lazing beaches, smokin
NIl!'
b
..
'Dirt tracker'
wins road
race classic
By Jack Mangus
DAYTONA BEACH , FLA. , MA R. 9
Gen e "Burritto" Romero sco red
the biggest vict o ry of his career
Sunday in th e 34th Annual Dayto na 200, t he th ird round in th e
AMA Gran d Nationa l Championship /Camel Pro Series. Romero
took over the lead on lap 30 of
the 52-lap race and gave way for
6
just on e lap o n the 35th go-aro und
foll owing h is second and final gas sto p .
The popular Yamaha International team
rider was particularly pleased about
having the Daytona victory on top of
his win in 1974's season fin ale at
Ontario.
Prior to Romero's taking o ver , t he
race was a three-sided affai r be twee n
Finland 's
Tepi
Lansivuori, Grand
National Champion Kenny Roberts, and
privateer
Steve
McLaughlin.
The
predicted Ago vs, Ro berts du el became
a minor topic after Kenny bro ke th e lap
record during quali fy ing runs on
Thursday when he tu rn ed in a blistering
111.089 mph average. That lap was over
three mil es per hour faster than the old
qualifying mark se t b y Paul Smart in
1974
at
107.949.
Lansivu o ri,
Venzeuela's Johnny Cecotta, Romero
an d Steve Bake r joined Roberts on the
front row of the 73 -man grid and each
also broke Sm art 's form er record .
Agostini turned in a "s low" 107.395
qualifying lap an d fo un d h imsel f
starting th e 200 fro m the ninth square
. o n the grid.
Prior to race day the big story was
tires . England 's Barry Sheen e had
crashe d his facto ry Su zu ki at over 170
mph during a pract ice sess io n and while
the tire never lost its air pressure,
examinatio n sh owed th at large hu n ks o f
ru bber had separate d fro m the co rd
fabric.
Henk
Klassen
Later ,
Holland 's
unloaded during a practi ce session and
sh o rt ly thereafter Dunlop ann o unc ed
th e withdraw al of all th eir tires from th e
rear of all 750cc Expert and Junior
machines. Klassen '5 rear tire had co me
from th e same production b atch as the
tire wh ich had be en mounted on the
re ar o f She ene's Su zu ki. Altho ugh
Dunlop, in a statement to the MIA,
U:~
4 4
Steve (83 ) Mclaughlin and Steve (32) Baker exch ange meaningful glances.
