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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127369
Three-time 200 winner Dick Klamfoth on the roa d portion of the beach course. was an o fficia l rider for more facto ry teams tha n anyone but Phil Read , racing for BSA, Triumph , Dunsta ll. Har ley, H onda , Su zu ki, Ka wa sa ki , Ossa, Ma tchless a nd Yamaha. Bu t he was a lso uniquel y versa tile: tw ice AM A G ra nd Nationa l Cha m p io n in years as far a part as 1963 a nd 1971. he was the firs t man to score Nationa l wi ns in every kind of AMA event - 1'1', short track, ha lf mile, mil e ova l a nd ro ad races - as well as a t Day tona to have race d every th ing fro m a side-va lve H arl ey o n th e bea ch to a T Z700 Yamaha o n th e banked tr i-ova l, A narro w seco nd to Brad Andres on the sa nd in 1958 a n d again in 1959 on a H arley, Mann repea ted th e feat o n h is beloved G5 0 Mat ch less in 1962 o n the Speed way road co urse beh ind Don Burnett 's T riu m p h . Yet no less th an eig h t yea rs lat er, h e sco red th e first Daytona 200-mile wi n o n a J apanese bi ke, setti ng a new race record average o f 102.691 mph o n th e works CR 750 H onda. The following year, a t the age of 36, h e mad e it tw o in a row an a fac to ry Rob No rt h- fra med BSA- 3, u pping hi s race speed to 104.737 mph - a record th at was to wi th stand even the great j arno Saa ri nen 's Yamaha efforts in 1973. Mod est to th e poi nt o f se lf efface me nt , Dick Mann is th e doyen o f Daytona rid er s: having raced with success on both beach a nd banking, wh o bett er to tell us abou t th e World Ce n ter o f Speed? " Da yto n a was never m y favor ite tra ck," reca lls Mann, " tho ugh it wou ld certa in ly have to be o ne o f m y fortunat e pl aces. I li ked th e o ld Lacon ia road race co u rse best, a real o ld -fash io ned street track th at p u t a p rem iu m on riding skill , wherea s a t Daytona th er e's o n ly ever been o ne thing tha t cou n ted, a nd th at 's ho w fa st yo u r mot or cycle is. T ha t a nd ho w much luck yo u have, because mor e th an most o ther tracks, th e im portant thin g is to fini sh before you start figuring o u t how to win . Both tim es I won th e 200 I did it co m ing from behind, o u tlas tin g o ther gu ys wh o were better rid ers o r had fas ter bik es, just by runni ng a carefu l race a nd cha ng in g m y ga me p lan as th e circ u ms ta nces o f the rac e a ltered . 200 mi les is a long way, a nd on su ch a fast track it's a lways been a feat j ust to ge t your bik e to fini sh th e race." Back in 1955, whe n Mann first rode in th e Daytona 200 on a privat eer BSA Go ld Star a t th e tender age of 20, it see med h e 'd a lrea dy learn ed th at lesson : he fini sh ed seventh , the first BSA home a fter th e tri o o f factory A7 twins a ll retired - a nd in spi te o f fa llin g o ff durin g th e ra ce a n d remo u n tin g. Wh at was it like racing on th e Beach Co urse? " Pretty gruell ing! Simple as th e cou rse look ed , it was ac tua lly ver y ro ugh , a nd th er e were a whol e lo t o f facto rs yo u had to tak e into acco u nt th at were unique to Da ytona. We lined up for th e start p robably seven- eighths o f th e wa y ba ck do wn th e Bea ch stra ig h ta way , n ot far from th e exit from th e So u th T u rn , a nd in th ose da ys th er e was no officia l practi ce, not a si ngle la p - nothing. Your starting position o n th e grid wa s chosen by lott er y a t a meetin g th e n igh t befor e, and so yo u just lined up a ll across the beach l ike a motocr os s sta rt, th ey dropped th e flag . a nd everyone wa s away, a ll 80 or 100 rid ers in one massed sta rt. Nat ura lly , w ithin 200 to 300 ya rds on a dam p beach yo u j ust ran into a g ia nt blindin g sa n dstorm o f wet sa nd a nd wat er a n d vapor , but everyo ne kept right o n going , flat ou t aga ins t th e sto p , mostl y navigat ing by guesswork . If yo u were lu ck y enough to be ab le to see wh ere th e North Turn wa s, yo u turned left , but u su ally 10 or 15 rid er s co nt in ued on down th e beach a way s and had to turn round an d co me back !" Were th e turns banked? " Sligh tly, yes, a n d th ey were co ns truc ted from so me clay-type mat er ial th ey brought in from o u t of sta te an d mixed wi th th e sa nd so th at it packed down into a hard surface th at was th en bl ended in w ith th e regular road th at ra n p ar all el wi th the beach . T he turns were very tight, a bo ut th e sa me rad ius as a half-mi le tra ck or even tighter , but the slig ht banking let yo u reall y keep yo u r spee d up once th e first lap was o ver a nd th e field stru ng o u t. But o f co u rse , a ll the traffi c meant tha t th e beac h go t tore up a s th e race went on a nd was very ro u gh , so yo u had to pi ck a rut at the entry to th e co rner, abo u t 150 yards ou t, th en ride it a ll th e wa y arou nd. But th en just as yo u ca me off th e beach o nto th e pavem ent, th ere was a b ig ridge, mor e of a curb reall y, ver y sharp a nd very hard which jo lted th e bike right up in th e ai r. You co u ld n ' t use a lloy rim s on th e bike, ot herwise it wou ld dent th em, but another reason wa s th at if you did, th e ribs would fill up with sand a n d sent th e wh eel wildl y o u t of ba lance - th e vibratio n wou ld be unbelievable: you' d ha ve to stop an d kn ock the san d ou t befor e yo u co u ld go o n. We went back to steel rims a fter th at l" Presumabl y th e back st ra ig h t was pl ain sa ili ng .co m pared to th e rigours o f th e bea ch side, no? Mann laughs ru efull y a t the mem or y: "No! There isn 't a racer who ever ro de th e Beach Course a t Daytona wh o wo u ld n' t be lying if he told yo u th e back stretch *Comprehensive,collision, and liability coverage as required bystate law. Deductiblesapplytosome coverages.Valid driver's