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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/125803
'i AT LAST! EVANS GETS THE NOVICE GOLD ,... N en o u o ~ w Z W ..J U > U In the early laps John Long (40), Phil McDonald (581. and Wes Cooley keep close company. Cooley broke, Long finished third, McDonald fifthj.r- Pat Evans is a very talen ted road racer, but John Long and Lady Luck have combined to frustrate his attempts to win a Novice race all season long. In the heats he made it clear: Pat Evans is here to win and he is oveTdt!e. The first Novice heat was the fast one and Evans aboard the factory Yamaha won it. He was dogged the whole way by Wes Cooley, Jr. who never gave an inch, and, in the last laps, John Long aboard his Dirty Distributing Yamaha 250 seemed to be closing after a bad start. It looked Uke the Yamaha factory rider, Evans, might be stymied agaiA. The second and slower heat was won by Masaharu Kasuno going away, and it was he who broke in to the lead at the start of the Main with Evans tTailing and being followed closely by Cooley and Long. Then on lap three Kasuno ran off, but he kept his lead as they came down the straight. Evans passed him in the infield, but was passed back on the straigh t as Kasuno seemed to have a bit more speed and used the factory Yamaha's draft to take the lead again in the first turn. But Kasuno found himself arcing down into tum two too fast, and Evans took over the lead again, this time for good, and continued to stretch it for the remainder of the race. On lap four Wes Cooley saw his h opes of a N ationa! win Charles Dol~n tries dome half mile style on the way out. --1 Pat Evans finished a frustrating season with a big win. disappear when his engine seized and English major Long moved in to third spot. That was the way that they ran for the rest of the race. Patrick used his experience to stretch out bis lead as they ran through traffic and finally backed off on the last few laps. In the winner's circle 17 -year old Evans looked ill at ease amidst the clicking cameras and reporter's questions. He took home S 1,050. NOVICE RACE Ontario, Calif. sept. 29,1972 Pos. 1. Pat Evans Masaharu Kasuno Rider Make 3. 4. 5. 6. Yam Vam Vam Vam 8. 9. 10. 11. John Long David Watkins Phil McDonald Mike DeVlin Jun Yamaha Nell Coben Patrick Hene" Michael Clarke Kenneth Botham Vam .. Suz Vam Vam 12. J.T. Byars Vam 2. 7. Vam Vam Vam 13. Mike Summers Yam 14. Pat Klein Vam 15. Ron Kirkham Vam 16. John Talarico Vam 17. Mike Thomas Vam 18. Phil Frank Yam 19. Mark Stagg Yam 20. M. Burns Moore Yam 21. Norm Fraijo Yam 22. Ed Daley Vam 23. Brian Oakes Yam 24.. Thomas Milligan Yam 25. Dan Edone Yam 26. Mark Chase Kaw 27. Carl stone Hon 28. Phil Foreman Suz 29. Robert Jones Yam 30. Mike ParKer Yam 31. Peter Grufstedt Yam 32. James Miller Yam 33. Richard Musser Kaw 34. Richard Seifried Vam 35. Eric Paloheimo Yam 36. ChucK Strohmenger Yam 37. Michael Ross Yam 38. Rick Hutchins H·D 39. Richard Clutts Yam 40. Bill Bartels H-D 4L Ed Bons Suz 42. Joseph Lafferty Kaw 43. Frank Miller Yam 44. Hal Petrie Kaw 45. Wes COOley Yam 46. Philip Pascoe Yam 47. Len Fitch Yam 48. Charles Dotan Yam 49. Gordon Hatch Yam 50. Bruce Hammer Yam speed: 83.749 (new record) ..... ... Laps 24 24 24 24 24 24 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 21 21 21 21 - 1 ' 1 2 "ILE OVAL j • • :I c E o I I e & • 0: D~ ~. '!) 20 20 20 20 18 14 13 13 • 12 6 ~ 5 4 3 1 1 o DNS .. ....."'" .... " The course is three and a half miles long, flat, and featureless. Most c,f the dq~rs have a terrible time learning its 20 turns, and they say that they aren't at their best on it. Even so, everyone, but everyone, shows up for it, .