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/125464
, Top left: Splendid spectacle abounds as riders head up the rise to "Wheelle Hili". Top right: Cal Rayborn, Number 25, hasn't time to put his foot down In this curve, being closely pursued as he Is by Ralph White. Above left: Gerry Sequin (56) has power In hand for the Amateur main. Here he leads right from the start. Center: Gary Nixon accepts check for 2nd place Carlsbad winnings from grinning AMA official Pete Colman. And last, but not least, Bark Markel. CARLSBAD NATIONAL STORY: Photos by Dennis Greene and James Brammer. Aerial views courtesy Webco, Inc. I • THE CLAN GATHERED in large nnmbers to see Cal Rayborn win his first national championship last Sunday at Carlsbad Raceway. For Rayborn it seemed like another race as he has yet to lose a big bike road race at the Carlsbad track in four times out. He did make it interesting, however. Rayborn broke a cam gear at the start of the heat race and never made a lap. All the broken teeth were fonnd and a replacement was inserted in time for him to line up in 25th position for the big one. He was eighth at the end of the first lap and snatched the lead from Gary Nixon halfway through lap eight. From then on it was a two rider duel with reverse results from the' recent Des Moines National, with Nixon running about ten seconds behind most of the way. it was Triumph's first loss of the year in national road racing and H-D's • • CAL COLLECTS A CROWN first pavement win in 1966. While Rayborn's pit crew was working on the big Harley, Cal was busy with the Sprint, snowing under the lightweight 250cc field in the 25 lap feature for the small bombs. He let Nixon and Dick Hammer lead the first three laps before taking over and running away to win by a whopping 33 seconds! It was the last meeting of the year between H-D, Yamaha and SuzukI. All three had their full teams out in force. Dick Mann won the fastest heat for Suzuki with Nixon winning the second heat for Yamaha. Hammer held a fairly close second to Rayborn untll he unloaded on the 10th lap, moving Ron Grant to second. Grant held off repeated challenges by Mann until the 16th lap when he cornered too hot and nicked the fence, breaking off the rear brake connector. Grant s.till rode a good one to finish third with Mann moving UP to second and giving Suzuki two of the top three finish positions. BAD DAY FOR BART It was a bad day all around for na- tional champ Bart Markel. He fell off on. the second lap in the lightweight final and the n was forced to the pits in national with condenser problems while running well within the top ten. Chris Draayer had a solid third in the national final and poin ts to move into third in the national standings until his engine quit on the 41st lap. Mulder still holds third in the points but never showed up for the race. Hammer had his ups and downs, also. He fell off in the 250 race but got back up to finish in 8th place. It was a different story in the national with Dick dueling Draayer for third when the gearbox locked and pitched him down with no return this time. It was a safe day for racing with the only really hard spill coming in the 250cc heat race when Don Vesco hit hard on the uphill backstretch but did manage to get up and walk away-much later. AMATEUR TO SEGUIN The Amateur event was won easily by Gerry Seguin who has been looking for the big one for five years. "e raced to victory in both the heat and final to capture his first win at a national. The race was for second all the way in this one with Dick Hayes birddogging John Fishburn for the position. They were tied together until the next to last lap when Hayes crashed hard and fast. Denver's Warren Flickinger then moved up to take third with Fishburn on his BSA breaking the H-D win chain. It was the opinion of co-promoters J.C. Agajanian and Sandy Belond that all was satisfactory at the first California National road race since 1954 and Carlsbad will again be the sight of the national in 1967. Add one more big one to the trend that is fast finding nationals leaving the east and heading west. (Results on page 16)