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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The Minis from behind a torque wrench By E. C. Birt INDI A N DUNES, CAL., APRIL 6·7 .- So uthern California on the whole has pretty good weather; only here lately it seems like somebody is always screwing with the thermostat and can't make up their mind on what they want. This world Mini Grand Prix was scheduled to run off January 7, 1.0 ~ 0.. < Jeff Ward. overall Florida wl i1ternationals winner. literally attacks Indian Dunes course . World Mini " P G By Dale Brown VALENCIA, CAL ., APR. 6-7 debacle (when rain and flooding cancelled the event) the weather this weekend was beautiful. It was sunny, a b it breezy and there were quite a few sunburns. Dust was a bit of a problem too, in spite of frequent visits by the water truck. Reporter's Notebook : All the races lately have had at least one streaker. In accordance with its large entry list, the Mini Grand Prix had four. One Sunday afternoon, three Sunday evening. . .Some people will tell you that there were five streakers, but a young man taking a couple of laps in his boots and boxers doesn't count, does it? .. 1 don't know what it is about the seats on a Ho nda XR· 75, "but a lo t of people we re ma king like Marty Tripes after their sea ts fell off. . .J an Kline, o ne of the better Powder Puffers arou nd, was entered in the 125 Novice class and was holding her own against the guys Saturday night (a third and a fifth, unofficially) . Jan was at t he rider's meeting Sunday morning but it was 12 hours before her third and final mota. The chain snapped in the second turn. .. Resul ts will be printed as soon as they are available to "Flying" Mike Brown was the big winner at the NMA World Mini Grand Prix, capturing two world championships and the Kawasaki Race of Champions. After two days of racing for over 1200 entrants, it all came down to four trophy dashes to 12 det erm ine world champs . In the first, the 0-6 Icc clash, Gene McCay of Lexington, Te nnessee was the favorite, having swept his class earlier. But little Jeff Ward had other ideas. He took the lead and held it, despite McCay's determined efforts to take it away. __- The front running duo put a lot of space between them and third place, Texan Andy Palafox. Jimmy Wright, from Arizona was further back in fourth. They held their positions to the flag, with Ward winning (the trophy is probably bigger than he is), and McCay crossing the line for second, his brake arm dragging in the dirt, Willy Simons wasn't included in this year's Race of Champions, but he'll most likely be in next year's, He won the 0 ·81 cc Modified World Championship. Simons took the lead on the second lap and held it for the next five. Gene McCay worked his way up from fifth to second, followed by Andy Palafox and Tom my Hopkins. Jeff Ward was on his way u p, passing Hopkins for fo urth on the fifth lap . They stayed in those positions. It was Mike Brown's tum to bat in the 0-8Icc Stock class and he went right to work, getting the lead in t he fourth corner. Brian Myerscough, last year's big winner, was hot on h is heels. Never m ore than two bike lengths apart, t hey circulated with Ke nny Blisset t, fro m Richland, Indiana , being left behind in third. Brown took the checkers first , with Myerscho ugh a co uple of feet behind. Blissett was third, fo llowed by the consistent Texan, PalafOx. It took Mike Brown the distance from the starting gate to the second tum to get the O-ll Occ lead, but once he got it, he never looked back. Dave Bush was in second, followed by Mike Lewis. Bobby Kline was working his way up as he aced Bobby Jones for fifth behind Bill franks . Brown took the checkered flag wi th room to spare over Bush, Lewis, franks and Kline. What happens if you put 12 of the fastest m inicy cle riders in the country on 12 ide ntical stock Kawasaki 90 min icy cles? And fo r an added twist, yo u change the machines aro und each moto so no one has an advantage. Close raci ng, right? No . Mike Brown won each mota as impressively as he won his two world championships. In the last mota for example, Gene McCay was leading, with Brown well behind him in second. Mike had two firsts, the second would still have given him enough points for the Overall win. But he set sail on a frantic chase after McCay and ca ugh t him on the fourth lap . By winning, Mike got a huge trophy and his choice of the bikes. He took number eight the one he had used to win the second mota. In sharp contrast to last January's •• And then came the Mini-Minis in all the ir snarling fury . churning once placid soil into race proven property. Varroom. m. . • The World Champs 0 -61 - 3x - Jeff Ward . 0-81 Mod - 445 - Willy Simons. 0 -81 Stock - 0 - Mike Brown. 0-110 - a - Mike Brown. . ..Pushing prior to the stan gave anx ious contenden a feel for high speed g-forces. - -- ------, 1974. That first and only day of racing wiped ou t thousands of dollars worth of bikes, and more than half of the young tigers that braved the rain and cold wound up in bed with co lds and the flu . Here it is April 6, four mo nt hs later and instead of 829 entries we have 1, 100 ready to give it a go. T he weathe r has taken a 18 0 degree turn with it being j ust a little bit on the warm side. four mon ths ago the bikes that were en tered were very trick and by far we re not toys. Today's bikes were just that m uch more tricker and lap times were a lot faster. The garage lights have been b urning late from the lo o ks of them . I motored around the pi ts a"Ii ttle the first day with my thousandths scale in one hand and a YO·YO in the other hand; No a YO-YO is not two blocks of wood with a string in the middle, it 's a six ft. tape measure used to borrow hot tip pipe measurements and trick shock angles (that is if you're brave enough to take the chance on getting your arm broken.) Sunday morning and it's a perfect day for racing. first step was to unload my pit bike (I hate to walk. I wouldn't walk from my bedroom to the bathroom if my wife would let me bring a bike in the house.] , Hyperlite, a new b uilder of frames, had o ne of their protos on display. This frame is built o ut of sheet alloy an d very ligh t. The fiame is riveted together with the gas tank as part of the frame . Larry Shaw had a pint size speedway racer there. This machin e is top quality stuff and from what I un d erstan d they are goi ng to have a class for these speedway bikes. As I putted along on m y way through the pits, my next stop was at the Barnt Team pits. Dave Barnt had 14 of these little yellow bikes t he re, enough to co ver every class on the sheet. These mini racers a re probably the Cadillac of the Minis. Ranging in p rices from $592 for chassis only , to $I ,200 for a cust om built one for the rider that is going to ride it. A t this race they had a cou ple of new proto frames with the shocks moved up (Maico s~ Next to the Barnt Team was the J & B Racing Team with 16 Ho ndas to make it a little rough on the two stroke boys. As I was looking over their iron, one bike stuck out like a sore th umb. Would you believe a XR 75 with a sleeved down CR 125cc engine in it? The bike belonged to Jackie Mitchell from Bedford, Indiana and was built for hi m by his father. Wiseco Piston people make these kits to make 100cc bikes out of the 125 CR engine . I've used a couple o f these kits an d they run very well. They have a piston that is a little short on the in take side of the skirt an d if you use one of these kits, I advise you to use one of DH's reed assemblies, or it might be a little loady o n the bottom end. There 's always ta lk around the races tha t m ost of t he winners win be cause they have the fas test bike. It's t he law of t he j ungle. Yo u go j us t as fast as you wa n t to depending on ho w m uc h you have to spe nd to get it all tricked out. Today with the Race of Cham pions that was not t he case. Th ey took the top 12 riders in the Untied States and let them draw for the bike that they would ride. All riders we re mounted on box stock 90cc Kaws furnished by Kawasaki and Casa de Kawasaki, wi th the winner getting to pi ck one out to take home with him. Mike Brown wound up King of the Hot Sho es. •