Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

E Ascot National TT: • i An upper for Gary Scott; a downer for Kenny Roberts. By Lane Campbe ll GARDENA, CAL.,JULY 26 Bad racIng luc k knocked Ken Roberts (Yam) out o f first place twice in' one nigh t, an d Gary Scot t (H-D) rode a smooth, no-nonsense race to win his second strai ght Ascot National TT . Behind Gary , J ohn Gennai (Tri ) survived a laterace charge fro m Rick Hocking (No r) o ver th e jump . Beh ind we re Rex Be au c ham p , D a ve Alda na, Ar t Fre de nburgh and Steve Droste, in a co u ple of ti gh t bunch es. Th e nex t gro up was led by Mc Donald, with Brad TIbbitts (Tri ) an d Ro n Po well trying to go by hi m on bo th sides. Po we ll dr opped o ut early with what looked like a h eader cl am p falling off, and Ti bbitts later go t ri dden almost into a wall, the n fell off co m ing o u t of the infield. In the south end of the co urse, Rex Beauchamp went by Hansen near mid-race, then Aldana ducked under (Yarn) , as Gary 's bro the r Hank finished fou rth ahead of Pau l Bostrom . Mechanical fail ures, many of which centered ar o und chains and sp rockets, had a drasti c effect on the outcome of heats and the National itself. A regular rash of sp ro c ke t fr actures (Roberts ' and Steve Droste's were mo st noticeable) crea ted a near -panic of sp rocket-changing after the Semis. Whether it's from increased horsepower beginning to flex existing fra mes, o r from harder-working susp en sions getting a harder bite, it seems that some of the su p er-Iigh t alloy sp roc ke ts reach ed their design limit, fracturing all the way ar ound at the narrowest part of the webbin g between lighten in g ho les. Th e survivors were casting ab ou t . fran tically to fi t an ything with fewer holes an d more metal before the 25 -lap Nation al. Dave Aldana (H-D) , still runnin g the dual -dis c fr o nt brake he h ad at Castle Rock, turned a be rserko 46 . 13 second top time trial on a deep ly -worked, tacky surfa ce . Next fastest lap in q ualify in g was John Hateley (Nor. 46.24 ), and Roberts was third at 46.2 8. Gary Sco tt, at 4 7.27, di dn ' t make it into th e top 10 time s. TIme tr ials were a bit rushed, as th e tr ack was pushin g a 7:45 p .m . schedule deadline for the ap pearance of th e Sou thern California Fly in g Circu s parach u te . jump team. The skydivers were a gas - even th ough six ou t of the eight jumpers landed in th e graveyard acro ss Vermont Aven ue from the track. Hank Scott and several of the other Harley riders were noticed in practice and time trials pushing down visib ly on the bars co ming over the Ascot jump for, as Hank said later, "I can't make any time with th e wheels in the air." The tech nique, according to Hank's crew, was netting hi m about two sec onds a lap. Ken Ro ber ts was doing it, too, as best h e could with wh at little weight he has to throw ar ound, standing forcibly in the pe gs after takeoff, trying to throw the Yamaha downwards. As the racing progressed, nearly everybody's jumps got lower and fl atter, with exceptions of Terry Dorsch, John Ha teley, and Paul Bostrom, who te nd to go ape in m id-ai r. Heats - Kenny cracks a sprocket 6 Th e ni ght's racing got o ff to an uncertain st ar t, as Ron Powell an d Phil McDonald tangled bars off th e lin e and we n t sprawling, bringing out th e red fla g on the first heat before h alf-a-lap was co m plete, Gen e Romero was pre t ty hot ab o u t all th e " rollers " he saw in fro n t of hi m off that ill-starred start ; and his wor ds must h ave stung, because the line ju dges were sharp-eyed the rest of the evening . ....'hen the eight-m in ute hold had run out, Powell an d McDonald were back in it . Dave Hansen enjoyed a very brief holesho t, but trailed Mark Williams Dave in the north tu rn. After that it was hi gh-pressure ti me as Aldana tr ied both sides o f Beauchamp on n earl y every co rner, even bu mped hi s rear wh eel o nce in a hard ru sh co ming o u t of t he infield. Then, lo o king at th e white fla g, Aldana 's mo tor qu it, co mi ng o ut of the north tu rn . Hansen an d No rth weste rn er Ch arli e Brown go t the n ex t two direct tran sfers. . Seco nd h eat, Bruce Hanlon and an o th er rider go t sen t ba ck to th e third ro w , an d Te rry Dorsch (Tri ) led off th e res taged start. In th e fir st lap scra mb le , Fran k Gillesp ie (H-D) came off h ar d in th e jump landing ar ea (he m ay have hit. o ne of th e two holes th at develope d th ere ) and roll ed clear. Do rsch, who had spen t m ost of th e previous nigh t building an engine so he co ul d ma ke th e National, str e tch ed his lead an d went on to m ake his heat win th e fas test o f the eve ni ng . J ohn Ha te ley tossed a chain trying for th e lead in the do gleg before th e jump , lo st most of a lap ge tting going again. Joh n Allis on an d Paul Bostro m finished second-third, while Danny H o c k i e (Tri ) ourpowered wild-mart Hanlon for the last direct transfer. Rick Ho cking and Joh n Gennai holeshot together in the next heat, but Ken Roberts came off an o utside pole start and wen t around th em in th e first turn. From there , Ken cleared away an d hid, while John and Hock got in to a re gular bar-hanger. Rick jus t barely held Gennai at bay, fo rcin g him ou tsi de and then slam ming th e door. .Gennai fin ally force d his way ar o und th e outside of tu rn th ree an d pulled out about a h alf-second gap . Th en there was a yell fro m the cro wd - Ro ber ts had dropped o ut with his fr actured sprocket dangling, and Gennai was leadin g.' Han k Scott and Tom White came ac ro ss three-four, th en Skip Aksland, and Tom Berry muscled pas t Rob Morrison as th e heat wo und down. Roberts ca me out of the pits to p ush across th e line , then crossed h is fingers, hoping a h o le would op en in a Semi. He was fourth al te rnate. Eddie Wirth came off the penalty line to win the last heat. He and Randy o III III a: u o a: « :I: u a: > '" VI o I- o :I: Q. Seconds later, J ay Sp ringstee n was on the ground as his charge carried him hard int o Randy (3 5) Skiver_ Roberts ta kes the lead, going by Gennai off th e jump. That Hocking-Gennai bar-banger sh uffles th rough the infie ld duri ng th eir heat.

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