Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Flying Freddie Spencer will enter both the Expert 250cc and the Superbike events and should be a shoo·in in the 250cc race. Why Spencer is eligible to. ~de a 1C?OOcc Superbilte and not eltgJble to nde a 750 in the National class may be a mystery to some. It's the way the rules were set up many years ago and never changed. Alan Collins from San Jose should bag the Novice class te;' ~dd to ~ ne~r win at Daytona and hiS unpressJve ~tn at Laconia. He may be the top NOVlce road racer in the nation by season end but also the oldest to take the Novice title in years. No 16-year-old fuzzy-cheeked kid, this one. Collins is 23 and the guy he beat out for the win at Laconia was an ancient 291 When is the last time the combined ages of the top two in any National meeting was 52? That's dam near two Springsteens and one Spencer. Yamaha will strike one way or another in all but the Superbike class where it is wide open for Kawasaki, Ducati, Suzuki or BMW. Ron Pierce and Wes Cooley will be tough to beat, but it is possible. Robens is rated as the best road racer in the world at this time. He has to be the pre-race favorite. no matt~r how small the engine. But If ever SkIp Aksland had a chance to finally break out of all that early-year publicity stuff of being the pupil, stud~nt, etc., the time would be at Sears Pomt. Skip was really the only smooth and fast rider at Laconia. He had over a 20-second lead when the race came to a stop. It was a display of mercy because the margin would have been twice that had it gone the original distance. The young man from Manteca may or may not have tossed away the Grand National title last year at Sears when he bailed while leading in the first few laps of the race. Now he has a chance to make people forget that and all he has to do is: (1) win the race; (2) beat Kenny Roberts; (3) stay on the wheels all the way. Is that really too much to ask Qf what some consider to be the second best road racer to call the U.S. home? A win at Sears would also put Aksland back into a position for an outside/darkhorse shot at the Grand National title this year. Robens does not need the points like he did two yean ago. Next column we will talk about the July 21 National TT at Ascot and a couple of guys by the name of Springsteen and Eklund. • With all the talk about going to some type of 500cc rule, perhaps as soon as next season, riders and fans get their first look on July 15 at what a 500cc can do against tm, 750's - in road racing. The event is the Sears Point Raceway AMA Grand Natio~al Championship/Winston Pr? Series round just nonh of San FrancISCo Bay. The 500cc is the factory job of Kenny Roberts with "King Kenny" in his only 1979 AMA appearance. Yamaha Motor Co. and the Yamaha dealers of northern California are backing this event which is the only National road race in the west this year. Kenny committed to the race many months ago and also flatly stated that he would ride a 500cc instead of a 750cc. Sears Point will be unique 'in other ways as well. First of all it will be a one day race event. Saturday will find practice all day and all of the actual competition goes on Sunday. Some fans, and riders, for that matter, have been asking for this type of schedule for a few years. 250cc Expert, 250cc Novice, Su~erb~ke Production and the Expert bIg bIke National - all in one day. The last time Roberts raced at Sears he started last in the final due to some minor problems earlier in the day. Within a short amount of time, and laps (four), he was out in front and eventually won the race - on a 750cc. Last year Kenny went to Europe and won the FIM 500cc title. This year he spotted the spons from other lands a race or two and then took off and is once again leading the FIM 500cc standings and has also won the most races over there. His YZR500 will be about 80 pounds lighter than the 750cc Yamahas which mayor may not be to his advantage. Sears' has been around for awhile and has its share of bumps which could make it smoother riding for the heavier 750s. Daytona winner Dal~ Si~gleton w!1I be 'there as will Lacoma wtnner, Skip Aksland. Gene Romero, winner of two events in England last spring, will also be entered. Missing will be the Kawa~ki Kid, Mike Baldwin, who came up with a leg fracture at LacOllia. Mike took a flyer that found him on the side of the track and his mean green machine submerged in the pond. (Totally.) The fast, Daytona·winning Yoshimura Super Suzukis will ~ tm,re but so will the potent Ducaus that have won at Sean before and also won at Laconia in p\i~June. • •• j . , l;Ioxy Rockwood , UD flGh'.t. A LOSING gnu There isn't a dirt rider wjho likes changing tires. It's a hassle. Metzelers, Yokdtiamas, Goodyears, DUA lops, they're all tough, That's why I'll never forget the day I found Lubri·Tech Tire Mounting Lubricant. DON'TP8KII "1'V8I I spray plenty of Lubri-Tech Tire Mounti~g Lube on the tire beads and that knobby slIps onto the rim without damaging the tube or the tire. And when you're racing - punishing those tires - the tire lubricant stops tube pinching along the rim. hOLD "n.... DOWN I found another reason why Lubri-Tech Tire Mounting Lubricant belongs in a dirt rider's von. It sets up a seal between the tire and the rim greatly reducing slippage of the lire on the rim. So I race . at lower tire pressures. Any way you look at .t, lire performance IS important to dirt racing. And tire core is a key step ,n th~ Lubri·Tech race prep. I follow the 12 step prep and then I know I m ready for the weekend - from the rubber on up. 5EIlIOU5 NO. 1 T-"'.5end$5 .....IzeS,M,L or XL s.iaus No.1 cap,_ adiust_l. size, $5. Lubri-Tech Pra "lets, 1251 N.K~Rd. ~ , III. Always follow tho ,ec....mendot.... of molofcyclo and equipment manu/ad\lto,.. Always ute lub<;·Toch lubricanb and porlonnonco chom~ as ...,.......ndod. lub<~Toch P

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