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/141018
N M " '" '" 0.. N .... Ol ;@ W Z W -' U >- U "LIGHTNING" STRIKES TROJAN By A rt L o ya Photos b y Denni s Greene SO UTH GATE, CAL., Marc h 30, 19 72 Larry . " L ightning " Sh aw noted Speedway Class A moto rcy cle racing star is h andsom e , single and eligib le. He also is elusive. Besides winn ing t he 50- lap championship TT Main Event for 250 class b ikes after taking the le ad on the 47th lap, the popular ace fro m Fullerton aboard his Bell Helmets sponsored Yamaha, gave the fans one of the best ever Main Events T hursday night at Trojan Speedway in the TT and Flat-Track program in South Gate. Two of the most vital elements for an exciting and enjoyablerace. close-quarter raci ng and a battle royal fo r the lead. we re prominent fro m the drop of th e flag. Da le Hopkins (Bul) jumping to an early lead , was hard p ressed by Bob Sa nde rs and his Kaw asak i, Bob Brown (Yam) , Tom Warren (Bul), Sh aw, Dan Corbett (Bu l), and Mike Clark e (BuI). Riding under the perverbial blanket, Hopkins gave no q uarter as Sanders made repeated challenges to take the lead , while Brown waited for both riders to make one little m istake. On lap five, Hopkins d rifted just a trifle coming out of the fo urth corner giving Sanders the opening he probed for in the inside groove. As Sanders now led Hopkins and Brown, Corbett h ad worked his way from sixth to fourth. On lap seven , Brown, a perennial favorite, sp illed o n the second jump of the double-jump TT co urse and in turn was rammed b y Corbett. Making a quick reco very. Corbett was able to hold third position over the field of 12 riders, wh ile Brown wh o escaped inj ury , made a few hasty minor repairs before re-entering the long, grueling battle. On the very next lap, Hopkins regained the lead after Sanders ' machine lost its ch ain. At th is p oint a two-way battle st arted to develop as Corbett p ushe d his front wh eel alm ost against Ho p kins' re ar wh eel while lo ok ing for t he p ass. Hopkins gave Corb ett o ne o f t he b est defen sive ridi ng lesso ns ever seen o n th e fift h-m ile clay oval . One of the no isiest crowds of the season clearly display ed th eir ap preciation fo r th e act ion. Entering th e b ackstretch , Sh aw 's ma chine sta lled on the 16 th lap , an d b efore getting restarted, fo und himself in fifth position. At t h e hal fwa y p oin t , Hopkin s' led o ver Corbett , as Shaw came charging back to pass both Clar ke a nd Warren to tak e th ird . T rail ing a dis tant third, Sh aw started to mak e his move to o verco me a seven- second gap fro m second po siti on whil e Co rb ett, literally breathing down Hop kins' n eck, t rie d every trick in th e b ooks to take the lead . Re alizing th at time and lap s were running out, Corbett made two gam e effo rts to take the fro nt running spot as the Downey rider pulled alongsid e of Hopkins only to lack enough rpm's for the final surge. With only nine laps remaining, Sh aw moved in to make it a three-wa y b attle and the crowd went wild. Hopkins made magnificent moves to hold off both his determined challengers as he gamely hung on to his hard fought lead. On lap 46, Shaw found a precious little acre of real-estate to take second from Corbett, and one lap later, made the same move on the same spot approaching the second jump to take the lead with o nly three lap s to the checkered, as Corb ett followed Shaw in the same maneuver to take second. Despite failing in his attempt to score his second straight 50 -lap victory, Sanders and h is Kawasakis accounted for five Main Event wins an d the 125 TT Trophy Dash. In 10 0 TT Main action, Sande rs sc ored a win over A llen Swett (Han), Bria n King (Yam), an d first Ju nior, Charl es Summers (Kaw) . Tom Doty (Hon) came close to stopping Sanders in his usual low-groove maneuvers, regained the lead for the win. Corbett led the first lap of t he 100 F.T. Main, but it was all Sanders after that as the Whittier Flas h made it three wins in-a-row . Again it was the same story, Sanders over Corbett in the 125 F.T. Main with Swett (Han) and Robert Crecelius (Yam) following in that order. The final Main Event of the evening, 250 F.T., saw a 12-rider field in one of the fastest ru ns for the checkered flag. Broadslid ing his mount in an z' aost lay down positio n after charging deep into the comers. Sand ers overcame a first lap lead b y Corbett, an d then proceeded to easily hold off the field for h is fifth Main Event vic tory. Second was Corbett. T he 125 TT Trophy Dash saw Sanders out-distance King (Yam) , Corbett (Kaw), and Jim Wood (Kaw). A small contingent of some of the finest minicyc1e performers were on hand to give the fans a lit tl e extra treat. Out-performing many o f the more seasoned " regul ar " riders, t he "Little Dynamo", Charles Summers, showed the fie ld what it takes to go against the Expert riders by romping off to a big win in th e TT Mai n for mi nicyc1es . Another fine pe rformance by James Tarantino and Bob Tocco, was an added bonus as both rid ers teamed up to win the Bud dy Race on their Yamaha Mini-Enduro . (Results on page 56)