Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

,H EY DON, YOU FORGOT THE PRIZE ... " 0> -~ By Art Friedma n IR VI N E. CA L., May 7, 19 72 - Don Emde won the 250 and Open GP events at Orange County Interna tio nal Raceway easy as pie , p icked up the wrong trophy , and went home with o ut the helmet th a t he won. T hings got off to a ba d start to day when Pat Evans fell duri ng practice . He was taken to the hosp ital where hc w as tre ated and released with a few stitches in one hand. It was too bad th a t he was unab le to race since it would have ad de d an other qu ick ie to the front runners. Th ere were se ve r a l mo nocoque-framed bikes ou t to day. T he lightweight GP class had so me , ,.. '" Ol fr}~ ~ ::;; ~ w Z W ..J U >- U there was the same 350 that was o n the cover of "Cycle Guide" ru nning aro un d rather slowly in th e Su pe r S treet cla ss, an d there was ano the r in the 25 0 GP ev e nt. Em de led the 25 0' s from start t~ fin ish with Ho ward Ly nggard and John Green a few seco nds down quibbling over second. Ly nggard o n a -factory Yamah a was in second for the entire race excep t fo r abou t half a lap whe n Gre en got p ast him. T he re was a large field o f Op en GP m ach in ery , an d Em de did it again o n an oth er Mel Dinerse n Yam ah a, and again he was chased unsucc essfu lly by Green an d Ly ngga rd . T his tim e Green carne o ut in fro nt of Lyn ggard's factory Yam ah a as d id J im Evans. Th e first rider at th e flag th at was n' t o n a 35 0 Yamaha was Bob Endicott o n a BSA 750-3 . His spiffy st y le gave h im six th overall to get the Open class tro phy an d prize helmet. Just b ehind him was William Judki ns on a 500 Kaw asaki. We were wa tching th e Open GP event in th e fast esse s, Ther e is a dip in there that isn't even visib le , but at 110 or so it will put yo u into a rocki ng, lurching, gallo p ing wobble. Th e better riders l o o k o f th e less smooth, but so me experien ced fe llow s come o u t with eyes as big as th eir n u m be r plates and a line that looks lik e it was laid down by a drun ken three-l egge d giraffe. One fe llow o n a 35 0 Yam ah a sho t off-co urse , hit th e road -th a t ru ns across th e in field, got airborne , landed front wh eel first, then .... Don Emde did it twice . rode b ac k o n course . Ever try motocross a t 100 with clip -oris, ro ad racing ti res, and a fa iring? Ever try road racing with a sq ua re front wh eel ? Bob Endic ott won Open Production . Dick Kilgroe had a frust rat ing day. _- . .. -~" Reg Prid';lOre and passenger Green dominated the S idecars Emd e on his 250. As u su al Bob Endico tt won the O pen Producti on race , and as usual he was chased by Dic k Kilg ro e. Th e o nly palce th at wa s dispu ted was thi rd . Reg Pridmore an d Bo b Harrington were keeping close co m pan y un til Harrington d ropped i t in tum tw o. With that ou t of the way Pridm or e bu rbl ed h is Bee-em h ome fo r third . Th ere was so me discu ssion af ter the race abou t th e fact th at the leaders were runnin g 19 -inch rear wh eel s. It's again st the rules, you see . No one was threatening to p ro tes t o r any th in g, it was just b rough t up. There are two sides t o th e ques ti o n. It is in the spirit of p roduction racing ("keep it cheap " ) to -:-.... forbid as marry ch an ges as possible . On the o th er h and , road ra cing or high-speed tire s are a good idea. T he problem is th a t they have such a low profile th at, if fi lled to th e IS-inch wh eel, they h ave a very unfortunate effect on gro und clearance. It's a sticky qu esti on. The sidecars ran last , which is a good idea since they lay d own rubber as they slid e ar ound th e turns, thereby making th e co urse slicker for the motorcycles. The Norton of Pridmore and Gree n ( th ere's a switch fo r you - riding a BMW solo and a Norton in sidecar) ra n and hid from th e co m p e ti tio n , if y o u wan t to call it th at. There we re so me di ce s ba ck in th e pack. Bob Brave rman, th e h ead h on ch o a t " Cycle Guide" , had his ne at -looking proj ect tri ke out but didn't co me aro und aft e r th e second lap. A ltho ugh several ride rs were ab le t o ge t arou nd it, th e ru le agains t rid ing the sam e bi ke in produ cti on an d GP even ts is sti ll in effect. T he rule is ju st plain bad. A lot o f riders spend a lot o f time' and mo ney getting to a race and it is cruel and u nusual to o n ly let th em race in one eve n t. I t's an AMA rule an d th e A FM is trying to get it changed. The theory th at th e produ cti on bikes are so slow that th ey present a hazard to fas ter ' GP bi kes is d isp ro ven by riders like En dico tt wh o win both eve nts on the same bike. In the mean time , if you are sne aky , y ou can race in both classes by telling the m th at you have two bi ke s. May be the me rger with th e AMA wasn't such a good idea. (Resu lts on p age 44)

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