LA PAZ ConI. from P. 31
"
was originally scheduled to co-ride wi th
j.N. Roberts in this "Thousand". Some
people in Mexicali refused to believe
that j.N. wasn't there. Had he been, he
and Quade might have done the whole
thing.)
The first big displacemen t four-stroke
was the Long Beach Honda 350 twin
ridden by Hosford and Haney, bu t they
were about ninth overall bike, being
beaten by the 125 Honda. The big
four-stroke was fifth in class, behind
another bigh Husky with Oklahoma
riders jack Zink and Vern Street in the
saddle for over 25 hours.
The biggest bike of all, a Circle
Industries-sponsored Harley Sportster
ridden by Larry Bergquist and jack
Froelich did not make it to La Paz at
last report but were out after a
determined ride. Karl Krohn and Tom
Darby
started
off
on
a. very
together-looking 650 Triumph sidehack
and were still motoriilg along after
crossing the penin sula and starting
south. Lack of radio communication
with La Paz due to sunspots prevented
getting any definite word on their status
by de adline. They <;Ieserve applause for
starting.
It's not really a contest between the
car~ and bike anymore. Some of the
older Baja riders like to think it still can
be. Rolf Tibblin and Gunnar Nilsson did
a lot of high-priced machinery right in
the eye, but there really is no substitute
for cubic inches and rectangular dollars.
Particularly when something like 200
It!iles of the route of the Baja 1000 is
smooth pavemen t.
The Baja 1000 won't exist as we
know it for very much longer. Maybe
next year will be the last running along
the traditional course. Maybe the year
after that. The asphalt creeps farther
north and south eve
month. The
.
."
l>N
,....
Cl
<.)
Larry Bergquist shredded h is rear tire on the pavement at 100
+ MPH.
He put new rubber on the 900cc Harley-Davidson and resumed laying down
dust clouds at a rapid rate.
course will h ave to re~rou ted and, since
that means rougher terrain, many of the
car rypes probably won't go for it. And
NORRA is dominated by the car types.
F or off-road racers, and all men who
have some of the spirit, and touch of
madness that sets them apart from the
norm, one of the last great challenges in
North America will soon disappear in
the name of progress. You can't keep a
developing
country
like
Mexico
primitive forever, but it will be a serious
loss to the spirit of hard chargers and
the reality of the great adven ture when
there is no more Baja 1000; the way it
used to be: a desert race.
The Great Baja Airplane Race continues. Award for lowest flying plane of the day went to this
Cessna. You could tell which entries had money behind them; they also had airplanes after them.
'What are all them people lookin' at, Karl?" "They've probably never seen a Triumph 'hack in
the Baja 1000, Tom. They don't know what they're missin':'
Hand
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