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/127143
When would you pay $99 for a piece of paper? Englishman Dave Starry t hrew away his 1962 Matchless G50 500cc single at the tight left-hander before the pits. He was unhurt. engine: "It did n't feel right after the firs t lap," sai d a cheery Chas , who responded to th e 'Faster ' board hung ou t by tem po rary tea m mana ger Bar chitta wi th a tradi tional Brit ish two-fingered gesture! " I th ink the big end bearings are j us t abo ut done. I was lucky to finish." An Ital ian victory seeme d certain as Vill a drew rapidly away from. Ander son, who in tu rn was bein g reeled in .by Cutts; he outbraked the New Zeal ander a t the start of la p six to take over seco nd pl ace, with Groot cra w ling a ll over th e Ma tchl ess a ttem p ting to follow suit. But dr a m atica lly, Walter Villa slo wed a nd coasted to a sta ndstill out o n the circu it, the Ben ell i's gearbox having failed. " I sta rte d losing gears on th e second la p ," sa id a di sappointed Walter af terwards. " By la p five I had only fourth a nd fifth left, but the en ~ne is so flexible I co uld still keep go m g fas t enou g h to win , even tho ugh I had to fan the clu tch coming o ut o f th e ha irpin at the end of the ba ck straigh t. But then fo urth gear went too, so I had to stop ." T hough he sport ingly didn 't say so, the Benell i broke down two laps from the fin ish - th e same di stance as Phil Read 's impromp tu demo on the same bike earlier! This left Cutts with an inherited lead at th e end o f lap seven, but with Anderson now closing a gain and seen ting the chance of a su rp rise win. The two riders passed and repassed th ree times on th e last la p , before approachin q th e final chicane before the finish side-by-side, " H ugh had the inside line, and there was just no way I co uld get arou nd him ," said Cutts. " I had . to settle for seco nd again - ma ybe next year it 'll be third time l uc ky." Anderson to ok the checkered flag punch ing th e a ir with delight, an d was still celebra ting his win in th e p addock bar a t two o' clock in themorningl By co m parison with this grip ping 500cc race, the co nc u rren t 350cc even t, starting 40 seconds after th e 500s, was com parati vely unexci ting after th e first couple o f laps. Du tch rider j o op Froom , o n a Ducati , waged a brief ba tt le a gainst the Aermacch i hordes by leading off the line , but was soon passed by Drixto ni Aermacchi rider Graham Godwa rd and 24-hour endurance ace Russell Ben ney, forsaking h is us ual FZR75 0 Yamaha for a standardframed Aermacchi. Ex-works Aermacch i rider Ian Lawton , who finish ed a nar ro w seco nd last yearto Ameri can Da ve Roper in th e 350cc class a t Assen, mad e a slo w start bu t p u lled up' to seco nd pl ace behind Benney at the start of lap th ree. Alan . Ca thcart, riding a Du cati, sim ilarly slo w to ge t away, just saved an a n xious moment a t a fast left-b ander wh en hi s rea r brake cable snap pe d a nd grounded the peda l, sen ding the back whee l stepp ing o u t: he toured to th e p its and reti red , as di d Froom wi th a broken gearbox a nd j oh n H older on an AjS 7R. Only American rider in th e race , French reside nt Rich ard H aas, a lso retired his Du ca ti Desrno with a dropped valve. Lawto n gradually whi ttle d do wn Benney's lead, ' till by the start of la p three he was in his slipstrea m and looking to pass. But at th e first righ thander afte r th e pits, he appeared to miss hi s bra ki ng point and took to th e sli p road, rejoining beh ind ' the battling tri o o f Godward a nd fell ow Ae r macc hi r ider s Ian Lee fr om Britain and Swiss Heinz Kormann. Lawto n repassed them lat er in th e lap to reclaim seco nd p lace, but he had no cha nce to ca tch th e flying Benney, who took th e fla g 17 seconds in fro nt to score a decisive wi n. " My fro nt brake stop pe d wo rking after th e . first lap," sai d a disappoin ted Lawto n. " I was squeezing as hard as I co uld, bu t it hardly sto pped the bike a t a ll. It was a new drum unit we put in after qual ifying - we think it was inc orr ectly li ned." Benney was deli ghted with h is win: " I'm sorry for Barry, but I had quite a bit in hand a nd I think I cou ld have dealt wi th him even if he didn 't have the problem s he did," he said. Godward was th ird, while perhaps the mo st delighted man a t Assen was Swiss Bu ltaco rider Louis Oulevy, who fin ished last ou t one on his immacula te watercool ed TSS250 si ngle, but proclaimed it as good as wi nning: "Th is is th e first time in seven H istoric G P races I h ave pe rsuaded the bike to finish," sa id a beam ing Oulevy. " Always it seized, but th is time not. Now I can try to find some more speed for next time! " So me • th ings never change. Results • 500 ; 1. H. Anderson (Mat); 2. R. Cun s (See); 3. T. Groot (See); 4. D. Hughes (Ma t); 5. F. Glaus er (See); 6. C. M on imer (Nor); 7. D. Kraaika mp (Nor ); B. I. Couns (Han); 9. M . M orr en (Mat); 10 . C. Dobson (Mat). 350 ; 1. R. Benn ey (A er); 2. I. Lawt on (Ae r); 3. G. Godward (Aer); 4 . I. Lee (Ae r); 5. H. Kormann (Aer); 6. H. De Jo ng (Duc); 7. T. Bult (AJ 5 ); B. G. Bon du ell ed (Ae r); 9. A. A inslie (Duc); 10 . J . Beaujean (Aer). . Well, if that is import ed, museum quality D'Arches 22"x19" paper that carries an original Jeff Gundlach Supercross printed in nine permanent colors a~d w3;s breathed on, signed and numbered by the ar tist , I d do It now. Supercross is the last limited edition 'fine art print in the series commissioned by Cycle News for you, the reader. I am sure Supercross will deli~ht the dirt riding contingent as much as Isle of Man, Bol D Or and Daytona impressed the road racers, so Cycle News is offering the sam e guarantee: Your money will be .refunded cheerfully (grr!) if you are not completely sat isfied With your brand new Supercross fine art print. Charles Clayton Pres. Cycle News Inc. -----------ICOUPON'--~-------(No P.O . 80x plea ..) O ka y, rush m e -print(s) o f the new Supercross lim i ted edition at $99 each. I u n d ers tan d I can send the product . back fo r a fu ll refund within 30 days if I am not sa tisfied. Nama _ Address _ _-'- _ City --:- Sta t e Zip _ _-'- ---' Phone ~ _ =,_ o PlIyment enclosad (chack or money order. payabla to Cycla News) lCA res. add 6% LA Coun ty res. add 6'h %) 0 Cha rge my Mastarcard o Charge m y Visa Charge Customers: W e must have comp lete account r,. . _ ~ _ number and card 8Jqlir at ion date. Card No. Expirat ion Date _ ., Signature _ _ O rder Now Only $99.00 incl. ship pin g, read y 10 frame c/o Cycle Ne ws P.O. Box 498, Long Beach, CA 90801-0498 23