Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

RAYBORN WOWS THE LIMEYS OULTON PARK, ENGLAND. , April 2, 1972 - Cal Rayborn was the absolute star of the John Player Trans-Atlantic Trophy Series. Rayborn, riding last year's Harley racer, dueled with Ray Pickerell on a BSA 750 t riple for the entire six-race series and set the record for the fastest lap at Outon Park . . The series opened at Brands Hatch where 15,000 spectators were on hand to watch Pickerell win the first race and set a new lap record, taking 1.6 seconds off the old rec ord. In the second race Rayborn equalled the new record and won the race. Peter Williams on a Norton also equalled the lap re cord. The fact that three riders on different machines could all knock 1.6 seconds off the record suggests that Dunlop, whose tires were being employed by all three, has really come up with so mething. . The weather was cold and in practice Jody Nicholas on one of the Suz uki 750 's crashed wh ile avoiding Don Emde, who was pulling in to th e pit s. Neithe r rider nor mach ine were seriously damaged. 16 ,000 sp ectato rs stood in the co ld at Mallory Par k to watch the continuation of the Pickerell-Rayborn duel. It was' the same pattern. The BSA tri ple rider wo n the first race and set t he fastest lap at 92.05 MPH. The race average was 90.46 MPH. The second Mallory race saw Rayb o rn aga in equal t he newly-set Pickerell lap record and win the race with an average of 89 .92 MPH. It was in thi s race th at Nicholas began to mak e h imself felt and p u t h imsel f into fourth behind J ohn Cooper's BSA 750 . T h e Su zukis all had a mult it ude of p roblems . Clu tch es, chains, elec tri cs, all p rese nted an d t ransmissio ns probl ems, but the major problem was with h andling. Even so, Nic holas diced with Cooper and Norton-mo unted Phil Read an d should h ave h ad second p lace. However, hi s S uzuki popped (Ju t of gear on the critical last lap . The national daily press gave excellent coverage to the series, particularly to Rayborn's fantastic performances. As a resu lt, when the series moved to Oulton Park for the las t two races 20 ,000 spectators ca me out to see Rayborn and Pickerell again. After only eight lap s practice, Cal b lew t he opposition in to th e weeds with a 91.64 MP H average. T he fas t lap was set by Coop er at 93.42 MPH . In the second race it looked like Cal was set to do it again when his engine seemed to tire 0 0 the last lap possibly due to a broken ring, and finished C. « ~ w Z W ...J U >- U Don Emd e fare d none too well on the no ne-too-familiar Gus K uhn Norton. No w if he had been o n Mel Dinesen Yamaha, and if the races were 200 miles long.... sec o nd to Pickerell. This race saw a 92 .55 MPH average speed and a fast lap of 93 .77 by Rayborn and Pickerell. At Oulton Park a " Man of the Meeting" awa rd was p resented to Rayborn fo r his o utstanding performance. This was Rayborn's first racing experience in England. T he mach ine that h e rode was not a factory H-D out one of last year's 750 racing machines su pp lied by Walter Faulk of Dayto na Beach. T h e entire American team thought that it was a "wonderful series" . Erode crashed h is Norton at ove r 100 m iles per hour at Oulton Park. Although he aggravated an old neck injury he rode the race. This series was the first time that Dayto na winner Emde had ever ridden a No rto n. I t was expected that the Am ericans would fare th e b est at O ulton whi ch is a "long" course, b u t while they liked it the b est they d id n't see m to sc ore much high er . T he entire American te am mad e a great performance, but it was Rayborn who really shone again st o utstanding opp osit io n lik e World Champio n Ph il Re ad and Isle o f Man TT w inner Tony Jefferies. Rayb orn received a stan di ng ovation at Mallory. Nicholas, o nce h e got goi ng in th e second h alf of the ser ies, also put o n so me fine rides fo r a fourth an d fifth at Oulton . With a dozen riders competing in each ra ce, the scoring wa s as fo llo ws: 12 points for a wi n, I I for second, 10 fo r third, etc. T h e hi ghest possib le score is 72. The resul ts: J AM E RI CAN TEAM Cal Rayborn (H D) Jody N ich olas (S uz) Dick Mann (BSA ) Art Baumann (Suzl Ro n Grant (Suz] Do n Emd e (N od T otal EN GLIS H T EA M Ray P iCkre ll CBSA) Joh n Co op er ( BSA) Phil Read (No d Pet er Williams (Nor) T on y Jefferies (Tid T ony Ruttner (Nor) Tot al - -- - - - - - - - - - -- - -- - - - -_ .. - - - - ----- - _ . - .. - 69 38 32 30 26 17 212 69 54 50 46 25 10 254 ...- ... - .. CorTTt1'Tg'! An9tO-R"I iiellC3Ii seTt'es'ttlrap=up: -

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