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/125820
J~or/Expert ",,0 g. « LIghtweight ROBERTS til ii: w z W ..J U > U Ken Roberts broke in the big race. but won the Combined. DuHamel (Kaw) and Nixon (Nog) and the Yamaha of Junior Bill LaBrie shot to the front in the first Ligb..tweight Heat. Nixon nearly pulled DuHamel on the straightaway, but seemed to lose horses or handling as the race developed. (The bike had exhibited a front end squirrel in practice.) John Long (Yam) got away slowly, but quickly moved up on LaBrie in third place. Kel Carruthers and Don Cas'tro (Yam) were just off the pace in fifth and sixth. Long was moving well, and soon caught and passed .LaBrie as Carruthers moved away from Castro. DuHamel continued to gain running room in the closing laps, and Long moved around Nixon for second place. Carruthers moved up to finish a close fourth behind Nixon, with LaBrie fifth and Castro sixth. Ken Roberts (Yam), Art Baumann (Kaw) aJ)d Jim Evans (Yam) ran tight in the opening stages of the second Lightweight Heat. Evans took over second but Baumann moved by him on the next lap to establish the finishing order. Conrad Urbanowski (Nog) and Steve McLaughlin (Yam) finished just off the pace in fourth and fifth, with Mike Devlin (Yam) and Ron Pierce in the next two spots. Roberts won it with an average speed of 88.5 MPH. DuHamel grabbed the lead in the 50-mile Lightweight Combined fmal, but Roberts' Yamaha was obviously faster and the National point leader took over the lead on the second lap. DuHamel managed to keep pace for awhile, but the trick Bighorn tightened up severely nearing the halfway mark and DD»amel was forced to use the choke. Carru thers moved by into second as Roberts opened a wider lead on the field. The Rookie vs. Veteran tussle continued as Long and Nixon battled over forth position. The Longevity Yamah a again proved superior and Nixon settled for fifth place. DuHamel' held on for third. Dave Smith (Yam) overcooked and overbraked into the corkscrew and went over the top, injuring his shoulder. Behind Nixon at the flag were Mike Clarke, Steve Baker, Denny Varnes, Jim Dunn and Harry Cone, all on Yamahas. Roberts averaged 90.2 MPH for the win. RESULTS: 1. Kenny ROberts (Yam); 2. Kel Carruthers (Yam): 3. Vvon DuHamel {Kaw}; 4.' John Long (Yam); S. Gary Nixon (Yam); 6. Mike Clarke (Yam); 7. Steve Baker (Yam); 8. Dennis Varnes (Yam); 9. Jim Dunn (Yam); 10. Harry Cone (Yam); 11. Wade Killen (Yam): 12. Jim Chen (Yam); 13. Alan Barbie (Yam); 14. Bob- Endicott (Vam); 15. Don Castro (Yam); 16. Pat Hennen (Yam); 17. Pedro Garcia (Yam); 18. L. A. Fitch (Yam); 19. Steve Schaefe (Vam); 20. Dave Smith (Yam). Roberts got by DuHamel and got away. DuHamel did lead at first. John Long, the flying Floridian, won the first Junior heat handily. At presstime there was some confusion over the rest of the first Junior LONG heat results, which seemingly got lost in the shuffle. The staff's collectively foggy Monday morning memory was unable to solve the dilemma, but it was John Long overcame a slow start to win.