Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/141031
Gillespie Pushes Aldana to Near-Record Main ~ w Z W ..J U >- U A ldana (13) is fast o n th e o uts ide . Houchins holds the inside line pursu ed by Gillespie (76), DeWayn e Ke eter (44) likes Dave' s li ne. GARDENA , CAL., June 2, 1972 Dave Aldana hit th e comeback win tr ail bu t it came the hard way an d in a w ay that kept the fans j umpi ng mostof the nig ht at the Ascot half mile . Aldana clocked th e fast Expert time trial , b u t i t was J u n ior Larry G ino who shook the troops by clocking an eve n faster one lap for to p overa ll h o no rs on h is Triumph. Then Aldan a tried to ou t-gu ess th e sta r te r in th e h eat race and found himsel f on the ro w th ree pen alty line . Aft er fo u r of th e five lap s h ad been run he w as sti ll in th ird plac e, b ehind Ch arlie T h ielke a nd Paul Conse rriere, T he last lap bi d for th e w in sa w h im get Pau l and overtake T hielke on th e last turn. But the tra ns p lanted Northwes t rid er was r id in g h is best eve r at Asco t. Aldan a reach ed o ut a nd grabbed Charlie's m achin e twe nty yards from th e fin ish, looking for a "s lingsho t" tow and possible p ass for the win . He mi ssed b y two inch es. Fran k G illesp ie and Ll oyd H ouchins ba t tled all the way in thei r hea t race an d swap ped the lead th ree tim es before Gillesp ie ca m e u p for th e decision JBWB co m in g out o f the final tum . Aldana returned in the Trophy Dash to edge out a narrow win over Gi11espie and Houchins, h is third dash de cision o f the season o n the Norton. The same three riders sh ot to the fron t for the start of the fiftee n lap Expert fin al, b u t Hauch ins cam e u p with ign ition tr oubles early and d ropp ed b ack, leav ing Gill espi e to challenge Aldana. . Fo r all fifteen laps G illesp ie lo oked fo r an o pening, o r a mistake. Neith er came abou t as the two to o k it down to th e fin ish flag. Al dana' s tim e was the secon d fastest Main even t ever ru n. Fas ter th an the ol d record th at h ad stood un til two weeks ago, b ut n o t fas te r th an the n ew m ark set by Mer t Lawwill on May 26th. T he Ascot J un iors now have e nough racing u nde r their bel ts on the big gikes an d p ro ved it last Friday nigh t. G ino took fas t time hon o rs with the best lap b y a Junior th is year at 22:60. Then Gi no an d pa in t lead er Tom Ho rton sq uared off in the h ea t ra ce . The two Triumph riders are ab solutely eve n ly matched. Horton came fr om the back W Rm fOR CO "PlITl ;PH ' ,~n PRI( ES ~ ~ .JAWA LTD. East : 18 5 Express St. , Plainview, L.I., N. Y. "803 West: 3745 Overland Ave., Los Angeles, Ca. 90034 AT LASTI in t he Lon g Beach - Lakewood Area Quality parts at the right price! Everything for the bike and rider ACCESSORIES' For t~ e wee k of lune 8 - 14 G uar a nt ee d Plas t ic Fende rs Mo narch , & Pre ston Petty Fro nt $ 4 .9 5 Rea r $ 6 .9 5 21 " wheels $64.50 comp lete w/tire with e xc ha nge hub Im pact Driver $8 .95 MX G love $ 6.4 5 MX BARS $9.95 All t ires 20% off Most Torco o il 90t Most NG K Plug 7St One-way compress ion release $10.95 He lmets f rom $ 26.95 Sile ncers $ 8.9 5 u LIMIT M-F 12-8, Sat. 9-6, Sun. 10-2 (213) 429-5961 4136 Woodruff, at Carson Lakewood I ',' I.' " , twice to grab the win on the last lap . T hen it w as the same whee l to wheel , tire to tire duel in the ten lap final with first one and then th e other up fron l. Ho rto n fi nally pulled it off for hi s third win of the ye ar an d second straigh t Mai n Event win. After the race , th e to tal time for the race showe d tha t the T riu mp h rid er fro m Lancaster h ad b roken Gary Scott's trac k record , a m ark th at m an y th ought w ou ld stan d fo r a lon g tim e . T he re co rd was se t last A ugust and th e n ew re cord kn ock s a b out a half a second o ff th e o ld time. T he la test J u n ior to catch fire is San Diego's J ohn Cald well . A slow ti me tr ial an d th en a thi rd p lace in th e heat p u t Ca ld we ll in th e Sem i, wh ich he won . T he n in the final a slow start fo un d him in las t p lace on the first lap . By the en d of the race he w as a close third an d sti ll closing on G ino an d Ho rto n . An other prom ising prospec t to watch . Before th e st ar t of the Novice even Is it was a n no u nced tha t this co m ing Friday n igh t will be "Ladies Nig h t", and all fema les will be admitted free of charge to the half mile races co rning up . Danny Hock ie looke d like a new fir st time w in ner in the Nov ice class on hi s Ossa. Fi rst he u pse t ra nk ing Rick H o ck in g, who has now sw itched fr om Bultaco to Yam ah a. Jim Keen led all the way to the final co me r in h is heat race before h is e ngine q uit an d kn o cked him ou t of the p rogram. Th e Mai n Eve nt was a Ha ckie , H oc k ing, Mike Renslow b attle with Hockie leadin g m o st o f th e way . But Renslow , who h as been a co n sisten t secon d an d th ird , wan ted that first Main Eve nt win an d h e go t it late in th e race. Ha ckie held fo r sec ond wi th Hockin g co m ing u p fro m the second lin e t o ta ke th ird . A n im p ressive rid e was turned in by Da ve Lewis in b oth th e heat an d the final w ith Dav e ta k ing fourth in th e b ig one. IL was also reporte d , afte r the race s, th at R ex Barratt , wh o w as burned when h is bi ke ca ugh t on fire two wee ks ago , will h ave to remain in Gardena Hospital for a t least an o ther man th and will not be rele ased , as it was earlier reported . Re x would appreciate th ose ca rds an d lette rs to take hi s min d o ff th ose second an d th ird degre e burns.