Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Cycle News 1974 03 26

Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles

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'" ffi ~ l/l ~~"""WI;~_,J = '--....::;:= == '-_ _ ....._ '--"--== '--_ _'" Mike Bast leads Bert Harkins, Zenon PIech, and Dan Becker. Mauger meets International Speedway Challenge By Steven Parker COSTA MESA, CAL .• MAR. 15·17 Six times World Speedway racing Champion, Ivan Mauger of New Zealand went home from Costa Mesa with top honors for himself and his team as the three day European-versus-American Speed. way Challenge ended In a number of wild arguments b etween the riders of both teams and the AMA offici als. Mauger took top honors for himself as highest scorer for the series with 44 out of a possible 54 points. The A meric an team outscored th e Europeans o verall 16 3 to 160, but sin ce the meeting was a two-out-o f-three series, the Europeans were abl e to garnish honors as the top team. T op Americans were United States Champ. Mike Bast and Bill Cody, each co pping 38 points in the series overall . A number of Americans, notably Cody, Mike Curoso and Steve Bast turned in e x cell ent performances in clutch situations . Zenon Piech practicing at Costa Mesa . Th at h elmet su re did n 't come from Po land. z '" ''" " a: o l/l 8 z z ""- '" -"'"0 Zenon Piech, one of the top European riders ~d Polish Speedway Cham p, was the hi t of the weekend of racing. Piech's wild style quickly earned him the nickname "Berzerko," and Piech finished the meet with a respectable 28 points. A t a prac tice session the day before the first race, Piech refused to g? on th e. small C~sta Mesa track. He evidently did not think he could exec.~te a slid,: on the track, but after a bit of coaxing from team captain Mauger and promoter Harry Oxley. Piech took the track and soon h~d the 190 yards oval ~astered. He ~I.ll ~o ~ome to ~urope With numerous mjuries tn.curred m a. number of c~hes, but Amencan fans WIll ~e.mem~er him as one of the most excrtmg nders they have seen .in a I~ng time. . . The first night of racing saw Bill Cody gaining top points in the evening, winning his first race against American captain So nny Nutter, Zenon Piech and his Polish teammate Edward Jancarz. Cody won four of his six races, and it was apparent that Cody's Au stralian experience helped him enormously in ridi ng against the Euopeans. In event number 15. Cody and Mauger tangled at the first turn, and Mauger went into the wa ll. breaking his clutch lever. Cody had taken Mauger to t he wall , never giving an inch, and the six times world champ had nowhere to go. Cody was the hero of the evening. and his name brough t c h eers every time the announcer introduced him. Re cently returned from Europe. Scoll Autrey had his troubles on tlIe small track, scoring only six points the first night out. Chris Pusey , however, a member of the British World League team, while scoring th e same points as Autrey. thrilled the crowd with his wild antics. Pusey approaches the turns almost completely backwards, in true European speedway style. But. as Ivan Mauger said, " When I come to Costa Mesa I forget 90 percent of what I ever learned about how to ride speedway," and Pusey learned that Costa Mesa has a different set of riding rules. It did not take Pusey long to get his riding act together, and o n the last day of competition he had garnished 13 points. He proved to _be a favorite with the crowds, and proved to the fans that Europeans can ride in a seemingly wild manner and still wi n handily. In the first night match ra ces, Pusey put it over Mike Curoso, and Ivan Mauger toyed with Mike Bast. getting a quarter lap lead on him before he crossed the checkered nag. The ' American team dominated the z ffi 0 second evening of action, with Mike Bast and Mauger tying for final point honors with 15 apiece . Barry Briggs, who scored 15 points the first evening, tied for second with Bill Cody at 13 points. Briggs, while not flashy, is amazingly consistent. He is a four time world champion, and has the style and grace that make him a legend in his time. Martin Ashby, a five times world cup contender, new in from New Zealand for the evening's competition, but was unable to adapt to the short track. Dan Becker, who had left the action the night before with an injured wrist, was thrown out of one event for breaking the tapes. Mauger did the same in a later race and was also ejected. Mauger made up for this by winning every other event he en te red . Edward Jancarz, teammate of Poland's Zenon Piech, was taken into the wall by Mike Curoso and injured his arm. Jancarz could not finish the. racing and was also out of Sunday's co mpet it ion . In the match races, Scott Autrey rode while Zenon Piech crashed his way around the track, A utrey beating him easily for t he win. Later, Barry Briggs put it over Steve Bast for the victory. Dan Becker had his best night of the series with nine points. Becker had been troubled with a bad wrist all weekend and could not get his riding act together. Bert Harkins, one of the crowd's favorite riders, also had his share of physical difficul ties during the races. Harkins had suffered some hurt ,t;s ~ne10~e"~h:r;,~~~ :;;i~~ ~~~t:::' but still managed a win over Steve Bast, Mike Curoso and Zenon Piech. Harkins is t he friendliest of the foreign racers, and his colorful leathers and smooth style made him the most popular of the • Europeans. The Americans won the second meeting, outscoring the Europeans 59-49. The scene was set for the rubber match Sunday afternoon. It was the first afternoon speedway race in America in three years, and the crowd really loved it. They had a'· chance before the event to go on the infield and take pictures of the riders, and there was a good atmosphere about the arena - until the racing started. The afternoon began on a sour note when Steve Bast and Chris Pusey collided in tum three. The race was restarted with Ivan Mauger winning and Scott Autrey finishing last. The tension grew as Barry Briggs was ejec ted for breaking the tapes, and t hen complaining to referee Mike Hinshaw that he was taking too much time before allowing the starter to open the gates. In race five. Curoso and Cody went down, causing a red nag to be drawn. Briggs refused to heed the nag, running out the four laps. and then leaving the track, yelling at the referee, with the crowd booing Briggs. It I:0t so bad that As Scott Autrey slides o uts ide, Chris Puse y is completely fu ll lock on the insid e. 'z" 'a" '": e ~ Z Z 'o "

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