Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Klinzman finally wins By John Ulrich :-. RI V ERSIDE' CALIF. O CT. 3. 1976 r\ ovice Harr y Klin zrnann fin ally I won a Novice race in his fou rt h t rv th is Year. At Dav tona, L:'udo n, Laguna Seca, and 'River: (l) ..0 o ...... u o -ide, Klin zman n was easilv t he fast est No vice on th e track. o ften turning co m pe t it ive Expert lap t imes. But at L"\' cr y ra ce - ",<~'xc cp t th is one at . 1 Rive rside - Klin zmanns cer ta in victory diss o lved in to dismay. AI Day t o n a and Lagu na the pro ble ms we re mech ani cal. '~ l Loudon. Kl in zrn a nn cam e fro m last "" the grid to firs t pl ace . on lv to crash while stre tch in g ou t h is leud . . . Klinzrna nn , a 1i-year-old fro m Gar d en Gr ove. Califo rn ia , fina lly p ut his ba d lu c k beh ind hi m and ra n a way fro m [he other Novices. ri d in g' tw o secon d s a lap faster than seco ud-p lace Randy Marn ol a. By the six t h lap. Klin zmann ( ~ l r. AI's Restaurant-R on ' Pierce En terprises-Mack- Prem ier Yamaha] had II seconds on l\lam ola [j im Kaw. Doyle-Yamaha ·In terna tio n al). who had abou t the sam e lead on -the battle fo r th ird between Kent Rockwell, Wally Karpy nec, and Steve Ecklund. Scott Pearson. th e J u nio r-cl ass dirt tracke r wh o won th e Novice class at Lo udon and Laguna ' after Klinzmann su ff ered h is u su al bad lu ck, worked his way u p through the pack in to third place a fte r a. start on th e last ro w o f the second w ave. Pearson 's cli m b through traffic was rem iniscen t o f Klin zrn ann's ride a t Lou don. The difference was that Pear son never caugh t Marnola, where Klin zmann at Loudon went all the way fro m first to last . The reason .Pea rson start e d on the bac k row w as that hi s J im and Jim's Yamaha TZ2 50 B seize d in Turn One during practice Saturday , throwing _ Pearson down. T he bike slid into the mud surroundin g t he co u rse. when it came bac k in to the p its coate d with mud , seized, sc ra t ched, sm ash ed, and with a ben t sw ing arm, it d idn 't loo k go od. But tuner Keith Bon tr ager went to w ork. T he m ach in e wasn ' t re ady to ride by Saturday 's heat race, " but Pearson pu sh ed it 10 th e h orid an d ac ross the start ing lin e - as per the AMA rules - to qualify in last p lace for t he fin al, While Pearson was slicin g th ro ugh the pac k. whil e Klinzrnann was running :I awa y fr om Marno la, a nd while Mam ol a U was leaving behind th e field. R ockwell, c:: .J E klu nd , an n Karpy nec kept passing :J and repassing in their fight fo r third. Z .J :I Karprace with a aboum-halfwayrearrotire. g th e ynec pitted ' v-o t ou t th ug h Harry Hunt. th e Dunlop tir e distrib uto r, had promised Karp ynec a new rear tire tigh ten ed 19 77 ru les th an his befo re the race. But wh en Karpynec te am mates'. T h is class. so popular a year went to get the tire, Hun t had sold it to ago, and so grea t in pote n tia l spectator an o th er rider. Thin kin g a used Dunlop appeal, had quic kly turned into a fo u r would w or k b etter th an a n ew stro ke GP cl ass. as har d a game to st ay G oo d year, Karp y nec gam bled an d lo st. in to as Formula 750 itsel f, fro m a Klin zrn ann, Mam o la, and Pear son all money stand p o in t Wit h Reg p ic kin g u p u sed Dunlo p s, $3 75 in purse mon ey, Cook $260 and Rockwell finall y wo n the rem aining Steve $ 18 0, it's small won der that the dice fo r fourth after Pear son caugh t an d field of potential en trants (in th e P assed th e grou p . ab sence of he avy fac tory com m it men ts) In th e w inner's c ircl e, K lin zman n was has sh ru n k. Vet co m e EPA em ission ex u be ra nt. A ll three Novic es con trols time (all too so o n) th is m ay be (Klinzman n, Marn o la, and Pear son ) won th e only racin g class th at has real co n tin gency m oney from AFM ($ 100. meanin g to potential street bike $50, $25) for p lacing in th e top three cust o m ers. Something's go tta give. • and being A FM membc'l' '' ' • I 1 for Steve Me Laughlin and Gary Fisher. Reg Pridm ore's b ike was conven tion ally sprung o n gas Bo ge /Mulhollands; as Reg frankly prefers its feel over the monoshockers. The Neilson Ducati, now three years old. has to rank as one of the most _ successful priva teer "project bikes" ever. Cook was waxing eloquent over the performance of Goodyear's latest offering on the Duck's rear wheel "It's a new profile - a '1750 D' - a little taller, same compound. smaller sidewalls. It works great on this track, wh ich has a different surface porosity, different requirements than, say Laguna or Ontario or Daytona." Co o k had already finished second to Pr idmo re once, as Reg had n ip ped him by half a length on the last lap of their Saturday qualifier: McLaughlin had sp illed in tum seven in that race, but was u p an d going again. The heat had been but a formality, h owever, as just 13 bikes started Sunday's final o n a comp act grid. Again Wes Cooley won the drag race and led through th e Esses where the gyrations of the big Kaw must have been quite an intimidation factor to any would-be passers. They turned a 91 -plus standing lap, as Wes still led Fisher, Pridmore, Neilson and McLaughlin in a tight group. The drafting must have been fierc e, as the sec on d time through Tum Six i t w as Co ok leading F isher, Pridmore, McLaughlin and Cooley. Th e BMWs re m ain ed in form at ion behind Cook for a couple m ore lap s, th en it wa s as if th ey 'd shu ffl ed among th em selves and sen t th eir bad man forward. Just n ow t hey w ere lappin g the first tail ender, Bill Harding, who must have been on e rattled dude as firs t Cook, th en Pridmore, McLaughlin and Fisher bl ew by be twe en the en try to tum six and th e ex it t o tum 7A. The traffic was enough to cost Cook momentum; and Pridmore, already on th e bubble af ter his customary' wa tc h fu l . wait, got b y th e n ext lap. Co ok took th e lead back, held it for a few laps, th en ' Re g go t it again, for go od: About lap 13 , a breather must have begun to w ork loose, soon co ver ing the rear of the Ducati w ith oil, for Pridmore pulled right away (Coo k said later he first realized how bad it was when he almost cam e clean off while sh ift ing wei ght from right to left in the esses. Bad momen t) It was fr om here on that th e new Goodyear made Neilson a believ er , for with a cer ta in am ount o f self-co n tr ol , it con tin ued to hold; and McLau ghlin o n ly close to passing ra nge in th e last two lap s. Steve did slin gsh o t Cook d own t he back st raigh t, bu t Cook ha d n o t iced o ne thing abou t th e te am BMs. Whether du e to shaft react ion or Cooley climbing all over the unm

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