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/125974
Walk before you T hen let Rolf T ibb l in and M ick ey Qu ade run im prove your d irt- rid ing sk ill - t u ne y our bod . Beginn ers t o pros. All ma kes o f bi kes accepted - rentals availa ble. Tu it ion tel tr~~qva l~~nat: International Training Center 1320 Grand Ave. Su ite 12. San Marcos, CA 92 069 714-744-2161 Crown Cycle '_ Yamaha YZ80B specialist Track - Mo to cross - Desert Three modifica tion kits av ailable. Complete suspension modifi cat io n . Mail Order When he 's on fo rm, Au t rey is very good, even wh en tangling with the likes of World Fina list O le Olse n. 8904 E. Garvev, Roseme ad , CA 91770 213 ·283·6'934 2 13-44 2-54 14 International Speedway !62 KEENER!.· ~··············I ····~·~·~·~·~··~ : · :: · : · :: Flat Track Handlebars $14.95 : . :: America, still smarting under a . 8.J. Products : . serres defeat last year, will meet a P. O Box 2225 . :: : South Bend. Ind.46615 : Rest of the World side in inter; 219-289-3077 : ........................................ national speedway at the Houston YAMAHA 360 SINGLE STRAIGHT CUT PRIMARY GEARS WITH FLYWHEE FOR FLAT TRACK L ~ • MORE HORSEPOWER L::I..LI..Ii::; • MORE TORQUE PRODUC T S INC. Z'l34 Cl.O M IOOU ~IE LO WAY O '-'T vIfW ,CA 94()4J QI~1~1 96' ·~6 BUYING? SELLING? Cycle News Want Ads do it . Filtro n Filters ~ 14 .J. L . Si'l!§ met ric hard wa re ~ P.O . Bo x 3038 , Fullerton, CA 92634 71 4 ~ 70 -6244 21 3 ~ 7 -967 4 Astrodome. Four World Champions and the reigning European number one will be included in the Rest of the World side, skippered by four-times World Champion Ivan Mauger. This historic clash - slated for Febru ary 2nd - will also bring speedway one o f its biggest television audiences as the whole meeting is being re corded by CBS and will be shown in Britain seven days later. Am erica will be led by reigning national champion Steve Bast with the reserv e berth being le ft open until the last minute. Young Jeff Sexton, the shock runnerup in last y ear's Na tional title-chase at Costa Mesa, is calle d up and the full Am eri can line-up will be : Steve Bast , Sonny Nutter, Mike Bast, Rick Woods, Bill Cody, Jeff Sexton an d a seven th man. Besides Mauger the Re st of the World squad boasts reigning World Speedway Champion Anders Michanek a 32-year- old Swede from Stockholm making his American debu t four-times World Champion Barry Briggs and 1971 World Speedway Champion Ole Olse n from Denmark. England's brightest prospect for future honours, 2 1-year-old European Champion Peter Collins is another ...States-side debut-maker and the party is made up of 1973 British Champion Ray Wilson and World Te am Cup hero Terry Betts both of whom took part in last y ear 's Astrodome meeting. Last year the Rest of th e World won the three-match series hy two rounds to one aI though America scored more points overall than their riv als. Britons rate Scott Autrey In America few fans realize how good Scott Autrey is. He's been sidelined from all but a couple of th e America vs. Rest of the World meetings since fors aking the California su m mer for the wetter and less profitable climes of Britain 's pi cturesque West Coun try. But what his bank manager has m issed Autrey has gained in that priceless co mm odi ty . . . experience. He 's heen riding in Au stralia and New Zeal and with th e World Champions troupe, havin g established him sel f as one of the wo rld's top 20 riders aft er only two seasons' experience of league racing. Un like Steve Bast before him, Rick Woods alongside him, an d Steve Gresham since, he has st uc k ou t th e some ti mes uncomfortable life in th e British Leagu e. Fortunately for Autrey he found lodgings with former English international Ken Middleditch and st ruc k up such a harm onious relationship th at he is now treated as one of the family . Autrey proved his ability at the big 400 metre County Ground track and in h is first seaso n (1973) averaged six and o ne-half p oin ts a mee ting in British League racing out of a 12 point maximum. On p aper it ma y not read like a success sto ry , but no other first term rider has done as well sin ce the Brit ish League was lau nc he d in 1965. His biggest dis appointment of his de but ye ar was being b arred from the 197 3 World Championship and it was this, more than an ything else , that threw a question m ark over his 1974 future. But after being given certain assurances, Au t rey returned to Exeter, and gave American speed way it's biggest European boost in the last two decades. In league m atches he was twice unbeaten (against Poole an d Oxford) b ut more important scored double. figures in 16 of his 32 league matches. In one golden spell he rattled together scores of 10,12,12,11,11,11 and8as the Falcons raced to their first-ever Division One ch ampionship. Nomin ated as America 's Wor ld Championship representative, he shocked th e experts by finishing among the qu a lif ie r s from the Angl o-American -Nordic Final for the penultim ate sta le o f t he cha mp io nship - th e Euro pean Final at Wembley. Ther e only nervou sness and me chanical problems prevented the Bellflower, California law stude n t fr om beco mi ng America's firs t World Finali st since Ernie Roccio 23 years ago . But perhaps Scott's greate st and least publiciz ed achievement was at his home track Exe ter wh er e he won th e season's poin ts sco rer awar d. This top co mpe t itio n was base d o n second h alf events only - simila r to America's scratch m ain s ' - with points being scored fo r placings in heats and the fin al. Scott co m pe ted in 20 such rounds during the seaso n and qualified for the final o n 14 occasions - win ning seven times to fini sh co m fo rtab ly ahead of his nearest cha llenge r - te am skipp er and four times World Champion Ivan Mauger ! So 1974 ended with Au trey pic king up a League Champions medal, the Merc ury St aging Post T ro phy , a t rack record ti me at First Division Hull, a pl ace in th e Eu ropean Fin al and a near nine point league average. No wonder p rom oter Mawdsley is still will ing to gam ble on Scott Autrey. Peter Oakes