Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1960's

Cycle News 1968 08 15

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/125570

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 0 of 23

• FEATURING: Castle Rock TT National Ridge Runners Tire Club Big Bear Tour Balboa Park Road Racing in Texi!s Bakersfield Sprockets Scrambles Ascot Flattrack Speedway Racing WEST 25<: VAN LEEU WEN TAKES CASTLE ROCK TT NATIONAL r Feeling oulthe Irack, #18 Merl Lawwlll, #22q Darrell Trlber and #22 Dan Haaby. By J.K. Lacey Photos by Vic Ebbutt. Don Abrahamson & Phil Gearhart waved of! with shifting pr oble ms , and National Number 4 Bart Markel waved off with his misfiring Harley. All retimed and qualified, however. CASTLE ROCK, wasn., July 20- PerHot Heat Races feet weather and better than ten thouTaking the f i r st three finisher s sand screaming fans jammed the fatr• gr ounds at Castle Rock, Wash., to see the Amateurs and Experts vie for the $6,000 purse, the National points, anci for only one of them to become the 1968 Champ. . With the sun starting to dip towards the beautiful Washington Coast-range mountains, time trials for the Experts began. Fifty - five Experts were on hand but only the fastest forty-eight would go to the heat races and it seemed as if half took a wave-of! of their first time f or a second go. Skip Van Leeuwen went out and posted fast time but this only lasted long enough f or Sonny Burres (Trl ) , the 1967 National high-point TT r ider, to make one circuit. His time of 25.91 withstood the onslaught and he collected $100 and a Cas trol jacket. Eddie Wirth (BSA) and M er t Lawwill (H-D) tied for second fastest with 25.96 each , while Dick Hammer (Trl) was third and only .17 (seventeen hundreds!) of! Burres' fast time with a 26.08. Hay bales had now been put on the fence after the front straight as the nlght before had seen many a rider punching holes in saId Sonny Burre s (69) wound up Sth, Jim fence, and as the night before, once straight to the Main with the next three again there were those who couldn't to the only semi, the four Expert heat seem to get through the left-hander. races were real fights to the finlsh. First year Expert and crowd favorite Burres out-distanced Van Leeuwen In Mark Williams (Trl) unloaded here dur- the first to have the fastest heat, Dusty Ing his time trial, bending one fork leg Coppage (Trl), came from behind to pass and holing his primary case . adorn (Trl) and Wirth (BSA) for the secTime trials were indeed cruel to all and heat win. Mark Williams (after rethe number fours present; 4Q Williams palrs) trailed Mert Lawwill (H-D) until crashed, 4w Harold Schnitzer (Trl) , the last lap then got under on the right- Undefeated In '68 TT competition. #59 Skip Van Le eu wen kept his record Intact at Ca stle Rock Nal'l. Here he batlles with #69 Sonny Burre s. (T r i) on the front strai ght putting Manley into the wall. While his Triumph end-aver-ended down the straight Manley fell hack on the track and Into the path of Hammer coming full steam, and while there was certainly nothing Hammer coul d do to keep f r om .hl tting Manle y he certainly did a masterful job of not falling hi mself, wi th the roaring pack right behind. Hammer was out though; the i mpa ct of Manley and Dick's front wheel had tweaked his forks hack, distorted the handlebars, not to mention his being shaken up at center-punching his good f r ie nd. M anley was take n off to the Longview Hospl tal but later released with a cut over one eye and bruises. Down to the one Expert Semi and It - was still a hot contest wi th twelve riders trying for one of the fir st four post tions to transfer to the Main Event. Grand National Champion and the current point leader In the race for this year' s #1 Plate, Gary Nixon, had falled to transfer Odom (77) took 8th In 3D·lap IInal. to Main or Semi. This left It wide open hander and led to the finlsh; Jim corpe to Cal Rayborn (H- D), who made the (Trl), the Mid- West TT Champion out Semi and is running second to Gary in West f or the first time, came In for third the point standings . and the final transfer position. Heat Rayborn grabbed the lead but lim four saw the 1966 TT Champi on Eddie Holton (Trl) from Burien, Wash., would Mulder lead all the way, chased by have no part of that and Immediately Markel and Portland 20-Mlle winner took over . Dan Haaby (H- D) and Dick Fred Nix (H-D) . This event was stopp ed Mann (BSA) both moved up through the just pas t the half-way point when Dave pack and Paul Bostrom (Trl) made his Palmer ( Nor ) tangled with Bill Manley bid for sec ond and passed Rayborn. Two CONTINUED ON PAGE B SOIO& IIIJIJIII:J '11'1' 11 JII, pJIAIl nOIl q:tllll II.... N Uti Ja., SMJN JDA)

Articles in this issue

Archives of this issue

view archives of Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1960's - Cycle News 1968 08 15