Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Despite a bad knee, Mitch was amazing as usual; he led everybody from wire to wire with t ime to spare. Inset: Stuntman tries to ju m p to heaven . Mayes exceptional in SCORE Championship By Rex Reese RIVE RS IDE, CAL., AUG . 21-22 "The . track was perfect!" Mitch Mayes would say in 40 minutes, commenting on his victory. "The course was the same as last .year , except for the quarter mile they added." Mayes, - on a Husky sponsored by Long Beach Honda, won his second SCORE motor- 12 cycle championship in a repeat performance that saw him lead the troops from wire to wire. Mitch was fast, smooth and in control of the situation that saw him fmish 16 seconds ahead of another Husky rider, Jack Johnson, and lo n g-t im e desert foe Terry Clark who p laced third o verall on his factory backed Kawasaki. Despite t he ease in wh ich Mayes had wo n, it wasn 't withou t any p roblems; pro bl em s which alm o st p reven ted him from starting, and problems after the race which almost deprived him of victory. During the Saturday morning qualifier heat, Mitch tweaked his left leg, and the injury was substantial enough to cause a lot 'o f concern for the rest of the day. The knee had become swollen and almost too sore to walk on. In that same qualifier, Mitch's friend, and heavy pre-race favorite, Larry Roeseler crashed after hitting a pot hole in the track, pu ttin g the only official Husky backed rider out with an injured leg and broken thu mb which too k three p ins t o reassemble . Mitch wa s behind Larry, and if it hadn't be en for a las t minute change in the trajectory of the fallen rider, Mitch's kn ee would have been the least of his problems. Mitch went on to ride the .a ft erno on qualifier with an "Ace" bandage on the knee in hopes that things would stay together. They did and Mayes rocketed himself to the fastest overall motorcycle times in both heats; with a 3 :28 fastest lap in the first and then a faster 3 :25 in the second. Sunday morning came and the knee was worse as it had filled with fluid. After being turned down by a local hospital to have it drained, l\litch returned to the track, packed it in ice and hoped for the best. At two o'clock in the a ft ern o o n , the Open class led , the co m b ined displacement field, getting off to a good tight dash down the pavement that almost left Mayes holding the bag. But Mitch quickly caught up with the pack which was led by . J ack Johnson and Terry Clark, un t il, as Mitc h described it , "Terry missed a shift coming off the pavement. He went wide and I went low; and that's the las t I ever saw of him." Shortly thereafter, Mayes also passed Johnson and that was the last that anybody ever saw of him, too. Johnson followed Mayes closely in the early laps by t later fell back a few seconds and finally 16 seconds behind the leader. The only threat that Jack posed -in gaining on Mitch was when Mitch accidentally kicked out his leg an d ouched his knee, causing him to slow down a bit. But he held on and kept cruising, hoping that nobody else wo uld gain on him. Nobody did. Clar k remaine d in third, uever ga ining or losing, but his exhaust pipe was falling apart wlrich made the life expectancy of his bike questionable. Behind Terry was a much tigh ter race in the 250 class as Mike Bell and Gary Jones diced it out again st each other, only to have both riders p assed up by _ last y ea r's 125 champ Bobby J ones who zapped them on his Honda scream er. Of UJ l:l UJ tt: X UJ tt: 011 Z ?: o tt: al UJ .J al Ul o fo o.'---------- - J: -=- ---.J Bobby Jones (4401 ran away from the rest of the 1255; f inished an amazing 4th O.A. all the riders, Bobby never backed off from h is p ace on t he first lap, while the other Jones had his own m iracle going from a dead last start and pulling into the sixth overall positon - sometimes fifth. Gary's problem this time was a too rich engine that didn't clean out: and so he would finish second 250 behind Bell. Mitch fmished first, more than 16 seconds over Johnson, though he rode bette r than 10 miles slower than last year's speeds, at an official average of 43.2 71 mph in 34 m in utes and 39 seconds. If it stood, it would be the fastest time of t he day , and yet another ' biker victo ry at ano ther SCO RE race. "I knew the course be tter -: than Terry," said Mitch as he res ted in the press trailer. "I know mo re MX than Johnson ... You had to pick good lines. Jack picked a couple of bad lines and I passed him ." The victory was slightly shadowed when it was announced that a refueling stop that many riders had made was illegal an d could result in a mass disq ualification. SCORE prez Sal Fish straightened out the facts which ma de Mitch and the rest b re athe easier. Mitch was the official winner. Mike BeU nao said the day before that MX rid ers would've been able to race the 35 minute championship race easier than the rest because they could get into it right away. "But there are exceptions like Mitch• . . . " Mitch Mayes certainly was th e exception. • Results SCOR E W ORLD CH AM PI ONS H IP CLAS S 22 251 cc AND UP , 1. Mitch Mayes (HUS). 2. Ja ck Johnson (H us ). 3 . Terry Cl a rk (Kaw ). AV. SP E ED OF (fast est of the day). E L ASPE D m inutes. T IME: WI N NER , OF 43.271 RACE, m ph 34.39.889 CLASS 21 25 0cc OR L ES S , 1. Mike Bell (hUS). 2. Gary Jones (Jon/Isla) . 3. B o b Rutten ( Hus ). A V. SPEED OF WINN ER, 41.5 m ph ELAPSED TIME OF RACE , 36.08.673 minutes. C LASS 20 125cc OR LESS , Jones (Hon\. 2 . Dave Michael St r .... ns (Hus) . Carl so n 1. Bo bby (Hon). 3. AV. S P ~ c. D OF WINNER , 41.819 mph . ELAPSED TIME OF RACE, 35.52.120 minutes.

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