Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

~ w Z W ...J U >U Ph o to s b v D; ;:Iah6 ~ G ARD EN A , CAL " ~ l ay26 , 19 72 y ou ca ll A SCOI th e trac k you learne d on , wh y n o t a lso u sc it to h it th e come back trail? T hat 's wh a t Mert Lawwill h as be en d o in g this season and it fin ally p ai d o ff last Friday nigh t. For the previous two weeks Me rt and h is Barley-Davidson fac tory special took second pl ace behind D ave Aldan a an d h is hOI Xorton . You began to e x pect fas t thin gs from Me rt when he posted a blazin g Z~ :51 in time trials. the [astcst one lap th is y ear. Bu t it w as not :"t i ert wh o w on th e hea l race. It w as Oregon's 7\lark William s wh o scored a d ouhle upset, beatin g both Law w ill and G en e Romero. Th e Love Bro th e rs Triumph rid er has been rnakin g a h abit of upsetting the Asco t lo cal s or la te in th e h eat races or the T rophy Dash e s. The se cond heat was nearly an upset as Tom R o c k w o o d b o rrowed a Junior's m achin e at the last m in ut e and held off A ldana until th e final lap in th e even L Th en Dave got by , alo ng w ith Frank Gill e spie . La wwill WaS re ad y b y th e lim e the T ro p h y Dash c am e a long an d w o n for the secon d time this year. Mel La ch e r, fou r th fas te st qu alifie r , n ippe d Aldan a for secon d w ith R o m er o runni n g last . T h e Ma in Ev e n t was a ch al le n ge from st a rt to fin ish w it h Al d an a righ t on , bu t never ahead, of Lawwifl. T he pace was fas t e no ugh to fin d a ne w Main Event track re cord b y o ver two fu ll seconds! It b ro ke a 19 6 8 re c ord. se t b y Dew ay ne Kee te r. It w as La ww ills first Xlai n Even t win any whe re sin ce 19 70 . sta rte d e igh th a fte r Romer o com p lain ing b itterly e arl ier ab o ut th e starts in th e he a t ' races. He w orked hi s w ay up to third a t th e fin ish with Houch in s ta kin g fo urth a nd G ille sp ie runnin g fif th . Willi ams fa iled in h is b id fo r ano th e r upse t an d to ok six th. T h e Jun iors again supplied much of the ac tion , T ran sp lanted U tah ri de r. Rex Bar ratt nearly fell off five or six times in the heat race and in the semi, try ing fur a sp o t in th e final. . Th e Main h ad lo n g ti m e Jun io r, Ramon Pere z in fr ont of Tom l lo r to n until th e n e x t t o last lap . Th en H o r to n got b y . but on the sa me lap, Barra tt c ollid ed wi th Mike O ' Bri en o n the b ackst retch. Bo th rid ers w e n t down. Ba rr a tt ---, Mert wa s in a hurry. jumped u p to pi c k up his ma chin e b ut j us t as h e grab be d it. it bu rs t into n ames, p in ni ng Barra tt. A s the fir e sho t h igh in the sky , Re x w as unable to ge t away fr o m the b ik e. Pit m e n pulled him free . T he m a chine w as to ta lly d e st ro y ed hy th e fire . Re x w as hosp it al ized wi th se cond an d third degree bum s b u t is ex p ec te d to be re leased afte r a o ne we ek stay . H o rt on w as d ecl ared the win ne r w it h . Pe rez in seco nd . Form er wi nne r an d B ELSFORDW Ph o to s b y Dan Mah on y G A R D ENA , CAL. , ~ I ay 2 7 . 19 72 Mar k Bre lsf ord is human a fter all. li e fin a lly lo st a n A sc o t 'IT rac e. Th e T T ride rs move d b ack into A sc o t fo r th e thi rd time th is season w it h Mar k aga in p o stin g th e fas tes t qu ali fying tim e in t rials. The se cond fastes t tim e d id n ot go to ano ther Expert. b ut to Junio r T om Wh it e. Bre lsford knocked off ano ther heat race w in . topp ing Fr ank G illespie and Du st y Coppage. T he secon d h e a t h ad Mike lI an ev in ahead of Edd ie ~I u l d e r and Mar k ,i·iII iam s. Each of th e Exper t h eats found a fall -off. Ed d ie Wirt h b ail ed in th e first hea t and ~ I e rt Lawwill departed from his mach ine in th e sec ond. Ne ith e r rider w as inju red and b o th retu rned for the se mi -main . Th e fo ur fast e st Experts lin ed u p fo r the d ash wit h Brelsford the heavy favo ri te. lie fin ish ed third. lIan e v wa s o ff to a fast sta r t an d h eld srr "l ar k Will iam s and Brel sford righ t d o wn to th e w ire . It w as one of the fe w times, if an y . th a t " l ark h as s uffe red a TT loss a t A scot in ove r tw o " ea rs. T he Main Event'was a d if ferent story . M arr y rid e rs ra ced Brel sford to th e first turn, know in g if th ey go t th er e firs t th ey h ad a cha nc e. T he y d id n' t m a k e it. Mar k led all the w ay but not b y an overw hel m in g margin. H an ey . G ille spi e an d Willi am s k ep t th e p res sure on from star t to fin ish w ith th e h at tie fo r sec ond rece ivin g mo st of th e att en tion . Gill e spi e challenged lI an ey the firs t h al f of th e race. lie fin ally go t b y after som e bar banging and ann waving. Then Will iam s go t b y Mike wh en H an ey mi ssed a shi ft. Hane y was n ot to be d enied . sti ll pumped from h is dash wi n . O n th e fin al tu rn h e re p asse d Williams to take thi rd p lace . \\rilliam s was surp rised 10 say the leas t. M u ld e r, w ith engine tr ouble s, grab be d fifth with Laww ill in fo r six th p lac e. Wir th crash ed g.iin bu t again go t back up. Ted L on gw ith also fe ll off and did not re tu rn to the act io n. T h e Juniors did h ead -to -head b a t tle b e tween Tom Whi te an d G ary C aldwe ll w it h Ca ld well win ning o u t. Wh ite to o k fas t time, C al d well w as third fastes t. Th en Whi te cou ld only pull a fou r th around. Bail ey an d h is Y am ah a got by the Bultac o rid er go ing into th e fin al tum. I t was Baile y's firs t w in a f te r lookin g all las t season an d m o st o f this year. li e now b ecome s th e fourth N ovic e: to win a Main Event this seaso n . Mike Renslow blew h is Yamah a in prac ti ce and b or ro w ed a Bul tac o. H e h ad to ride h ard but he go t a we ll deserved thi rd pl a ce. n ave Lewis ca me from th e bac k ro w to place fif th o n a Ka w asa k i. S. OSES AT ASCOT pl a ce in h is h e at race. C aldwell wo n his. Wh it e came b ac k to fin ally w in the sem i and s tart in the back ro w in the fin al. Ric k ,Ne w b y an d J o e Brown also w on their he at race s and s ta rte d up Ir o n t w ith G ary . C aldwe ll led all th e wa y in th e fin al bu t was pushed ea rly by New by and Wh ite . Brown n eve r was in contentio n this tim e and d ro pp ed out e arly in the race. Ne w by an d Wh ile d u eled m os t of the way for secon d pl ace w ith Wh it e ge tt ing by wi th two laps to gn . Then Ne wby sho we d his experience fro m previous scaon s and regained second p lace wi th Mark gets that Sp ort ster to sing. p o in t lea der. La rry G in o , ha d tro uble gettin g off th e starting lin e m o st of th e ni gh t and h ad to c o m e fr o m last to place third - an d lo se th e p oi n t lead to H o r t o n b y te n, N a vice' ac tio n w as go o d rac ing o n ce aga in with th e Main Eve nt topp in g th e 2 50 portio n o f the pro gra m. R ic k H oc kin g lo o ked lik e th e w inner un til th e f ina l h al f lap . Ra nd y Ba ile y h ad b een d oggin g close m o st o f th e wa y an d m ad e his , m ove o n the las t time less th an tw o laps rema inin g. Cald we ll, ridin g Triump h . b e c ome s the firs t J un io r th is y ea r to w in b ot h a TT an d a lI al f Mile Main Eve nt. lI e scored o n the o va l ea rlie r thi s yea r. Dann v H oc k ic lo o ked lik e a su re winne r ove r Rick ll o cking in the Novice fina l until hi s en gine lo c ked up an d nearl y p itch ed h im off. Both rid e rs h ad earlier w o n th e ir h eat races wi th Hoc k in g a shade fas te r than Dan ny . Bu t it w as lI oc kie in an early le ad an d H oc k in g coming fro m fi fth at the e nd of the first lap . Hoc k ie buil t a b ig lea d and had it bagged u n til h e d ropped ou t. Then Ho c k in g h ad to du el w ith J ac k J on es (S uz ). J o n e s p ut o n a gre a t try an d nea rly h eld th e n at ion's b es t all aro u n d Novice . Bu t H ockin g an d h is Bul tac o moved to the fron t late in th e race to score th e wi n , Jo nes w as a close and soli d second . j im N ich ie ca me from th e b ac k ro w to ru n third w it h "like My ers in fo u rth . M ike Renslow lo o k fifth . T he date fo r the n e x t Asc ot T' I' h as ye t to b e set. Watch C y cle Ne w s for th e exact tim e an d da te . ( Results on page 40)

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