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/125979
guid on-bearers Yvon DuHamel and Jim Evan s up . Already seas oned by a shock Loudon victory is Gary Scott o n the H arley -Davidson /Aerm acch i RR250, teamed with Greg Sassaman un der facto ry sponsorship. More Harleys are in hands of privateers and the semi-privateers: notably Gary Fisher, newly-transferred John Volkman, and Northwesterner J im Dunn. Califomia's Ron Pierce, USUally a privateer, will have a factory RR250 for this ra ce . The solid Yamaha phalanx will, of course, be led by Kenny Roberts (who, at th is writing, is the sole factory entry) . Lined up with the AMA champion will hungry privateers and be 65 semi-privateers , ma kin g the weight of nu mbers still tipped heavily fo r th e piano-tuners. Odds-on favorite still ha s · t o be Roberts, the m an , but taking man /machine comb inations in total , t h is coul d be an ybody 's road race if Harley have done their an d Kawasaki homew ork well th is wrinter. Last ye ar, Kenn y Roberts was an upstart American professional hurling challenges at th e world's reigning champion. A y ear later, Roberts is acknowledged as A m erica's greatest living road racing talent, and heir-appa rent to the world crow n If and wh en he chooses to reach for it. In 1974, his winn er 's circle statement, "A go didn 't win, I jus t finish ed second," was tak en as colossal arrogance. Com e 1975, and an inte nse rivalry has jelled between the two, accentuated by th e fact that they ride th e sam e marque, though supported by different concessionaires. Luck, both go od an d bad, has robbed Kenn y of a 100% race-long duel with Agostini. "I'm looking forw ard to m eet ing Agostini more th an ever th is year," he said, while already addressing himse lf to short track fra me develop m ent f or a futu re dat e. The world of an A MA Grand Nat ional Champion is that co mpressed. Nov ices Juniors Ju niors will go 10 0 mile s Fri da y aftern oon, March 7. It 's a heavily Yamaha-domi nated field , but wat ch fo r Bruce Hammer se lf-s ponso r e d (Cali fo rn ia) on a Kawa saki . The California co ntingent is represented in fo rce by newly -tr an sferre d Ski p Aksland (still a Junior on p avement ), Murray Hoffman , Whi t ney Blak eslee, A FM veteran Al an Ba r b i e , an d newly-transferred J ohn Volkman , winner o f I~t year '~ Jl,'o vice rac~ L ook for Dale Singleton, Dalton, Georgia, to give the westerners mu ch o trabajo , Aksland Th e Novices precede the J uniors for their 76 m ile baptism at Day to na . Keep an eye on dirt t ra ck specialists Tom Berry and Dan McWhorte r, if th ey have solid ri des under them. Same goes fo r Wall y Karpynec , a Cali fo rnia road race r who is a Novice o nly in the eyes o f the MIA. Mike Baed er, Ted Davi dson, and Bob Ti gert all ha ve Yam ah as for th is o ne. In fact, with a few glaring ex ce ptio ns, the Novice race is virtua lly an all-Yamaha field. Production All classe s will ap pa ren tly run in th e same 3 8 m ile race on Friday. Biggest battle of brands will be in . Op en Production, with Butler & Smith riders Reg Pridmore and Kurt Liebman going loaded for b ear with a brace of honest 150 mph BMW R90S 's. The "bear" in question is Yvon DuHamel (Kaw) and Yoshimura 's Dale Alexander (Kaw). Pretty production racers abound in the 750 Production, with Cycle's Cook Neilson on his SS Ducati, J o hn Long on a Norton, and Tony Murphy o n a Berliner Ducati . Let us know how the "press race: " c om es out , guys. Lightweight Production has 43 entries, with Scott Clough, Alan Barbie, and Bob Tigert ren ewing old acquaintances on 350 Yamahas. Dark h o rses : Dan Shoemak er of Cocoa, Flori da on a Gentry Ho nda. and Mike Baldwin of Darien , Connecticu t on a Moto -Morini V-Twin. • Motocross This high point of Yamah a 's Super Series will run Saturday. March 8 o n t he infi eld, 2 p.m. start, right after the Expert /Junior combin ed road race. We'll carry a full report. Short track They line up fo r h o urs at Day tona 's open-a ir stadium each of the fo ur nights these traditional events run. What draws th em is so me of the wildest, tightest AMA short track racing in th e co un t ry . Jim Rawls and Larry Cooper, co-winners of the eas tern indo o r series on PDV, are pre-entered to try to bag the factory's $1000 contingency offer. The pa ir of chrome-sleeved 360s they 're riding are rep o rt edl y a pair of crotch roc kets . Harley-Davidson is represented in force, with Rex Beauchamp already pre-entered, and the rest of t he crew Cor ky Kee ner, Ban Markel, and the Springsteens, Jay and Ken, expected at post time. Ast rodome winner Darryl Hurst (Yam) is expected, and no short track south o f the Mason-Dixie line would be compete without the Cajun Shuffle, right Mike ? _ 37 -II