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/126011
Junior & Novice races: Aksland scores Junior win after Singleton unloads; Davidson beats Baeder, with a little help Suddenly, Sk ip Aksland was raci ng all alo ne with a huge Iead. For Novice Winner Davidson (56 1 and Jay Sp ringsteen (89 1 it was right-up-tight drafting until Jay's horsepower fade d . Steve Malonee held Joh n Tallarico at bay in the early stage s to cop second Ju nior. Baeder (27 ) almost closed the gap , bu t the traffic didn 't work his way . By Jack Mangus ONTARIO, CAL., OCT. 5 The rider everyone refers to as Kenny Roberts' protege, Skip Aksland, scored his first Junior road race win of the 1975 season at the Champion Spark Plug Classics to back up his third at Daytona and fourth at Laguna Seca. Aksland, an Expert on dirt, had ju st o ne week prior scored a second behind Roberts at the Ascot Grand National Championship half mile. Up to just past the midway point of the 18 lap race the Junior everyone was talking about was Dale Singleton. Singleton, who proudly refers to himself as the " No rth Georgia Pig Farmer," had shown up at Ontario hoping to score hi s second win of the ' 75 season to back up his victory at Laguna Seca. (He had the Daytona Junior race in the bag also , but - ran out of gas an~ finished second.] 12 Singleton was moved from his q ualifying heat p ole positi o n to the .rear of t he pack du e to an overflowing water ca tc h bottle on his Taylor White sp on sored Yamaha TZ700. Singleton didn't le t that bother him as he swept into the lead on the second lap of the five lap heat and then walked away with the race. The start of the Junior Final shaped up immediately as a Singleton/ Aksland show as the two crossed th e start/finish line at the end of th e first lap in a near tie. Singleton then be gan to pull out the slimmest of leads over Aksland and held a three second lead the lap prior to his get-off. . The Dalton, Georgia resident was treated for a lacerated arm and th e usual case of road rash and then dejectedly said, "My tires had begun to go away and I'd backed off a few laps earlier. I'm sure I could have held off Skip, but it (bike) just wen t o ut fro m under me in the left hand sweeper coming out of the infield an d - well - it sure is a bumme r." Th e "bummer" for Singleton was an "upper" for Aksland as his pressuring of Dale had moved the pair more than a half-minute ahead of the remainder of the field. Taking second behind Aksland was Steve Maloney , an eigh t year veteran of road racing who contended with an oil -soaked fairing bubble for the majority of the race. Finishing in the show position was Lakewood Cycle Products sponsored John Talarico . J o hn told winner's circle announcer Roxy Rockwood, "I to ld you I'd do we ll all week and you didn't real ly ' believe me." Roxy had j ust the week prior to the race gone to work for the same finn as John. His answer was, H] believe you now. " For D .A.R.T. (Devlin-Aksland Racing Team ) sponsored Aksland it was thanks to road racer Mike Devlin who wrenched Skip's T Z750 and thanks to his dad, Cliff, Sr . for help t hrougho ut the years. Skip also h ad praise for his rival , Dale Singleton, "I kept up with Dale and we set a real hot pace. " They • sure did. Results JUNiOR FINAL: 1. Skip Aksland (Vam) . 2 . Steve Mallonee {Yam). 3. John Talarico (Vam) . 4 . Fred Walt l (Vam) . 5. Bill Peters. Jr. (Vam). 6. Alan B ar b i e (Vam). 7 . K e v i n Stafford (Vam). 8. Richard Williamson (Yam) . 9. F'rankle Juh an {Vam} . 10. Richard Chambers (Vam). 11. Murray H o f f m an (Ya m) . 12 . B ru ce L i nd ( V am ) . 13. Rick H ocki n g ( V arn) . Speed : 91.521 m ph Ti me , 34,13.291 (1 8 la ps at 2.9 m il e s) Novice By Joh n Ulrich Ted Davidson (Yam) won the Novice Final after surviving a four-way drafting battle broken up by engine troubles, a crash, and traffic. At the start it was impossible to even guess who migh twin. Davidson, Laguna Seca winner Mike Raeder (Yam) , Vince Mead (Yam), and Jay Springsteen (H-D) were all grappling for firs t place in a tight clu mp. It stay ed j ust that way un til the 15th of 18 laps, when Mead crashed while leading. "Those guys (track workers) wan ted to throw my bike in to the crash truck," said Mead after the rac e. "I had to tell 'em to get back." Springsteen 's Harley -Davidson , in his words, "j ust got slower, and slower, and slower," fadi ng back out of th e fight for first. Raeder and Davidson were left. "We were really going at it," said Raeder. "Roth of us were sliding all o ver, and about lost it a t the same time once. " " I rode my hardest," said Davidson , adding that he really felt pressure from , second-place Raeder around the 15th I lap . "Traffic helped me, especially when I was in front of Baeder, I would pass somebody, and may be they'd slow him up. He had horsepower o n me , but I could draft." Raeder explained how t he outcome was de termined on the 16th lap . "We tried to pass a slower rider. Davidson went inside and I tried to go outside. I was going to try to go around him on the last lap, draft him, because I had horsepower. Rut I misjudged, ran off the track, and that was it." Springsteen lost third place o n the last lap to Harry KIinzmann (Yam). Expected to be a threat for the win, Klinzmann was hampered by engine troubles that held him back to a fifth row start. Two toes broken at a club race two weeks earlier didn't hel p, but Klin zm an n we nt fr o m ninth on the first lap to third at t he finish j ust the sam e. Results NOVICE FINAL: 1. Ted D av idson (V am). 2. M ike Baeder (Vam). 3 . Harry Klinzma nn (Yam). 4. Jay Spr in gst een (H· D). 5. Dana Dandeneau (Vam). 6 . V ince Mead (Vam). 7. Robert Murray (Yam). 8 . Mike Bal d w i n (Vam) , 9 . David Emde (Vam). 10. Anthony Angioletti (Vam). Speed , 87.120 m ph Time: 35 :52.026 ( 1 8 laps x 2.9 miles).