Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

~ Col :i!: Col ~ U G By Ph1lllp Pascoe ROSAMOND, CAL. July 19, 1970- The American Cycle Assoclation hosted one of the hottest road races of the season at Willow Springs Raceway today. Riders estimated that the temperature one foot above the track was 145 degrees; and judging by the number of engine seizures, that estimation was conservative-in fact due to the weather conditions it was decided that there would be no heat races (no pun intended) to determine grid positions for the start. The temperature however did not deter Ron Pierce on his factory 125cc Yamaha from setting a new lap record for the 125-200cc class. His bike was definitely a phenominal sight, riding against 175cc and 200cc G.p. bikes he blazed his way to victory winning by at lelESt 45 seconds from second place, Don Wicks on a Yamaha. The same race saw Pat Evans riding a Don Vesco tuned Yamaha 200Cc get the second of his four wins for the day. He had previously won the 100Cc G.p. event and later went on to win the 250Cc Junior G.p. and the 250Cc Productionall on bikes tuned by the almost legendary Don Vesco. PerhaPs the race that attracted the most attention was the Senior 250Cc G.p . event., At the start it was Don Emde, who got a sixth at Daytona, Jody Nicholas, Mike Lane and No. 90 Ron Pierce. All starters were Yamaha mounted - enough said. Unlike F .i.M. races at Orange County the A.C.A. begins their races with push starts which helps stoP a pile UP on the first bend but in turn opens the possib1l1ty of fouling the plugs at the start. This was the case in the 250Cc event. First out as the flag dropped was Jocty Nicholas hotly pursued by Ron Pierce and Don Emde, however Mike Lane, a favorite, was deprived of a win bY a bad start caused by foul plugs; the rest of the field was well into turn 3 before he got under way. By the end of the first lap Ron Pierce Oswald Auer and Walt Garnett temporarily lead Dean Hummer and Rulon Gulbransen. The number one Harley team, however. went on to win the event. Mighty mite, Pat Evans, used his herd of bikes to win four classes at Wi "ow Springs Sunday. was close enough behind JodY Nicholas to get piston/port specs by looking UP Jocty's exhaust. however as luck would have it when Pierce came by the pits on lap 3 he pulled out with mechanical problems. Meanwhile, Don Emde had been wasting DO time and had moved right up behind Nicholas where he stayed, not giving an inch until right at the end of lap four when Emde got under Nicholas going into the fast left hand sweeper at the end of the main straight. Nicholas obviously perturbed bY the change of events tried every trick 10 the book to regain the lead but Emde held him off and by the end of lap 5 Emdehad a three second lead on Nicholas and seemed to pull away a little more comlDg out of each turn. They chased each other until on lap 7 just before the first right hand sweeper at the end of the hack straight Nicholas overtook Emde and from then on just increased the lead until he got , the checkered flag. Don Emde came in a good second and I feel it was heat fatigue more than any other factor that slowed Emde so much towards the end because when Emde's bike rolled to a stop he had to be literally lifted off his hike. The Heavyweight Production race, although lacking the crowd-pleasing en- .... tries of Jack Simmons and Bill Manley was stiU a treat as it saw George Kerker on his fantastic Norton Commando take an early lead and an easy victory - If any victory is really easy. from Dick KUgroe on a Kawasaki Mach In. Kerker was a little worred before the race that his Norton would blow something as the track is so fast that he holds It at about 7000 rpm all the way. But his absolutely stock Norton never flagged again proving that reliablllty as well as speed wins races. Ron Pierce was 3rd overall and first in the 350cc class on the new and very fast Yamaha R5. In the 500-Open G.P. event, the final • event of the day's racing, it was Jocty Nicholas r1d1ng one of U.S. Suzuki's factory 500' s who took the checkered flag, challdng UP another victory for himself and for Suzuki. The line UP for the start was pretty impressive, almost in the class of Talladega or Laconia. On the grid with Nicholas was teammate Art Baumann whose chances for a start looked a bit doubtful due to a seized piston' he entaUed in practice. But by race time Ron Grant. his leg in a new cast. had replaced the piston and added an extra head gasket 10 an effort to reduce compression, a step taken in consideration of the tremendous heat out on the course. George Kerker who took a quick detour loto the pits for some Gatorade was out again relLdy for the start st1ll OIl bis production Norton. Ron Pierce, who came fourth at Daytona. behind DuHamel was starting, rld- . ing a Kawasaki Mach ill as was Mike Lane. As the flag dropped it was .Jocty Nicholas, No. 58 who came outfirst. his teammate Baumann got a bad start being placed in the back of the pack to begin with. George Kerker was second out followed bY Dave Damron on Kawasaki a 3. George (90) Kerker duels with fellow Grand Prix rider. Kerker and his Norton won the Open Production class and was second in thi s race. Lap three saw the beginning of a battle between Nicholas and Baumann; both riding Suzuki 500's, that lasted until lap five. With Identical mach1nes and 1eath8!'s, they created a double image as they attempted out brake, out slide and out maneuver each other. By lap five Baumann passed Nicholas but on the back straight just before the fast right hand sweeper Nicholas again took the lead. I Coming around for lap six Baumann pulled into the pits with more mechanical problems and from then on it was Nicholas' race. Nicholas came streaking home first followed by Dave Dameron on a Kawasaki. Third place went to Wade K1llen, also on a Kawasaki. First home 10 the Open class was John McG1ll1vray who really earned his win; he had been riding for seven laps with no clutch, a little hairy when chang1ng down for corners. Second 10 the Open class was George Kerker on his stock Norton. All in all a good day of racing at Willow Springs. Happtly not marred by any serious accidents, but as one rider put it "No more WIllow Springs 10 July, it's too damn hot' • Next July he'll be out there again - just watch. ~ (Results..on page>Z&).." ~.,." ~ ... _ .. J

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