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/125996
Mortimer, who had caught and passed Tom Herron on the road, to lead on correct time by eigh t seconds. At the end of the third lap it was closer still! Less than 16 seconds separated the first four men. George was the leader, then came Williams , Mortimer and Herron. Mortimer stopped for fuel at the end of the third lap, but most of his rivals kept going. George, st ill in the lead, was 2.6 seconds in front of Williams. Mortimer was third almost 23 seconds down on Williams, but 25 ahead of Herron. At Ramsey it ' was reported that Ch arlie Williams had o vertaken Alex George on th e ro ad an d so now led th e race, and it was later discovered that ...... :A S the road, a few seconds ahead of Billy Guthrie and Chas Mortimer who had battled through to sixth place, after ano t her pit stop for fuel, and more wire ! Williams' co llar bone was st arting to h ur t, and though he was a match for Gr ant on the smo o th bits, the rougher se c tions of the co urse were too much for him , and with just one lap to go Gr ant had opened almost a four seco n d lead. Mortimer had pulled through t o third place , but he was not go ing to catch the leading pair, who were alm os t two minute s in fron t of him ! At th e finish Gr ant had opened his lead t o more than 3 0 sec o n ds. MC Now's the time to get moving with a line that's moving !... bequse a limited number of Montesa dealerships are now available in Schauzu/Kalauch won the 1000cc sidecar TT with this 5 60 BMW o utfit . selected araas. We need a few good dealers with plenty of enthusiasm . The Montesa line bo asts- 15 great models now - MX . Alex had actu ally stopped at Laurel little earlier to make Ban k a adjus tmen ts. Ch as Mor ti mer passed Alex o n the roa d , too, an d it was ob viou s th at the Sco tsm an was in trouble. William s rod e in to win yet an o ther IT, with Mo rtimer grabb ing second place afte r George cra she d less th an five miles from the fini sh . He was flown to a hospital by helicop ter , but was de t ained only a few ho urs . With George go n e, To m Herron mo ved up a p lace , to finish th ird , with young Steve T o nkin, th e sens at ion of th e IT week , fo urt h. Re tirements were fre q ue nt, 3 1 fell by th e wayside , so j ust to fini sh was an achieve men t. T ha t is wh y so man y riders arc an gry wit h th e ACU , o rganizers of th e race , fo r altering the meth od of qualification fo r silver an d bronze IT replicas. Martin Sharpe, for example in lOth pl ace, and wi th a world champ io nshi p point, at an average of over 100 mph , co llects o nly a bro nze. And only 16 o ut of 38 fi nishers win replicas. Wednesday , to o, was fin e, though during the opening 500cc Senior IT mist on the Mountain , plu s showers at Trials. Enduro. Off-Road', Street. Mini, and Moped - with three great new models due shortly - a 125ee MX. a 348ee Trials, and a 360cc MX . And we've got a reputation for Quality and performance that's unmatched ! Just check the road tests in recent issues of Cycle. Cycle Guide, Cycle News, Cycle World. Dirt Cycle. Popular Cycling. and others . To obt ain complete informati on on how you can get in on th e fastest grow ing line of motorcycles toda y. call Duncan McLeish at Montesa 1 WI He's wai ting for you r call. \'0 213/663-8258 Manto.. Motors, Ine.l3657 Beverly Boulevard I Los Angoles.CA 90004 DO IT ON THE STREET DO ITAT THE DRAGS DO IT IN THE DIRT . BUT DO IT WITH PARKING LOT SALE "fantastic buys" New, used & demo Yamahas, Mini- Bikes, & Go-Karts. Parts, • accessories, machinery, antiques, & lots of junk . May 31 through June 30 Open 7 days • ..... Custom City Yamaha. 15721 So. Atlantic at Alondra 14 vario us p lac es aro und the ci re ui t made co nd itio ns ex tremely dan gerous. The sta rt was moved back from 11 a.m, to mid-day to give the overworked Sh ell team some ex tra ti me. But at noon 76 starters began the six lap race. At the en d of the first lap Ch as Mortim er led Mick Grant's Kawasaki by over eight seconds, with John Williams, bac k in action a ft er suffering a badly broken co llar bone in the Austrian GP, in third pl ace nearly 11 seconds behind Grant. But at the end of the second lap Chas Mortimer pulled into the pits. The clutch lever pin had dropped out, and after wiring the lever back o n he re-started after a o ne minute 20 se cond del ay . Chas had be en slowed by the non operative clutch, and at the end of t hat second lap he was o nly a lit t le more than one second ah ead of John Williams. wh o was now second, six seconds ahead of Mie k Grant. Mortimer's lengthy pi t stop was so long, in fact th at it p ut him off the first 12 leaderb oard , and at the halfway stage Mick Gr ant, wh o came in for fuel at th e end of the third lap . was 26 seconds beh ind rac e leader Williams. But now the pressure was re ally on . Aft er four laps Williams was only just ove r five seconds in fron t o f Grant. with IT new comer St eve Tonkin rid in g well in third place desp it e havin g wo rk ed th rough th e nigh t o n his Yam ah a. Australian Les Kenn y was n ext on Mortimer fini shed third, bu t h e was lu c ky . At Ball acraine hi s clu tc h lever rep air had failed, and he ra ced on without a clu tch . Then a t Creg-ny- Baax he had run o u t of fuel, an d he had coax ed the bike h o me just th ree sec o nds ahead of fourth finis her Billy Guth rie ! A short br eather fo llo wed th e 500 Seni or IT, an d then cam e the 100 0 cc Side ca r IT. At the en d of th e fir st of three laps Ro ld Stei nh ausen (Busc h Konig) was I S and o ne -half seco nds ah ea d o f Englishman Dick Greasley (Yam ), with Siegfried Schauzu (BMW) thi rd, seven seconds behind Greasley , and the Bore t brothers (Ko nig) fo urt h 3 0 seco nds behind Schauzu . Despi te perfect co nd it ions th er e wer e no sign s o n th at st and ing start lap of a re cord, an d amo ng the high n umber of re tirem en ts was a po ssible record brea ke r, Mac Hobson. His Yamaha eng ine had bl own up in a bi g way at Crosby . On the second lap Bill Currie, another Bri tish ho pe , destro yed his Weslake en gine , wh ile Steinhaus en and Sch au zu battled for supremacy. Rolf led by 15 sec onds, with just a lap to go, fro m Siggy, who had pushed Gre asley in to third pl ace. Sch auzu closed th e gap as the fin al lap went o n , th en came news that Steinhausen had stopped ' on th e mountain climb with gear box tro uble. Sch au zu was told this by signals, but it did n o t st op him b lastin g round on the fin al lap to a record 9 9.3 1 mph, j ust 9.6 seconds outside th at magic "ton. " His race average was a reco rd, too. Greasley took second place, and the Boret brothers third. The 25 0cc Lightweight IT o pen ed th e program on Friday, and Chas Mortimer, eager to score 15 points for his wo rld championship efforts was in a class all his own. He led at the end o f the first lap by 14 seconds from Derek Ch atterton, who was 15 sec o nds ahead of John Williams. Fourth was Charlie Williams two seconds behind his namesake and 12 ahead of To m Herron in fifth place . But Charlie Williams was out of the race so on af te r. His engine seized at Ballu gh Brid ge and he waited there, drinkin g half a pint of beer, for a lift to ge t h im back to the st ar t fo r the afternoo n 's 1000cc Open Classic . Mortimer was still ahea d at the end of lap t wo. His lea d no w was 26 seconds fro m Derek Chatterton, with John William s cu t t ing th e gap between him and second pl ace to 13 seconds. At the sta rt of the fourth, and fin al lap Chas Mort im er had eased o ff slightly to lead by 2 1 seconds from Tom Herron .