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/141041
~ ~~k~D~~~y ~:L';ale:rasl~~el~~3th~ t i'~;~r:~f:~:~~st~~e:: b~t ~t ~~~~~~ ~ AMA Expert still found one of hi s old ~ problems staying with him in this M Sunday's opening TT of th e As cot season . ~ l\1ike and his se lf-t une d T riumph rul ed from time trials until five laps ~ from th e finish of th e Main event. T he n ~ he threw it onto th e ground wh en w lead in g b y a narrow gap ove r Terry cj Do rsch . >Haney and Dorsch, co nsidered by U man y to be " TT Specialists", ran away from th e field in the big b ik e final. Han ey was caugh t on th e starting line with a dead engine but was. given the benefit of the doubt b y the starter. In fact, it took three re d flags an d th ree starts to ge t the Main unde rway. First i t was a s tart that Chu ck Murray was n ot h app y with as Tom Horton tried t o come fro m the back line and led by the first tum . Then Haney was left on the lin e with a dead engine. The - thi rd an d fin al stop per came when A lex Arms trong t ried t o pass Nor to n an d : Jun io r T hornton Sm ith wh er e th er e was no roo m to p ass. Horto n we nt off th e co urse an d Smith crashe d. When things finall y got go ing, it was Haney and Dorsch m oving o ut t o start a two rid er b attle. R oo kie T om White an d Keith Mashburn, also o n Triumph , were havin g th eir ow n d ice fo r third pl ace wit h Mashburn ge tting by at t he h alfway p oin t to take over. Han ey pi tc he d it in too har d as the '" DORSCHI 'Ph o to s by Da n Mah on y riders started lap ten . "Iron Mike" went down in a long slider and Dorsch had nobody else to race with the rest of the wa y to the ch ec kered . Horton, another of the promising rookie Experts, star ted tenth on the final re-start and was up t o fif th in tw o laps. The rest of th e race h e had to hold off Harley-mounted Dan Whit e, br other o f Tom Whi te . The Novice class fo und a raft of new rid ers an d new eq uip men t with most b ein g m oun ted on 360cc single two-strokes that are now legal under the new rules . But one Novice , Bob Hosford , showe d u p wi th an old er we ll-tun ed Honda 350 tw in an d migh t have wo n it all if he h adn't tri ed too hard t o o soon in the Mai n eve nt. Hosford , wh o missed makin g Jun io r last year by less than two po in ts, wo n his heat ra ce and then came b ack to win the lightweight d a s h ove r Yam aha-mounted J erry Col e. Co le got the best s tart in the Main and had a small lead over Hosford at the end of two lap s. T h en Hos fo rd, wi th five-plus lap s t o go, tried to p ass and fe ll off in th e same spo t th at was later to ta ke Mike Han ey ou t of th e Exp ert lead . T he left Col e all alone an d way ou t fron t fo r hi s first win as a p ro. He calls Paci fic a h ome and was on a 36 0 single . Hosfo rd h ad th e on ly four-stroke entered in the N ovice class and it is de fini tel y no t o ne o f the newest Hondas. T he Arizona jumpers, R ex Blackwell an d C ary Davis to o k th eir fir st rides as professio nal AMA racers. T he tw o are In the Jun ior-Exper t Combined , Dan'White leads Ron Powell 131Xl. Ivan Shigmasa 156Z), Rob Morrison (IOXI , and Don Dudek (42X I. Dan Mahon y photos . known .. n a tion wid e as the "Flying Cy cl es" criss-crossing in mi d-air durin g ramp to ramp jup s, Bo th made it to th e Main w ith Blackwe ll lo o king the best of th e two stun tmen-tu rne d-racers. Both had to work their way th ro ugh the Semi to get to t he final. The nex t TT on the slate is the Fifth An n ua l National TT at Houston, Texas. Los Angeles radio K BIC will carry th e r e sul ts on Saturday and Sunday, January 2 7 and 28 at I I :0 0 AM and 4 :00 PM. The nex t tw o even ts a t Ascot will be TT races on Sunday , February 25 th and Sunday, March 18th. Th e March date will b e th e revival o f the I OO-lapper for the thirty-th ree fastes t riders. It was also an no unced at Ascot during the riders meetin g that a two day sh o rt track an d Half-mil e will take place at El Centro, California on Saturday and Sunday, Mar ch 10-1 I. It will be AMA san cti on ed and the c om b ined purses will total $3,000. • -: Terry Do rsch leads Tom White. ASCOT AMA TT S T E E P L E C H A S E Gardena , Calif. Jan. 14 . 1973 15 LAP BIG 81KE FINAL Terry Dorsch Tr i Keith Mashburn Trl Tom Wh ite Trl Tom Horton Trl Dan Wh it e H-D Ale x Armst rong T rl Ron Powell T ri Bob Sande rs Nor Devon Sowell Tr l Tr i M i ke Han ey Ron Moore Nor Thorton Sm ith Tr i 8 LAP NO V F INAL Je r ry C ole Yam T om Kopr iv a Yam R e x B lack w e ll Bul Jack Lnagst on Suz Ka w M ar c Ba rb an i Gary Dav is Bul M a rk R ev e ls Yam W ay ne Schm id t Yam M ike Lane y Yam Ji m Holt Yam Mel Wa lker Yam Bob Hosford Hon