Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1960's

~ San ... Francisco Scene ::;: Batch Corder of Sacra.ento cJimued a spill- ful evening by taking :. lIle main eVEIlt· at tile San Francisco Cow Palace, tiding a Ttilllllph - Cnb December 30. 1a '" li .... = CI) IoJ ~ IoJ -J ~ U SHORT TRACK SHORTCOMINGS By Cbuck Cla,ytoo If the promotors of the ament indoor short track races at lIle San Francisco Cow Palace ever get anolller sanction, there shonld be some strings attached. First of &11, lIley should be required' to borrow a few more pages out of Don Brymer and Bob Dowis' book. Brymer and Dowis proved in lIleir LORg Beach Indoor promotions that cement oval racing is here to stay. But take away the show business, the good prize mouey and the energetic promotion that went into the Long Beach series, and you have the Cow Palace- a bunch of motorcycles revviug around an areua. Exciting to an enthusiast, IIlrilling at times when the ritual battles tum into personal coutests between men and machines. Among the riders who found themselves out of traction, shape and control in that order were Gus Lauer. Gene Romero and Dick Dorresteyn. Only Lauer was seriously injured, suffering an apparent broken shoulder. His crash took place in the trophy dash, when his Bultaco contacted another rider's wheel and began bouncing lock to lock throwing Lauer about 15 feet in the air. Gus came down hard on his left shoulder and was taken to a Daly City hospital. As the main event began (after being Story and pbotos by George Martin black flagged once before when several riders spilled on the first lap) Corder grabbed an immediate lead, followed by Paul Bostrom, Dorre9teyn, Dwayne Francis co and Gene Romero in a tigh t bunch. Riding bard after lUI easy victory in las beat race, Dorre!lte3'n MJrIled his way into s~d place as III e laps pa!l!led lUId was trying to pass Corder IlY midway ID the race. Time alter Ume Dorresteyn' s front wheel wonld edge past Corder's rear one. FIDa11y Dick IIIOt past Corder lUId, trying to lengiheu bis advantage. Dorresteyn overdid it abont Ibe eigblb lap and sUd off, letting Corder, Francisco, Romero, Bostrom and PbiUy Cancilla 1lY. Romero. meantime. had been trading skidmarks wilb Francisco lap after laP. TJYing to pass on the outside, he slid while exiting the first tum and fell. Unfortunately for Romero, instead of siiding in a straight line, his Triumph described a sweeping arc which put Gene in front of the like with the Cow Palace's cement wall looming up. Gene hit the wall and the bike hit Gene, stunniDg him so badly he bad to be carried from the track. Only after detailed examination was Romero allowed to get up of! the ambulance stretcher and change out of his torn and scuffed leather a. Dick Dorrelt-rn (76) IIId Butch Corder (92J) and Paul Bosllom untie each olllers' sIIoelaces With Romero out, Corder was followed lI&11tlnllor lIIe lea'" across the finlsh line by Francisco, Bostrom and Cancilla. The sbow was plagued by a series of .~ :. ." -.:::r..,.-; long. delayed starts. One kDowled~e .1' o!fl1" 'lit ~.!"'i""'" observer was beard to c-.neat: l've seen wcrse starts ID my lime, bat never all ID ODe night.· Most notable of lIIese was the A_teur-Expert semi, when tempers got so strained on the starting line (and clutches got so hot) that Gene ROOlero and Starter Nick Galluzzo exchanged angry words. Another unhappy rider was Cancilla, who was sent back to start last. Cancilla has an almost uncanny ability to wrestle his Suzuki around other riders, even when the track was narrow and slippery as it was this night, but with the last place handicap fourth place (and with it a spot in the main) looked hopeless. Willi ,tile naco Romero llIIatched a Ilrst tun lead wbicb be was not to give UP tbmacbout Ibe race. Bebind bini at tile IlDiab were Bill (Biscuits) Verlasco, RoD Wisler Imd Pbil ClDCiUa. '*0 bad Mulled his way up from last. a teal1y iIIIIpresslve I1de. Cancilla's feat was ali the more impressive because after blowing his engine in practice (the right-hand cylinder yielded two a piston neatly sliced in Gearle ...rIIn's camllfa calches G_ Ro.-o lalllni willie trylol to pass DwaJOe Francisco. thirds, joined only by twisted piston Note sparks Irom ROmero's bike at lowIII rllht. rings) he had borrowed another Suzuki But in the unlikely event that a casual spectator found out about the races and felt impelled to go. he would have had lots of time between highligh ts to renect, as we did, on why such a jewel of entertainment should be exhi bited in such a drab showcase. Since we were on a holiday we didn't attempt to "cover· the event as we usually do. Our san Francisco Correspondent had that job under control. We paid our two dollars and sat in the grandstand like a tourist, waiting to be enlightened. entertained. enthused, or whatever. Practice, without any announcements, was a pleasure. There were hours of action prior to race time as the riders felt out the track. As soon as one bunch was waved off, the track, another mixed bag of riders braved the pavement. It was fun to watch the experts honing their talent to a brilliant edge in the almost-empty arena. Then the National anthem was played, we all stood until it ended. And the announcer took over the microphone like the toastmaster of an Odd Fellows lodge. I doubt if the announcer was a professional. His knowledge of the sport was su bstantial ~nough. but the liberties he took with the English Language wouldn't even be allowed at Berkeley! Pu,ase, amateur announcers everywhere, records were broken, not "broke;" Motorcycles are ridd en, not "rode,· or "drove.· Motorcycie riders ov ~ the age of 21 are men, not • boys.· And as far as the public is concerned, "sickies· are things associated with hammers and Hells Angels. Motorcycles are what the men ride. or cycles it you prefer. Even a volunteer announcer should know, before he even turns on the microphone. that there may be lulls in the program. He should try to have aome original things to say while we sit there squirming in our seats, waiting for the tun to resume. If they start to tell me one more time what the flags stand for, I may run amok. If he can't think of anything else after he's read the program aloud, repeated the point standings (slowly) for the tenth time and marveled at how much time the "boyS" spend readying their ·sickies· he could read the Calendar or Events out of Cycle News or talk about some of the riders' histories and achievements. And last of all. the Cow Palace promoters should spring for a few more hay bales. Those slid es into the wall could hurt somebody. JIM ODOM Wins 'A' Main LOI, Ie.c. I."oor S'ort Tr.de J•• 1, 1961 Ji•••d His C.sista.t S.zHi R.ded up Ano"er 'stP.e Using N P G LUBRICANTS Ji.'s a Wi••r· WII, Are.'t '01 ? SUzuki Provided bJ cycle I--'s Gus L.- wobbled, hl&llslded and slaml1ed to the pa......nt, su"erlng a painful sIIouldllf. tor the race. adding his own number plates. wheels and expansion chambers. In the Novice main event, Mike Yarn or San Jose on a Montesa took first after winnlng his heat, with Lloyd Houchkins of Walnut Creek second and Bob Self of Oakiand third. The novice semi waS-won by Suzukimounted Jim Odom. with Bob self of Oakland second on a Bultaco and Art Bernbelsel third. Nom e heat winners were: Danny Davies of Mill Valley; Dee Genung of Hayward; Mike Yarn of San Jose. Lloyd Hwchkins, and Ken Weakiey of Walnut Creek. Amateur-Expert heat winners were: Dwayne Francisco, Gus Lauer. Butch Corder. Dick Dorresteyn and Paul Bostrom. Mike Yarn also won the novice trophy dash, Daking it three wina for three tlies. with Butch Corder taking the Amateur-Expert. san Matee LUBRICANTS 100% sJltlletlc Hlp PurltJ Lubricating 011 2 CJcle er 4 cJcle P.O. Bex 212, Orangevale, Callflnlla

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