Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

(N ,.....c 1-0 Q) ..0 o .... u o Dale Singleton came from Georgia and showed true grits before engine soured. with Hammer ' for fourth , leaving • Willing, Ron Mass, 'R om ero, Long, and Singleton to round out' the top 10 places in this season's last ,N a tiona l road race. Roberts' win adds new life to the Grand National points race, but it's going to take some real mechanical · doing for him to regain the number one plate. The two remaining series races are on dirt tracks . Unless Yamaha can come up with the right combination of · mechanical equipment necessary to meet the requirements of a dirt winning ticket , Roberts will have won the battle today , but Springsteen will still win th e war. • Results 1. Kennv Roberts (Yam ). 2. Dave Aldana (Yaml. 3. St eve Mclaughl in (Yam). 4 . Ron Pierce (Yam l. 5. Bruce Hamm er IVaml. 6. Warren WoIling (Yam). 7. Ron Mass (Vam) . 8 . Gene Romero (Yaml. 9. John Long (Yam ). 10. ~ E. Dale Singleton (Yaml . 11. W as Coo ley (Ya ml. 12. Kevin Stafford IVa ml. 13. David Emde (Yaml. 14 . Allan Barbic !Yam). 15. Richard Schlaet er IVem). 16. Harry • Cone (Yaml . 17. Robert Wak efield (Yam l. 18. Pau l Mclachlan (Vaml . 19 . Robert Pietr i (Yaml . 20 . Bruce line (Yam). 21. St eve Mallon ee (Yam). 22. Jim Dun n (Yam). 23 . DeGouw (Yam). 24 . Avrum Gudelsky IYaml. ~ 25 . Dean Cleeton IVaml.' 26 . Gar( Scan !Yam). 27 . Richard Chambers (Yaml . 28 . Richllfd Seifr ied IVaml. 29 . Greg Andrus (Han). 30 . Bob Rectenwald (Yam). 31 . Sedao Asami (Yam). 32. Michael Baldw in (Yam). 33 . Gary Nixon IVam). 34 . Gill Martin (Yam). CAMEL PRD SER IES CHAMPIONSHIP POINT STANDINGS : 1. Jav Springsteen 235 pt s. 2. KennV Roberts 203 . 3. Ted 800dV 198 . 4 . Gary Scan 11<5. 5. Steve Eklund 173 . 6. Corky Keener 147 . 7. Mike Kidd 128 . 8. Henk Scan 125 . 9. Skip Akslend 118. 10. Steve Morehead 83 . c25 0 cc Expert final .....; 20 laps By Chuck Clayton RIVERSIDE, CA, OCT. I This was the final race to decide whether David Emde or Randy Mamola would become the new .national 250cc road race cham . pi on: Now , being the 250cc RR champ carries about as much reward as runnerup in the Miss Artichoke contest. . But: like Emde says. it helps with finding a sponsorship . Champion ofanything is respectable. Emde almost didn't ride. In practice hi s right knee . which road rac ers throw out like a wind brake in corn ers . kept hitting the r ippl y concrete "d ragon teeth" that Riverside puts in the road margins to warn ca r racers that th ey are off the course. The joint was black and Emde said "It felt like I'd knocked off my kneecap. " He had just about decided to scratch from the race when a m ystery muscle therapist happened along, who kn ew just what to do. "He touched me here and there and the problem cleared right up ," sa id Emde. " It was like m agic . If it hadn't been for that help ," said th e new cha m p, " I woul dn 't of ro de." Gary Nix on . aft er winn ing h is hea t ~ ra ce (Em de was seco nd), holeshot t he fina l with Emde a nd Ma rnola (th e other heat winner ) in close pursuit. Soon Mike Baeder , a local club racer . made his presence known . Baeder caught up with Mamola, passed , and set his cap for Emde. Nixon seemed in perfect command of the lead on his silver bike. Mamola passed Baeder back , but in doing so made a mistake .. He almost spilled in turn two leading into the esses, then dropped it in turn three. At the same time, Emde was making his pass on Nixon. And for once , Nixon stayed passed. Baeder hung onto third and that's how they finished . Steve Eklund a post -entry from San Jose , CA . fought his wa y bravely past Harry Klinzmann to fou rt h a nd was closing on the lea d e rs wh en t he ch eck ered flag flew. " Ri versi d e is m y favorite t ra ck, ': exu lted Da vid Emde afterwa rd . Bla ck knee and all. Result s EXPERT LIGHTW EIGHT FINAl: 1. Da vid Emd e {Yam). 2. Gary Nixon (Vaml . 3. M ike Baeder (Yam l. 4. S teve Eklund (Yaml. 5. Frank MeTaggarl (Yaml . 6 . Richard Sch lachter (Vaml. 7. Was Cool ey IVam). 8 . Diek Fuller (Yaml. 9. Dave GlIfoune (Ya ml. 10 . John Long IVaml. 11. Kent Rockwell (Varni. 12. Gill MlIf1in IYam). 13. James W oolsey (Yam). 14. Alan Barbie (Yam). 15. Bob Rect enwald (Yaml . , 6. Richard Chm ber. (Vam). 17. AVTum Gud elsk V (Yaml. 18. Dean Cleaton (Ya ml. 19. Val Sa il !Ya ml. 20 . Waldemar Karpvn ec (Ya ml. 21. Ralph Crossman (Ya ml. 22 . Quel in Hogan (Yaml . 23. Bruce Lind (Yam), 24 . Rudy Galindo (Yaml. 25. Randy Mamola (Yam). 26 . Harry Klinzmann (Yam). 27 . Tom Crafford (Yam). Superbike , Production class By Chuck Clayton RIVERSIDE, CA , OCT. I Steve McLaughlin was supremely confident. After winning Laguna Seca's superbike race last month with the new Yoshimura Suzuki on a handl ing course . he was virtua lly certain of tak ing the George Kerker Memorial Ra ce , with its en ha n ced pu rse . on R ive rside 's h o rse p ow er co urse . Cook leilson 's C ycl e Mag a zine Du cari, St eve 's usua l nemesis, ' was tired . It had blown its engi ne d uri ng Saturday'S heat race and tuner Phil Schilling looked blea ry ·this morning, after building a new engine out of spare parts overnight. "T he tri ck is not to make any mistakes." Phil mumbled , his hands deep in th e Du ck' s bottom end. Reg Pridmore . on the Racecrafters Kawasaki , and Mike Baldwin from Connecticut were close in contention for champion of th e Superbikes. This race would tell th e tale . McLaughlin holeshot th e sta rt as the 17 hot rods took off like a speed ing locom ot ive . Pridmore sto p ped between turns one and two. A wire had come adrift from his battery and it too k him th e next six la ps to fin d the proble m a nd fix it. Wes Cooley, often . a bridesmaid . was second on the Yoshimu ra 998cc Kawasaki. Steve. a lways the sho wm a n. grandly wav ed Coole y by and . to Steve Mclaughlin held Superbike edge. but not for long. Wes Cooley (33) was the 7th Superbike winner this year, Steve's surprise , young Wes took him up on the offer. This must have startled Mc Laughlin so much that he lunched the clutch. Anyway, Steve was out before lap one was completed. Now Cooley had the lead, but it was not secure. Neilson , on the fine handling Duca ti, closed up the gap , pulling Paul Ritter, the Sears Point winner on another Ducati , in his draft. Cooley's Kaw started its famous wiggle throu gh high-speed turn one and Cook was gaining. By m idwa y in the 16 -lap race , Pridmore was back in, hoping tha t somet hing would happen to Baldwin . And it d id . Mike mi ssed a shift and messed u p the ge ar bo x . He coasted to a stop. shru ggi ng , near the finish line . Neilson passed Cool ey bri efly in th e tight st u ff a n d Coo ley passed hi m b ack . But the Ka yaba shocks on th e Kaw we re d e finit el y going awa y. Neilson passed Cool ey again . and it . took a su per hum an effort for Wes to take back the lead, pogoing shocks and all, on th e wh ite flag lap. Neilson ducked inside in the last lap swee pe r but Cool ey held her'down on th e cases a nd crossed the finish lin e th e winne r , for th e first time in his national career. Baldwin. pushed his bike across the fini sh line to take the checkered flag , with enough laps com p leted to win the Superbike c h a m p io nsh ip over. Pridmor e . Results 1. W as Cool ev IKawI. 2. Coo k Neilson IDuel. 3. Paul Ritter (Duel. 4. Harry Klinzmann (BMW>. 5. Ron Pierce Coo ley and hi s Ker k er t ro phy. When the checkered flag came out in Bouncing Bob's h a nd , Gidney had the last season's win , followed by Gennady Liubinsky of San Francisco. Don Bailey survived to take third , and Sass clinched his cha m p ionship with fourth. Results 1. John Gidney IVa m). 2. Gennadv Liubinskv IVaml. 3. Don Bailey IVaml. 4 . Bruc e Sass (Yam l. 5. Robert Sells (Yam ). 6. Darrell Lee (Vaml . 7 . Eddie Lawson (Yam). 8. Dan W arren (Yaml. 9. W . Craig Morris (Yam). (Yaml. 6 . Lee Aeming IKaw). 7. Van ce 8 reese IM-Gl. 8. 10 . Lance Jones !Yam ). 11. Glen S hopher (Yam). 12. Dick Kilgro e (Kaw), 9. William Henry (Yam). 10. St eve Epstein IKaw t 11. Keith Cod e ISuz). 12. Emile Mullick IHonl. 13. Art Chamber IDucl. 14. M;ke Baldwin (M-Gl. 15. Reg Pridmore (Kaw l. 16. Jim Haberlin (Trit 17. Steve Mclaughlin tSuz). Dana Ward (Yam), Novice 250 Final : John Gidney of Burbank , CA won the 16-lap Novice race after a war of attrition that set back the two heat winners MarkJones o f Kansas and Lance Jones of Alabama . At the start Lance Jones got th e holeshot while self-sponsored Gidney had to do battle with Mark J ones hot on his stingers . By the second lap Gidney and Mark had taken their fight to the for e . a nd Lance began to fall back. Now Mark had the lead and the tussle raged past the halfway point unti l the 10 th la p . when Mark d roppe d his Yamaha on tricky turn seven . Gidney now had a secure lead , b u t novi ce c ha m p io n Bru ce Sa ss . of Golden . Co lorado was m oving up in fifth . The speed and inexperience on Riverside's h igh -concentra tion co urse was taking its toll. Altoge ther six no vices crashed. a nd th ree were taken to the hospital. All were oka y , thankfull y. Sidecars With a purse fattened by Champion Spark Plugs , the two-man teams took to the tarmac. Bruce Lind and Jack Hart got the hol eshot with La r ry Coleman and Wendell A n drews on their Suzuki . wat erpumper second. Ca nadians Greg C ox and Bill Da vid son on their beautiful bla ck ~.C . Engined rig had sta rting trouble and missed the first few laps. They ca me ba ck in later to dice with th e leaders a nd show the superior power of th eir Kawasaki , but it was the combinati on of Wayne ' - . Lougee and Randall Hough who won th e day and about. $310 . followed by . th e smoking Suz y of Coleman and Andrews. • Resu lts t . Wayne lougee/Randall Hough lKaw) . 2. Larry Andrews (S uz). 3. Craig Col eman/Wend ell . Marx/Michael Parkinson (Suzl. 4. Neil MunrolTm Munro IKaw l. 5. Doug Kalina /Pat Dunn (Vam l. 6. Gar( GipelMark Bevans (Kaw l. 7. Robert McGu ire/Bradley Fulker IKawl. 8. Ian Fillerv/S tephen CllJinn . 9. Richard Dupree/Marvin Hagele. 10 . Douglas OanteisIKip Culver (Hon), 11. l eon Van Ord sdalelBenrie Thomas (Honl. 12. Greg Cox/Bill David son (!(aw l. 13. Watt er Garnen III/Richard Sm ith IKawl . 14 . Jerry PersonlN orman Jamison IT ril. t 5. Richard Murray/Roger Chase (Suzl. 16. 8ruce Lind/Jack HlIf1 lKawI. 17. Fred GorschIOon Frederickson O<.awl. 9

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