Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

CD N . 11> e, N ,... '" a « Ul ;;: W Z W ..J U >- U ~ End icott looked awf ul neat on that BSA. Looks to be the same one ':idden by George Ker ker last weekend. Improvements Cause Problems at Willow WILLOW SPRINGS, CAL., April 9, 1972 - Willow Springs is one of my favorite road racing tracks, and I always look forward to a race there. We arrived early and I took the time to walk the track. The straight has been repaved, and the bigger holes have been filled. The repaving caused some problems during practice. Where the paving ends at the end of the straight there is a sllght drop. The suspension oscillation that this causes and the lift caused by the strong headwind combined to ruin some peoples' day. I was motoring out of the first turn during the last practice when I came upon riders, bikes, and bike parts flai ling allover the track. A 350 prod uction bike an d a Kawasaki HI-R had come to earth in a most painfu l mann er. Fort unately, no one was serio usly hurt ,and I wen t back to trying to find so me braki ng po ints. My ho pe s for glory in the product ion rac e were so mewhat d immed wh en Cah rles Strohmberger blew p ast me in t h e fiat-ou t sweeper. So I amuse d my self b y wa tc h ing th e severa l girls that th w ere sw ooping ab out th e track for " e rest of practice. Wes Cooley announced in rid ers ' m eeting t hat production rules have b een By Art Friedman Photos by Dave Schoonmaker and Art Friedman changed due to an enforcement lap;- though, Charles GuIyash (Kaw) problem. Any ' internal modification came around anyway. With some luck except to bore and stroke is and the right traffic situations I was able permissable, Also pro p osed was a .to pass him a few laps later. change in the GP rules allowing the 350 While we we re scrapping Endicott four strokes and singles to run with the lapped us. "Wow," I thought, "this is 250 two stroke twi ns, and similarly, my chance to really p ick up some tips. 250's with 200's. I'll follow Endicott." So I turned up th e The lightweight production saw w.ick and tried to keep .h im in sight. The Dennis Jones (Oss) in vain pursuit of slide c.aused by lockmg up my rear M.L. Koop (Suz) for the entire distance. wheel 10 tu rn five dam pened my ardor somewhat. In the LeMans start of the I kept waiting fo r Kilgroe to lap me, heavyweight prod uction event I had to but he never came by, and, as the make two sta bs at the gear lever to find checkers came out , I though t ~rst and arrived at the ~rst turn about "Endicott's d one it again". eigh th. O n the b ac k str aigh t so mebody Endico t t had things d ifferen tl y in t he ran off the .co urse, and I was able to 35 0 to Op en Senior GP race. He to o k th e lead ini tally on a sw eet-sounding pass several riders wh o slo wed. The b e!l"inn ing of t.he second lap BSA 75 0, but on the first turn of. lap tw o Pat Evans on his Yamah a 350 found me 10 fourth behind so me fellow o n a Suzuki 350. I outpowered h im and p assed the more powerful BSA. Evans, wh o see ms to like Willow a great deal , fo u nd myself o n an empty rac e trac k. The 750's o~ Endicott and Kilgro e h ad co nti nu ed to pull smoothly awa y for co mplet ely dlSa~peared. . th e w in. Ned Marandino blitzed his high barred Norton 750 to third spot. Ab out ~he fifth lap my Pit . crew My Kawasaki 500 lik es clu tc h starts b egan to Sign "! me that someone 10 my class was closing on me . I co uld hear an d I arri ved second at the first turn of ano the r en gin e beside me exiting tu rn th e 350-open Junior event behind ~ve th re.e lap s la~er. I was saved b y a Strohmbcrger. On the second lap I pck~abb lt b ounding across the trac k, fo und my sel f in th e lea d. Visions o f .wealt h and fame faded as David Racin e cau smg us both to shut off. On the next •• -:,. " . ,". -:. on his Honda Super Duper Hawk walked arou nd me in the sweeper on lap eight. On the next lap we charged o ut o f the 90 mph tum six and found a flagman hopping around excitedly and a bike and rider -sprawled on the track. I rolled o ff the throttle thinking how much t he guy was hurting. Racine slowed, and since there was no flag out I rolled it o n and passed him. He rip pe d right p ast m e agai n in the sweeper. A lap later I dallied in my b raking in turn three, an d Joe Ik egam i (Yam 350) we nt by. I could n't catch Ikcgami, and h e could n't catch Racine . Because of th is I d ecided to cool it o n the las t turn o f the last lap which is probably all that saved me when my crank seized o n the exit. I was close enough to coast home without being passed again. The ambulance driver said that :the guy who had crash ed h ad a b roken wrist. George Roche, winner of last week's Riverside race , arrived after the last race. He had apparently been working o n h is bikes all day . We watched him go 'round fo r a b it and went home. (R esu lts o n p age 39)

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