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/125685
SHEDATORANGE co.! tol 2: tol .,J -On your mark, get set ••• displays the peace and/or victory sign to photographer ~icholas, winner of the 500cc G.P. class. rs got even tighter in the 250 GP. pz:.essive I1neqp of. Jolly Nicholas, d set the IS-lap record, Pierce, lroduction, Emde, and Mike Lane I out a field that had everybody g the outCome but not betting. ,e .was first out and stayed there 'eat d1tf1culty with Nicholas and realh1ng down his taUplpes •. Mike met tragedy on turn two when his rst Into !lames so a good contentS out early In an unfortunate .MeanwhUe, Pierce, Nicholas, and Emde in that order were stl11 batWng for the lead, stl11 within one bike's length of each other. Then, on turn one, a really tlgbt corner, first Nicholas and then Emde left Pierce behind. The trio was evenly spaced lapping the course In Doesn't anyone have a straw? pursuer. However, Nicholas found some U extra horsepower in his Yamaha andre- :... u gained the lead in the last lap and came in first in a record time of. 22:23.6, obUterating his old track record by 48.7 seconds, while averaging 80 mph. The final event was the combined 50OCc-Open GP and was dominated by the Suzuki Factory 500's. Ever since the tremendous triumph at Kent, Wash., these machines have been chalking uP ·victories rapidly. 1:31 before Pierce finally dropped back leaving Nicholas and Erode to shadow each other. Emde almost passed Nicholas but the experienced national rjder showed his abillty and wit to shut the gate on him. Emde lost six lengths when Jody blocked him with a slower rider as theyapproached the tower. Riding to the Umit, Nicholas continued to block off Emde with more slower riders but Emde would not give in and gradually closed the distance to where he f1na1ly found an opening and grabbed the lead from Nicholas. Figuring that turnabout is fair play, Emde then mimicked Nicholas by also using slower riders to block off his The race began with George Kerker burnin& his way out of. the start in cood style and made it through turn one on Iql. However, a lap later Mike Lane astride a KawasaJd was holding off Nicholas and Art Bawnann whUe Kerker had drOPPed Into a I fourth place battle with Jdm McGUvrey, _ In the thlrd lap stra1gbtaway, AMA Novice ranked Lane stl11 held the lead and continued to put off the experienced Experts. In the fifth lap's turn one, he almost lost it but recovered to sl11l hold a sUgllt advantage over Nicholas and Baumann. In the same turn a lap later, Lane pushed it a Uttle too hard and last and dropped his bike. Nicholas then shot into the lead with Baumann a distant second after he had been caught behind a slower. rider. But, Baumarin recovered nicely and for nine laps it was a tosSuP between the two. Apparently, Nicholas' bike had the edge on Baumann's ..because, as they rounded the final turn on the last lap, Nicholas was a half length behind Baumann but poured on the gas and just nipped him at the checkered. The t1Dal time was 21:26.4, another new record and the speed averaged by Nicholas was a Photos by Dennis Greene fast 83.95. In addition to the road racing events, in each of. the five AF M races are also sidecar races which .are really outstanding. For a change of pace, try checking it out tor yourself. (Results on page 22) Mike Lane's bike crashed and caught on fire Sunday.