Bob Ebeling Irwindale Raceway saw Harley-Davidson riders score three top wins; Street, Gas and Fuel. Leo Payne heads the winners list by virtue of securing a victory in both the top fuel and top street divisions. Payne's achievements in the fuel division come as no great surprise, but the fact of consistency should not go unnoticed. In the race for Top Street a record was established which will lie lon~standing. Leo «twisted the wick" to the first finish light for an elapsed time of 11.17 seconds and passed through the speed traps turning 120.80 miles per hour. The best gassers are running in that bracket and this tends to give the impression that Leo knows something no one else does. . Bob Michl1els has regained his old stature by outrunning all contenders for the Top Gas title. Early Saturday, serious problems with Michaels clutch heating made the speculators' eyes turn to Pete Hutton's tWin-engine- Triumph as a possible top gas machine, bui when the eliminations were run, all of Michaels problems had vanished and he took the honors turning 12.26 elapsed time and 118.98 miles per hour. Bob was a consistent top gas champion for a long time but «hung it up' for a while. Now that he is back you may again see the «Black Knight" Harley-Davidson on top at the majority of meets. saturday, september third, marked the (irst professional Slort Track races at the santa Maria speedway 0 val. Fans were thrilled by the blistering pace o( the howling, screaming quarte...liter machines. . The action was sizzling as the heat races were run 0(( to see who would make the (ifteen lap main event. Trophy Dash action was provided by (van Oden, Joe Brown, Bill stockholm and Marty McDonald. Four very fast lapS s\1w Marty McDonald power his Harley-Davidson sprint to the flag just a wheel ahead of Honda mounted Ivan Oden with R1l1StockholmandJoe Brown following. In the main event, Ivan Oden got off to an early lead while hack in the pack, Marty McDooald was giving the crowd a heavy dose of thrills by working his way past one rider after another. Each time tiIi ~i 'Wi ~rla Action. Class Winners E Gas and B street classes were won by the pure power of a red light rather than engine H.P. (Continued on page 15) SOB06 '1l1e:J 'q3eas 2tJ 0 l 'PAIS q3eas :luol 'N LU9 SM3N 31JAJ

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