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/125552
<0 _ ~ '" Q., .... .... • :5 -------------------------~ • tz:l <: u :... u Ph otos by B en Hall and Chuc k C l ay to n The New Image .... ( Conlin u e~ from page 4) C rul e s . Bill L yons ' 27-inch double-ov erhead cam Honda ban ged out a ne w record wi nni ng the rac e and $650 prize with ze ro help from the Honda br as s , but a l ot of t hinkpower fro m Prec i si on Machinin g ( address o n reques t) . A nd Y vo n DuH ame l of Mon tr eal is not a member of the f actory team , yet he beat them all to win th e lightweight classic . W ith Canada's Yamaha distributor Trevor Deel ey o n his side, DuH amel is not without sponsorsh ip . ye t sc or e his win as one more for the individual , as op posed to th e uniformed rac er. Yvon und ers cored the point the next day by taking second in th e 200miler ridin g a 350 Yama ha the re fo r the first time . So deal ers , tak e h eart... when a c ustomer comes in to your store and says he wa nts a mac hin e like wo n them races, tell him yo u got i t •• • comple te with he adli ghts, ho rn and pass enger pegs . Varoom! (Or buzz- buzz, as the cas e may be) . No , the most impo rtant part i n wi nni ng ra ces is played by what Dick O'Brien calls " the co nnec t i on between the seat and the hand l ebars. " In thi s years Davtona , th ere wer e a vari ety of new connections emplo ye d. Yamaha imp ort ed world c hampi on P hi l·Read t o head a short list of Intern ati o nal Grand Pri x wi nners whi ch included Canadian Mik e Duff and J apa ne se Mi t suo Ito. The Euro pean sty lis ts f ared about as well at Daytona as our best racers would do at th e I sle of Man. They rac ed well and placed well, all things co os i dered . However, I hope that if ever our champions go to Europe to race and are bea t en, they will not go on as Mr. Read did , abou t th e rul es and th e co urse, whi ch are the sa me for all competitors, re gardl e ss of th eir acc ent s. .. • '. Countdown - The ZOO ·Mil e Championship Abave: Cal Rayborn (25) Is six laps ahead of World 250cc Champion Phil Read as this picture was taken. Left Read's 5-lap pit stop during which a cable to .the right carb was replaced. Below: The new 200 mile Champ ion at speed- Cal Rayborn on his fly ing H·D flathead.. Six Harl ey-Dav i dso ns, slick as bullets , shot t o the front of the th unde rin g, buzzing bi g bike pack . But 200 miles is th e l ongest road rac e in the U .S. and i n the end , o nly tw o were l eft. One, Cal Rayborn in command , went in to . o rbit and stayed ther e, a lap ahead of the p ack . Th e race was fo r seco nd as lap after l ap F red Nix ( H- D) and DuHamel and Read ( Y amahas ) sped sid e by side and nose to tail throu gh the turns and down the f ront st raigh taway . On bank ed turn s Ni x pulled away but th e Yamahas reel ed him in throu gh the s wi tc hback s. Then Nix was out and .A r t Baumann , a fi rst year Expert, got in to the battle. Read stopped f or gas and lo st fiv e l aps in a pi t sto p that w as describ ed as l ookin g like a Chinese f ire drill. Meant i me " H ai ry J ack " McNairy wa s putting his Harl ey ·soli d i n 4th spo t and Dick Hammer was workin g steadily up to 7th place, only to be disqu alified fo r switchi ng bike s . But Hammer prov ed that his head injury and divorce have no t slowe d him down any . Ro n Grant on the lashed-up Suzuki e arne d a good fifth finish and Mitsuo Ito mov ed up to ni nth on the same brand. So th ere were four two-strokes in the first t en of a recor d break ing race. Forni er c hampi on Bud dy Elmo re brou ght the firs t Triumph in. Gar y Nixon, aft er a 5seco nd pit stop , ran out of gas near the end and pushed to the pits . He went ou t again. but failed to finish owing to " el ec tr i c al pro bl ems." CYCLE magazi ne edi t or Gordon" J ennings qualifi ed fo r th e 250c c ra ce but decided not to start. The rain which brought th e checkered flag out halfway thro ugh the 250cc race s eemed to slow the Europeans as much as it did th e Am ericans and DuHam el. Gary Nixon got off hard in turn one shortly after the drops began to fall , but the spring i n his step and th e half-grin o n hi s fac e as he walked briskly back to hi s pit was in hi gh contrast to th e bruis es which he must ha ve born e under hi s blacke ned l eather s. Whoops! It looks like I ' ve run out of spac e fo r this iss ue. So tun e i n next we ek for more D ay tona news , includi ng the bes t show of all- - the Daytona shor t track races. •