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/126929
(.0 00 0') ~ 00 .... Q.) ,.0 o .... u o Movie producer Hal Needham and his Skoal Bandit NASCAR stock car averaged 142.41 mph to score the overallla Carrera win. an assortment or' Porsches, the car grid was filled with Corvettes, Jaguars, Datsun Z cars, an extremely loud pickup truck, a Pantera, and one of the muscle cars of the sixties-a Plymouth Road Runner complete with a wing. Only one car challenged Needham's Skoal Bandit and its accompanying 'spare in an 18-wheeler for stares and that was the Ford police car you might have seen in the movie Cannonball. Remember the lights, siren and changing plates? They were there. In fact, as the starter clicked off the last 10 econds before he waved the green flag on the police special, on came the red lights and the Texas license plates disappeared as tags reading "U.S. Government Marshal" slid across them. The green flag waved and the siren started wailing. Carambal Motorcycles ranged from a 125cc Cagiva with dustbin fairing piloted by Dan Hannebrink to the Harley 883 Sportster of Motorcyclist magazine's Nick lenatsch. A Sportster that by the way ran more like Harley's Lucifer's Hammer than it did a Sports tel'. Throw in a bunch of Ducatis and Cagivas, a quintet of Kawasaki 250 Ninjas, a group of Honda XR600s, a couple of Triumphs and BMWs, and assorted other bikes and you get what certainly can be called a mixed bag field. Names? Have two-time Grand National Champion and Daytona 200 winner Gary Nixon, 1972 Grand National Champion Mark Brelsford, and former world class road racer Cliff Carr, who co-promoted the event, join the likes of Mexican race champ Jesus (that's Hey-seuss, Mr Howard Cosell) Rodrigue'l and Iron BUll Rally winner George Egloff on what Nixon called "baby Ninjas" -the 250cc kind, provided by Kawasaki and Del Amo (California) Kawasaki, start them all at once and call the finish a tie between Nixon and Brelsford. "Tied for the win sounds funny," said Nixon. "But it beats second." Nixon had earlier said there was no way he would beable to keep up with Brelsford. "He goes over the white line in the blind corners in tbemountains. I guess he has eyes that can see around corners. I don't, so I stay in my lane," said Nixon. Nixon also said that until last May's La Carrera, he and Brelsford had never really spoken much to each other. "When we were racing against each other back then, he was a Harley guy and I was a Triumph guy." Just prior to the start, Nixon and Brelsford asked Rodreguez how many rpm his baby Ninja was -pulling. "13,000 in sixth," said the Mexico City resident. That brought a howl from Nixon and ,Brelsford whose bJkes would only pull 12,000 or 12,500. "We're beaten already," aid ixon. Rodriguez ran out of gas. The winner of the spring La Carrera, teve Anderson of Cycle World, pegged orton John Player Replicamounted Fred Eiker as the winner prior to the event. The Ballie of the Twin competitor proved Anderson right as he averaged 11l.19 mph on hi way to the overall win. Second overall went to Kevin Erion and .his Cagiva F-I at an average speed of 109.71 mph. The bike of the third overall finisher, Motorcyclist magazine's Nick lenatsch, was an eye-opener from when it first blasted off the starting line until it hit the fini h line. What staned life as a HarleyDavidson 883 Sponster is now a 1203cc rocket that produces more than double the stock horsepower92.5 on the Jerry Branch dyno as opposed to stock output of 44.7. Tuned by freelance writcr Joe Minton, whose work appears in Motorcyclist and Easyriders, the bike was built as a special project bike for Motorcyclist (check out that magazine's December issue). Minton says he plans to market the bike. lenatsch carried a gas can bungeecorded to the back of the Sportster in hopes that the spare gas and the three gallons the bike's tank held would get him to the race's gas stop. It did, but barely. The Sportster went on one cylinder 10 miles out from the stop and lenatsch felt that cost him second overall. lenatsch managed to average 102.04 mph despite the gas problem. The only other finisher to average over 100 mph was orton-mounted Chris SCOll who finished fourth overall at an average speed of 100.59 mph. Fifth overall finisher John Exley and his Ducati just missed as they averaged 99.95 mph. Riders and/or machines of note incl ude the sole lady entrant, Marianne Robinson, who finished the race aboard a Honda Interceptor; the second place finish in the Exhibition class by Bob Karol and his 1971 Honda 500-4 that was "sweetly tuned" by Curt Jordan ("I was really impressed when I realized I was going down the straights at 13,000 rpm and was more impressed when I found out after the race that a lot of new type bikes had broken down," said Karol.); the Co-promoters Eduardo Leon and Loyal Truesdale present the motorcycle division overall winner trophy to Fred Eiker. Eiker averaged 111.19 mph. Leon. Brelsford. Truesdale. Nixon and Carr at the Alfresco awards ceremony. Brelsford and Nixon tied for the 250cc wins class win. Yamaha 920 Virago ridden by David, Busby and tuned by Bob Work, who many will remember for his work with road racer Steve Baker in the seventies, and which made the team a "two-time loser" according to Work who said that while standing next to the team box van which had blown its transmission halfway between San Felipe and Ensenada; and the lovingly cared for 18-wheeler that hauled Needham's car and a spare to Mexico and made more than one jaw drop and more than one pair of eyes open wide as it cruised through downtown Ensenada. "When I was a kid I'd read about the Mexican Road Race." said copromoter Truesdale, "and here I am pUlling this race on. Ain't it bitchin'?" Looking like a kid turned loose in a candy store, Truesdale never stopped walking up and down the line of bikes and cars awaiting their "minute" to come up at the start. "Look here. What do we have here? Hey, buddy, have a good race. Hey, BMW riders. Lets hear it for BMW riders. Can you move out of the way a bit, I'm getting my picture taken with Hal and the Skoal Bandit. Can you believe this? Isn't this great? Wow! I can't believe..... As late as the race .was gelling underway, so was the awards presentation at the Ensenada Convention Center. That's at the Convention Center, not in the Convention Center. Make that in the parking lot of the Convention Center. This publication couldn't arrange for the Cycle News Finish Line Camera to be in Ensenada to catch the Brelsford/Nixon "tie" because that pieceof equipment was committed to the Camel Pro race at Ascot. Butthe Cycle News van was there and its headlights provided illumination for the awards ceremony (to the point that its ballery died-thanks, Gary and Walt, for the jump start). It was only after the awards were handed out that word went around as to why the presemation was late. Competitor Bob Ahderson, Bullet Bob to his friends, had suffered fatal injuries just 10 miles from the finish line. "That's sad news," said one competitor, "but I guess it's part of the game and ifnothingelse, you can say he went out doing something he loved to do-race." Racing is a risk sport. Take it to the limit. Pump adrenaline. Money won't get you a bull to fight as a matador in Mexico, but come up with the $195 La Carrera entry fee and you'll be able to face the bull known as Mexico Highway 3. As Bob Anderson found out, that bull can gore you. Godspeed, Bob. • Results OVERALL: 1. Fred Eiker (Nor); 2. Kevin Erion . (Cag); 3. Nick 'enatsch (H-DI; 4. Chris Scott (Nor); 5. John Exley (Due); 6. Jack McCanhy (Duel; 7. Sleva Azola (eag); 8. Jack Porter (Due); 9. John Putnam (BMW); 10. Paul Nelson (BMW). VINTAGE OPEN: 1. Fred Eikar(Nor); 2. Chris Scott (Nor); 3. Scott Waters (Norl. 608 VINTAGE: 1. Jack McCanhy (Duel. OPEN STK; 1. Kevin Erion ICaQ); 2. Nick lenatsch (H-D); 3. John Exley (Duel. 608 STREET: 1. Tim Welch (Han); 2. Haden Heal (Han); 3. Paul Foster (Suz). 608 MOO: 1. P.u~ Rasmussen (Hon). 250 lWINS: 1. (TIE) Mark Brelsford (Kawl/Gary Nixon (Kaw); 3. Cliff Carr (Kaw). 500 lWINS: 1. Raben Underwood (Yam); 2. James Craig (MM). EXH: 1. Dan Hoiscuos (Kaw); 2. Bob Karol (Hon); 3. Ralph Porgelt (Yam).