lutches &flyi
,
Burrittos
stated t hat they co uld find no fault with
the tires, it ap peared as though heat
build-up was causing the rubber to
separate from the cord fabric. Following
Dunlop 's withdrawal, the entire field,
with the exception of only a handful of
riders, was Goodyear-equipped.
Baker were waging war ove r fo u rth
place. Th e owner of that position va ried
fro m lap to lap.
Roberts began to close up Tepi on
the third lap and on the foll owing tour
of the 3.84 mile Daytona co urse he
took over the lead and began wail ing
The start
15 mi nutes
jams which
estimated
entering the
away fro m everyone ..
of the 20 0 was delayed fo r
because of massive traffic
were delay ing many of the
70,000
attendees fro m
Speedway.
Factory Suzuki rider Tepi Lansivuori
led the start down pi t road and into the
infield , where he opened up a gap
between him sel f and Ken ny Roberts.
Johnny
Ceco tto ,
the
19·year-ol d
Venezuelan ace who had quali fied th ird
fastest, didn't have h is Venemotos
Yamaha running an d in p ositio n by the
time the one-min ute-to-go sign was
displayed and he finally got starte d de ad
last.
Englishman J eff Mar ch unloaded
heavily in the hi gh -speed infield swe eper
on t he initial lap and was ru she d to t he
hosp it al with a p ossibl e fractu red sho ulder and head injuries.
Lap two saw Lansivuori st retch his
lead over Roberts, who was pulling
distance on Agostini. Behind the front
running trio Gene Ro mero , Steve
McLaughlin and Washington's Steve
Back m arkers were taken by surprise
on the sixth lap as Roberts wove his
way through traffic, already lapping
what he re ferred to as "slowpokes."
Thro ugh the I Oth lap
Roberts
co ntinued stre tching his lead over
Lansivuori and Agostini, and Ago ha d a
ne w probl em as the still-dicin g trio of
Ro m ero, McLaughlin an d Baker were
rig h t o n his heels. Romero swo op ed
around Ago on the 12t h lap and
McLaugh lin did that trick the ne x t time
ar ound.
While most of th e spectators wa tc he d
t he fr o n t runners, John Cecotto was
charging through t he fiel d from hi s last
place st arting position. He moved in to
seventh o n the 12t h lap and th en
ap peared to se ttle down to a steady
pace be hi n d sixth-running Baker.
On th e 16th lap Roberts startled
tuner Kel Carru thers and his pit crew as
he swung left onto pit row. His Yamaha
was quickly refueled, but seconds later
the U.S . Champion stepped from his
7
