Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Skive r put early leader Gary Sc';tt behin d them in order by tucking tight in the right-h ander after the jump where Scott went almos t to th e wal l, squaring th e comer o ff. Mert Lawwill fell in the firs t tu m and h ad a grim ch ase ahead of hi m jus t to finish eig h th. Gary Scott came back to fo rce h is way under Randy Skiver in a sustained drive thro ugh tha t same righ t-hand sweeper. J ay Sp r ingsteen , wh o had been sha d owing Sco tt , trie d Skiver on both sides and the n crashed in th e tight left be fo re the oval when hi s ins ide ch arge bro ught him up hard agai nst Randy 's left handle bar . Skive r ("I didn't see him until I felt him") finishe d third with his throt tle ca ble stic kin g (" I dis covered it going over the jump ") , ah ead of Ed die Mulde r . Semis - Roberts makes the National Ro berts ' crew had him suited up and read y for th e firs t Sem i, even though he was fourth an d last alternate, The two-minutes hold ran out with th e grid not y et full (as Aldana and Bob Conway scratched), and Ken was rolled onto the second row. Second al ternate Brad Tibbitts, reco vered from h is cr ashes in tim e trials and he at, rolled up and was told to wait for th e sec on d Semi. For Brad, th at op p or tun ity never came. Fellow Washington-stater Rick y Graves di d mak e it in as an al ternate. Steve Dro ste holeshot everybody and cleare d away , while Roberts came aro und o u tside th e first turn to settle in fifth . Bet ween Ro berts and the lead were Phil McDonald , J ohn Ha teley and Bruce Han lo n . Han lo n zapp ed Ha tel ey North t ur n , t o t h e i n t he acco mpanime n t of oohs and ahs fro m th e st an ds, then go t Drost e nex t lap . Right in his dra ft was Roberts . Droste managed to shut Ken o ff out of the No rth tum , but the defending ch am p io n highline d around h im in turn one. Righ t then Hanlon 's bike quit, Rob erts took over, and atten tio n turned to Gen e Rom ero 's do-o r-di e ch arge on Droste fo r that last tr ansfer to the Nati onal . Before that could really co me to a head , Dro ste su ffe red a sprocket fractur e iden tical to Ro berts ' earlier one , and Romero shuffled on in. Trophy race Rekindled with fresh fire, Ro b Morr iso n led again as Randy Cleek (who had h ad a flattened megaphone as a result of a practice tumble ) tucked beh in d. Walt Foster emerged from the first tum fourth behind Arizona's Rick Kraft after an outside multi-pass. Within three laps , Foster was clear of Kraft and up aga ins t Morrison. They went nose-tail for two more laps until Morrison p ulled into the pits for good . Clee k, wh o 'd been shoved ba c k to fo urth in th e sh u ffle, slip p ed by Kraft in the dogleg. Well back o f th e lead trio at the fin ish were McDo nald an d Corky (" When this is ove r I can go back home an d turn left a lo t" ) Keen er. Corky had bee n hard-presse d all evening after so me one trashe d hi s rear brake lin ka ge early in h is heat, forcing him to learn all over h ow to use the fr on t bra ke. Terry Dorseh set fastest time, won fastest heat,lost the pole on the National by being penalized at the start. No nonsense, smooth and well-paced, Gary Scott holds off Eddie Wirth early in the National. National TT It was a topsy -turvy , four ro w star ting grid, with a m ix ture of privateers and fac tory rid ers o n the front row, Gary Scott on th e sec o n d line with team ma te Beaucham p , and Roberts on th e last row with protege Akslan d, Mert Laww ill and Gene Romero. Polesit ter Terry Dorsch dre w a penalty o n the firs t attemp t at a start. Nex t time starter Bo b Malley stepped to the box everybody stayed co ol, and Mark Williams enjoyed the briefest of hole sho ts be fore h is Norton went very sour. Beauchamp, too , went on one cylinder, losing almost a full lap getting his engine to clear. Gennai, Gary Scott, Eddie Wirth, John Allison, Paul Bostrom, Hank Scott. Tom White and Terry Dorsch went over the' jump more or less in order, Roberts was bottled up around mid-pack. Second lap, and Beauchamp was / ' back on it, laying the Harley right down to the cases and actually pulling away from leader Gennai. Roberts passed Eddie Mulder, slipped under Terry Dorsch, and now he was eighth. Meanwhile, the lead group tightened up as duelling John Allison and Eddie Wirth pressed up behind Gary Sco tt in turns one-two. Right out of tum two, All is on, still car ryi n g lo ts of momentum, clobbered Wirth 's rear wheel and both went down. Both bounced back up , first Wirth, then Allison, and restarted well down. Two less fo r Roberts to pass. By lap 10, Roberts had high lined around Hank Scott and Paul Bostrom, then ducked under Gary Scott in tum two. With Scott working hard behind , him , Ken took a few more laps to measure Gennai, then passed him on lap 14, goin g over th e jump. Dragging up the front str aigh t, John got it back; Roberts repassed between turns one and two, an d Sco tt meantime. was right there in the hunt. Th e crowd blew its collec tive mind. Ken managed to pullout about a seco n d on Gennai, even with his Y amaha starting to spit back occasionally. Hank Scott was now in fourth, with Terry Dorsch , Rick Hocking, Tom White and Paul Bostrom in a group behind. Eddie Wirth was regaining ground, as was Allison, but well back. . Then on lap 20, the hoodoo struck again . This time Roberts' ch ain popped off near the infield exit, and the Champion , whose shoulder was really hurting by th is time , retired. In _the same lap, Scott went by Gennai , and Rick Hockin g began to move. In fact, Hocking began to boogie, his Yamaha screaming its guts. In th e next couple of laps White and Hank Scott both lo st to Hock's ch arge, an d it was Hoc king and Gennai hard at it on ce mo re. While Gary Scott stole a loo k over his sh o ulder to ch eck his lead, Hocking tried fo r every available h ole aro und Gennai. Th ere wasn 't an y , and as Rick said later , "My bike started do in g funny th ings and I thought I'd better stay here (in th ird) befo re I fall off. " Hank Scott and Paul Bos tr o m fini shed at a distance, while Ed die Wir th had gotten by Do rsch for sixth. Behind Dorsch were Mert Lawwill an d Burri tto nose-tail as they h ad been fo r m uch o f the race. The win he re gives Gary Scott a 377 p oin t lead ove r Ro berts, the be st advantage he has ever had in their years-lo ng rivalry. The firs t hal f o f the Cam el Pro Series is over, leaving Gary $5000 rich er as first half point leader. Laguna Seca is next, and th e big q uesti o n is going to be - does Scott final ly h ave a c omp etitive road race ride? Whether or not, at mid-year it is definitely Ken Ro berts ' t urn to try harder. • Results 25·LAP NATIONAL TT, 1. Ga,y Scott H 2. (Trl). Hocking Vam}. Hank Scott 5. Paul IH -- D ). 64. John Gennal(varnI- 3. Rick Bostrom O ). . Eddie Wi rth (HoC. 7. Terry Dorsch I Tr l) . 8. Mert Lawwill (""-0). 9. Gene Romero (Yam). 10. John Allison (Yam). 11. Eddie Mulder ·,(T r l ). 12. Rex BeaUChamp (H·O). 13. Danny Hackle (T,I). 14 . Sk ip Aksland (Yam). 15. Charlie Brown (Trll. 16 . Mark W illiams N O ' ) . 17. Tom Wh ite (H·D). 18. Ken aceerts Yam). 19. Dave Hansen (Yam). 20. Randy k lver (Trl). TROPHY RACE (12 laps): 1. Walt Foster (T'l) . 2. Randy Clee k (Yam). 3. Rick K,aft (Yam) . 4 . Ph il M cOonald (H·O). 5. Co,ky K eener (HoD). UNOFFICIAL CAMEL PRO SERIES POINTS : 1. Gary Scott 863. 2. Ken RObe,ts 486. 3 . Jay Sp r ingsteen 464. 4. Rex Beaucnamp 349. 5. Greg Sassaman 328. 6 . Co rky Keener 313. 7. Gene Romero 296. 8. Hank Scott 286. 9 . Me rt La w w lll 264. 10 . Mark W il liams 2 5 6. ~ 7

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