CN
III ARCHIVES
A
lthough Yamaha's soon-
to-be-all-conquering
TZ700/750 four-cylinder project
was in the pike, it wasn't ready
for the 1973 road racing season,
so Yamaha elected to continue
with its 350cc twin program
against the much larger Kawa-
sakis and Suzukis in AMA Grand
National road racing as the
season-opening Daytona 200
loomed.
Don Emde's win aboard a
Yamaha 350 had seemed to be
a case of David among Goliaths
in the 1972 Daytona race, and yet
David prevailed. For '73, how-
ever, the Goliaths were returning,
and they were bringing friends.
Kawasaki would field no fewer
than six factory riders aboard
its potent 750cc triples, includ-
ing former Daytona winner Gary
Nixon, Yvon Duhamel, Cliff Carr
and Hurley Wilvert. Suzuki had
four riders, with New Zealand
Champion Geoff Perry and Emde
as its top runners.
In terms of technological ad-
vances, Yamaha elected to play
it closer to the vest, introducing
water-cooled versions of the
TZ350, but the ace up Yamaha's
sleeve would come in the person
of Finnish road racing sensation
Jarno Saarinen, the 1972 250cc
P102
1971. By 1973, the Australian was
Yamaha's race team manager,
crew chief, rider coach and
factory racer. As if preparing
the quiver of factory bikes for
stateside factory riders Kenny
Roberts, Don Castro and Gary
Fisher wasn't enough, Carruthers
also had to get a machine ready
for the 27-year-old Finn. It made
for a busy time in Carruthers' EI
Cajon, California race shop, as
he recalls.
"I had my regular guys, and
World Champion, destined to
meet with an untimely death little
more than two months later.
Responsibility for the prepara-
tion of all the Yamaha road racing
machines, including the 250cc
bikes to be run in the Interna-
tional lightweight 100K, fell on
the shoulders of one man, 1969
250cc World Champion Kel
Carruthers, who had come to
wear several hats for the com-
pany since moving to the United
States on a permanent basis in
BY SCOTT ROUSSEAU
TIME AND UNTIMELINESS:
JARNO SAARINEN
