Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

I III r St eve Darl ey wo n 250cc GP with a com fo rta ble margin over the fiel d. Darley was leadin g Freddie Spencer on the second lap wh en Spence r's Yamaha igni tion so ured, allowin g St eve an un challenged cruise to the flag . Fin ishin g second was Da vid Bearden as Mike H erzing barely edged Gerald Smith for third . Darley a nd Bea rden re turned to dominat e 500cc GP a board their Yamahas wit h the results th e sam e ; Da rley firs t and Bea rden second. Earl Smith was thi rd . J erry Hardy ( Bya rs Suz) ran off and hi d fro m Du nca n Paul (Yam) in the ea rly laps of th e 200cc GP to bea t P a u l and Keith Braud . David Langley (Yam ) was the fas test entrant in 125cc GP wit h Keith Braud a nd T ed Byron (Hon) followin g . J on Minnon o , 750 cc Product io n National Ch amp th e past two years , m et his toughest o p ponent in 750cc Production a nd 750cc Su perbike (m od ified p roducti on or cafe). J oe Patton has been the only rider in th e nati on to successfu lly ha n dl e Min nono a nd has beat en the fa m ed Triu m p h ace. In 75 0cc Production ac tion Patton holesh ot the start a nd led Minnono by inc hes until the last la p . whe n J on and J oe got into a shovi ng match in the final infield corners before head ing u p ,o n the, banking. Mi nno no ma naged 10 slip the T r iumph in front of the H ond a and then shook off Pa tt on's draft to the flag for the win . H o nda rider J o h n Miick beat G reg T hoede (Su z) and Richard Patton (Hon) fo r third. M inno no a nd Patton battled each other again in 750cc Su perbike and t he raci ng was again furiously close wit h the same res ults , Min nono over Pa tt on . Bu t J oe Patton was just wa rming u p his trusty Honda an d retu rned o nce more fo r a ction in Open Production . After another clo se dice , this time with Moto Guzzi rider Larry Robideaux , Joe found himself the winner: Greg Thoede beat John Miick for third to reverse their finishes from the 750cc Production event. The 410cc Production class was the best race of the day and featured a four-rider battle for the win . When it ' was all over. Joe Patton on a Honda Hawk beat the Yamahas of George Grossman , Charles Brothers, and T im McGuire. Staying in formation, each rider broke out of the pack to hold th e lead at least once. The four were so close that at one time Brothers reached out and touched his buddy Grossman to assure him they were having fun . W ith two laps to go, Patton slip pe d off for a less- thansecure three-second advantage. Paul Stephenson, known as Hogman, rode Black Magic . th e D&D Enterprises 1000cc Honda Four, 10 beat Triumph-mounted Jon M innono in Open Superbike competition . An a wesome combination of nerve a nd horsepower were the trademarks of this duo as Paul sailed off to a 20 second margin . After a di sappointing 1977 season, Hogman, D&D and Black Magic appea r to be back in top form . Mark Campise, 250cc Production National Champ, and Mark's teammate Andy Robbin s provided another highlight. Early in the 410cc Superbike event , 'the two Hondas had 10 contend with Joe Buenneke until Joe dropped out. Left to decide the class win by themselve s, Mark and Andy made it exciting to the finish as Campise drafted by Robbins to get the flag. Speedsters Campise and Robbins returned their Honda thumpers for more gold in 655cc Superbike , but • ~ t 00 t"- ~ O') 1""""1 1""""1 CN (l) I:: ;:l --, National 750cc Pro d uctio n Champion. Jon Minnono their priva te party was spoiled by Pau l Stephenson (Hon) . Stephenson had 10 contend with Andy Ro bb ins most of the race , but was still t he winner. Ca m p ise's mount was a bit tired and co uldn't handle J oe Buenneke a nd his 400 Yamaha . C ha rles Brothers won 655cc Pro d uction on his RD400 relatively easy. bu t the next fo ur ha d a close b attl e for runnerup. Fred P i asa tik , Tim McG uire , a nd Ro nnie Ludsfo rd held b ack Bu cky Patterson (250 Can -Am) by using their to p end advantage to offse t the infield tal ents of Patterson . There exists a fine but firm line separating Superbike (modified production) and Grand Prix machinery. Ken. Childs and his TD 250 Yamaha rolled over that line and were disqualified from first ' place honors in 250cc Superbike. Duncan Paul. on a very quick RD 250 Yamaha . was second at the flag .b u t number one in the results. Bucky Patterson fought off the challenges of Gerald Smith the entire race when his Can -Am seized 50 feet from the finish line. allowing Smith to grab eventual second while Bucky limped in to third . Short tracker Bobby Goodin took his Can-Am to another win in the 250cc Production race by several sec onds ove r Bu cky Patterson a nd • . Gerald Smith. Results FORM I .QPEN GP: 1. Fredd ie Spencer (Vaml: 2. Jon M innono fT,i): 3 . Mar k Jones (Yam ). FORM 2-500 GP.: 1. St eve Darley (Yaml ; 2. David Beard en (Vaml ; 3. Earl Smith (Yam l . FORM 3-250 GP: 1. Steve Darley (Yaml: 2. David Bearden (Yam ); 3 . M ike Herzing (Yam) . FORM 4·200 GP: 1. J erry Hardy ISuz); 2. Duncan PauIIVam ); 3. K";th Braud (Honl . FORM 4 \1·125 GP: 1. DaviJ Lang ley {Vaml; 2. Keith Braud (Honl: 3. Ted Byron (Hon ). 750 SUPERBIKE : 1. Jon M innono (T"); 2. Joe Patton tHon); 3. All en Johnson . 750 PROD: 1. Jon Minnon o CTril; 2. Joe Patt on (Hon) ; 3 . John Miick (Hon) . OPEN PROD: 1. .rca Patton (Hon); 2. Larry Rob id eau. (M-G); 3 . Greg Thoede ISuzl. 410 PROD: 1. Joe Patten (Hon) ; 2. George Gros sman (Yam); 3. Charles Brothers (Yaml . OPEN SUPERBIKE : 1. Paul Stephenson IHon); 2 . Jon M innono (Tri); 3. All en J ohn son . 410 SUPERBIKE: 1. Mark Cam pi se (Hon); 2. Andy Robb ins IHont; 3. Charles Brothers (Yam). 655 CAFE: 1. Paul · St ephen son (Honl; 2. Andy Robb ins IHon); 3. Joe Buenekk e {Yaml . • 250 SUPERBIKE : 1. Duncan Paul {Varni ; 2. Ge

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