Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

, up stead ily th rough the race , sto p pe d for a q u ick dose of gasoli ne o n lap 28 an d by t he 31st tour of the 3.8 1 mile circ uit he b egan clim b ing fast o n th e lead erbo ard, as th e com p licated engines of the o p position d estr o y ed t hemselves . Eleve n men h eld the lead a ti me or mo re d u rin g th e battle of att rit ion that is Daytona. First, it was Art Baumann, the p o lesitt er who h ad shocked the world with this 110.363 mph qu alifyi ng a verage, bl asti ng the sop hist icat ed , wa ter-cooled Suz uki th ree over 170 mp h agains t the 3 -G pull of the D aytona banks. Bauma n n was out on Lap 15 with a blown engine. Y von D uH amel took a way Baumann's lead on Lap 7, riding the 750cc Ka wasaki. Yvon, th e in field wizard and Bauman n , the horsep ow er king, see-sawed while Gary Nixon on promptly b lew: Only 55 m iles had ela p sed. , T h is gave Nicholas the lead a nd Yvo n 's K aw soon spi t up, But b efore Jody could ge t used to it , his Suzuki ran dry and he p itted for eigh t seconds wo rt h o f gas, h an dl ing t he glo ry sp o t to Kenny Roberts on the firs t 350 cc Yamaha to hold it. J od y was back in fr ont b y Lap 20 and co llect ed ano th er $9 0 0 fo r t he lap s he led t h rou gh 28. H e was swi ftly carving t hro ugh traffic , swoopi ng th e slower goers on th e banks and flat straights. His average sp ee d eclip sed th e reco rd set last year b y E ngland's Pau l Smart. But o n t he 29 th lap, J ody wa s in t he infield grass, h is water-co oled sup erb ike wel ded solid . Scratch Suz uki number two, Dave Sm it h, th e previous d ay 's 25 0 rna e up rrn e stead ily . He q u ickl y o pened a 13-second lead o ver second pl ace. Hempstead d iced exciti ngly wit h Don Emd e, me anwhi le and all eyes were o n th is cli mact ic duel for second p lace. So engrossing was th e b attle bac k th ere th at fe w fan s no t ice d when Perr y 's b ik e parte d its chain on th e all-b ut- ul ti mate lap , leaving him str anded in the infield whil e visions of 13 ,000 American 'd o llars went winging o n th e heels o f t h e powerfu l, de pendable Yam ah a pair, Final ly Em d e pulled awa y fro m Hempst ead , denying him his dra ft , and as t he checkered n ag flu tt ered, the youth wo n all the marbl es. He is sponsored by " Mo torcycle Weekly " , a newspap er owned b y th re p ro mot ers in Californ ia , The ag i ng Hem p stead won a hard -earned second, and t h e third en y tm om. S a it would ap pear th at th e pred ictio ns of th e end o f th e era of tw ins at Daytona were prem at ure. Now, w hat d o es a y oung man do , after h e has won the world's biggest motorcycle racing glo ry at age 2 1 ? DAYTONA DETAILS The only Harley·Davidson in the 200-miler w as Larry Darr's private ent ry. It came in a fairly respectable 17th . Paul Smart [Kawl , Stan Friduss (Yam) and Frank Gillespie (Yam) were seen pushing their moun ts on th e grid attar the start . try ing to get them going ...Kel Carruth ers. having roken arm and cracked hip for his Daytona so uvenir. Gene Romero's rear tire w ent flat , but hi s crew had it repaired and sent him back out to finish ...Kenny H oberts blew hi s fron t tire , changed it, and fin ished ...S uzuki seemed undecided which brand of t ire to go with . The bikes w ere seen with Dun lops and Goodyears , even on the same machine (Dun lop in fron t, Goodyear on rear) . Grant went out wit h a shredded rear tire . Scratch Su zuk i number thr ee. Norton's pit facilities we re pri m itive comp ared t o the Japanese Blue Sw arm arou nd th e Su zuki bi k es. Pit men were observed filling Phil Read's N orto n using a cut -out cocoa tin . In additio n to his $ 13,200 prize money, terribl e luck since-his splitup with Don Vesco , Don Em de co llecte d cont ingency money from fell a ll on the fourth lap. Dick Mann got all the track in lep 6 and was pushing his BSA to Dunlop Tires, Champion Spark Plugs, Bell H e lm e ts . restart it. He had to make seve ral unsc hedu led Weekly" and Cycle News, B a t es Leath ers. "Motorcycle • 31,t ANNUAL DAVTONA 200 UNOFFICIAL RESULTS March 12, 1972 1. Don Ernde 2 . Ray Hempstead 3. Dave Smith 4 , Phil Read 5. Fred Guttner 6. Eddie MUlder 7. James Odom 8. Michael Nlnel 9 . Duane McDaniels 10 . James Dunn 11 . Mark Williams 12 . George Kerker 13 . James Allen 14 . Geoff Perry 15. M ik e Lane 16 . Keith Mashburn 17. Larry Darr 18 . Conrad Urban owsk l 19, Don Twigg 20. Douglas Libby 21. Jess Thomas 22 . Dick Mann 23 . Tom Rockwood 24 . Roger Reiman 25 . Gene Romero 26. Edward Salley 27. John Samways 28. Gary Scott ~~: ~~~~~a~:~:~d Bob Bailey Frank Gillespie Bob Bulmer Robert Winters 35. Kenny Roberts 36. Ron Pierce 37 . Ken Molyneux 38 . Ron Widman 39 . Ron Grant 40 . Steve McLaughlin 41. Gary Fisher 42 . Jody Nicholas 43. Dick Hammer 44. Hurley Wllvert 45 . Cliff Carr 46. Shorty seeeoume 47. Marty Lunde 48 . Gary Nixon 49. Mike Kldd 50. Yvon DuHamel 51. Peter Williams 52. Art Baumann 53. Tad Sloan 54. Ronald Muir 55 . Stan Friduss 56 . George Roche 57. Robert Ely 58 . Gary Hunter 59 . Eric Offenstadt 60 . Ke l Carruthers 61. Paul Smart 62 . Ralph White 63 . Jerry Christopher TIMEOF RACE 1 hour 56 min. 27 .63 sees. AVERAGE SPEED ' 103.356 mph (not a record} CROWD ESTIMATE 46,500 31. 32. 33. 34 . .< :. . . . .... ... .... ~ . '.- '.--.":' ~ Fre nch champion Er ic Offenstadt found the wr ong line. , Hoi Flashl Fl. Hood Gels ISDT D AYT O N A BEAC H· ·R uss Ma rc h, Ex ecut ive Direct o r of , th e American Mo torc ycle Association, has announced th at Fort Ho od , Texas w ill be the site for the 1973 Internati o nal Six Days T rial. T he re will b e an eight-event Don Emde didn't go 171mph but he did go 54 laps qualifying se ries to assis t in selec ti ng th e America n 1973 ISDT t eam , T he series, wh ich will spall t h e co untry b et w een April and August, will provide American competitors thc opportunity t o p rep ar e fo r t he 1972 ISDT to be held in Czechoslovak ia. Vam Yam Vam Nor Yam Trl Yam BSA Vam Vam Vam Hon Yam Suz Vam Vam H-D Vam BMW Yam Vam BSA Trl Hon Tri Vam Kaw Kaw Hon Kaw Tri Vam Suz Vam Vam Vam Vam Nor Suz Han Hon Suz Kaw Kaw Kaw Nor Kaw Kaw Vam Kaw Nor S'uz Vam Kaw Vam Kaw Hon Vam Kaw Vam Kaw Vam Kaw CYCLE NEWS Mar. 2 1, 1972 Page 23 ,, i "

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