Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/125668
0> .... DATATLA By Terry Pratt Photos by Don Woods, Bob Lenk and John Wyckoff L ATLANTA, GA. AprU 19, 1970 - BSA team rider' Jim Rice won his second National Championship event of the yoWlg season and vaulted from 15th to 7th in National points as he out raced Dick Mann across the line to win the first National ,held In Atlanta since 1948. The 5/8 mUe Holiday downs track suffered from roughness and the holes in the surface contributed to many spectacular crashes, none of which caused any serious Injuries. Dick Mann got the jump on the flag and his BSA led the first seven laps. Don Castro was right there and held on to second for five laps before Rice, who had gotten off the grid in third, came up and passed him. Norton rider Jack Warren started in seventh place but by lap seven he had moved up into fourth place behind Castro. On lap eight Warren out pressured Castro and Rice made good in his bid to get by Mann. So now It was Rice, Mann and Warren but the race was far from over and Bugs Mann was not ·li king the beating he was taking from the rocks thrown by Rice's rear tire. The pa1r raced through the full distance but in the closing laps Bugs put on a drive that brought him closer and closer to Rice. Two laps from the flag Mann actually got around Rice but Jim was able to pull back the lead in the drive out of the same corner. Now they were wheel to wheel in . the turns with Rice looking smooth and steady while Bugs was like a man possessed, sliding hard and wide throwing a wlld rooster tall of gravel. Charging out of the last corner bElfore the checkers Mann put on one last full twist try to catch the fleeing Rice but hit a rough hole and came very close to ' getting off. To the cheers of the almost 10,000 in attendance Jim Rice crossed the line a winner by a scant 15 yards. Jack Warren held on to his third place and shook up a lot of people by powering his Norton out of the turns with his foot on the handlebars. Jack says it's a habit he picked up In his ice racing days and Dick Mann led the early laps be'rore Rice took over. just can't quit doing it. It didn't seem to harm his performance and he finished just ahead of Jim Maness who qualified his Harley-Davidson XR 750 in the fastest slot of the day just three hundredths of a second ahead of Dave Aldana. Both Jim and Dave ride with that " SUng her in there' style and Dave looked like the most spectacular rider on the firm before he blew a collin his heat. Gary Nixon sat out the final after , tweaking his not-yet-ready-leg in Saturday night's short track racing. Also on the sidelines were headline makers Mert Lawwlll and Mark Brelsford. And therein lies a tale that Is destined for racing annals. After winning Friday night's Ascot Half-Mlle opener Mert and third place Mark rolled their H-D's directly Into crates and had them to the 'airport before the pipes had even cooled off. The bike carrying plane was scheduled to arrive Saturday but was held up until Sunday and then noone could be found that could unload the race ready cargo. The Amateur feature race was won by Canadian Doug Sehl, younger brother of northern champ Dave Sehl, Sehl's win was no cake walk. He waged a ding-dong battle with Gary Fisher that rivaled the Experts for action and drama. At the green flag It was Ron Butler who got his Triumph off the mark and out in front. in lap two Fisher moved up and took over. Fisher's Triumph held the lead until lap seven when Dougnabbed It. Doug had been eighth on lap one and picked off five riders In the first goaround. Fisher and Sehl fought it out for the rema1n1ng 12 laps but It was the Canadian Sehl by 10 yards when the flag fell. (Results on page 27)