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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/125577
********** Season Harvest A San Angelo t ntontesa JACK ENDERSEN OF BURIEN MONTESA, B uri en , Washington has been a Montesa de a l er fo r on e ye ar. T he reason he se l ls Mon t esa is tha t it is " v ery strong and t here i s no other machi ne like it. It is the best d irt bike money c an buy " , Story and Pho tos b y John Blanton SAN ANGELO, Tex., Aug . 25 - A s the 1968 season liraws near a close, the final road race meet at San Angelo was r educed to a pr ogram of three fiftymile races - 200cc, 350cc and Open. F r om the very fir st i t was apparent that the 200c c clash would be a close one; for lap after lap the tri o of David Watkins ( 175cc Bultaco), George Johnson (l80cc Yamaha) and Johnny BrYant (l 75cc Honda) towed each other about the course, swappi ng positions continually. Th en on the tenth lap Bryant' s Honda went onto one cylinder , and Watkin s and Johnson • set off tog eth er to lap the r ema inder of the field, a feat whi ch they accomplished when they sim ultaneously cam e upon Richard Bates and Dave Carpenter , who had advanced to third and f ourth places on their l75cc Hondas , On the 19th lap the l eaders had put even more di stan ce on the next two places , but at tha t point George Johnson unloaded mightily and Bates and Carpenter cam e by to unlap themselves from him . Before they coul d come around again, Johnson got his Yamaha uncurled and slipped back into the f r ay, now slightly more than a lap behind Watkins. Even though he managed to get back i nto the same Iap, Johns on was never any threat, and Dave cr ui sed i n to anoth er victory , his second in a row. David Watkins, in spite of hav i ng an artificial le g and s teel hooks f or fingers one one hand, has flnlshed cons i stently i n the top running this season. In the 350cc race Larry Beall, on a high-rise Yamaha , seemed to be gi ving M i k e Cone (TDl- C Yamaha) a very seri ous challenge as he led Mike f or the first nine taps, but, according to Harry Cone, Mike was sandbagging, and with much more speed down the straight he easily took over the lead and held It until the 16th lap, at which time the chrome plating on one cylinder Ietgo and stopped the Cone bi ke f or the first time this year . Lloyd Redman (250cc Kawasaki) and Jet Tharp (250cc Yamaha) brought up second and third places. L ar r y Beall had broken his Open Class mo unt, the 650cc Triumph from D& L Triumph of Au stin, In practice, and he was f orced to run his race-weary Yamaha against the Rus ty Bradley 650cc Triumph. This he did even better than any other entry In the Open Class, des pi te the presence of a pair of streamlined 650' s In addition to the usual field of hotshoe r i ders. But to no avail. By the ni nth lap, Bradley had lapped even Beall, and wi th the relentlessness of a born hunter he set out to lap him again. Even had Beall managed to stay in the con - Botil on Vamahas, L arry B.all l eads Mlk. Cone In tile 3 ~cc co. JACK EtWERSEN BURIEN MONTESA 145 Sout hwe s t 152 Sea ttl e, Wash ing ton 98 166 ~'VA M ONTE SA MO TORS , IN C. S ole U .S . Dist ribu t or 3657 Be ve rl .,. Boule vard lo$ Ang eles . Ca liforn ia 90004 " SUZUKI" test, It Is cer tain that Bradiey would have put ye t anoth er lap on him, for the T riumph was circulating at 1:4 1, faster than the fas te s t time posted by any 250 on the course (Art Baumann' s 1:43 plus of July 7) , and Beall was taking 1:47 per lap. Larry soon shattered the Yamaha, however, gi vi ng Wesley Cr ane ( 65Occ BSA) and John Rufenaft ( 44l cc BSA) second and third. So ends the season at San An gel o, and what an epic tale it has been. Besides the raci ng there, we watched from month to m onth as the maize cr op i n the i nf i eld grew to maturity , and finally, onthi slast race day , wi tnessed the fruition of the seas on' s cam paigni ng - gr eat plies of grain standing i n the mi ddle of the pave m ent at one corner and on one of the straights . No instructions were gi ven as to whi ch side of the harvest to pass on, but most of the r i ders made up their minds one way or the other - usually at blinding speed . What a r efreshing experience it Is to r ace i n Texas . Dale Brown Motors Wi nner of the season finale 200cc race at San A ncel o, Texas was David Walkins an a 175cc Bullaco. 244 1 L o ng B e a c h Bl vel. L on g B o n c h, C a l i r. (Results on page 20) CLASS A PROFESSIONAL (S tarting Sept 10th 250 Class A Every Tues.) SPEEDWAY SHORT TRACK ALL NEW CUSHION TRAC K TROJAN SPEEDWA Y R IDERS AN DO NFRS W CALL 923-71!_ _ 5 EVERY SUNDAY 40%PURSE 7:00 P.M. ADM ISSION 52 JR. S1.50, UNDER8 FREE .50, P I T GAT ES OPEN 5: 00 P. M. T AKE LONG BEACH FWV TO FIRESTONE EAST TO G"A RFIELD SO. TO SOUT HERN W EST TO T RACK 5601 SOUTHER N AVE. , SOUTH GATE, CALIF . THEEXPER TS M.C. Ist ANNUAL SAN DI EGO CTY. 100(( " TT" GRAND PRIX SE 21/22 1968 PT. POWDER PUFF • NOV. • AM. • EXPERT , Closely matched Honda duo of #17 George Johnson and #5 Johnny Bryant search for l eader David Watki ns In the 200cc event. Trilll11Ph TR6C AirCleaner ~~ ANOTHER FINE PRODUCT Di stri buted by FOR COMPETITION ON GRADED&. SU RFACED 8/10 MILE ''IT'' COURSE CLASS "C· TRACTION 'ONLY MESA SPEEDWA Y TH IS IS lltE BIGGEST EVENT EVER FOR THE LITTLE ONES. SIGN UPS DETERMINE STARTING POSITION. ENTRIES CLOSE 9/15/68. Washable FlLTRON Element Polished Alloy Finish - Easy Installation 223 W . CAM INO REAL . MONROV IA , CA LI F . 91016 FINALS 100cc ONLY S1.50 MAIL ENTRY PRACTl CE 11 A.M. TO 4 P.M. ON SAT. 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