Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1960's

Wl~E ' " Day to na keeps its reputation as the big o ne with more c olo r fa c tory e f.... f t and loads of talent . No othe r ra ce in Americ a challe nges thi s'-sp eed week for .... or all out eff ort and color. 1: The new Harley-Davidson te a m wa s the talk of the trac k a nd ri ghtly s o ~ a:s they look ed and acted lik e Pr~ from start to finish. The mac hine s a nd ri d er s were orange . b.lack and whi te and the re was no mistak i ng who they we re. T~l!.v were th~ ~d ers to be a t i n the 200 mil e r and they' prove d it - al~ though S i X of the ori gi na l s even wer e not around at the fi ni s h. r.J :ot H-D had been turned back twos~ht r.J years by Triumph and the all out effort t3 by .Mllwaukee paid off. II you want to Win >. Dlytona now or any other time In the U future It will take " 100%efiort by riders a and factory alike. Yamaha. who has gobbled up four straight wins In the 250cc 100 miler, tried for the 200 as well this year and put two of the top three Into the winner's circle. Not bad for only the s econd try . Canada, England, Greece & Cos ta Rica It was the first Californi a 200 mile win since Ralph White won It back In '63. II you want to win Daytona, move to San DIego. Ralph called It home when he won and Rayborn still lives there. The many Europeans and Canadians on hand greatly added to the show. Although many of them were a well kept secret until a few weeks before race time. England was represented by Phil Read, Rod Gould, Peter W1lliams and Tony Smith. Canada was represented by Yvon Du Hamel , r iding In his 7th 200 miler, and the lad from GreeceviaCanada,Andreas Georgeades . Mike Duff also entered under the Canadian banner but by the tI me you read this he will be a resident of the Los Angeles area. Fr om Japan came Mltsuo Ito and we even dug out a Costa Rican novice In the pits by the name of Alvaro Alvarado. There were probably a few more entered In the various classes but we were unable to find them before it was allover . Read Is a great rider and he more than proved It. He did, however, run Into some off-the-track difficulties which are better left out of the newspaper at this time. Gould never got a chance to prove that he Is on par with Read and Duff as he crashed hard in the 50 race the day before the 200 miler and did not ride. Tony Smith, a BSA factory test rider. entered but blew his machine In the final practice. To give you an Idea of how progress marches on - the record set last year by Fred Nix In time trials would have placed him in the third row this yearl! That's real progress on the part of Harley and Yamaha. The Triumphs in time trials, were running no faster nor slower than they were a year ago . The Kings of ' 67 were s uppor ting princes for ' 68 but you can bet they won't take It lying down. BSA was a vastly Improved machine on the outside but still has the sarne speed probelms that have held them back in previous years. The Suzuki 500 surprised a lot of people , especlally DIck Hammer, and Ron Grant pushed one to the fi nish and a fifth place money payoff. Hammer was surprised more than Grant as Dick had jumped off a Suzuki right befor e race time and onto Gould's Trtumph. That also Is another story that should have time to cool off before It Is written. Casualty List In the hard knocks column, or r iders that fell ott har d dur ing practice or the actual races the 'lIneup reads like this. SkIp Van Leeuwen, Dick Hammer, Ralph White, Tom Rockwood, Ron Pierce, Walt Fulton, Cal Raybor n. Yes, Rayborn actually fell early In the 200 miler but his was a type of spill where the rider stays on the machine and keeps going. They carried Cal Into FIRST, HUSBAND , '·7th IN PONDEROSA DESERT 'RAC ES By Jack Ross Veteran racer Ron Fry renewed his mont;bly : duel Wit!> six-time winner Blll Hutton to cop' ~5 fourth win at Ponderosa, Calif., March 3. The three-loop win was hotly contested as fast-Improving Gary ..Westergaard took the lead near the smoke bomb only to be passed by young the wlnner '~ circle as his leg was cramped from t>elrig bashed. For pure class at Dlytona the HarleyDlvldson team gets the award going away. They were an example of what all factory teams s hould look Itke, They were Pros from the start and It payed off. Many were Impressed and color photos ,have been taken of the team to appear .In : the Paper at a later date. Yamaha, Kawasaki and Suzukl also were professional In looks, both men and machines . It Is now up to Triumph and BSA to play the game the same way to give .the sport a 100% team effort. Now, Ascot Under the Lights The big one Is over and for ar riders It Is time to look once again Ascot and the double header for the t1rs weekend In Aprl~ . The half mllers ope It on Friday night with the TT rider under the lIghts .. tor the fir s t tim e thI year . Then It Is on to the rest of the seaso and a weekly race at As cot until th middle of next November. Pit gates a Ascot for all night events always ope at 6 p .m, and close at 7:30 p.m , Rae time on any Friday or Saturday night wll be 8: 15 p .m , Riders who have an questions concern Ing Ascot should phone Referee Ch Kellam at OS 6- 8124 after 6 p .m, ~= ~ ...::... Al Baker who led thr ough the home check . Mechanical t r 0 ubi e s beselged Baker and Fry took over followed by Ray Johnson , Jim Camarat and Hutton. On the third loop Camarat began to move as the Vln Rose wore off and his creaky bones limbered up. Camar a t passed Johnson to flnish second behind Fry. Hutton closed In fourth followed by Gary Schuelke and Westergaard. Seventy-five of the 104 Open Class riders finished ' with 52 earlng gold. Youth Vs. Age Trail class action saw 74 of the 116 e~trles finish the three ten-mile loops . Fifty -eight r iders won trophies . Tom Hoyle led Roy Barnett, Gene Souza and Jack Spencer through the t1rst and second loops. Bar nett and 52-years-youngSouza moved past Hoyle 10 finish first and second ahead of Hoyle. Flfteen-year-old Mark Rader clos ed In fourth followed by Jeff Heininger and Spencer. 250 Expert Carroll DItson finished seventh on his wife's trail bike Whileshe scored laps . It was rather embarrassing for the former holder of lightweight desert number 2 as Jan, his Desert Daisy wife, has a first overall traltblke Ponderosa win to her credit. After a dead last s tart, Wes Anderson Sr . was able to pass the home check ninth, only to lock bars with another rider and do a spe ctacular crash. Big Wes was able to t1nish 29th on his way in to have the ambulance attendant bandage his boo- boos. The ' next Ponderosa Hare Scrambles will be held by the Greyhounds M.C. on Sunday, April 7, 1968. Each class will ride four loops as riders prepare for the championship to be held Memorial Day, All tinlshers of the 10-1oop championship will win two- to tour-foot trophies. (Results on page 20) • BRIDGESTONE Wins At Southgate 11 3-15-68 lst.100 jr. Jim Dunn 2nd.100 jr. Jay Dunn Availabl e for Yamaha 80 & 100 si ngle Hodaka 90 & 100 Bridgestone For the name and address of youi nearest Bridgestone dealer call Southe rn California: McCulloch Distr. Inc. (213 )772-2108 MOTORCYCLES • Retail Prices In kit form $22.50 Competition Ready S40.0D Mail orders to (Terms COD or Cas h) California Residents order Subject to 5% sales Tax Torque Engineering Co. 18758 Bryant St. Northridge. CalHomia 91325 (213) 886-4321 or 345-2440

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