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/128605
M3 Racing's Adam Popp -got a mediocre start from his spot on the pole, but came roaring back to second place and then into the lead, as Cycle World Test Editor Don Canet, on another M3 Racing entry, and World Motorcycles' David Rosno moved up from the sixth row to contest for the win. Rosno was the most aggressive in the early going, diving under Canet for the second spot in the International Horseshoe and then getting past Popp for the lead in the West Horseshoe. Popp retook the point going into the chicane on the back straightaway. Canet more or less mirrored Rosno's moves in the International Horseshoe and on the back straight on the third lap, taking the lead for the first time on lap four, as the trio of open-megaphoned Honda CB750s screamed in unison on the banking. Rosno battled back and forth with Canet for the next lap and a half before falling prey to Popp and then dropping out of the hunt altogether. Popp continued to gain on Canet, finally blowing by him for the lead as they crossed the line on lap seven. and the stage appea red to be set for a climactic draft-pass at the finish line. especially after Canet attempted to stuff his way past Popp in the West Horseshoe. But it wasn't to be, as Canet's bike faltered on the back chute, allowing Popp to escape and take a victory that appeared to be a lot easier than it really was. After dropping out of last year's Formula 750 event, Popp felt that the Speedway owed him one anyway. Still, he never felt assured of the win until the finish. "After the terrible year that we had last year, we'll take this one," Popp said. "Every lap I wondered if I would be able to hold on to win. If Don [Canet) hadn't had the problems on his bike we may have had a little bit of a problem holding him off." Despite being left to lament what might have been, Canet still had a smile on his face while describing the maladies that prevented him from making a serious run for the win. "On the last lap the transmission stuck, and I had to slip the clutch all the way through the chicane," Canet said. "There was no way to make that up. After riding this bike I would have to say that Dick Mann was 'the man.' Everything on this bike takes so much more effort than a modern superbike. I can't imagine what it must have been like to ride one for 200 miles." Like Canet, Rosno had a few handling problems of his own, which explained how he fell off the pace after being so stout in the early running. "The first lap, I could feel it kind of come and go," Rosno said. "Then it was okay for a while, and we were really able to get 'em good on the brakes. Then the last couple laps it was really bad, so I just backed off so that I could get here. I want to thank Steve World, who did an awesome job building the bike, but now it's time to go to the Chart House." Popp's Formula 750 win offered some consolation for the disappointment that the Minnesota rider suffered in the 500 Premier feature, as he had been hoping to gun down defending event champion Gianfranco Bonera of Italy. Armed with a blood red, fast-as-stink MV Agusta similar to that of Bonera's, Popp's hopes of getting the first of what might have been two wins on the day were snuffed out along with the fire in his bike's cylinders just before the field left the starting grid. Popp's trouble left Bonera with little competition in terms of the sheer mechanical excellence of his '67 MV Agusta 500, and despite the attempts of a game Pat Mooney on the infield, there was little that the Englishman and his Norton Manx could do with Bonera, who was much faster on the high banks. By the time they hit the West Banking on lap two, the race was pretty much decided. Bonera went on to finish some 27 seconds ahead of Mooney, with third-place finisher Doug Jones hanging tough for third place. Bonera and his crew were overjoyed with the repeat victory, but the fact that he spoke no English meant that his account of the race was lost on all but a few. Mooney, on the other hand, summed the situation up quite succinctly. "As far as I'm concerned, I won the race that I was in, and he won the race that he was in," Mooney said. "I tried to do something with him on the infield. but he was as much as 25 mph faster on the banking. It adds up to about eight seconds a lap, and I don't care what you do, you're not going to overcome something like that. " Earlier in the day, Rusty Lowry and his Steve Huntzinger-built '34 Indian Sport Scout opened the show with a win in the combined Pre-'40/200cc GP event. Despite being chased by a herd of BMWs, Lowry steadily pulled away. leading every lap to take the win, ahead of Norbert Nickel and Willi Benlsch, both on '39 Bimmer 500s. Lowry was just pleased that the Indian made it to the finish, let alone that it won the race. "This is the first race that this bike has finished out of about the last seven that we have run," Lowry said. "We've been working hard on the engine, and hopefully now we have got a good combination that will last for a while. This bike is primarily for the big tracks. On the sma lIer tracks it's a bit of a hand- Gianfranco Bonera shows off his MY Agusta's megaphones on his war to winning the SOOcc Premier class. ful." Dennis Poneleit rode a 1968 Honda 175 to victory in the 200cc GP class. Gary Smith on a '68 Triumph 250 and Carl Anderson on a '69 Yamaha 175 followed him across the line. Former AHRMA champion Jay Richardson had the combined 250cc GP and Formula 125 race well in the bag, only to have his '62 Ducati drop out, leaving Dean De St. Croix to inherit an insurmountable lead on the back straight during the third of six laps. St. Croix maintained that lead, taking the checkered nag before runner-up "Jonathan White was even off the East Banking. Chris Marshall was third. "Jay had a lot more top end than I did," De St. Croix said. "I went off into the grass on the infield one time, just trying to stay with him. Then he had a problem, and we were able to take the win." William Orazio used a '75 Honda MT125 to defeat a similarly mounted Jack Seaver for the Formula 125 win. Yamaha-mounted Glen Christianson was third. Harry Barlow and George Taylor engaged in a spirited battle for the overall win in the combined Formula 250/Class C Footshift/Class C Handshift event. Barlow had the early lead, but Taylor ran him down at the halfway point, and the 61-year-old eye I e from Fruitland Park, Florida, dogged Barlow, the two swapping the lead several times. Barlow took the front spot away from Taylor going into the chicane on the last lap, but Taylor retook the lead on the East Banking and held it to the finish for the Formula 250 win. Kris Jepsen was third. "That was the greatest race that I've ever been in, and I've been coming here for a lot of years," Taylor said. "I raced boats here in the '60s, and I've raced cars and bikes here in the '70s, '80s and '90s, and now I've finally won at Daytona." A similar scenario played out in the Class C Footshift class, where Ralph Auer had his tough BMW running at the head of the class, with Vincent-mounted Carleton Palmer 11 in his shadow for most of the distance. Palmer tried to swing out and pass Auer for the win at the line, but he started the move too late and didn't get it done until after they had crossed the stripe. Art Barda rode an Indian to third. In the meantime, Lowry and his '34 Indian chalked up another decisive victory in the Handshift class, Blake Wilson and "Moon" Mullins running second and third, respectively, in the class. Once a modern bike class, the n e vv so • MARCH 22, 2000 41