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Hurley Williert won the 500 Grand Prix after uneventful performance in the earlier heat.
Unbeatable Dean Hummer of Northridge lifts his visor while Rulon Gulbranson takes a quick
rest. They won hands down and could probably blow off many two·wheelers, too.
By Dave Swift,
EL TORO, CAL., May 16, 1971 Norton continued its domination of the
AFM Open class today as Reg Pridmore
and Jack Simmons cruised home to
strong victories at the Gatorade Grand
Prix. Hurley Wilvert scored a win for
Kawasaki however, as he finished in
front of Pridmore in the 500·0pen GP.
Wilvert had a poor start in the earlier
heat race and began the final 15·lapper
on the tenth grid. Pridmore got off the
gun with a sizable lead for the first lap
until Hurley could get through the
traffic. Pridmore led him down the
front straight but shut off early. Wilvert
drove deep to the inside at speed
accelerating, forcing Reg to the outside
and into second place. The Norton
proved to be the quicker handler in the
next series of turns but on the back
straight the H1R ofWilvert's out·gassed
the Commando.
While these two rubbed fenders,
Ralph White, still fresh from that third
at Road Atlanta, paid a visit. White
snubbed both the same way Wilvert had
done it momen ts before. Pridmore
looked fed-up with the whole thing and
hung loose. Wilvert kept right on
Ralph's stingers waiting for something
to go wrong.
It did. On lap eight, White drove
towards turn five. At the very moment
he started to tuck in, a sickening
chunk·chunk·chunk sounded and the
rear wheel locked. Pulling in the clutch,
White coasted his seized bike off the
track and into the pits. It was a clear
victory for Hurley Wilvert, and,
traded the lead a few times during the
12 laps - probably to watch each other
ride - but Jack decided he wanted it.
Tom Cleghorn leads Steve Froschauer around
Turn 10 during the Lightweight GP. Cleghorn
DNF'd while Froschauer easily won the 125
class.
Reg Pridmore ran a close third the
whole race but couldn't quite close the
sligh t gap Manley taunted him with.
Sidecar ace Dean Hummer has never
lost a race he has finished. Hummer and
his passenger Rulon Gulbransen put
Ralph White brought his Kawasaki out just
mechanical problems developed.
f~r some practice. He gave Wilvert a rough time until
somewhere farther back, Reg Pridmore.
Jack Simmons and Bill Manley made
it one-two for the Norton Gang while
George Kerker sat in the pits with the
top end off of his. Simmons and Manley
Mike Slaughter is still moving at 40 plus: "I
went into the turn feeling fine - not
out-of-shape ol""'anything. It just went...... He
was unhurt.
OVER 1000 ACCESSORIES FOR
MOTORCYCLE AND RIDER
Helmets * Goggles * Gloves
Riding Boots & Leathers
Jackets 8i Flainwear
Dunlop Tires & Tubes
Spark Plugs & Batteries
Windshields & Mirrors
Luggage Carriers
Sadd lebags & Covers
Monotrack Engineering of Costa Mesa built
this stock-framed Mach 3. It features air
suspension, improved ignition, magnesium
wheels, and a host of other refinements. Dan
Hanebrink rode it to second 500 GP and first
in a new class, tentatively called "Funny
Bikes".
Open 10-7 Daily, 10-6 Sat.
cat!
(213)
474-6650 or
879-3350
'H£ OUTSIDER
motorsport accessories
Santa Monica Freeway to Overland exit, north to Pico, east 5
blocks
10545 W. Pico 81., L.A., Ca.
Jim Woolwine sells trucks and EI
Caminos to the motorcycle riders.
Doing business at the same old
stand,
Robert Hall Chevrolet,
Tujunga.
Call
Jim at (213)
352-3241 or at home, (213)
353·3226.
their Harley-Davidson-powered hack
into the lead at once and no one could
get close. The stout rig performed
without
a
hitch
as
the
team
demonstrated the utmost precision on
the tricky Orange County International
Raceway. Reg and Ernie Pridmore's
sidecar has been termed by one official
as "the most sophisticated piece of
equipment on any track, anywhere. n
Dean Hummer wasn't driving it,
however, so' this immaculate piece of
engineering art scooped a second.
In the 350 GP, Howard Lynggard
won with the biggest margin of the day.
Screaming down the front straight
towards turn one, you could hear the
buffeting wind over the scream of his
Yamaha as he raised up to brake. At the
end of the 3D-mile race John Weed had
moved his Yamaha from sixth to
second, barely nipping George Roche in
the waning moments.
Representatives from an unnamed
Southern California city were on hand
sipping free Gatorade and checking out
the vibes. The reason for their visit was
to determine the feasibility of throwing
a
Grand
Prix
in
their
own
neighborhood. Ironically, today was the
day that an inordinate number of riders
crashed. The ambulance had to be called
three times in one race alone but at the
end of the day only one rider w.as taken
for x-rays and released.
(Results on page 28)
