Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Ina • anona C,) ~ o u -o How it ended : o ne h ap py rookie Expe rt , victorio us on h is "home" t rack. transfer to th e main and nipp ed back in front on the fin al t urn . Trophy race The T roph y Final was a runaway for Dors ch wh o was riding th e injured T om Ro ckwood 's machine for the firs t ti me. Terry to o k the wi nninges t Triumph a t Ascot to th e fron t spo t on th e first lap and pulled away on every rou nd to win ove r Pat McCaul an d Dr oste by n earl y a stra igh taway . Ge nnai d ropped o u t o n lap three with engine tro uble. The National fina l Th e 14-ride r Nat ional final featured 12 Cali fornian s and o ne rider each from :llichi gan and Oregon - Beau ch amp o n th e fact o ry Harl ey , Williams o n the pr ivat eer Triumph . Both wer e in th e fro nt row and both were moments away fro m trying to be come the first non -Californian s to win the famed event. Th e National also featured $ 14 0 00 in purse mon ey , $4 ,0 00 in contingenc y money an d for the first time, S 100 per lap to the leader ($2 ,000 ). Making it th e ric hest half-mile thi s yea r. Beauchamp and Hocking too k o ff tied together leaving I.awwill , Williams and Aldana in thei r smoke. Williams shot by Mert o n lap t hree to move t he former two -tim e Asco t winner back to fourth. At the end o f the third lap the Yamaha fact ory tC3.m was running ninth (Romero) and 10th (R oberts ). Th e pace was go ing to be qu ic k. By lap five it was ob vio us th a t it was going to be a two -ride r clash between th e roo kie and th e veteran , t he fac to ry and th e priva te er , Beauc ha m p was still in front with Hocki ng inches back. Lap six ha d Ho ckin g driving hard on th e low side to ta ke t he lea d bu t Rex ca me back o n th e next lap to ta ke it away. Th ey were ru nning ahead of th e ol d t rac k record a t thi s point , the mark set las t year by Ro berts. • Rob erts m oved by Rornero-Ior 10th on lap eigh t a ft er Dann y Ha cki e had passed th em both o n the prev io us lap . La p eight also found Han k Sco tt Frank Gillesp ie (76). rid ing J ay Springsteen 's bike , scrambles t o ho ld John Hateley (98) at ba y . moving into the pi c tur e: fo r the first time . The Rookie of the Year missed three sh ifts com ing o ff th e starting lin e and was l Oth in to th e first turn. At the end of eigh t laps he was fo urth an d clos ing fast o n Williams. Beauch amp held Ho ck ing in t heir own privat e tw o -rider duel un til the 12t h rou nd, then the roo kie wen t scoo ting by for th e second time. . T he two mad e it a race all the way to the fin ish with Ho ckin g winni ng the Nat ional . The win was also a ne w 20 -lap trac k r ecord. Ho cki ng was o ne o f two ro o kies to win Nati on als th is yea r and o nl y o ne of five to sco re more than a single vict ory . Han k Scott kep t charging and passed William s o n th e last half la p to tak e third , giving rooki es a on e -three fini sh in the 23 rd and fin al National o f th e yea r. Like Hocking , Sco tt is also list ed as a "Privat eer. .. And so th e six th and last Nati on al half-mile of the ye ar aga in produced a new first ti m e winner o f the eve n t. Rob erts fi nall y worked h is way up to eigh th but On tario winner Romero dr opped all the way back to thirteenth before the finish . La wwill dropped to nin th in the late laps and J ohn Hat ele y ano ther pe sky pri vat ee r , ca me all the way fro m 10th starting spot t o ta ke fif th . Th e rid er s, most of them, will meet one fin al t im e th is year on Friday nigh t Octo ber 25 th in the ann ual run fo r th e Sta te Champio nship title at Asco t . Ho c ki ng stat ed in th e winner's circl e th at h e will b e the fi rst one to enter o n his R oc ky Cycle Supp ly Yam ah a priva tee r special. Junior invitati onal T he night befo re th e Na tional Ascot h o st ed their f ir st e ve r Ju ni or invit ati o nal. Invit es we re se nt via the A.\ IA t o all of th e to p Juniors in th e na tio n th at had th e big p ain ts o n the half-mile and the -IT trac ks this year. Jay an d Ken Spri ngs teen came from Mich igan, Greg Sassaman ca me fro m Georgia. A pair of Ari zona flan rackers were also o n hand as well as a raft o f Oregon 'If riders. The Harle y .fac tory cr ew of me chanics were In th e pi ts with Sassam an who had won the T o ledo. Ohio invitati onal in lat e September. But the ext ra assist failed to help as Jay Springs teen scored a deci siv e victory ove r Ascot gunners Skip Aksland and T om Berr y in th e first heat . Sassaman (Continu ed o n page 46) 7

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