Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126408
IAbove) Defending champs Ke ith Code and Reg Pridmore w ill ride a Vetter KZ1000. (Below) Don Vesco w ill team with M arcia Holley. , (Above) David Aldana (10) is teamed with David Emde on a Yoshimura GS1000 . (Be low) Steve McLaughlin w ill ride with Harry Kli nzmann. . J • AFM Ontario 6·H·our contenders 'Can you pick the winners? By Patrick Behar Photos by Charles Morey and Behar With a $10 ,000 purse this year, plus contingencies, the annual American Federation of Motorcyclists six -hour endurance race , the On Any Sunday II Ontario 6-Hour, has become the best -paid a nd m ost popular race of its type in the Uni ted Sta tes. For the past two years, m any 14 nationally-ranked riders have contested the event , but for '79 , even more will show up. W ell known names in American road racing ci rcles will appear on the entry list , some of them top level competitors on an international level. Last year's winners - Reg Pridm ore, Keith Cod e and Pierre Des Roch es - will return for the same sponsor , Vetter, . on a Kawasaki. This time , however, Des Roches will leave the .. rid ing to the other two and put his talents to .work preparing and doing mechanic work on t he m achine. T eam Kawasaki will be represented in forc e by a pair of New Engl and Yankees . JohnBettencourt a nd fa cto ry rider Mike Baldwin. A second factory -bac ked tea m . C h a m p io n Motorcycles ' Whitney Bla keslee a nd Grand Prix Cycle's Kurt Knollenberg. will be piloting on e of the team's Superbike KZI OOO bu llets . Blakeslee and Knollenberg, ranked #1 and #2 respectively in th e AFM Box Stock class for the '78 season, should be impressive. Steve McLaughlin and Harry Klinz mann will share the Racecrafters Ka wasaki, a nother potential winning combination. . Also joining . the Kawasaki clan , Lou isiana Wonder Boy Fredd ie Spencer will split riding chores on a priva teer KZ I 000 with Steve Mallonee. World La nd Speed Record holders. Don Vesco and Ma rcia Holley will team up aboard another Kawasaki in their first attempt together at the AFM 6-Hour. Team Yoshimura will have sent their -two top riders to Europe on the April 28-29 weekend. T heir Da yton a winning 1-2 p unch in the Bell He lmets Superbike 100 , Ron Pie rce and Wes Coo ley will be racing in France at the 24 Hours of LeMans on a specia llybu ilt Yosh imura 998 c c GSIOOO Suzuki. Keeping the Yosh imura e ffo rt strong at Ontario will be Dave Aldana, captain of th e victorious American T eam at th e recent Marlboro Transatlantic Match Race series , and Da ve Emde who made th e Yosh Da yto na Superbike efforra 1-2-3 sweep with a third placing. Recen t performance by both indicate a very serious threat. Aldana was thi rd -best scorer on the America n Team in Eng land, Emde, in addition to recent top pl aci ngs, has endurance race experience from his rides last year at Bol d 'Or and Suz uka . They'll be pi loting a Yoshimura R&Dsponsored HOOcc GSIOOO Suzuki at the On Any Sunday II 6-Hour next weekend with a claimed horsepower rating of 145, The total Yoshimura effort is reinforced by the Yoshimura Speed Center entry for Dave Langsford and St eve Lang. They. too. will be aboard an 1I00cc version of the formidable Yoshimura GS I OOO. R .C . Engineering of Gardena , drag racer .Russ Coll ins' shop. will enter a GSIOOOSuzu ki ridden by W illi She ffer and Wendell Phillips. Paul Ritt er no longer campaigns the former Cook Neilson "Ca lifornia Hot Rod" Ducati: he and Vance Breese will pilot a San Jose BMW at this year's' AFM 6 -Hour. Bo t h riders have tremendous experience with twins of a ll kinds and shou ld do well. In the always-crowded 410 cc class , two teams seem extremely dangerous . Cycle Guide magazine 's Dain Gingerelli will team with th e AFM 's 1978 410 cc c h a m p io n Gennad y Luibimski . Dain's brother Allan plans to make a comebac k from retirement with th e very fast Dick Fu ller. With record entries - 125 teams of nat io n a l and a nd ri de rs interna tio na l caliber on ta p, th e ra ce promises to be ext rem ely exci ting ; both for t he teams th emselves and. for spectators who will see on e of th e most interesting road racing events on the west coast. •