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GA R DENA, CALIF ., May 6 ,1972 - To
the surp rise of n o one Mar k , Brelsfo rd
wo n th e 11 th An nual National IT race
at Ascot Pa rk. In d o ing so he gra bbed
th e firs t wi n for th e Harl ev-Davidson
b rand th is year on the re li~b le 900cc
Sp o rt ste r model twin that has been
dominating th e As cot IT races for the
pas t tw o years.
Mar k now h as w on the famou s event
th ree of th e p as t four ye ars a nd o n I" a
spill in the heal race tw o years ag o
has
perhaps kept him from m aking it fou r in
a row.
In time trials he broke his own o ne '
lap tr ack re cord, taking the time down
from 45 :00 to a new record lo w of
44 :87. Rookie Gary Scott w as sec ond
fastest on th e Triumph, John Hatelev
was third on a Triumph . The 1970
winner, Mert Lawwill, clock ed fourth
best on h is Harlev.
Brelsford then' breezed t o a heat race
win, eigh t seconds fa ste r than the ne x t
best win turned in by Scott. Cal
Ray bo rn up se t a field o f IT riders to
wi n the thi rd heat with the slowest o f
the three heats.
Typica l Ascot action for National
even ts sta rted ea rly. In practice S kip
Va n Leeuwe n and Bob Bail ey m et on a
tu rn . Bo th wen t d ow n and Bailey wen t
ou t with a separa te d shoulder tha t
req uired an opera tio n a fe w hour s later
a t th e lo cal Ga rde na ho sp ital.
Then Ke nn y R obert s blew a n engine
an d th e Nat io nal p oin t leader had 10
quickly "Borrow" a machin e from
J un io r , Gary Loza no. Ran k has b en efits
as it kept Roberts in th e show wh ile
Lo zano wa tch ed fro m th e sidelines.
Time trials w ere rou gh o n more th an
one good racer v· .ith J imm y Od om ,
.
Sonny Burres, Don Emde , Jim Cotton,
C h uc~ I' alm gr~ n a nd AI Ken y on fai lin g
to gam a spo t 10 o ne o f th e th ree Ex pe rt
heat races.
The second roun d o f el iminations,
th e h.cat races, saw the first five going to
the fmal and th e ne x t fo ur to the se mi .
Aga in , it
Scott an d
th e first
cance lled
was ro ugh go ing with R an d v
Rex Beau champ elimin ated in
ten -lapper, The second he at
o ut Eddie Wirth , Mike Kid d
and D ave Hansen .
Cal Rayb orn left the troops holding their lunches in the third heat.
Wirth came up with engine troubles
co mi ng ove r th e ju m p midw ay in th e
eve nt. Young Kidd, co m ing i
tied for th ird in th e Na tio na l ,
ran in to th e re ar o f th e Wir t
in mi d -air an d crashed a t the I
the ju m p . Wirth st ayed on t
an d Kid d was lat er ca rr ied t
and later s till, w as on his
walking.
For the second consec u tiv
Mert Lawwill came up as the
the semi. His fac tory tearnm
Seh l, co u ld no t gain a positi
first five pl aces a nd d id not
fin al.
As it has been so ma n y tim
years , the first lap of II
National was a d isaster for so
Roberts . s tarting in side ro w tI
fou r row lineup , ploughed in t.
o f La wwill on the se cond t
firs t lap . Both riders · wet
Lawwill jumped up im medi
tried to st art h is engine,
Roberts took awhile to get t
b u t was also au t o f the act ion.
Midway in the rac e , Ke ith
fell on the fron t stra igh taw
himself and cou ld not get
und e r the m ach ine. Off icials I
ou t and he was carried (
stretch er. A t th e ho sp ital it
th at he had crac ke d, no t fr:
leg.
Brel sford grab be d
th e
ex pected, im me d ia te ly an d
wa y to h is fif th National win
an d Dic k Man n wer e ca rl" (
befor e th e hard charging ro c
Sco tt, came on to p ass both I
place.
Late in the race M an u ' s mac
on on e cycl ind er t o force h im
in the p ack and eve n tu ally to
the closing lap s. T he last th
fin al w as a du el b e t v..ecn Rice
'
l Iatel ev for third pl ace.
Hat cle y tri ed low , hi gh an d
m iddle an d nearl y los t con tr
a tte m p t o n th e fron t sh u
fin all y w orkin g hi s wav bv th
winner.
.
.
Gen e R omero never re allv
pulling a third in hi s heat ra
Rice and Brel sfo rd and then
14th pl ace and last man
po sit io n in the final . F o rm
Skip Van Leeuwen huffed a
