Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

By Jack Mangus SAN CARLOS, VENEZUELA , MARCH 21 If any event in the lengthy history of motorcycle racing was, not "properly held" it was the 200 Miles of Venezuela" the second round o f th e 1976 Form ula 750 Seri es. Co nd itio ns fo r th e FI),I s an cti on ed, Ven e z ue l an M ot or cyc le F ed er a t i o n / Latinameri c a n M o t o r c y c l e Unio n pro moted road race 'were des picab le. Aust ralian J ohn Dodds summed th e me et ing up by saying, " I've b een screwed befor e, but never with such bl oody efficiency." Sandwiched between the many frustrating p re and post-race in ci den ts was a furiouslv co n tested ra ce that saw Gary Nix on proclaimed the overall winn er at th e end of the second 100-mile heat and Steve Baker listed as the "official", winner an hour or so after fl oa t b owls. The s top would prove to be th e subj ect of. m aj o r p o s t -r a c e co n tr o versy . Man y o nlookers co n ten ded af ter th e rac e th at Baker got off h is bike, re moved his helmet an d took a d rin k while Bob Wo rk too k care of th e probl em . The consensus of the offi cial scorers w as th at he re-entered the race in sixteenth pl ace . But most unoffici al scorers logged him in their lap records as being a lap down. Hansford's Kaw asaki overheat ed and h e retired from' th e race after the eigh th lap . On the tenth lap the order was Ce cotto, Kanaya, Sheene, Pat ' Henn en , P a trick Pons, Victor Palomo, Gary Nixon, Michel Rougerie and Baker. On th e eleventh lap Palomo joined Other Amerlc~ placings were J ohrr Long (11th), Larry Bleil (13th), Mike Clark, who had stepped off (23rd), Phil McDonald, who had suffered a booshed clu tch at the start (25th), Pat Hennen, wh o h ad als o stepped off (28 th ), and retirees S teve McL au ghlin and Hurley Wilvert. Second 100 mile heat Whe n grid tim e cam e pandem onium once again se t in , but th is time it wasn't overzealous o nlo okers . but th e rid ers them selves who wer e in an up roar. In form ed th at they should grid j u st as they ha d done for th e first leg , the gaggle of com pe tito rs let out a h owl which probab ly was heard b ack in C a racas. A fter a multitude of "no pro blem " answers , a first leg result she et was pr odu ced an d the riders and mech an ics b egan to sh uffle th eir b ikes int o something resembling a starting grid. Ce cotto had the pole-no question about th at..but fr om there on across the fron t row there was to tal confusion. Baker and Nixon both wanted the se c o n d spot ; Cleek, Newbold and Rougerie all wanted a front row start; and the officials just said-right--"no problem." So, six riders occupied the > - missed a beat on the 27th lap as their hero Johnny Cecotto pulled in to the pits and retired from the race. Early reports had Cecotto retiring due to heat prostration, but it was later revealed that he wears contact len ses and had been forced o u t when di rt go t under one lens , leaving him with visio n in onl y one ey e. Wh atever th e re aso n , specta tors beg an a mass exodus fro m the track; th eir hero was out and th ey were le t down. T he "official" results of th e second heat showe d Ba ker winning, foll owed by Nixon , McDonald, Hen nen , Long, Newbold, Cardozo, Rouge ri e, Rui z and Fusine oc cupying the top ten spo ts. The er ro r s w ere ob v iou s a n d Ph il McD onald's father, Norm , shoo k his head and said, " Ph il was fi ft h. A strong fifth. Bu t third? These guys are crazy." Baker, pumped by what he assume d to be an overall vic to ry , was j ubilan tly greeted by "Bo" Work and a h orde ot Yamaha employees . Nixo n , in t um , pulled his bike up to his p i t, steppe d down and took off running for th e showers. He was accompanied b y 'Erv Kanemoto, who later said, " Gary half ran, half stumbled his wa y into the place and collapsed on the floor under one of the showers." That floor, b y the The five-man front row with Cecotto (5), Baker (32). Nixon (9), Newbold (6), Rougerie (24) and Cleek (29). Yes, that is six men. the n ation had watched, via live television , the w inners ' circle ceremo nies ho~oring N ixon. First 100 mile heat Pandemonium surrounded the starting grid as the minutes were signaled down via the starter's time-boards. Hundreds of onlookers, all bearing some form of "official" pass, crunched together in hopes, presumably of snapping a picture of Johnny Cecotto. While policemen, soldiers, officials, etc. worked to move the crowd off the edge. of the track, Gary Nixon worked his way up to his starting position with less than two minutes to go. He had punched a hole in the bottom end of his Erv Kanemoto prepared Kawasaki when a connecting rod broke during the last practice session on Saturday and Kanemoto had worked un til nearly midnigh t on an 'e n g in e supplied by Neville Doyle, Hansford's mechanic. In ' a three-lap practice session Sunday morning the ~ h e a d . one o f Kancmoto's "trick " numbers, cracked, causing a wide-open rush job. Kanemoto worked up until the last minute grinding out a stock head, installing it and pushing Nixon away .. a1l while suffering with the flu, When the green Oag dropped it was Gregg Hansford away first follo wed side -by -side and wheel-to-wheel by Barry Sheene, Steve Baker and Johnny Cecotto. The quartet crossed the start/finish line in 'th at order at the end of the first lap as the disappointingly small crowd of an estimated 25 ,000 cheered their hero on with a "Cecotto-Cecotto-Cecotto" chant. Cecotto led Hansford, Baker and Sheene across the line at the end of the second and third of the thirty-nine laps, but it was still anybody's ' race among those four, plus a closing Hideo Kanaya. Lap four saw Baker pull into the pits with a stuck float in one of his carb's Hansford on the DNF list which alre ad y included Hurley Wilvert, who dropped out almost immediately with a seized engine, several locals including Cecotto 's older brother Jose, who if nothing else earned the "squirrel of the week" aw ard for his constant buzzing up and down the pit lane, and Fred Gurtner, who jumped off. The following lap saw Barry Sheene pull out of the race with 'a broken connecting rod. Sheene had been hot on Cecotto's tail, but his re tirement left Kanaya approximately ten seconds in arrears of Cecotto. On the same lap Pat Hennen's Suzuki began "popping" and he pitted on the following lap for some quick pit work. Cecotto maintained a ten to eleven second lead over Kanaya up to the eighteenth lap. On that lap Kanaya " . . . slowed down because I was being signaled that I wasn't gaining, but h ad a secure second. Just after I slowed down I then (waving arms to indica te wobble) and I th en boom! " With Kanaya retired it was all Cecotto up front. Behind the 20·year-old 350cc World Champion positions were' being switched aro und b y gas stops, fast riding, consistent riding and retirements. Baker had ei ther moved up in to second (according to the officials) or unlapped himself from everyone except Cecotto [according to most riders' crew members who were keeping lap charts) . v Behind Cecotto or behind Cecotto and Baker a dice was going on between Nixon and Pons for second-or was it third? Nixon was slow getting away from his pit stop and fell behind Pons, but the French rider stepped off on the 35th lap and broke his left leg. The "official" results posted following the first heat listed the top ten as Ce co t t o , Baker, Nixon, Newbold, Rougerie, Randy Cleek, Ted Henter, Cliff Carr, Ken Blake and Pat Evans. " five-m an " front row and the race was flagged off. Cecotto led Nixon into the hairpin turn at the end , of the front straight/sweeper and there Nixon pulled off a magic trick that had him asking everyone the following day if they had either seen it or preferably taken ,a photo of it. British journalist Mick Woollett had been on the spot and said, " N o , I don't have a shot of it. I kept holding off moving my trigger finger because I was sure you were going to crash . " Nixon, who described the rapidly breaking up track as a "dirt track," called the incident the "best get-off wi thou t getting off I've ever pulled off." Baker, Rougerie, Nixon and, Sheene followed Cecotto across the line at the end of lap one. By the third tour of the circuit Cecotto had a four second lead on Baker, who Was pulling away from Rougerie, Sheene, Nixon, Newbold, Wilvert, Long, Cleek, Hennen (wh o was using Sheene's spare bike's fairing, thus con fu sing everyone w ith th e second . number 7 in th e race) , Henter, Bleil and Evans. Mike Clark pitted for some quick attention from his dad and rnechamc Mack Kambavashi on the seventh lap; Sheenegot b y Rougerie on the ninth lap onl y to drop ou t of the race on the eleventh go-around; and Cecotto just kep t piling up seconds on Baker. By the thirteenth lap the field was whittled down to 25 and lapped local riders on the front straight took quick glances to the rear to determine wh,.ther or not the "rocket-ship" guys were going to rattle their fairings again. Cecotto had a half-minute lead over Baker on the 25th lap with Rougerie a distance behind Baker but six seconds ahead of Nixon. The hearts of millions of Venezuelans way , had been turned in to a , watery pool containing human exc rem en t, courtesy of the many natives who had no better sense. Approximately a half-hour after the finish of the race Nixon was summoned to the winners' circle where he was proclaimed the victor and awarded trophies, wreaths and ribbons. He was joined by Baker, who was aw arded the ' s e c on d place trophy, and the pair wearily shook hands while the television cameras rolled on and the local photographers elbowed and shoved their w 'ay into a better position to photograph the man who had done the impossible. The man who had beaten Cecotto in Venezuela. Which of the two -Nixon or Baker-was the man? We'll have to wait a month or so until the FlM holds their spring Congress, at which time the protest lodged by Nixon will be decided. Also to be decided is the finishing posi tions of Newbold and Rougerie, As Mississippian Bart Clark, one-third of the Randy Cleek sponsoring B.S.&W. Racing Team , put it, "Venezuela is full of el toro poo-poo." • Unofficial Results 1. Steve Baker (Vam); 2 . Gary Nixon (Kaw) ; 3. John Newbold (Suz) ; 4. M ichel Rougerle Ya m l : 5 . John Long (Yam), 6 . Randy Cleek Yam ; 1. Cliff Carr (Yam) ; 8. Roger Ru l z Yam, 9. Larry Bleil (Yam) , 10 . Rogello . ardozo (Vam); 11. Pat Evans (Vam) ; 12. Ferruclo Fuslne (Vam); 13 . Jorge Maalm (Yam): 14 . Phil McDonald (Yam) , 15 . Pier Forester (Vam); 16 . Walter Tucano (Vam) ; 17 . M ike Clark (Yam), 18. Pat Hennen (Suz) : 19 . Johnny Cecotto IYam) : 20. Denlsle Casserlnl (Vam); 21. Lu s Gomez (Yam); 22. Santiago Gonzalez (Vam); 23. Ken Slake (vaml ; 24. Marcos Luger (Vam) ; 25 . Edmar Ferre raa (Vam) ; 26. Ted Henter (Vam) ; 2 1. Eduardo Aleman (Vam); 28. Marcos Mujica (Vam); 29. Luis Fernandez (Vam) ; 30. Patrick Pons (Yam): 31. Allredo Acosta (Yam): 32. Barry Sheene (Suz) : 33 . Hldeo Kanaya (Vam); 34. John Dodds IYam): 35. Hernan Gil (Yam) : 36 . Steve McLaughlin (Yam) : 37. Victor Palomo (Vam)i 38. Gregg Hansford (Kaw); 39. Fred Guttner (Yam) ; 40. Jose eecotto (Vam); 41. Antonio Melreles (Vam); 42. Pedro Alvarex (KJlw): 43. Hurley W!lvert (Yam). ~ 9

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