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/126480
Mike Kidd jumped the Team Army Honda thumper to an upset win. Mickey Fay got by Ricky Graham only a f ew laps from the end in the main. AMA Grand National Championship/Winston Pro Series: Round 14 Kidd takes first 500cc single win at Ascot TT in 17 years By Dale Brown Photos by Joel Broida and Mark Kariya GARDEN A, CA ,JULY 19 "Now I've won a TTl I can't believe itt" shouted an exuberant Mike Kidd, moments after leading nearly every lap of the 25-lap Ascot National TT on a 500cc Honda single. Kidd, who fin ished in front of Honda's Mickey Fay and Harley-Davidsonmounted Ricky Graham, was the first rider to win Ascot's TT Na- 10 . . . . tiona l O? ~ 500cc machlOe.slOce DIck Mann did ~t on a Matchless ~ n ~ 963 . Fourth 10 the J.C . AgaJama.n.pro. mo~ed event w~nt to t he ret~rnlOg.to · action .J~y Spnngst.een. Springer led for a bit 10 the opemng laps, but fa~ed to fou.rth when t~e heat a~d a fading re~r tire g~t to him . He did not look we I after t e race. Though. Hank S<;Oll a~ Steve Mo~head .reta med th ei r 1-2 10 the POlOt standings, the lower half of the top five ~as r~arranged. Graham mov~ IOtO a tI~ with Randy Goss for .thl rd, and Kidd too~ over fifth. P~lOts leader SCOll qua~lfied for. the National , b.ut a flat rear tire left him out of th e POlOtS: Moreh ead carded a 10th. A somewhat dry and slip pe ry track was given partial credit by some for th e 500cc 1·2 finish. While the bigger engines were spinning wheels, the lighter and less powerful singles were hooking up , as well as taking their advantage in th e tighter sections of th e track . Kidd had additiona l reason to ce le-: brare . Less than an hour after his win , th e clock passed m idnight and it was July 20 - his 27th birthday. TIme trials . That a 500cc single was goi ng to win the N,,:tiona.1 seem~ a remote possib ility f~lIowlOg time trials . Brad Hurst p~t his M essl er /KRW /Panther/Norns Carns/Carlisle/Out F ront /Diamondsponsored Triumph on the first heat pole with a 46 .18-second docking. Alex Jorgensen's ancient BSA was second fastest at 46.57 , followed by Jay Springsteen's 46 .78 and Gary Scott's 46 .96. Team Arniy's Kidd debated as to whether to qualify his 750cc Triumph or Honda single, saw that the track was beginning to dry and went with the Dallas/Ft. Worth Honda XR500 . He posted fast 500cc time, seventh fastest overall, followed by Honda teamsters Jeff Haney and Mickey Fay . Grand National Champ St eve Eklund , trying to sort out a new Triumph, post ed a medi ocre (for him) 48 .09 . Heat races Scott Pearson , riding Harry Lillie's Yamaha 750 twin .and sponsored by Circle Bell , Valvoline , JB Ra cin g and Megacycle Cams, shot out int o the lead of th e first heat , while a th ir d tu rn pil e-up caused a set -ba ck for T ed Boody, John Wincewicz a nd othe rs. At th e end of a lap , Kei th Day held second in front of Brad Hurst, Mike Sullivan (Tri) and Hank Scott. Hurst soon moved by Day a nd spent the next four la ps ba dgerin g Pearson . H e got by a nd a la p lat er, Pea rson was way back a fte r having dropped th e chai n a nd havin g to reinstall it. Hank SC Oll, riding a Triumph for Branch , Barnes , KRW , Sal Acosta , Jack Sisemore , RPM , Tea m Jesus and Bill's Pipes, inherited second . Rick Hocking drove . his T eam Yamaha thumper around Sullivan to take third and th e final direct transfer . Sullivan fin ished fourth in front of Da y. The second heat saw Jorgensen and his Dell ' Orto Carburetors/Hi-Po int/ Alphabet H eaders BSA lead all the way , with Kidd in his wak e sta rt to finish . Second year Expert Mike Minnig (H- D) held third until the fourth lap, when he was d isplaced by Eklund's ZanottilInterpart/Castrol mount. Eklund stayed in the transfer position for two more la ps, but the bike apparently started acting up, and he started to drop back. Minnig picked up where he left off and made the National , while Wayne Rainey (Tri) and Lars Trulson (H on) headed those off to round out the first semi field . . Steve Morehead, who ea rlier in the season had planned on skipping this event - until he found himself sec ond in the points - flew out for this race and rode Ray Beck 's Harley right into the lead of the third heat. But Jay Springsteen went by Morehead on the second lap and pulled away to the flag on his Bill Werner-tuned factory XR750. On the fourth lap, Morehead lost second to Klotz /Wiseco-sponsored Scott Pa rker (H -D) and soon found Honda's rookie Expert , Jeff Haney, knocking on his door. On the seventh lap, Haney bumped Morehead out of a transfer and then checked Parker off his shopping list a lap later. Mor eh ead ra n off the track on th e eig hth lap , reta ining fourth b ut losing any cha nce at third. Buddy " Bu d Man" Robinson fin ished fifth . The final heat saw some of th e best elbow-to -elbow racing of th e night, and of rece n t memory . Ted Da vidson , riding a Yamaha twin borrowed from Keith Da y, took the ea rly lead with Ricky Graham and Mike Inderbitzen following. Ga ry SCOll and Randy Goss ran 7·8 at the sta rt , with Santa Fe TT winner Ronnie Jones dead last follow ing a crash. Graham took over and led for the next three laps, as Mickey Fay, Scott and Goss worked their way to wards the front . Davidson took over the front running spot for a lap, but with six laps down the order read: Graham. Davidson, Fay, Bubba Shobert (Yam) , Goss, Scott and Inderbitzen. The race soon turned into a 10wheeled freight train as Goss and Scott wheeled past Shobert. Davidson took over the lead again for a brief time exiting the infield. as the top five shared elbows and handlebars through the comers. Through what would be turns three and four of the half mile circuit was where the order was decided on the final lap . Graham had the lead;' while Goss went low and by Davidson and Fay . Scott went right through the middle to claim second at the flag in front of Goss. Fay and Davidson were left to the semis. I Sem is It appeared that Eklund might final ly have things going his way as he took the lead going into the first tum of the first semi and never looked back, posting the third fastest 10 laps of the eve ning behind Jorgensen and Springsteen.