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/125851
C'I2 !"The Daytona 6200' IIG .... ~ or ~ C'l ...... amp By Jack Mangus DA YTONA BEACH, FLA., MAR. 10 Giacomo Agostini brought one hell of a reputation with him to Daytona and left with an even larger one. The I3-time World Road Raci ng Cham pion, aboard a water-cooled Yamaha TZ 700, won the 33rd Annual Daytona 200 with a 40-plus second lead over runner-up Kenny Roberts, also on a TZ700. A week of testing prior to the beginning of Speed Week revealed that the new water-cooled four-cylinder Yamaha 700's weren't the missiles that the y h ad been rumored to be. Superbikes - yes. Super-Superbikes no. Practice times turned in by Suzuki and Kawasaki team riders equaled the best efforts of the fastest Team Yamaha riders. The fact that the TZs were experiencing exhaust pipe and crankshaft problems gave renewed faith to Yamaha's opposition. Suzuki's Paul Smart won the pole position, for the third year in a row, by turning in a qualifying lap at an average speed of 107.949 MPH in two minutes, 8.06 seconds. Japan's Hideo Kanaya, aboard a works TZ, Kenny Roberts, also TZ-mounted, England and Suzuki's Barry Sheene, and World Champio n Yamaha factory rider Giacomo Agostini filled out the front row for the 180-mile AMA- FIM road race classic. Riders fro m fourteen nations filled the 80 rider starting grid that was flagged off in three waves. T he cutoff qualifying time for the AMA Grand National Championship event was two minutes, 24.13 seconds and Holland's Jan Kostwinder h ad the dubious distin ction of occupying t he last spo t. Agostini pulled a hole shot on the rest of the first wave to lead the talented field into t he Daytona in field. Ago stretched h is lead through th e infield and, by the time he cros sed the Start/Finish line at the end of the initial lap , he held a 20-yard advantage over Kanaya. Yamaha factory rid er Don Castro: Su zuki's Gary Nixon , and Kawasaki's Yvon DuHamel wer e right behind Kanaya closely followed by Yamaha's Finn, Teuvo Lanssivuori, Robert s, Smart , Sh e e ne , and Kawasaki-mounted Art Baumann. Ago picked up the pace on the next few laps and turned in some unofficial 2 :04 laps. Kanaya was losing ground to the Italian World Champion and was being pressured by a closely-bunche d pack that contained Roberts, Nixon, Castro, and Sheene, On the fifth lap, Agostini unofficially turned in an incredible 2:03 lap, bu t Kanaya saw "finished" written to h is race when he was involved in a bru tal get-off in the infield's fast sweeper. Kanaya, who was injured in the Monza pile- up th at too k the lives of J arn o Saarinen and Ren zo Pasolini last year, suffered m ultiple fractures. Ago began lapping backmarkers on the seventh go -around with t he fight for second between Roberts, Nixon, and Castro. The front four were followed by Sheene, DuHamel, Smart, and rookie Expert, John Long. 24 The action pic ked up on the ninth lap when Agostini slowed and Ro be r ts, Nixon, and Sheene closed on hi m. Sheene took the lead on th e tenth lap as Nixon and Roberts pushed Agostini back to fourth . For the next three laps, it was Roberts who led the closely bunched quartet across the Start/Finish line. Gary Nixon, 'loo king to add another Daytona win to his re cord, took the lead on the fourteenth lap with Sheene applying pressure. Nixon retained the lead through the twentieth lap but relinquished it to Agostini after that lap when he pitted for gas. Ago pulled in for his first pit stop on the next lap and was out of the pits quickly. With pit action occupying the majority ' of the estimated 48,000 spectators (down from last year's 60,000 plus), Kenny Roberts slipped into the lead for th ree laps. He was to occupy the lead position for o nly those three, though, as Nixon picked up the pace and regained first. At the end of the thirty-third lap, Nixon held an I I second lead over Agostini. Nixon pitted for gas on the nex t lap and Ago, w ith still a second p it st o p scheduled , to ok over t he lead w it h Roberts a n o t too far d ista n t se cond. Nixon was in an d o ut of the pits quickly a nd returned to the fight with Ago and Roberts. Exiting the infield on the thirty-seventh lap, Nixon threw his fa ctory Suzuki awa y. T he bike co nt in ued on around the banking, ' finally sliding down to the apron approximately 150 feet away from the twice AMA Grand National Champion. A determined Nixon picked himself up and ran to the bike, uprighted it and, with the help of some co urse workers, attempted to get back underway. But the heavy get -off had damaged th e front end in addition to making scrap o f the fairing and Nixon slapped the gas tank in total frustration . He was taken to the infield hospital but reportedly suffered only minor asphalt rash. Agostini pitted on the Nixon get-off lap, turning the lead ov er to Roberts for one lap. From lap thirty-nine to the fort y-seventh and final go-around, the only question hanging over Daytona Speedway was how far a head of Roberts would Agostini be at the finish. Roberts, plagued with an exhaust pipe problem and an engine that was overheating bad ly, wisely slo wed d own his pace to finis h second rather than have DNF written beside his name. The wave of t he checkered flag by Duke Pen ne ll saw Agostini finish th e victor with Rob er ts a distant second. A high speed 180 m iles o f consisten t racing ea rned Kawasaki's Hurley Wilvert the show position . Wilvert was fo llowed across t he finish line by Don Castro, Teuvo La nssivuori, and Gene Romero. Watching th e finish from the pits Contin ued o n page 27 Everybod y knew Ken Roberts would be in th e top t hree. Here he goes around Dutchman Ron Bron on his way to a final second behind Agostini. gos