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/125997
International datel ine By Chris Carter Patrick Pons. . the talented young French rider took another step towards shaking off his "wild man" image, with two fine rides in very . ' ... ...... r: .. - Patrick Pons, th e talented y oung Fren ch rider took another step towards sha king off his " wild man " im age, with two fine rides in very differen t co ndi tions, to take overall victory in the Belgian round of the FI~ 1 Formula 750 Championship at Met ter, and move into the title lead. Barry Sheene , the reigning c ham p io n , 1\\'0 rounds of the cham pio nsh ip ba t t le this season was agai n o u t of luck. A length y pit stop, midway through the first 21 lap ra ce when the q uick filler in th e Su zuki GB pit failed , robbed h im o f the chance of victory in the first race. lie fin ished second to Pons, by almost 28 seconds. But that was o n a dry track. A heavy ra in shower left th e high speed Me tt er road ci rcui t d amp a nd dangero us fo r the seco nd leg. Sh een e, riding b rill iantly lo oked a likely wi n ner t ill an ex haust p ipe b roke up. Ch ampionship p ace se llers J ohnny Cecotro , Gene Romero a nd Steve Bak er all gave the m eeting a m iss. But wh o co uld b la me them. Compar ed wi th Dayto n a's fir st prize of over 7000 pounds and Imola's 50 00 pounds, th e Mette t first prize of less than 3 0 0 pounds looked a little sick. An d start mon ey was by no me ans gene ro us. Into the lead o f the fir st leg hurtled man-an-form Mick Grant, fr esh from his re co rd breaking Isle o f Man IT successes. His Kawasaki " whe elied" o ff the front row of the grid, and at th e end of the first lap he held a 50 yard lead over Pons. But, a lap later Pons had closed the gap , and on th e th ird lap the French y o ungst er took th e lead on his 750 Sonauto Yamah a. Then came breathtaking drama. Grant, st ill dicing for th e lead had his 750 Kaw asaki water co o led triple lock up go ing in to the 130 mph left handel' at the start of th e fourth lap. The bike wheel stepped out at least four feet , an d sparks showered up from the pipes and fo o tres t. Mick fought t o co n tr o l the machine, kno wing, as did the cro wd, th at if h e fell off it would almos t ce rtainly be h is last ever fall ! Aft er 2 00 yards o f wre stling Mic k bro ug h t the bucking ma chine under co n tro l and stopped . The heel had bee n rip ped off his boot as his feet had t ou c h ed th e gro u nd du ri ng the life-savin g battle. Everyo ne sta rted to breathe again ! Pons was now well cle ar, with "Super" Sheene in second place , Barry Dit chburn on th e other Boyer Kawasaki third, Jack Findlay four th and South African Korki Ballington fifth:""· Sheene 's pit stop on the 10th la p was desperately slow, an d he resumed in third place, but nearly three qu arters of a minute behind Pons an d second placeman Jack Findlay. Sheene regained second place, but no way co uld he catch Pons. At the flag Pons' winning margin was almost 28 seconds, as Barry suffered who missed the first • • , ";; . . . . . .. 0 · . .. CASTLE ROCK NATIONAL I I EVENT CASTLE ROCK FAIRGROU DS CASTLE ROCK, WASH.,JULY12 .i:J ~ THE BIG BIKES ARE COMING! And along with the American Motorcycle Association 's high speed two wheelers-the circuit's top )~ ~ and toughest riders . The record breakers . The big boys. See 'em eat up the track while they compete for cycling's heavy prize money . You'll want to catch a/l the action from the first flag on. So come on out-early! ~' MEL ~S~ TICKET INFORMATION : Tickets may be purchased from William Bolar, 1000 Fourth Street. Castle Rock , Wash ington . For ticket information telephone Area Code (206) 274-8402 . Ticket Cost: Friday Night Junior Event: $5 .00 , Saturday Night: General Adm ission : $6.00, Reserved Seats: $8:00. W arning : T S he urgeon General Has D etermined That Cigarette Smoking Is Dangerous to Your Health. 12 carb u re tio n problems o n the middle cy lin d er in th e cl o sing stages. The period of indecisio n was over for th e co m petitors befo re th e second race . It poured wit h rain, and the sale Dunlop ti re fi ller a t th e m ee ting wo rk ed like a maniac to fit severa l hand-cut rain tires for the second leg. Sheene was one of s eve ral who tried this ne w tire , sw itching fro m the Mic he lin " slick" h e had used in the first ra ce. Dave Pa lter on the o t he r hand op ted fo r a Dun lop Enduro treaded tire. It proved a wise c ho ice. Fro m the start of the second race Pa ller led the pa ck ro u nd at the end o f the first lap, and though he lost the lead to Barry Shecne a lap later, Pa ller was back in fro n t at the checkered flag . Sheene p ulled away fro m the p ac k to w in by 28 seconds, and give h im self first place overall . lie mi gh t have do ne it, to o, if his ex ha us t sy stem had sto od up • to the test . Bu t he pulled out aft er 14 la ps leaving Pon s sec ure in the kno wledge th at he had o n ly to finish in the first three to win overall. It was perhaps th is fact that stopped him tryin g 100 per cent to hold off Dave Paller and J ohn Newbold (75 0 Suz ) in th e closing stages. But for once Patrick decided on dis cretion, and in a blanket finish followed Dav e and John over the lin e. Potter's win gave him second place overall, while Newbold, in trouble witll gear selection in the first leg, grabbed sixth spot overall th anks to his second pl ace here. Jack Findlay's king size grin showed he was happy to be third overall with two faultless rides that escaped from the usual strokes of cruel luck that seem to follow Findlay th is season. American John Long is still enjoying his European to u r. He was forced out of the first leg of th e F750 ra ce when a radiator burst on th e start line , and m ore me ch anical troubles put him out of the second leg, too. The o n ly co n so lat io n for Sheene was that his fas tes t la p in the first race at 2m 16.1 seconds was ex actly five seconds better th an the previous be st , recorded by John Dodds. Pons had more success in store, too. He, Bernard Fau an d Thiery T chernine all scored four points each in the two part 250cc race , b u t Patrick's aggregate time was be st . But only four fifths of a sec o nd sep ara ted the t op three ! Kent Andersson, the reigning I25cc World Ch ampion won the two race I25cc even t, from Briton Clive Horton, and Werner Schwarze! had a clear cut victory in the 10 lap sidecar race. • Resu lts F IM FORMULA 75 0 (Third R ou nd) OVERALL : 1. P. Pons (750 vem j, 2 . D. Potter (150 Yarn) , 3. J. Fin dlay ( 7 50 vaen, 4 . C. Mortimer ('750 Danfay Yam). 5. J. P. Orban (100 Yam). 6. J. New bold (750 SUZ) 7. C. Carr (750 Vam). 8. H. Stadelman (354 Yam) . 9. W . Seoch (350 Ya m ), 10. J. D o dds (700 Yam). FASTEST LAP : B . Sheeno (750 Suz) 1st 189: 2m 16.15 (Record) 207.641 kph. FIM F750 CHAMPIONSHIP POSITI ONS, 1. Pone 27 pts. 2. Cecotto 25. 3 . Baker 22. 4. Potter 2 0 . S . Findlay 16 . ' " . . .. -, ' ,' ' " . . ..