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/125682
l ASCOT veteran Lawwill had slipped iDto fourth after passing tw~time Ascot TT winner Skip Van Leeuwen. , After building uP a bealthy lead, it .appeared as though Mulder was riding to the cbampionsb1P. Ll.!fe 10 the past, bowever, his early big fead dwlndled away slowly unt1l Romero' moved lnto first on the stretcb run going lnto the 12th lap. Further back, Lawwill was riding a slower race wbile attempi1ng to move uP. He bad new moved to third, running bard behind Romero and second place Baker. Appearlng to settle down, the first three racers continued to bold their places until Lawwill galned second on the' 19th laP. He flnally caugbt and passed Romero 10 the 28th lap and from then on the race was all Lawwill' s, as be' opened the throttle and pusbed further into the lead eacb laP. , In going to his third National Cbampionsbip of the year, Lawwill finisbed well in front of second place Romero and thir'd place Baker. Dick Mann, winner of CasUe Rock a week earlier, could only manage fourth but it took three riders , dropping out to give it to him. ~e veteran of the AMA circuit was running eigbth in the second lap when Aldana went down. Mann then took sixth place in the fifth lap by pasSlng Bob Balley. When Eddle Mulder pulled-out 10 the 19th lap, Mann took over fifth bebind Van Leeuwen who dropped out in the 22nd lap allowing "Bugs" to grab fourth for the remalnder of the 50-lapper. Of the original two -dozen riders, only six of the finisbers escaped being lapped by the victorious Lawwill' whose victory points moved bim above the 200 polnts standing's barrier to 205, 5 polnts shy of sixth place Yvon DuHamel and 12 bebind fifth place Don Casiro's 217. Mann lengthened his advantage over second place Jim Rice (320) by upping his total to 357. For Rice, it was almost a replay of last week when the secondyear ElIPert reacbed the finals only by winning the semis. In each case, Rice ultimately bad to pullout of the Maln with englne irouble caused by loss of oil. Eddie Mulder was the wire-to-wire winner of the first qualifying beat as Aldana and Tom Rockwood also malntained second and third throughout. In the second heat, Van Leeuwen bullt uP a big lead to win and Bob Balley battled for second ahead of Lloyd Houchins. Mark Brelsford was involved in a wreck •• and bad to retire for the rest of the night, as dld Castro 10 the 1hird heat when his throttle stuck wide open in the last turn of the second lap. Gene Romero took over the lead in the heat and was followed by Baker and Lawwill. Skip Van Leeuwen had jumped to an early lj!ad in the Expert Malo but a-. black flig caused a restart WheJ;l Rockwood gat his "foot stuck between the frame and shocks of his bike and resulted with a collision with Paul Bostrom. Both riders were able to cOlI\Pete in the restart, however. Al Kenyon beld the top position for most of the Hi-lap Amateur Malo but he relinquisbed it to John Hateley 10 -the 13th lap and the Van Nuys, Calif. resident rode the final few laps to victory. Kenyon f1n1shed second and Tel'ry Dorsch third. The entire evening was freed from any major injuries wIl1ch provided the events to be presented quicklY and smoothly, much to the happlness cit the 'large crowd 10 attendance. (Results on page 26) Early in the Expert Main Gene Romero holds first ahead of Baker, and here comes Mert. Burri to checks out the scene duri ng practicl! I Ir III I 11th, 111111111 Illiillllh