Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1960's

WILLOW SPRINGS 12·HOUR PRODUCTION GRAND P~RI~X~ One of the disappointments came early when a 350Cc Kawasak1 ridden by John Buckner and Tony Murphy was involved in an accident, and John Buckner unloaded . Time for repairs played a deciding facto r in moving this machine and Its two very noted r iders down in the results col umn. Hurd Surprises Surp ri si ngly, a very famous desert ri der, Steve Hurd, participated in this road r ace . To the best of our knowledge , this was Steve's first pavemen t event, and as well as he and co-p artner Steve Pederson did, It' s a good thing for some of the regulars that they only compete in r oad racing at Infrequent Inter val s . The technique Is usually not ver y eas ily acqulred, but Steve had no pr oblem. The only post entr ies who paid the $100 post entry fee were R. W. Ring and R. Ml1ls riding a 350Cc Yamaha . Ring, a r esident of San Diego, Is bet ter known for his SUZllkl mounted Ron Pierce laku his wlnnlnl SOOee class machine pasl another elau win. cLaulh lln on a 350 class Suzuki. ner SI..e M PholDs by Dennis Greene WILLOW SPRINGS, cai., Sept. 29 - No art1tlclal light was used to help the 100 odd production Grand Prix motorcycle racers compete over the 2.6 mile W1llow Springs International r oad r ace course in the first night road race ever held in the U.S. To the surprise of many, the time only varied from five to ten seconds per lap slower than that clocked during the daylight hours . This was truly an event that took not only good riders and equipment but excellent pit crews, the third factor not usually found in Gr and Prix motorcycle r acing , since the cr ews could be the deci ding fac tor between a win and a loss . Watching some of the split- se cond pit stop s was al most as exciting as watching the r ace Itself. .Grant. Pierce Win Grind The over -all win of the 12-hour event went to a 500Cc Suzuki with riders Ron Grant and Ron Pierce . They covered a distance of a Uttle better than 926miles, aided by one of the finest pit crews on the course that day. Custom Engineering Dick Kllaroe Is shown here ludlnl a pack 01 bikes throulh turn one and on to lourth In the 500ee class aboard his Honda 450. of Baker sfield operated Uke a well-olled machine getting their rider in and out of the pits in the very minimum of time . Not only were they an excellentfunctlonIng unit, but also their sharp white uniforms and lavendar hats, with machine and tools matching, added a touch to professional r acing comparable to that whtch you would see at Indianapolis or any other big national event. In hot pur sult, and se veral time s in the lead, the second over -all finisher was a 350cc Suzuld with Steve McLaugh11n and Don Emde. Steve's pltcrewwasmanaged and spurred on by his famous father, John McLaugh11n. Third over-all went to another 500cc Suzuki ridden by Hide Sezak1 and Dennis DeGraff. Fourth was another Suzuki, this time in the 250cc class, ridden by Dave Damron and Paul Hynan, with Dave's father Sid Damron managing and coaching their exce llen t crew. Kawaukl mounted B. Nelson (U S) maklnl his way throulh the traffic and all to first In tile 175ee c lass. LIQUIDA TION 4'0 -9£S£-9V£ OTORCYC E , AUCTION I SATURDAY, OCT. 12 ABOVE: BSA rider M Moor e (86) lo lnl lo the . oulsldtand flnlshed up with a first In Ihi Open evenl. Mike Lane (80) rode all but Ihr.. I. ps 0 1 the entire 12 hour ..enl and finished third In the 350ce class . BELOW L. Williford .nd : his 500ee Suzuki m.naled • lI'e.1 third In the 500cc event and Is shown here pass lnl • Ya· mah•• The sounds 01 the scrumlnl twostrokes and the thunder 01 the lours was m .1" nilled In the darkness that shrouded the track lor the last lew hours 01 this are.t evenI. Pasadena) by writing ietters to the CommIttee but when President Ron Sloan invited discussion on this situation, what sc r ambles clubs representatives were present sat like little bumps on logs and never opened their mouths . There was the golden opportunity to perhaps get these clubs back with point r uns next year with a floor vote and no one said boo. Corriganville [nfo MANY STILL IN CRATES MOVED FOR CONVENIENCE TO - COUNTYWIDE AUCTION (714) 827-8271 tt 'lOCK 110. OF KATEltA) INSPECTION - FRIDAY, OCT. n & SAT. MORNING F/IIAIIC/flg /S AVA/tABU WITH1,. DOWfI PArMEflT fl. R./• • i • • • r if C,.illia ••, A•••".il O_.,.,• • Again, hopefully In the Souther n Califor nia area. BSA was still able to capture the Open class event, however , with a twin r idden bY Mike Moore and Dave Elchert, both fr om Santa Barbara and alter E. sponsored by hard-worldng W Ownby. The next time this event Is run , try to be there. Not only Is It spectacular dur ing the day, but at night it' s something else! (Results on page 16) 1:00 P.M. 180 NEW BIKES 125cc To 250cc Road & Trail 10802 BEACH BLVD., STANTON moto-cross and TT r iding, but finis hed fourth In class in his first road race event which should encourage him to compete In further such eve nts . A remarkable feat was put on by one tea m, a father and son combination. A 350Cc Yamaha which finished third In class was r idden by Mike Lane, with his father as pit cr ew and co- rider . Dur ing the entire 12-hour event, Mike was only ott the machine for a total of five laps. This stop was neces sary s o Mike could refuel - his stomach that Is! His father boasts - understandably - that Mike has tremendous stam ina. Unfortunately the 750Cc Triple BSA did not appear and fans were not able to se e Jody Nicholas and Don Vesco compete on this machine. Don was looked upon as a real contender for this event and many of Jody' s friends would like to have said goodbye before he left for Vietnam on Monday, but we know that when Jody returns he will be road racing We -have to give a pat on the back to the H1lltoppers M.C. this week for their neat poster advertising their .. Backasswards" scrambles at Per r is on the 13th. It's clever and we think the Idea of run ning everything backwards will be a lot of fun. WhIl on the SUbject of the H1lle toppers, It you r emember they are one of the clubs who have lost their point r uns for 1969, and at last week'S Sports Committee meeting we wer e quite amazed. Other clubs have defended the three se t down (Hl1ltoppers, Jack Rabbits and The 500 Novice class Is completely f1lled, so It your entry Isn't In, save yourself some trouble and the DIrt Diggers extra work opening envelopes by not sending one in. Sam Crooks also r epor ts that it looks Uke the 100 Novice class and the 250 Novice Is all gone so It may be wise to check before sending in a late entry. Other classes are t1l11ng rapidly and the Powder Puff Is now up to three ro ws of girls . The Diggers are . negotiating with that top little gal r ider Debbie Jac k1lne fro m up Nor th to see It she'll come down. From whatwe've read about Debbie we r eally want to see her ride. •

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