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/125791
MW) Wrap Up Riverside ----> :; .., ~ w Z W ...J U > U Charles Gulvash won the 500 production event and dominated the whole heavyweight Junior GP race the same Kawasaki 500 street bike. Endicott's which occurred when the second overall. throttle stuck open on his BSA 750. In the Lightweight Production ra~e, (That's what you get for hanging around Bob Crossman overcame a bad start and Dick Kilgroe.) worked his way up to the lead for the He got hauled off in the meat wagon, win on his Braintrust Racing 250 Yam. but returned a while later in the back of However, since he got onto the track a station wagon, covered with a sheet, ahout 45 seconds after the start of the and looking like a dying saint. - Junior GP event he could do no better With Endicott out, Reg Pridmore than fifth. Mike Clarke (Yam) won the climbed on another nice, quiet, reliable 250 Junior GP, the biggest class of the BMW and pulled away to win the Open day. production event. Last we'd heard, As soon as the racing was over the Rudy Ramos (Kaw), who finished FaMoCo emission (that is a trick word second, hadn't even protested Pridmore. for smog) testing vehicles were back on Charles Gulyash (Kaw) put in a very the track. The temperature also dropped pretty ride to win the 500 production about 20 degrees. . event and take third overall. Dick Ruller The ACA has a race at Carlsbad next (Yam) was first 350. Gulyash also week. Since the AFM is holdin~ a road dominated the Heavyweight Junior GP race at Orange County and paymg cash event on the same 500 stocker which he to Seniors, the ACA and Carlsbad are kept in the lead from flag to flag. going to have cash prizes for Juniors. Shimpei Yamazaki (Yam 350) was - - - - - - - - - - - - - - G R A N D PRIX OF CANADA By Jeff Harrison oJ behind Phil Read. Both are on MV•. cent/Casey rig. program, enough time to allow the spectators to get a Wurst and mustard, or a beer (or several). I found the fresh fruit stands the most enjoyable. Sweet black cherries and bananas and apples go great wi·th Heineken. At 2:15 the 125s were signalled ofr. Kent Andersson on a Yamaha took an early lead, holding it for the first two laps unnl he coasted to a stop at his pit. From there until the end of the race It was Angel Nieto on a Derbi, gradually pulling out a 20 second lead on second place. But second place was a race! Borje Jansson, on a Maico, and Dave Simmonds (Kaw) battled their way through the field for the first four laps, and then battled each other the remaining ten hps. They swapped second and third place four times in ten laps, and at the finish they were three seconds apart. Jansson happened to be in the lead at that point, so was awarded second place. Charles Mortimer, the current leader in the world title chase, dropped out of the race on lap six with engine trouble. The only races left were two of the most interesting - the 500 Senior and the sidecars. Agostini, after separating his motorcycle from the crowd of admirers prior to the race, promptly pushed away to first place. He must take the 500 class dead serious as he just kept on smoking. The racing behind him was good, and kept the people interested. Alberto Pagani pushed off to a poor start, and it was a treat to hear the MV work its way through the field to its final second place, which it took Pagani six laps to capture. Agostini began lapping tenth place on the eigh teen lap, and finished almost two full minutes ahead of Pagani. And he does it so easy. It doesn't look like there is another Mike Hailwood around to bother him, either. The sidecar class: many people think of it as an abortion of sorts. But is some of the most exciting racing I have seen in Europe, and it requires a differen t type of skill, not to mention teamwork and/or courage/insanity on the part of the passenger; what a treat to watch. I have been told that at many of the international races, the majority of spectators leave after the 500 class has finished, seemingly not interested in the sidecars. Not so with the Dutch. , There was an incident at the start of the race that made it worthwhile for most of them. The track had been cleared, and the minute warning signal had been given to the racers, when Heiz Luthringhauser relaized he had come out of the pits without his goggles. Ralf Engelhardt, the passenger in Klaus Ender's sidecar, saw Luthringhauser's situation, began yelling for goggles, so Engelhardt ran over to get them, not having received any notification from an official that the coun tdown would be delayed. If the starting flag had dropped, the outcome of the race would have been different. But fortunately for Enders and Engelhardt, the starter saw the situation also, and delayed the start. Engelhardt received the equivalent of a standing ovation from the crowd. Grantland Rice must be smiling to kno.w that sportsmanship is indeed alive. Chris Vincen t and Mick Casey were away to a lead on their Munch URS outfit that has been prone to breaking so fa; this season. It looks as if they have cursed that, as they ran a hard race, battling for the lead with Enders/Engelhardt for most of the race. Enders/Engelhard t led from lap fiv.e until the end of the 14-lap race, but If th ey had made a mistake, Vincen t/Casey would have been the winners. Siegfried Schauzu/Wolfgang Kalauch held third place the entire race, but were far behind the leading pair. Of the nine finishing sidecar outfits, only one was not a BMW, and that was Vincent's Munch URS. Having. camped only two kilometers from the race track, I though t it would be quite simple to make a quick return trip. Not so. ~ne thing the E,;,ropean police have 10 common WIth the American police - they can't control traffic. To get two kilometers, I was forced to drive 17 kilometers, which took two hours and 15 minutes. I learned some Dutch curses, courtesy of my fellow drivers, so it wasn't all a waste. I could join in the general bedlam of a European traffic jam with authority, cursing and tooting like a native. RESULTS SOcc Angel Nieto (Spain) Jan de Vries (Netherlands) Harold Bartol (Austria) Thea Timmer (Netherlands) Jan Huberts (Netherlands) Derbl Kreidler Kreidler Jamethi Kreidler 12S Angel Nieto oerbi Borje Jansson (Sweden) Mai Dave Simmonds (England) Ka.w Jos Schurgers (Netherlands) Bn Caes van Dongen (NetherlandS) Yam 250cc Rod Gould (England) Yam. Renzo Pasollni (Italy) Aermacchl Jarno Saarinen (Finland) Yam Phil Read (Englandl Yam Guide Mandraccl (I aly) Yam 350cc Giacomo Agostini (ItalY) MV Jarno Saarinen Yam Renzo Pasollnl Aermacchi Dieter Braun (Germany) Yam Phil Read MV ~~~;gmo Agostini MV Alberto Pagani MV Bruno Kneubuhler (Germany) Yam Dave Simmonds Kaw Charles Mortimer Yam Yvon DuHamel ran away from everyone except Cliff Carr during the Formula 750 Grand Prix of Canada, the highlight of the Dominion to Independence Day Sprints held at Mosport Park, Canada. DuHamel (Kaw) and Carr (Kaw) put distance between themselves and the Imola winning Ducatis of Percy Tait and Bruno Spaggiari from the first lap. DuHamel passed both Dues on lap 20 and was one lap thirty seconds ahead at the finish of the thirty lap final over the 2.49 mile course. His fastest lap (1:37.1) was very close to Mike Hailwood's motorcycle lap record of 1:36.8 set on the Honda six cylinder 250. Carr put on his best display of riding this season enabling him to be the only rider in the field nol lapped by DuHamel. Carr was picking up (unofficially) two seconds a lap over the Ducatis while DuHamel was picking up five. Ducati ran a strictly team effort with Tait and Spaggieri riding side by side for the first twenty laps to insure a double top place finish. On lap twenty-one Spaggiari lost Jt on turn five, the Moss corner, and Tait began to run his own race cutting off almost two seconds from his previous lap times. Kurt Liebman put together a fine ride on a Honda 750 to finish fourth overall. Conrad Urbanowski put his Maico in the money ahead of Deeley Yamaha rider Jim Dunn in the 125, fmal. The diminutive Dunn, not satisfied with second, proceeded to grab the top spot in the 250 race and then rolled out his 350 Yamaha to pick up a fourth in the 500 final after a race long duel with John Long and then Jim Allen. John Long ran a fine race in the 500 class chasing DuHamel for the entire thirty laps to show that DuHamel is not as invincable as he seemed after his 750 win. Competition in all classes took on added interest with the entry of many American riders. Dr. Robert (Purple) Pepper was on hand as well as. Fred Gu ttner, Kurt Liebman, Conrad Urbanowski, John Long, Jim Dunn, Duane McDaniels and~ many others. The sidecars were the real crowd pleasers. A small entry cut down on the competition but failed to dampen the enthusiasm of the spectators as the passengers executed ballet like moves to change sides as the sidehacks sped through the corners. Watching a top roadracer execute his moves through a series of esses is impressive but to see a passenger hanging off the side scant inches above the pavemen t going in to one corner and then throw himself over the rear wheel in preparation for the next corner is an even greater thrill.