Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1960's

AUSTIN AQUA FE·STIVAL ROAD RACES~ ... . ",, ' AUSTIN LENGTH: 1.5 MI. '" '" ~ l ..Q E '" : '" [zJ =e [zJ - .,J On Dawson Road, Lowor DI vis ion ri ders #27 Casey Jones (125 Yamaha), #115 Johnny Cone (lOO U Yamaha), #42 Dave Carpenter (175 Honda) and #123 Clovis Brown (250 Yama ha). a:: a:: G Story and Photos by John Blanton AUSTIN, Te x., Aug. 4 - The dearth of motorcycle races In A ustln was certainly ended this year with the staging of two events at Au stin Raceway Park nor th of town, but the climax came with the first running of the Austin Aqua F estival Motorcycle Road Races In the city streets of the state capitol. The meet was held In conjunction with what is probably one of the most unique sports car races in this country, the Aqua Festival Sports Car Races, which were run for their first three years on streets adjacent to the Austin municipal centers and were returned to the course this year after two years of poor showings at Austin Raceway Park. The Kapitol Katz M,C, of Austin, the local AMA-afflllate, had been i nvited in the past to participate, but ractng enthusiasm did not reach a successful peak until this season. As it was, the nne offer made to the club was an organizer ' s dream : No expenses for the club - all expenses were absorbed by the Austin Chamber of Commerce through theAqua Festival Committee. Scoring and track marshalling were handled by the sports car club. No. admission charge to riders and mechanics, and no entry feel Even so, there was some rough going to be had before the races could be held. At first the AMA declined to issue a sanction for the event, because the T exas Travelers M,C. of San Antonio hel d a sanction f or a scrambl es race on that day, but in a fine display of sportsmanship and accommodation long associated with clubs in this region the Texas Travelers released the date on behalf of the Austin riders. Hail}' Ride For Black The local Yamaha dealership had recently acquired a secondhand TDlOB, and owner Jack O'Leary Invited his old f riend Byron Black, now residing In Fresno, Calif. and racing the Western circuits, to come back to Austin to ride it. Byron had not raced onAustin streets since 1966 when he owned an 5-90Honda Winner of !he Lower Div i sion race !hrouEb the strNts of Austi n, Texas, 250 Yamaha-mounled Mike Cone. and hot-rodded it about, dropping it In numerous oil spots and occasionally extricating i t from beneath a parked vehicle. Apparently he had yet another lesson to learn, f or during practice, after posting the third fastest lap of the day, he unloaded heavily when he applied the brakes too hard at the Riversi de Drive hairpin. He went down at well over 100 mph j us t before the 500-foot mark er, and the bike slid past the hairpin and In to the sand wedge used to keep run-away sports ears from mi xing with the Sunday traffic on Lamar Blvd, beyond . Byron, himself. rolled to a stop just short of the 100-foot point and rode the Yamaha back to the pits, both of them little the worse for wear. In the first race, for motorcycles not exc eeding 250cc, Mike Cone (250 Yamaha) came around first, followed by Joe Wilson (250 Kawasaki), Woyd Redman (250 Kawasaki) , Byron Black and Johnny Bryant (175 Honda). The O'Leary Yamaha crew was still experimenting with the " B" , and a last-minute carburetor adjustment had left the Black mount a trifle rich, and as a consequence Byron spent most of the race dicing with little Johnny Bryant's Honda, but on the 14th lap he managed to wedge himself between Redman and Wilson, who at the time were In second and third places, respectively, behind Mike Cone. r--EXTiAUSTNOTES--' L -1 8y Bill P e t ti gre w ... Bart Markel and his super-fast Harley Davidson managed to pull off the Peoria, IllInois National TT lastweekendAug.18 to make this his 24th National win and his 4th this year. Bart l ed BSA enthusiast Dick Mann who finished second and third place man Sonny Burres (Tri) . Complete story, photos, and results will appear In next week's paper. As far as the continent is concerned John Banks ( BSA) is still l eading ' the 500cc wor ld championship moto -cross race with second in the standings being held by East German Paul Friedrichs (CZ) a close second. Present score i s: Banks (38), Friedrichs (34). Joel Robert (CZ) is now leading the 2500c moto-cross championship with reigning champ Torsten Hallman (Hus) a close second. Robert and Hallman are now tied ' with five first place wins each with Robert com ing In with threeseconds and Torsten with two seconds and a f ifth. The r iders' best ei ght scores are counted f or the championship, so it looks like it will be a battle to the last round. Kniev el Told... No Jump! The following i s a telegram from Eve! Knlevel to Cycle News. " " UNIT E D STATES DEPARTMElIoT OF THE INTERIOR SECRETARY UDALL HAS MO"ED TO STOP THE " SPE CTA CULA R SKYCYCLE JUMP OVER THE CANYON OF THE COLO RADO RI VE R" . SECRETARY UDALL STATED IN A LETTER TO KNIE VEL ' S ATTORNEY MELVIN BELLI. TIlAT AS A MATTER OF P UBLIC POLICY IN THE ADMIN ISTRATION OF PUBLIC LAND NO PERMIT FO R SUCH LAND USE SHOULD BE ISSUED. KNIEVEL HAD AT AN EA RLI, ER DATE RECEIVED PER MISSION AND T HE BEST lUSHES OF THE DE PARTMENT OF TIlE INTERIOR OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY TO JUMP THE CAN YON. THE ONE MILE JUMP WILL DEFLlIilTELY BE ATTEMPTED AND YOU WILL BE NOTIFIED AS TO WIlE," AND WHERE WlTIDN TEl" DAYS. E VEL K . ilEVEL. " Moving On Up Speed, mor e speed and mor e power seems to be the cry of the up- and- coming racers of today. Toda y's potential topnotch spor ts man r i der is probably an EJ<;lert by the time he's 17 or 18- maybe ev en younger - and at about this point he may find him self In a situation where he First l ap of Upper Div i sion race ~nd the pack;"tarts IniD rl gh'-hander. #6 4 Rusty Bradley (Tri umph) leads #87 Larry Beall (Triump h), #104 Ray Smi th (HoD), Vi rgil Davenport (Tri umph) and ~ vainly for the next twenty minutes to Joe Wilson (Norton). Johnny Bryant's fine tour carne to an close the breach, throwing the big bike end durin g lap 13 as his chain parted, and from cur b to curb in a search for more he retired into third place In the 200cc traction and lapping everyone else but class behind second place Jerry Ludwig ~a7 Smith (883 H-D) i n the process. Be(175 Honda) and fir st place Dlvid Wathind Smith came l ocal r ider Roger Merekins (1 75 Bultaco) , bo th of whom com di th on a clean-runni ng 450 Honda In first pleted 15 laps of the 16- lap event. This place i n the 500cc class. Roger was the was Dave's tlrst win of the season and it only entry In that class, but he was still climaxed a frustrating string close trying hard enough to beat Virgil Davenfinishes. Congratulations are also In port (650 Tri umph) and Joe Wilson ( 650 Nor ton). Next cam e Gardner (305 Honorder f or Jer ry LUdwig on his secondever r oad race - on a stock bike no less. da) , one lap down on the leaders; the only Early in the race little Johnny Cone 350cc entry and the last bike running at the finish. The leaders completed 18 (1 0Ooc Yamaha) crashed coming onto laps In the 20- minute race . Dawson Road, and the remaining 1000c This first running had been a test for entries finished casey Jones (125 Yamaha), Denni s James ( 125 H- D) and David mo tor cy cl e participation i n the annual Kehi ( 120 SUZuki) Aqua Festlval races, and it was a clear • • success . The r iders like i t, the crganiRusty Out-runs Em zers liked it and, mo st i mpor tant of all, It was surprising that in the second the crowds like it, so It seems that the race, for bikes over 250cc , Ray Smith motorcycle races will become a yearlY ( 883cc H-D) out-gunned Rusty Bradley's f ealu r ein A ustin' s A qua Festival pageant . It is planned that next year the races 650cc Triumph down the long Riverside Drive straight on the first lap, for the will be featured on ABC'S Wide Wor ld of Pete Dalla-sponsored entry i s reputed to Sports, a noti ce not often given to the more humdrum activities, so it you are be the fastest piece of mac hinery on the road circuits In Texas (wor d i s that a itching for some out-of-the-ordinary LUlio cubi c centimeter i s larger than racing and would not mtnq having one of most others) . Nevertheless, by the time the hefty. pewier beer mugs given for the herd came back around the hairpin to trophies, then we will see you at the Aqua Festival races next summer. Dawson Road it was Bradiey in number one for, as it seem s, all eternity. Hard(Results on page 16) charging Larry Beall ( 650 Triumph) tried at' f eels that he needs mor e power and has just about exhausted his l 00cc bike of all its worth. So, he f eels I t' s time to go to something like a 250cc r i g for the power and speed. But what a shoc k to find such a fantas tic .dltfer ence In handling the brute In comparison to the little 100. The power comes on qui cker and everything happens a lot faster, and on the starting line if you miss a shlft...forget it, because fifteen riders have j ust passed you wher e if you were on the liWe r ig you coul d pull off a few such " dum mies" and get awaywtth it. It's a big j ump to the bi gger scooter and it takes a lot more concentration, you'll also learn a lot quicker with the speeds that you 're moving. Sure it's a big step but all it takes i s r iding constantly. going faster all the time, trying to pick up seconds her e and there and still going faster and findin g ways to save time ...i n other words it takes one hell of a lot of guts , skill, concentration and a great amount of tricks to becom e a top-notch rider in your particular bag of r iding whether it be TT, M oto- Cr oss, or Road Racing. Good Luck! CYCLE NEWSIS HEAT SALES SERVl CE H OCKIES MOTORCYCLES HODAKA YArlKEE OSSA GREEVES Complete Machine Shop Facllllle. 22025 So. F i gueroa Torrance, Cal Horn ia (213) 328-1242 - - - FOR FAST SERVICE litEM ANSWERING WANT ADS - SAY YOU SAW IT IN CYCLE NEWS .-_..- -------- -- ---- .. GEN E H. MY ER S YAMAH A Dealer NEW& USED SALES Authorized Parts - Service & Repair 4459 Redondo Beach Blvd" Lawndale, Calif. 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