Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1960's

Photos and Story by Dick Wright 0' The Check... warned e..ryone be'o.. the race via a printed In.tructlon s"et: ·We are a ble bike club and this will be an old fashioned, new course, ble bike run. We are tired rldlne courses laid out for the Japanese Importers .d cry babl...• Neverthel.ss, Mlk. Patrick st...ed his Japan.se Import.d Yamaha In for a first place, ah.ad of a trio of Huskl.s and a G....... This soli hili throueh tbt first dozen or so riders but th.n boeclne down munJplltd Ilk. a rush hout traffic jam. PATRICK WINS ROUGH CHECKERS DESERT CHASE . .• LUCERNE, CAL., Oct. 12, 1969 - The Check Chase was one of the roughest tests for man and machine held In the desert thJs year. Just to finish the Seventy mile race was a feat to beproud of. Mike Patrick on hJs 250cc Yamaha turned the two loop flgure eight course In Just about two hours, and called It, .. rough but neat" • The Lucerne Valley Is made UP of rollIDg mountains and deep sand, whleh makes It difficult to get going on, espec1ally UP hJll, and just one mile from the start was a big sandY hJll which bad a lot of riders bugged. The five pOunds of dynamite went off like an atomic bomb and the four hundred big bikes came UP the sandy canyOll hJll. J. N. Roberts on a Husky bad the lead and DuffY Hambleton, also on a Husky, was second. Patrick was running sixth. The first twenty made the hJllln good slIape, but then all hell broke lose. A couple of riders bogged down, causing almost half the riders to do the same and It took a half hour to get them all df the hJll. The first loop was choppy sand and took its toll of riders Including Roberts: as Patrick bad the lead coming into the pits, Hambleton was still running a solid second. The second loop had a few more fire roads and was not as hard on the equipment, but there ~s still a lot of deep sand. Patrick bombed through the sand in fast time and came In for the win, Tom Muto moved up to take second on hJs Husky, Hambleton took third and first 500cc Expert. Dave Trlb who had been a hot Novice took fourth for hJs first Amateur ride on hJs 250 Husky. Inner-Vie • • AMA oftjclals WI1llam Berry, WUllam BlIgIall and Micbael Bondy are meetIDg in Europe with oftjclals of FIM, the international motorcycle race sanctlonIDg body, to work out a·dlrect affUIation between AMA and FIM, without the intermediary of MlCUS, (Motorcycle international Committee, U.S.), whose president Is Californlan Wes Cooley. WW the AMA's repOrted attempt to join the world governing body of motorcycling, the Federation Internatlonale Motocycllste, have a serious effect on the sport In America? Cycle News interviewed Wes Cooley hours before he left to attend the FIM world congress to get hJs opinions. FI.. pounds 01 dynamite s",t dust and dirt, smoke and Iae.brush hundreds 01 'ttt In the air and made a very e'fectlve substltut. 'or the uSWllly munds.. rubb.. tire smoke bomb. ..: 'mil on a Husky and Jim Dorman taking first Open class on a Triumph. Tom Schmid was next followed by Dick Camp, both on Bultacos. Jim McClurg came UP next taking second 250cc Amateur followed by Tom Smith taking third 250 Amateur. The Checkers dido't try to fool any of the loocc riders, they said It was going to be a big bike course and It was, the name of the game was gear down, go to a bigger Jet and do a lot of pushJng If you were going to finish. There were' two ways to go, either UP the hJll or around It a half mile out of the way. Jeff Wright on an SS Hodaka was the first to get over the top and he bad to drop down Into the narrow gully to do It. Jack Morgan was second and Terry Clark was third. Clark was the first to over heat hJs engines, then Morgan fell back, then Wright fouled a plug and Dean Goldsmith on a Harley-Davidson took over the lead and was first to come through the pits. The batUe was still on for first place with Goldsmith In the lead and Wright trying to catch hJm unW Goldsmith froze UP hJs engine and Wright took over the lead again. After pushJng UP four hJlls and fouling three plugs It was Wright In for the win, followed by a very good newcomer Brad Bridges on a Suzuki who took first Novice. Doug Sharp, another Novice, on a Sachs was third followed by Brian Klock on a Hodaka. Number 433 was next followed by Mttch Mayes on an SS Hodaka and Cordis Brooks #157, on a Hodaka. Jan Dltson was the first girl In finish eight overall which is a good ride. (Results on page 20) AMA-FIM AFFILIATION TO BYPASS MICUS? Cooley, as bead of the present American affUiate to the FIM, MICUS stands to lose hJs hold on international sanctions. We asked Cooley what would happen to the ACA, AFM, AAMRR, etc. 1fa.ffU1atlon with the FIM changed from MlCUS to the- AMA. Cooley said, "NothJngwould happen to these organizations, they were running long before there was anyafflllatlon with the FIM." Cooley stated he knew of 110 reason hJs organization should be replaced as the FIM's representative In America. He feels that the AMA Is heeding !award absolute control of motorcycllng and competition, In particular, regarding sanctions of races. We asked hJm what the riders stood to gain or lose with a switch In affUiatlon. Cooley feels riders stand to lose speed- way, motocross, and trials under international sanction. -"There w11l probably be only one internationally sanctioned event next year, and that Is the AMA's Daytona races. (If the affUIation switch takes place.) Cooley went on to explain that It Is an unwritten agreement that FIM's representative In a country has only to throw one Internationally sanctioned event per year to satiSfy FIM requirements. We then asked what was the difference between Cooley'S treatment of Bryan Wade and the AMA's suspension of Its supposedly errant riders. Cooley was explicit. .. Wade was under contract to ride an international event In Texas. Instead he rode In another event on the same day. Then he further broke the rules by riding a Hawaiian event when hJs contract stated be was not to ride In the United States after Saddleback." Cooley said he plans to sue the AMA In federal court for violation of the Clayton Anti-Trust act, and 0 sue the FIM In World Court, If the proposed. affUIation takes place. The Clayton AntlTrust act pJ:,ohJblts U.S. businesses from operatIDg a monopOly. "If It comes to court, then we'll find out all about the AMA's Insurance, fees, and the riders' benevolent Association. We'd like to get the AMA In federal court," Cooley says. "I've been in thJs thJng 13 years and we've lost money, but I feel It will be worth it in the long run. I will not sell the riders In thJs country down the drain for anythJng, and will do everything I can to keep the International racing In this country open to everyone."

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