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With 10,000 ft. Picacho del Diablo. the backbone of Baja, looming in the background, Ron Bishop gets up on the pegs of his 400Suzuki enroute to a second in class and first Suzuki to finish the 1000.
by John Huetter
Photos by John Huetter,
Dave Schoonmaker and Marcia Holley
MEXICALI. B.C., MEX .• Oct. 31-Nov.
1, 1972 - It's kind of sad, really. The
bikes are shunted off to one side of the
impound area and, to most of the
people at the big North American
Off-Road Racing Assn. events, it's only
the four-wheelers that count. All the pit
talk is of Jones, Ferro and Thompson,
who go blasting across Baja in their
multi-hundred
horsepower
multi-thousand dollar factory spedals.
We heard a comment in the press
compound, during the race: "The next
one's just a bike," like it didn't matter
that Rolf Tibblin and Gunnar Nilsson
were running second overall and setting
new records with every checkpoint they
passed.
The much-discussed course chanlte
(to the trans-peninsular route, across
Baja instead of down the east coast
from Mexicali) seemed to favor the
four-wheelers. The other way, it just
could have been a bike that won. To the
good ole boys who seem to make up
most of the NORRA staff and
competitors, it is unthinkable to have a
puny 40 horsepower beat the cars.
It wasn't really a close race this year
as Parnelli Jones, with Bill Stroppe
mechaniclting for him, ran away witn
the 1000, but Rolf Tibblin, coach of the
American Motoc.ross Team, and Gunnar
Nilsson ran fastest of any motorcycle
ever, making it to La paz in nineteen
hours, nineteen minu tes.
When Nilsson got to the finish line in
the pre-dawn chill, there were no teeth
on the countershaft sprocket and the
knobby was down through the first
layer of cord, but he was there over an
hour and half before the next bike: the
Bishop/Bohannon Suzuki 400. The
in tense practice and long days of
pre-running the course paid .off. Next
carne Bruce Dunford finishing off
Mickey Quade's hard-charging ride.
Quade and Bishop were virtually tied
from about CP No.2 through CO No.6.
This put Bishop ahead on t~lil1e since he
left six minutes after MicKey Quade.
Gene Cannady's 350 Honda. He was lost in
Baja at last report.
--
Super-triek patriCk/Bowers 350 Yamaha twin.
t
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