Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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.. - Belgians Ecstatic Over First Tro hy Des Nations Win In 19 Years By Russ Darnell ~ KESTER, BELGIUM, Sept. 14, 1969- Col AFTER the surprise win by the Belgian ~ Team of the 500cc round of the Trophy Col des Natioos at Farleigh Castle, crowd ~ turn out and enthusiasm was at an all :.. time high at Kester, the site of the 25llec U round in Belgium this year. The Belgian Team had not won a TrophY des Nations event since 1951 so 'bus could probably account for the 30,000 paid spectators wIlo showed UP for the race. The crowd was not disappointed. The race schedule provided nerce motocross combat all day long, and to top things ott, the BelIdan Team won ll28.1nl In the morning during practice the baWe began to shape UP. The Belgian Team cooslsted of current 25llec World Champion, Joel Robert, this year's winner of the Belgian G.p. Roger DeCoster, runner-UP in the 25llec World Champ race Sylvain Geboers, and Belgian Champion Marcel W1ertz. The Swedes tle1ded such men as 50llec World Champ Benet Aberg, Arne Kring, Chris Hammargren, Torsten Hallman, and SuzuJd mounted oWe Petterson. The Czech Team looked strong and fast and the Engllsh Team appeared steady and sate. The race was run in two heats of 50 minutes and a t1nal of 50 minutes plus 1 lap. In the arst heat the Czech Miraslave Halm won the I8ad at the start followed closely by fellow countryman Karel Konecny, then cam!! TorstenHallman, OWe Petterson, Arthur Browning, A cro"d of 30,000 lined the ropes to watch the Belgians best the whole world at the 250 ro...d of the Trophy des Nations. Pierre Karsmakers, and Be .Aberg. On the second lap the lead remained the same but Petterson took third and Browning moved UP to fourth. For the rest of the 50 minutes around this gruel- - - THE TWO-WHEELER ~ SUZUKI ~I R.adJ for I_ediat. Delivery! 167 W. Colton Av.. 5.an Bemardlno, Calif'll (714) 115-3445 • -- a must or every serious enthusiast man European spectators get an unobstructed (and ...proteded) vie. of the _Id's best. T. Hall_, Malcolm Davts and Veb~ do bait Ie for their n.lonal tums. ing circuit there was much passing and re-passing going on, and the heat was marred by Arthur Browning susta1n1ng a broken shoulder in a very Md tall. Bengt Aberg showed what World Champioos are made of when be cametrom 47 seconds behind the two front runners to cba l1 enge for the lead. Hnsqvarna racing manager Bror Jauren s1gnalled Aberg to slow down, as Bengt Mdalreadysecured a transfer spot for himself. At the t1n1sh it was stW Miroslav Halm, with comrade Karel Konecny three seconds bebtnd in second. Third was Aberg, and OWe Petterson fourth, then Jyrld Storm from Finland, Zdenek Strnad, Torsteo Hallman, Marcel Wlertz, and KarsmaJcers. The second heat roared away from the start and it was Arne Kring in the lead, Sylvain Geboers second, J1ri Stodulka, Joel Robert, Chris Hammargren, Kalevi Vehkonen, and Frans Sigmans in that order. 'Kring drew out a great lead and t1n1shed 20 second ahead of second place Sylvain Geboers. Joel Robert tlntshed in third, with teammate Roger DeCoster on his heels, followed by Stodulka, Hammargren, Dave Bickers, and the F1'n, Vehkonen. After several till-in races and a pause, the time came to prepare for the tinal. The tension was as thick as the smog over L.A .. The riders were all fidgeting around in the pits. The team managers bit their finger nails, and the crowd pressed agaInst the barricades to get a better view. The m~tal start gate was levered into place. The riders were led out to the gate and shown their places. Engines roared.. and beb1nd the bikes you could see some of the riders bad already engaged low gear and let the clutch out because the rear tires were throwing a rooster tall of dirt. Front wheels strained against the unyielding metal gate. Then, the gate was triggered, and 1500 horsepower exploded into an ear-splitting crescendo of sound and vibration. Fitty riders swePt into the arst corner, no o.ne wanting to be the first to shut ott. Around the bend, shift to third, and staod UP for the ott-camber section wI11ch bends right, then down ott an embankment. Down along a bump grass stratgbt, into a tight right bander, then into another bumPY straight which takes you uP a cross rutted h111. Down again, catch fourth gear and bit the fast fast sweeper to the right. One corner follows another, no chance to catch your breath. Not one place to reston the whole course. This is the t1nal. The "big kids" are in the final and they play rough and go very fast. In the arst lap Miroslav Halm sets a blistering pace and trying to pass bim on every corner is OWe Petterson and Torsten Hallman. Malcolm Davis is next leading a pack consisting of Vehkanen, Bengt Aberg, Chris Hammargren, Roger DeCoster, Alan Clough, and Dave Bickers. Behind them is the maln body of the riders. Riders who got bad starts, fell, or were just held DP. Joel Robert was one of these riders. As the race progressed,the fans were treated to some of the best in-fighting and charging ever. Petterson was mov- Yamaha Heads Two new high performance cylinder heads for Yamaha models AT-l (125cc) and CT-l (175cc) have been announced by Webco Inc., of Venice, California, the nation's largest motorcycle research, development production and distribution firm. 'HIGH PERFORMANCE MANUAL rCShnra8 VAN TECH 31] North Victory Boulevard, Burbank. Calif. 91592. (213) 842-4847. have won both the 25llec and 50llec rounds, and they are already planning for next year • By J. Nottsinger CYCLELAND SPEEDWAY, cmco, CA., Sept. 20, 1969 - The tinal night of the twenty week season at Cycleland Speedway was really a show to remember. The races were all run in tine order on a smooth track, with no mishaps for the evening. Beg1nn1ng the evening, Joe Allen of Palmero on a new Kawasaki 10llec bike passed Evan Wlpf on the outside to place first in the lOOCc Scratch Final. Sacramento's Scott Vendley on another new Kawasaki lOOCc won the Handicap Final, placing ahead of Dan Tompkins from Redding and Evan Wipffrom Cbico. Dan Tompkins on a new KawasakilOOCc also won the Beginners Main in this class. Produced from precision cast, heat u'eatect, quality aluminum and accurately macbtned to exact tolerances, both cylinder heads otter a totally new combustion chamber with 10-1/2 to 1 compression ratios. In addition to the new combustion chamber, the new AT-l and CT-l heads are designed to otter greater cooling with extended tln area and a 3/4 inch reach, center-are spark pl~. Ideal for motocross, scrambles, cross-country enduro or just plain trail riding, these new heads feature a compression release boss that is drilled and tapped for a l4mm thread. Webco's part number it #2064 for the AT-1 and #2063 for tile CT-l. List price bas been set at $39.95 for either head at Webco dealers throughout the nation and Canada. Roger DeCoster powers away from a hump before the gallery. The $wedes and Belgians the predominately Belgian crowd went wild. There was much back slapping and ce'ebrat· In Kester that night. Cycleland Final Night Really Right from Webco CATALOG & Equipment and modifications or Hodaka, Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki, Suzuki, Bridgestone, Sachs & others. ing UP but on the 7th lap he got tangled with another rider and a fence, resulting in a broken collar bone for the Suzuki rider. "Kring passed Halm and pulled into a commanding lead. Halm was second chased by Aberg, DeCoster, Hallman, Geboers, and Otokar Toman. Malcolm Davis and Dave Bickers led the British charge holding 8th and 9th respectively. At the checkered flag Kring had almost 30 seconds advantage over second Roger DeCoster, who was followed by Bengt Aberg, Geboers, Halm, Toman, Joel Robert, Bickers, Hammargren, and M1kIcola. Two interesting side lights to this iast race: Robert was not in the first 20 position at the beginning of the event. He worked his way UP to 9th, then made a pit stop and fought his way back to t1n1sh 7th. The other item was a misfortune to the Swedish Teain. Torsten Hallman was running in 6th place tor most of the race. Had he tlntshed, the Swedes would have won the event, but on the next to last lap Hallman was forced to retire with ignition problems. The Be1g1ans and the Swedes were then tied on the point scale, but the combined Belgian time was faster so they won. When the news was announced the Belgian tans went wild. They cheered and yelled, screamed and beat each other on the back. The riders were happy too. The English have won this event 15 times and the Swedes bave many victories also, but Belgium bas Dot been in the Tropby des Natioos winners circle for 18 years. Now in 1969 they Joe Allen, again ridIng the outside, won the 20llec Scratch Final. Dick Turner from Red Bluff on his yellow-orange Honda won the 200cc Handicap Final after beg1nn1ng bebtnd all the riders, then overcoming them in this event. Randy Scott of Cbico riding in the 200cc class for the arst time this year took second in this event. Joe Allen placed third. Dale Wondergem of El Granada and Ron Alves of Princeton placed one and two in the 20llec Beginners Main. Both looked good, and next year these two boys sbould really show. Nell Haney Welcomes You I HARLEV-DAVIDSDN I of ~,.,~ 40 New Motorcycles Q Lomi~ in stock New Sportslers 1 ..... lIale delivery 2212 Pac. Coast H"Y. em) 534-5530 Jim Crenshaw from Davis won the 200cc Scratch Main after a battle with Rio Linda's Mlke Corcoran. In the 25llec Handicap Final Dick Vargas of Walnut Creek riding a Harley Davidson Sprint led from start to tlntsh. It is also noteworthY to report that no one gained on bim for the entire race. Barry Hyatt of Cbico placed second, and Pat Rooney of Sacramento was third. Larry Hogan from Martinez won the Beginners Main in this class. As this was the last race night, the high point tropbies were given out to the bigh point winners in each class. The scratch winners overall for the year were John Grant, Rio Linda, Moto Beta for the 10llec class; Joe Allen, Palermo, Kawasaki for tbe 200cc class; and Mlke Corcoran, Rio Linda, Yamaha for the 25llec class. The handicap winners overall were John Allen, Palermo, Kawasaki for the lOOCc class; Mike Rockwell, Palermo, Yamaha for the 200cc class; and Mlke Corcol'JUl, Rio Linda, Yamaha for the 25llec class. A special sportsman's award was given to Joe Henry of Sacramento as the sportsman of the year at Cycleland by a vote of the riders. (Results on page 20) IHARLEV-DAVIDSQN I '~~A V OF INGLEWOOD MODELS Coming Aug. 20th 611-1&09 or 611-1600