Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

i' II ~ .•",,_._._,,_._._;_._._._._._"•-.." .•--• ...._.•' Western hotline .~_.;;~_.~~-;~.-';;;~;;;'''.';';;;';;_ .~ = 00 1:' ~ ~ - (Left) Wendell Phillips (24) won three classes on his 750cc Norton at Willow. (Right) Manning 250cc GP winner Mike Baeder is trailed by WallyKarpynec. (Continuedfroni page 23) McLaughlin wins at Willow; announces GP bid By John Ulrich ROSAMOND , CA , APR . 9 Steve McLaughlin easily won Open GP at a Manning Racing road race at Willow Springs Raceway. then announced ' th a t 26 he will leave to race in World Championsh ip Grand Pri x ne xt month . McLaughlin took the Open GP lead before the first turn of the first lap and continued to stre tch it out every succeeding lap . An y hope of compet iti on vanished wh en Steve Mallonee ret ired h is T Z750 with mechanical troubles early on . Mike Baeder contented h imself with breaking in his new TZ750 engi ne. Billy "The Bullet" Addi.Jlgton from . Cool, California , trait&1 McLaughlin on an AMA Superbike Production Kawasaki Z·I , with Whitney Blakeslee on a stock KZIOOO even farther back in third . After the race , McLaughlin told reporters that he will leav e for Europe with his new RG500 and his TZ750 to contest 500cc World Championship rounds and Formula 750 events. Mike Baeder took firstin 250cc GP , but not quite as easily as McLaughlin did in Open GP. John Gidney and Wally Karpynec led Baeder and Eddie Lawson on th e first lap . At th e end of the straightaway on the second lap , Karpynec drafted Gidney. pulled out and around and passed into the lead . Baede r passed Gidney, wh o later complained of leg cramps, a lap later, and went around Karpynec in tr icky turn nine on th e next lap . Karpyne c trailed Baeder but sta yed within distance for the rest of the race until the last lap . Trying th e same move he had used su ccessfu Jly on Gidney, Karpynec drafted and tr ied to outbrake. Baed cer a t tu rn one. But onl ooker s wer e su rprised to see Baeder cut back int o th e lead as Karpynec swung wide a nd sho t off into th e di rt outside th e turn, bouncing over, bumps , with feet flying and dust rising. By the tim e Karpynec got turned a rou nd , he , was in fourth , behind Baeder (who won ' $25), Eddie Lawson ($15 ), and Gidney ($10) . "The rear wheel locked and the engine stopped because I was trying to brake so hard ," said Karpynec later. " I thought it seized and straightened up and let out the clutch to see if it wou ld fire . It did, but by then the corner was there, and I went ou t to see the ·count rysid e." "I was just cruising," said Baeder. "T hese are the same tires we used at Daytona. and they weren't sticking so well." Wendell Phillips turned in three ~. come-from-behind underdog charges on the Mr. Jags 750 Norton , netting three class wins and two overa ll firsts as well . Phillips started his rides in 750ccl Open Producti on . Bill y Addingt on (stock GSIOOO Suzuki) led J im Haberlin (Mr. Jags 1000 BSA) and Lee Fleming (stock KZIOOO Kawasaki ) whil e Phillips worked his way up from a second -wave start. By th e halfwa y point in the race , Haberlin had caught and passed Addington , and Phillips was already third . Phillips took th e lead one lap la ter , but lost it after another lap . " I hit a neutral as I made the downshift going int o turn three (a blind, bnaked, uphill left) ," explained Phillips. " My whol e body came off the left side of the bike, with the top of m y left boot dragging on the track . I hit the berm outside the turn , went up in the air, climbed back on the bike , hit the pavement and gassed it. " Five turns later he had caught Haberlin aga in' and pa ssed for the le ad. Addington ret ired when his Suzuki ran out · of gas ; Haberlin was secon d overall. first Open . It was much the same in 750cc/Open Cafe, with Phillips again coming from .a second-wave start to lead Open -class winner Haberlin across the finish line. In 750cc Open Four -stroke GP , Phillips couldn't catch Open class winner Dennis Smith (De l Am o Suzuki 944cc GS750 ) and had to sett le for first ·750cc "Ca fe. St eve Mall on ee (Dave Br eetwor Tri) was seco nd in th e Open , • c lass, .it! spite -of', tankslappers . 0 0.. th e , stra igh t that had him backing off and looking down in mid -st raigh t. Bill Henry (Speci a lists II 900cc XS750 Yamaha) was third Open. More Manning money went to 350cc Production riders Ed Toomey (first place , $25) . Malcolm Hill ($15) and Mike Raney ($10 ). Box -stock winners Ralph Hudson (675cc) and Syd DeSoto (Open) each won $25 gift certificates from Champion Motorcycles of Costa Mesa , CA . Results in Results Section. ~~Movin' Marvin" masters mud at Old Timers MX By Wayne Powell TRABUCO CANYON, CA . APR . 9 Sunday dawned bright and sunny at Racing World for the California Racing Club motocross . Unfortunately , Saturday had been a day of a d iffer ent color and a full aft ernoon of rain had left th e track a tad slick . The Old Timers MX association arrived to find that the Marty Smi th course was going to be run backwards. All things considered , it turned into a test for survi val. If you didn't fall or stall. you fin ished pretty go od . Masters and Experts were first up . Newly promoted Master Dick Frampton led the first lap with Marvin Olson right on his tail. As they came down the home straight , Olson was closing fast. He grabbed a taller gear, swung out to the left and gassed it only to discover that the course made a buttonhook right. Frampton motored around the turn while Olson overshot by 30 feet. Next in line was Marshall J enn ings on a four -stroke CCM , followed by Blackie Lew is. They work ed past Frampton and st arted pulling awa y from the field . Lewis made a beautiful pass and he ld the lead until the last lap , when he slid ou t on an off cam ber. Jennings , Olson. Frampton and Ken Willi ams passed him befor e he could get restarted and th ey fini shed th e first moto in th at or de r. .0 Meanwhile, the Experts were ) running at the same time but with a 1 . separate start. Gary Cole was really, flying on his Maico. He led wire-towire and even caught and passed . several Masters. Manny Dauber and " George Meyers swapped second and ~ third place for several laps before Dauber took it for good. Never far behind was newl y promoted Expert Leonard Sciacca , who fin ished fourth . J The Amateurs and Nov ices lined up for their first moto , In the Amateur , class , Chuck Woody got the holeshot 1 and led for four laps before Bill Lyons took over on his Maico . Shortly after being passed , Woody tangled with a r sta lled rider and unloaded. Don J jensen charged hard and finished » second, with Gordon Mathieu and Ra y ~ Sanchez following . J The Novice class was suffering from an acute lack of entries. The green p lat e riders must have seen those rain clouds on Saturday and decided to stay home and watch bowling on TV . Five of us brave sou ls lined up to give it a go. Joe Bray took th e lead until he got sid eways in th e mudhole at the foot of the ant hill and I got by him. Coming down the home straight, I pulled a Marvin Olson and overcooked it whil e I was looking for that tight right turn . Too late. there it was and all I could do was lock it up . slide past and kill the engine. Bray and Bob Alloy went on to take first and second while I wound up a d istant third . By the second moto the track had dried out some and the speeds had pi cked u p a lot : Marvin Olson remembered where all the turns were and led from start to finish . Blackie Lewis made up a lot of ground but had to settle for second. When the overall points were counted. it was Olson first , Lewis second and Ken Williams third . Despite a bad start. Gary Co le was soon in a lead that he was not to lose . He went I -I for the overall Expert win . He was so impressive that th e riding com mitt ee promoted him to Master cla ss as of right now . Manny Dauber mu st have liked th e slop py track better, because he got involv ed in a series of get -offs that left him at the tai l end of th e pack . When it was a ll 1 'j

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