Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

IAbovel The Petrick Pons/Christien Serron OW led for 17 hours before breeking. ISelowl Wes Cooley on the ill-feted Yoshimure Suzuki. Herry Klinzmenn end Dev e Emde during e nighttime pit stop. , , r, Emde/ Klinzmann ninth started to come back and clocked some very impressive times. The second was the breakdown of Pierce, who took Cooley's place in the first refueling . Ron broke right after th e start/finish straight and had to push his heavy motorcycle by himself along the almost three mil e long circuit under a vi:ry hot sunshine. l iAccord ing to endurance race rules , a pilo} with a breakdown on the track .has to push the bike by himself with no help at all, in to the pits . The performa nee of Pierce took 90 minutes . Pops and Fuj io suspected ignition problems and sent Joe and Kato , two of the three mechanics, to support and comfort Pierce, whose performance was the highlight sight of the early hours of the race . Completely exhausted, Ron arrived in the Yoshimura pit under the cheers of the crowd. His performance was later on related in all the newspapers and on national TV . During that time Emde and Klinzmann had a lot of problems on their number five Honda , An oil leak was noticed and the mechanics cha nged the oil tank . They dropped drastically in the standings. In the Yoshimura pit. while Ron was taken to the doctor, the crew cha nged the pads on the front wheel and the entire ignition system, wh ich is a new model tested by Pops . They discovered that the cause of the problem was not the ignition but a broken alternator. Ron was resting inside a trailer and drinking a lot of ora liSe juice. Stan Woods a nd Charlie Williams took Estrosi 's third spot awa y on the third factory Honda . One of the Kawasakis stopped after th e fall of Bernard Faux, while the other Kawasaki of Hugher /Frutschi had a broken head gasket. The Kawa saki team lost two of its best members . At 7:45 p .m . Wes Cooley took the Yoshimura Suzuki after a new alternator was installed. The team of Emde/Klinzmann encountered some ignition problems: "T he bike runs on _ two cylinders," recalled Klinzmann. The times of both riders were in the 2:20 bracket. At 8:15 p.m. Cooley stopped in the pits with what looked like transmission problems. Wes was so sure that it was the end that he took his leathers off. Fujio explained, "the new alternator is heavier than the old one, and put too much stress on the crankshaft, which gave us those transmission problems. " "T he bike was jerking when I put it into the comers, " commented Wes . At 9:30 p .m., everybody thought that it was the end of the Yoshimura Suzuki, but at 11:45 p .m. the second generator was fixed . "T hey put a Band-Aid on it, " quipped Pierce, who . seemed in better condition. "We are going to run it and pray that everything holds together" said Fujio. Wlren the bike was pushed outside, a spectator commented, "That's great what they are doing; that's the Bol d ' Or. You do not give up until the race is over or you cannot otherwise continue on." . At 12:30 a .rn , Pierce took the bike for the first time since his breakdown earlier in tlie afternoon . Ron was wearing his usual set of leathers; the Yoshimura/NO set was still too wet after all the water Joe and Kato . pou red on Ron during his long walk : It was the first time for Emde and 'Klinzm a nn to race in the dark . "It's fun, " recalled Harry. "It's cool, but the smoke from the spectators' fires plus the fog make the track hard to see, even with the very powerful lights that the Honda has . I have to follow the white line along the track to see where I am going. " Davison was very pleased with the performance of the two young riders, even if their position was not the best one. They were in l lth or 12th place. Later on Emde had some front braking problems and the Honda mechanics exchanged the entire front brake system. Up front the situation was still the . same: ' Pons/Sarron were still leading Leon/Chemarin and Woods / Williams. The two Japauto teams of Walter Villa /Fontan and Green/Rougerie were fourth and fifth, then came the first Kawasaki. Ruiz /Hubin and Peyre /Maingret. Jacques Luc and Hubert Rigal continued their comeback and were in seventh spot from almost dead last. At 1:30 p.m. Pierce pulled into the pits . The bike was perfect but Ron was tired after his long and painful afternoon walk . "We will try in the morning with Wes . There is no sense ruining the bike now ; we will see what we can do tomorrow. At least they know we are still there," said Pierce before going to bed inside the trailer. Klinzmann and Dave Emde were facing problems with their hands and the cool of the night. But the machine ran like a clock. The Honda crew was trying to refuel as late as possible to gain some places, but Harry -and David ran out of gas almost three times during the night . During the long second part of the night RigallLuc finally took over third . In fourth place was the two British riders of Honda of Great Britain, Woods and Williams. Then came two Kawasakis . . , In the early hours of the morning .the Yamaha OW31 of Patrick Pons and Christian Sarron were still leading , four laps ahead of Leon/Chemarin . In the Honda camp, they were worried . Nobody believed at the beginning of the race that an OW 31 could last that long. Honda thought of putting one of their machines after the Yamaha, but the decision was made to . - wait until later on in the morning. But at 8:35 a .rn ., Patrick Pons stopped . "The needle of the tachometer dropped at once. I know from experience that it is a' broken crankshaft," explained the French rider. In fact the bearing of the crankshaft was broken. Honda now had the first three spots, and the orders were for the riders to . stay in their positions and to bring back all the machines. Also in the early hours of the morning, Pierce and Cooley put some animation into the race by doing some impressive wheelies along the start/finish line, a real crowd pleaser. But at 10:30 a.m . the long and painful ride' of the mighty Yoshimura GSIOOO ended when Wes Cooley pulled the bike into the pits with what appeared to be a broken valve . For the Honda team their last hours were a triumphal march to victory. Emde and Klinzmann were ordered to "stay loose , very loose, " orders by Davison. "I want the bike to cross the finish line. Don't worry about the times, just bring it back. " Very tired but pleased because they finished , Emde and Klinzmann took the factory Honda to a ninth place. The triumph of Honda was complete: the three first spots plus eight machines in the top 10 were Hondas. The factory itself couldn't imagine such a success . Seven minutes before the end of the race, all the spectators from the main grandstand went on the track to c?eer their stars of endurance racmg , Christian Leon and Jean Claude Chemarin who have won the last three Bol d' Or races. • , Results OVERALL: 1. Christian leonIJoon Claude Chemorin IHOIl): 2. Hubert RigallJacques luc (Hor"; 3. Stan Woods/Chorlie William. (Hor": 4. J . B. PeyreiM. Meingret (Kaw); 5. W. BerchilE. Ferreira IHonl; 6. G. GreenIM. Rougorie UepeutO Hon); 7. W. Ville/M. ; Fontan Uapeu lo Hon); 8. R. RuizlR. Rubin IKaw) 9. 0 , EmdefH. Klinzmann IHonl ; 10. W . ScheinderfC. William. IHonI. 13

• Cover