Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

N N c. " '" ~ W Z W ..J U >- U By Phil Pascoe SANTA ANA, CALIF., Sept. 13, 1970 - Mike Lane, from Bakersfield, was the man of the day at the AFM road race held at Orange County International Raceway today. Lane, whose last outing at this track ended in a fall on turn one 'while trying to hold Art Baumann and J ody Nicholas at bay, never put a wheel wrol\g all day. Winning the 250cc GP event astride a Yamaha TD:? by almost a half lap, he went on to lead the 350cc GP event by almost 30 seconds again riding t:>is 250cc machine until mechanical failure put him out while an easy win was in his grasp. In the final event of the day the 500 and Open GP, Lane again took the win, this time on a very swift Kawasaki HIR. John McGillivray riding a BSA Rocket Three clinched the win in the Heavyweight Production event but not before a tussle with Reg Pridmore riding a Norton Commando. McGillivray, technically with a disadvantage - riding a machine some 80 lbs. heavier than the Norton - overcame that with ease and proved his excellent riding ability by outbraking, out accelerating and, above all, outriding all the opposition to take the win some 30 seconds ah<;ad of Pridmore. Pridmore, who took an early lead, no doubt was having braking problems as his Norton, unlike Kerkers, has no disc brake. As the race progressed it became obvious as he was forced to set up for the corners earlier and earlier thus losing val\lable second to McGillivray. McGillivray took the advantage and passed him on the inside going into turn one.on lap five. Unfortunately, Jack Simmons and his trusty Norton Pll was forced out of the race in the early stages after running into the back of a slower rider who braked unexpectedly at the end of the sweepers. ' By the 10th hip McGillivray had set such a blistering pace that he began lapping the slower 500cc and 750cc machines. By the end of the race he had a race time of 18 minutes and 18 seconds, only 19 seconds slower than the all time race recordheld by George Kerker, who unfortunately met with an accident during the heat race and was taken to the hospital with a concussion and a badly broken wrist. Third overall and first in the 350cc class was a Yamaha R5 ridden to victory by Jerry Greene. Perhaps the most exciting event to watch at any road race is the sidecar event and Sunday's sidecar race was no exception. Dean Hummer and Rulon . Gulbransen added another victory to their ever lengthening list, when they took their power plus Harley-Davidson rig to the flag with what seemed like an effortless win. Hummer and Gulbransen, who have just returned from the Canadian Gran Prix where they scored a fourth after their rear wheel all but collapsed, have never lost an A.F.M. road race in which they finished. Although they' were not riding their usual outfit, they worked together smoothly and won by a wide margin. Canada is sending their three best sidecar outfits down for the California GP and with Hummer and Gulbransen's knowledge of the track these two will be the ones to watch in that race. The final event of the day, the 500 Open GP, went to Lane riding his beautifully prepared Kawasaki HI R from Cycles Unlimited in Bakersfield. In the early part of the race, Jack Simmons had the crowd standing as he gave them a show of road-racing done flat track style. Simmons, riding his Norton PII, slid through each corner, getting by Lane in places where most riders would not dream of passing, unfortunately Simmons' bike was way down on horsepower in comparison with Lane's bike, but he made up for this by his fantastic riding technique. Lane would pull out 10 lengths on Simmons by the end of the straight only to have Simmons whistle by him in the corners. Unfortunately, Simmons blew his transmission on the sweepers on lap seven and Lane went on to take the win. A tussle was- going on for second place between Hurley Wilvert, riding an HIR and Jimmy Beehan, also mounted on a Kawasaki HIR. Deehan was running second for the first six laps but Wilvert managed to make up a secoond on each lap and finally, on lap seven, Wilvert took the inside coming around the tower, got a better drive out of the esses and got by Deehan. On the next lap Deehan lost more ground when he was forced wide by a slower rider on turn three and Wilvert stretched his lead to take second. The next road race at Orange Cou·nty will be held on October 4th. Special thanks must go to Tom Finley for his excellent announcing and commentary on the races. (Results on page 24)

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