By Art Friedman
EL, TQi,Q., ~AL.k AI!&: 13,., 197~ - W1ie-n- The -fhfg-aroppe- on the Open
formula event bere at Orange County
Raceway today 20 riders roared off the
line and in to tum 1. Several made it
through, but then one machine got out
of line in the dust and mud left over
from the previous day's rain and ran
into Reg Pridmore's BMW 750. Down
wen t Pridmore and rill!' t behind him
with nowhere to go was Rudy Ramos
on h.is Kawasaki 500. He plowed into
the BMW and joined the other riders on
the ground.
The race was black flagged and held
up while the Butler and Smith people
repaired Pridmore's bike. On the second
start Steve McLaughlin on his very fast
Action Fours Honda 500 led into the
fIrst tum. Rudy Ramos and Howard
Lynggard (Yam) were ·in third and
fourth behind Pridmore's BMW and
they both showed their determination
as they wen t in to the fIrst turn fairing
to fairing. In the first lap Pridmore was
able to get by McLaughlin, but his ride
almost ended when Lynggard came up
long on speed and short on braking
going into tum one and nearly
centerpunched the BMW. Lynggard ran
past the comer and rejoined the race in
last but moved up to eighth at the
fInish. Pridmore then began to pull
away til.. the flag. McLaughlin on the
street based Honda-liOO found himself
joined by Rudy Ramos in the closing
stages of the race. Ramo,S had installed
new rings that morning and was
breaking them in. On each lap he came
down the straight faster. Finally, on the
last lap he drove past McLaughlin for
second.
in the Super Street class things were
reversed. McLaughlin and Pridmore
again became involved with each other.
McLaughlin was on the same Action
Fours Honda 500, but Pridmore was on
a production version of the BMW which,
despite its extra djsplacement, didn't
have the beans to deal with McLaughlin
and the Honda. The first tum proved
the undoing of someone else as Jimmy
Chen threw it away there. The bike
looked alright and Chen, after flipping
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Ste~ Mclaughlin and R.eg Pridmore dispute the Su~r Street class .. McLaughlin took this one on his fast, neat-sounding Action Fours Honda 500
which only seems be?table
by
all·out racers. In addition to supportmg Steve, Action Fours has some Ontario projects goil1Q. Pridmore won Open
Formula and Production on hiS BeeEms.
BMW, Pridmore Take Two at' OCIR
through the air, landed on his feet. At
the flag it was a convincing McLaughlin.
Without McLaughlin to hound him, it
looked as though Pridmore and his
BMW would have the Production win
easily. This is something that the BMW
people have been working and steadily
get.ting close to: two Open wins in on,e
day. A t the flag, though Rudy Ramos
whipped his Kawasaki 750 ou t in fron t
and opened up a good lead. But the
Kawasaki wasn't running right, and
Ramos' chances disappeared. He ,finally
waved Pridmore by, and the BMW
motored to the win.
One of the mos t impressive rides
going was put on by Dick Fuller who
took his 350 Yamaha to fourth overall
after a long dice with Wade Killen on a
Kawasaki 750. Fuller was also fourth in
the Superstreet class.
Before the lightweight Formula race,
Mike Slaughter commented that he has
been racing for three years and never
won on his 125. He has finished second
many, many times but never fust. He
Photos by
Dave Schoonmaker
and Tom Kingsley
.said that he expected to do so again
since Howard Lynggard was was riding a
very fast Yamaha. Someone said that it
could always break. They were righ t,
but so was Slaughter. At the flag
Lynggard disappeared. With that settled
Slaughter settled down into a good
consistent ride. Back in the pack after a
bad start was Colin Jones moving his
way up. On the very last lap he passed
Slaughter, and, almost simultaneously,
Lynggard's bike quit. So Slaugh ter was a
bridesmaid again.
The 250 Formula race was a battle
between Rudy Galindo and Steve
Froschauer until Galindo dropped out.
Bob Crossman had the only decisive
win of the day and led the 250
production event wire-to-wire,
For a change, Pridmore's Norton
didn't win the Sidecar class. It was the
Honda of Jim· McNeal that did the job
with Pridmore second.
The AFM is looking into tracks at
Santa Barbara and Irwindale.
Thomas Milligan was almost disqualified, but came bac_k for a seventh in 250 Formula.
Mike Slaughter (327) leads the 125 Formula class into the first turn followed closely by Howard
L.y~'.4 Colin Jones (981 won.
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Dan
Hannebrink of Monotrack is developing these
Dampenin~ can ~
new air-oil shocks.
changed while, ri'ding. Thev'were good enough for a secorid.
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