Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1960's

.... .... ~ Q" The Bryan Wade Incident was dropPed by everyone weeks ago, except by Wes Cooley who continues to bring 11 UP con- stantly In his column. I! Mr. Cooley gets as many verbal inquiries as he says he Illon'na pilot Ron Nelson flnlsbed fourth In the SOOcc Sr. class after he and DeSoto locked bars and crasbed with DeSoto colnC on for the win. tum~a" John Deadman's Jump Montesa's Downfall Story and Photos by R.W. GrajedaJr. APPLE VALLEY, cal., Jan. 19- Montesa-riders John DeSoto and Ron Nelson tangled on a jump and wiPed each other out of the running In a heat race here at Deadman's Point. DeSoto got up and contlnued but Nelson's bike had gone as far as It was going to go that day. He rode a d1fferent one In the next heat. Dennis Keefe on a Husqvarna won the 250Cc expert class. Ken Marldng on a BSA Victor took the open amateur • Thlr1;y 100Cc motorcycles attacked the 8/10 mile Moto Cross course. For about 100 yards they charged hard, then geared down and slammed on the brakes at the Kurt Loh..,er was leadlnc the 125ee class aIIoard his 125 Bultaeo when an unsuspeellnc crash put hi.. out. first mud hole. It was very crowded as they went over the three foot hump and then flew up and over an elghlfoot mound, a hard turn to the left, a small jump, then a hard right turn. They started spreading out but It was still close and furious with Kurt Lohmeyer In the lead. He held the lead until almost the end of the race but a Bultaco Loblto crashing In front of blm took blm down with It. Gary Emory of Bakersfield took over the lead but Gerald Yarborough SOOl1 passed blm to win In the first heat on a Hodaka. Ron Peterson did bls tblng and won the 250CC amateur on a Yamaha. Tom Horton from Lancaster Is the young man to keep your eye on at the races. Last year bls number was 406 and thls year It's 26 TT Am. That's moving up In a big hurry. In the first heat he was fourth at the start; but he hit his brakes as someone went down In front of him, and his brakes locked, causing his engine to stall. By the time he got It going he was last; but undaunted he charged, fought and worked his way back up until when It was all over he was back In fourth place. Tom, at the end of the day was second, open amateur. Last month he was the winner of the 250Cc class at the Deadman's point Moto Cross. There was a real treat for the spectator at th1s race, because the American Moto Cross team, sponsored by the Montesa Motorcycle Co., was there to show us how it's done. John DeSoto and Ron Nelson were racing hard and putting 00 a great show when they locked bikes on a big jump and pulled a spectacular crash. does 11's because he is keeping the pot boillng and we wonder why. 1 was finished with the whole si.tuatlon until now, because 11's over and done with. But after Mr. Cooley's last column I feel I must get re-Involved because I was involved at Westlake, and to stop Mr. Cooley from worrying away at an old bone. My personal opinion is that Mr. Cooley either advertantly or Inadvertantly got himsel! Into a situation that caused him to lose face. Instead of behaving like most of us do when this happens, he w1ll keep this going until he can regain face. At Westlake I was In the full confidence of both Nick Nicholson and Bryan Wade from the moment th1s erupted. Nick knows I can be relled on for honest reparting; and let's face this too, Bryan was In a foreign country and we're fellow Britons. After Mr. Cooley told Bryan he was suspended for riding at Hopetown when he was pre-entered at Dallas, the three of us had an extremely private meeting to discuss th1s. Nick had less to say than we two did; he had It In black and whi te that Greeves had withdrawn Bryan from Dallas. The other riders said they didn't care If he went ahead and rode. We knew sometblng was ftsby, but what? With the tlme d1fference we realized we could check with London before Sunday; and Bryan freely made his own decision not to ride until a check was made. Sunday morning both Nick and Bryan asked me separately to go with them to meet with Mr. Cooley. They had contacted London and had a cable, but I wasn't told what was In It. Mr. Cooley put In writing why he had refused to allow Bryan to ride the day before; he had been told by telephone that the A.C.U. had suspended bim. Bryan asked: "I! the A.C.U. said 1 could ride, you'd let me?" Mr. Cooley confirmed thls. and Bryan pulled the cable from his pocket and banded 11 to bim. There was no reason why Bryan should not ride. No doubt at this point Mr. Cooley felt the rug had been pulled out from under him! He made a copy of the cable for his files. After Mr. Codey's last column 1 went to Nicholson Motors. Nick gave me free access to his large file of correspondence and full authenticated carbon copies of letters, cables etc. [ read anytblng 1 wished to, Inc 1u din g letters from Greeves, the A.C.U., the F .1.M., InterAm promoters, the whole lot. Bryan Wade's two supposed YiolaUoos are just not SO and that's documented. Letters from Greeves confirm he was withdrawn prior to the series starting on the East coast after Mr. Edison Dye cancelled the f1rst four races. The day of Pepperell he was competing In Europe. The letter from the A.C. U . to Greeves grants permission for him to ride certain races while here. They are the Inter-Ams, starting with Westlake, and the DIrt DIggers Grand Prix at Hopetown, the event that started the whole flap. It bas been said that Wade was supposed to be in Dallas that day, but both Greeves and the A.C.U. knew where he was going to be. Hopetownl To get away from Bryan Wade for a few moments 1 also read Mr. Nicholson's letter to the F .I.M. This was not a "protest" but a simple request for information regarding F .I.M. sanctions. Their reply 1 also read; it was a cord1al one and In no way a "verbal spanking." 1 also read a copy of an A. C.U. letter to Mr. Cooley written after he had communicated with them, following this uproar. [n it they expressed surprise that the Dirt Diggers event was not F .I.M. sanctioned through M.I.C.U.S. (of which Mr. Cooley Is llfe-tlmePresident.) While visiting their London office he had told them he had Issued sanctions for all these races, Including Hopetown. To end this 1 offer the following as food for thought: 1. If Wade really was suspended for riding Hopetown Instead of Dallas, why should such an efficient organization as the A.C.U. pass thlsinformatlon along by telephone only? Wade himself surelY would have had it In black and white, and there was ample tlme for such communication after Hopetown and prior to Westlake. 2. Would a works rider llke Wade jeopardize his livellbood by doing anytblng to lose blm bls F .I.M. license? He doesn't play with motorcycle racing, he makes his living at it and as a full-time professlO1la1 ts fully aware of the rules. 3. I! Mr. Cooley continues to Insist that Wade was entered at r.nas could it be that the promotional off1ce of the Inter-Am Series made a mistake? Perhaps they didn't record properlY the number of races Greeves withdrew Wade from. 1 think thls unlikelY because Mr. Edison Dye not only had to take care of the running of the series but had two teams of contract riders to provide for, Husqvarna and C- Z, requiring painstakIng preparation. The two "singles" AdolPb Weil of Matco and Bryan Wadeof Greeves who gave the others such II run for their money and added so much to the series would have been handled as competently as anyone else. 4. Would Greeves distributor Nick Nlcholsoo become involved In any shady deals or funny business? He Is too well thought of on both sides of the Atlantic as a businessman and competitor to do anytblng like that. besides going against his own philosoPhY r4 llfe. So please, Mr. Cooley, let's just drop th1s unfortunate subject and forget it. before someone on the Continent starts wondering If we really are ready for big tlme motocross In tilts country.

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