Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Brita in were ahea d after this ra ce by a m er e five po int s, b ut th e Ame rica ns _ -were fa r fro m defeated. _ "Hell, we ca n pull th a t back ," sai d Dale Singlet on . An d he was rightl The teams were back to full streng th for th e start of the seco nd race . but not for lon g . Mick Grant's 750cc Yama ha on loan from Sid G riffit hs. suddenly went on to three cylin ders, and a plug swap did not im p rove m a tters . The Brit ish ca p tai n lim ped ro und for a few laps, and then decid ed to wai t at the line to gra b a few points. H e was joi ne d by America n Steve Baker , iron ica lly on another Sid G rif fiths Yamaha . T he thro ttl e had stuc k open on the fourth lap at Druids . a nd the la st th ing Stev e wanted was another crashl Americans Ald a na , Baldwin a nd Baker led the cha rge on the opening lap, bu t Ron Haslam , T om Herron and Barry Sh eene quickly muscled their wa y through to join them . Baker went , leaving Aldana in front , and Sheen e battling wit h Baldwin and Herron . A frightening h igh speed crash at Westfield flicked Herron over th e bars a nd into a stretch of un protected Armco barrier. Mira cul ous ly he was not seriously injured. As th e race wor e on. it looked as though Aldana mi ght just hang on to the lead . but Sheen e even tu a lly went ahead two laps from home. and pulled away. To rub it in he even wa ved to the crowd on the last lap. Aldana was too wily to be drawn in to a desperate las t-lap scra p . He settled for a safe secon d place . Results . First leg : 1. S heene (21 min., 0.8 sec., 97.0 1 mph); 2. Baldwm ; 3. H..ron; 4 . Aldana; 5. Newbold ; 6. Gran t; 7. Singleton; 8. Ma~a; 9. Poner; 10. Huewen; 11. Schlacht..; 12. Baker; 13 . Cool ey; 14. Romero; 15. Parrish. . Fastest lap : Baldw in, 1 min., 35 .5 sec., 98 .52 mph. Team Scores: GB 70; USA 65 . S econd Leg : 1. Sh eene (20 min.• 55.1 sec.• 97 .53 mp hl; 2. Aldana ; 3. Baldwin; 4. Has lam ; 5. Pon..; 6. Singleton; 7. Romero: 8. Sch~ ter; 9. Mamala; 10. Huew en ; 11. Cooley. 12. Parrish ; 13. Long . 14. Newbold; 15. Baker ; 16. Grant. Fastest Lap: Sheene. 1 min .• 34 .7 sec., 99 .36 mph. Tea m Scores : 1. GB 58. USA n. Progr essive Tota l: GB, 128, USA 142. Mallory Park The Am eric ans fo rged fa rt he r ahead of their British rivals after the second round of the Marlboro T ransa tla ntic series a t Mallory Park on Sunday , but again British r id ers provided the race winners . Ba rry Sheene grabbed victory on the last lap of the first team race from a hard riding American Mike Baldwin . but Shee ne , m aki ng a no ther sluggish sta rt in the second event , could not - repea t the fear , He had to sett le for seco nd Spot . b u t just a co u p ie of fr om te amm at e J oh n lengths. Newb old . But th e Americans packed t he m id field places. and despi te losing Da le Singleton after a spectacular crash which forced the organizers to stop a nd re -ru n t he seco nd race. t h ey travelled on to O ulton Pa rk t he final after increasing their lead from 14 points to 30 . T he British sq uad suffered a cruel b low d urin g t he morn in g practice whe n Su zuk i factory r id e r Tom Herron fou nd that his left hand . in jured in his Bra nds H a tch tumble . was sti ll ba d lv swollen because of a broken bon e . and decid ed not to race . Quick -st art in g Mike Ba ld win led th e first race off the line bu t he was soo n overha u led by ron H aslam to th e delight of the 30 ,000 fans baskin g in th e Easter sunshine. While this pair di ced it out . th ou gh . Barry Sheen was m oving up through the field. He nipped past Haslam on th e fif tee n rh . Iap to chase after Bald win . Timing h is move perfectly . Sh eene went past th e Ameri can on th e clim b to the hairpin a nd hung on to win by half a seco n d. Haslam took third spot , with John Newb old fourth , a nd th e third Brands Hatch qualifier Keith Huewen looked cert a in for a top placing before his front b rake d isap p eared . and he pulled out , bitterly disappointed . Steve Baker was another front runne r to retire early. L ike Huewen, Steve quit on th e sixth la p when the Wareen W illing prepared Yamaha seized . Mick G rant . on the other Sid Criffiths loaned Yamaha ," moved up into fifth place with Huewen a nd Baker's re tirement, but a front tir e problem dropped him down the pa ck to fini sh a lowly fifteenth . The Americans once again packe d those midfield places. Gene Romero, Randy Mamola , Dave Aldana , Dale Singleton and Richard Schlachter took the fifth to ninth places and the Americans wer e 31 points ahead . Singleton's spectacular crash cu t short the second team ra ce after seven laps , but it was the Americans who had the most cause to regret the decision , quite apart from their feelings about the plight of their teammate . For when the red flag went ou t , Mike Baldwin and Da ve Aldana were up with Ron H aslam and John New bold battling for sup rem acy . When the ra ce d id sta rt . th e d ista n ce was cu t fro m 22 la ps LO 15, the British team m ad e a better sta rt . For a wh ile it look ed as tho ugh th e home riders might fill the firs t fo ur pl aces t hrou g h H aslam , Newbold. Sheene a nd Po tter. But H aslam h ad a rear tire pu n ct u re afte r nin e la ps and it was left to Sheene and Newbold to ba ttle for supremacy. Barry's fans thought he was leaving it till the last lap , b ut Newbold hung on to win . T he Am eri cans finishe d strongly . Ba ld win moved up int o third place. a nd little Baker hit his old form to ta ke fou rth . Potter was fift h, b u t Mamol a took sixt h place . and Schlach ter coaxed his Yama ha on three cylinders into seventh place. Romero had be en alongside Potter whe n the con rod broke on th e last lap . Even so the British could only win the race by 68 points to 67 , a nd the visitors were still 30 po ints ahead . Results First Leg : 1. Sh een el18 m in.. 13.9 sec., 97.74 mph); 2. Baldwin: 3. Haslam; 4, Newbold; 5. Romero; 6. Mamols; 7. Aldana; 8. S ingleton ; 9 . Schl achter ; 10 . Pot· tee: 11. Long; 12. Coo ley; 13. Parrish ; 14 , Oitchburn; 15. Gran t; 16. Baker. Fast est lap: Sh eene. 48 .7 sec.• 100 .2 mph . Tearn Scores: 1. GB 59; USA 76 . Progr essive Total : GP 187, USA 218 . S econd Leg: 1. Newbold 112 min.• 30 .1 sec., 90 .18 mph); 2. Sh ee na; 3 . Baldw in; 4. Baker; 5. Potter ; 6 . Ma mola ; 7. Schlachter; 8 . Gran t; 9. Cooley; 10. Aldana; 11. Parrish ; 12. Ditchburn; 13 . Long ; 14. Haslam; 15. Huewen . Fastest Lap: Sheene. 48 .7 sec.. 100.2 m ph . Team Scores : GP 68 ; US A 67 . Progr essi ve Total : GB 225 ; USA 285 . Culton Park W ith a giant 93-point lead America cl inched the Ma rlboro -sponsored Match Ra ce series by the biggest ever m argin at Oulton Park. They dominated the two Ll -Ia p legs at the Cheshire ci rcu it wit h Gene Romero winning both the races fro m tea m m a te Mike Baldwin . to give a .fina l points tall y of 44 8 to 355 after the 'six-race series. Even befor e raci ng sta rted Bri ta in was st ru gg ling when Barry Sheene's Su zuk i seized on t he warm -up lap . He pulled int o the p it road to change bikes, but the flag fell with him missing from the grid . Though he started the race , he pulled in after only a lap wh en it was realized he had not co m e under st a rter 's orders . Ron Haslam was also left on the st art lin e with a silent mach ine afteranernpting to cure a sticking throttle . Things went from bad to worse. At th e end of th e first lap John Newbo ld crashed a t Ol d H all Corner and was tak en to the hospital with a broke n leg . Me anw h ile t he Americans had ta ken a stra ngle ho ld on t he race . Romero a nd Ba ld win were out in . front . wit h fel low co untrymem Baker . Ma rno la and Schlachter close on their heels. Best p laced Br iton in those ea rly laps was a seemingly back-to-form Steve Parrish . but he slipped back to finis h eight h, and Mick Grant in fifth positi on was their best p laced rider. T he second started d ra matically whe n Barry Sh ee ne was ca ug h t on t he ho p with the Suz uki out of gear when t he flag drop ped . Shee ne left the grid last but one - while ou t fro nt Romero an d Bald win were a lready o pen ing u p a lea d in a repea l of thei r firs t leg bat t le. W ith Newb ol d a no n -starter a nd Haslam usin g a spa re machi ne the Bri tish squad was very weak · a nd it sho wed at th e end of (he third la p wh en Am ericans filled th e fir st five posit ions a head of Potter. T hi ngs go t eve n m or e despera te when Sh eene ret ir ed a t th e end o f th e sixt h lap with a ra tt ling engine. While Romero and Baldw in fou ght it out in front no m or e t ha n a hand kerch ief co vered the chasing pa ck of Ma rn o la , Baker . A lda na . Pott e r , Parrish an d Haslam . Beh in d th em Keith Hu ewen passed both Schlachter and J oh n Long, but his ra ce ended on t he fina l lap when the engine seized, H asla m pa ssed both G ra nt a n d Parrish to be fifth , first Briton ho me, • wh ile Mamola hel d off Bak er. Results First Leg: 1. Rom ero 11 8. min., 12.4 sec., 100 .08 mphl; 2. Baldwin; 3. Mamola; 4 . Schlachter ; 5. Gra nt; 6. Potrer: 7. Baker; 8. Parrish ; 9 . Oite hburn;-10. Huewen; 11. Long ; 12 . Aldana; 13 . Cop ley . Fastest lap: Baldwin, 1 min.• 37 .7 sec., 10 1.23 mph. Tea m seeeee : GB 47; USA 83 . Second leg: t . Romero 11 8 min., 3.1 sec ., 100.94 mphl ; 2. Baldwin ; 3 . Ma mo la; 4. Aldana; 5. Haslam; 6 . Perrish ; 7. Gra nt; B. Poner; 9. Ditchburn; 10 . Baker ; 11. Schlachter; 12. Long ; 13. Colley; 14 . Sheene. Fastest iap: Baldwin, 1 m in., 37.2 sec., 102.25 mph. Team SCores: GB 53 ; USA 80. Final Total : GB 355; USA 448 . Individual Points Totals: 1. Mike Baldwin (USA) 88; 2. Randy Mamola (U5Al67; 3. Dave Aldana IUSA)lBarry Sheene (GBI 63 ; 5. Dave Ponor (GBI 59; 6. Gene Romero (USAl57; 7. Rich Schlacht.. (USA) 52; 8. Mick Gran t IGBI 46 ; 8. John Newbold (GBI 44 ; 10. Ron Haslam (GBI 42 ; 11. Steve Parrish IGBI 37 ; 12. Steve Baker (USAI 35; 13. Wes Coo ley (US Al 31; 14. Dole S ingleton IUSAI 30 ; 15. John Long (USA) 25 ; 16. Barry Ditchburn (GBI24; 17. Keith Huewen IGBI23; lB . Tom Herron IGBI 14 . (Right! American team captain Dave Aldana. third highest in.points. is pursued by Englishman Grant and the rest of the pack, (Belowl Rich Schlachter chases Gene Romero. who turned in fine rides to win the final two races ofthe series at Qulton Park. 9

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