Kurt Leibmann dedicated his Heavyweight Vintage win to his father, Oscar, who died just prior to last year's Daytona races.
Roger Reiman (55) held off Kurt Leibmann's challenges until the final
lap when he bobbled, allowing Leibmann by to take the win.
Vintage Classic
L.iebmann edges
Reiman in classic
confrontation
By Gary Van Voorhis
DAYTONA BEACH, FL, MAR. 7
The sounds of yesteryear returned to Daytona, bringing back memories of battles
fought long ago and enough classic "old
iron" to make even the most jaded lovers of
Malcolme Tunstall moved out front in the Lightweight Vintage class and
continued to open up his advantage over the field to the finish.
today's high-tech bikes give
them more than a casual onceover. Daytona's Vintage elas. .
SIC road race IS a once a year
excuse for owners of machinery long
past its prime by today's standards to
come forth and baule once agam.
The story in this year's edition was
in the Heavyweight Expert class where
a stylish confrontation took place
between Kurt Liebmann and the only
three-time winner of the Daytona
200, Roger Reiman.
The 12-lap Vintage final, run over
a 1.6-mile infield-only course, saw
Reiman with the lead halfway into
lap one after Liebmann had gouen a
strong start. The two swapped the
lead once or twice a lap for the first
four laps and then Reiman gained
command by a slight margin.
Reiman held the lead as the final
lap began, but Liebmann was on his
i'
l.
I
rear tire, pressuring bim to make a
mistake. Reiman broke his bike's rear
~re loose .exiting a turn ~ore the
fmal straIghtaway and LIebmann
pounced on the opportunity. He
grabbed the lead and hdd off a frus-'
trated Reiman for the win.
"I firtally did it," said Liebmann
after the race. "I finally won. This
race was {or my father, rest his soul. I
was waiting for the final lap because
I was going to pull out all the stops,
but Roger made a slight but costly
mistake and that was that. I had the
advantage on the slower portions of
the course."
Liebmann's falher, Oscar,
succumbed to a hean attack while
working on his son's bikes for DayLOna one year ago. Kurt still runs the
family business, Amol Precision. His
winning mount began life as a 1953
500cc BMW and has been constantly
updated since then, first by his father
,~.
