Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

ell & : 1000J ' PARTNERNILLSONFastest Ba~ja HAS ROUGH GO . Jel< AfVlIU~- ~. ~ w Z #~o , W ...J U >- U to °t~~ 1 . 'V,(~~'l··· "- :-'; ."}\'; ~~ )-I.~" Mike Patrick and Phil Bowers are always proving theYamaha singles but this time theY took third overall on a 350 twin. This sa")e engine might also be good for road racing, we've been told. out. At the other end, Pamelli has just dropped onto the lake bed and is also flat out. His appropriately-named machine, spewing violent roostertails of dust several yards in to the air, made unsuccessful chase. Although the last 50 miles were ridden on a flat tire, Smith was never headed by any four-wheeler. After repairs at El Areo, Gunnar Nillson relieved Smith. Ten miles afterward Pamelli passed him and went on to set a new record on one of the toughest 1000's yet. (In fact, NORRA said before the race that the current record "may stand for a long time." No go and the final stretch of pavement nearing, the tattered Husky drove into a boulder at 80-plus, catapulting Gunnar into a cactus. Huge splinters penetrated him to the bone and couldn't be removed without medical attention. Astonishingly, he finished, first motorcycle, second overall, with both he and his bike in tatters. Nillson was immediately rushed to the hospitaL By Charles Clayton and David Swift ENSENADA-LA PAZ, B.C., Nov. 2-5, 1971 - Pamelli Jones sprayed through the finish line, with scattering spectators with the same ferocious determination he had emplo.yed from the start, 832 and 14 hours and 59 minutes ago. Pamelli had passed nearly every cyclist that set two wheels on the peninsula while he bludgeoned the last year's record with the super-stock Bronco. Malcolm Smith was the sole survivor. Smith and his co-pilot Gunnar Nillson were scheduled to ride a new 125 Husky but at the last minute the Swedes shipped a one-off 420cc five-speed. While getting the thing sorted out the third gear got lunched, so two days before the race Malcolm pulled a new 405 out of the crate, buttoned' it together and won his class at NORRA's fifth Mexican 1000. Thirty-one bikes left Ensenada at one-minute interva1s, starting at 8:01 a.m. At 9:01, the first of 200-plus cars T8ny Clark, along with Oean GOldsmith, set a new 125 record while Winning their class. The "7" on his plate denotes his class displacement. 125cc or less; Class 8 machines are bikes 125 and up. rider undoubtedly felt more fear of Pamelli than all the cactus in Mexico. The rumors about how his love for motorcycle traction were rampanL L.E. Johansson went so far as to install a rear-view mirror for the sole purpose of spotting Jones. Above Lake Chapala: Looking down, we see, at one end, a whisker of dust, dart-like, heading south. Malcolm is flat ~ . ., ~ - ... Stuntman Duff Hambleton and his coo-pilot Kitty O'Neil. . ~~- Tom lor was it Cordis?) Brooks and Rick Owen scrap on their way to EI Arce. Brooks' Carabela's crankshaft turned to oatmeal after some fast hauling. began their test; PamelIi was the third one to start. In a matter' of minutes the Bronco, he and his partner picked off the fIrst bike. Jack Krizman's Harley Baja had lost its compression before it made the city limits. Desert ace J.N. Roberu was teaming with former world motocross champion Rolf TibbJin on another factory~ponsored 420 Husky. Hopes were high until J.N. lost a spark only 25 miles from town. The only man in Mexico who could fiX it was Tibblin, who was 432 miles away in EI Areo waiting for his turn to ride. During the first half o.f the race every Preparation: Just the essentials. doubt Pamelli read that while waiting on the starting line, for inspiration.) Nillson, riding in the deficit of darkness, suffered severe setbacks when his lighting failed at least three times, causing him to crash. With 130 miles to Terry Clark and his tuner Dean Goldsmith set a new record for the Class 7 (125 and under) bikes averaging 39.4 mph in the process. Clark started the ride to EI Areo doing a good clip but managed to run out of gas between

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