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/141049
.- ee " '" ~ ~ In Yamaha?, Again??! But That Isn't • the Program!!! Q. M .... ~ O· " :- ::; ~ W Z W ...J U >- U - Saarinen led the Yamaha sweep. Despite the fact that the 750'5 have been sorted ou t in 1972 , the bran ny -new water-cooled Yamm ies did it all. All fou r road races and the mo toc ross wen t to Yam aha. We bet Don Emde is havi ng second thoughts. .. bel on ged t o Saarinen. Onl y R on Pier ce was close, and h e re tir ed on th e 35 th l ap . Yamaha International 's Team Man a ger a n d veteran racer Kel C arruthers t ook o ver th e second posi tion vacated by Pierce, with Kawasaki moun ted Cliff Carr ta king over third . Carr's bad lu ck co n ti n ue d as a n at tire forced him out of the race on th e 43rd lap, leavin g Yam ah a rider s Dave Smith and Jim Evans t o fight over third sp ot. Fi ght th e y d id as Don Ve s c o-sp o n s o r ed Smith an d Mel Din eson- sponsored Evan s, spli t by a o ne- lap -behind Don Cast ro, pu t o n perh aps the cl osest ra cin g show of th e day . Cast ro, di sregarding his o ne lap di sad van t age, stayed bet ween th e tw o th ird pl ace co nt enders for three lap s un t il he was ab le to sh ake th e pair and mo ve away. Smith and Evans ran wh eel to wh eel an the oval and fa iring to fairing in the infi eld un til lap 5 0 wh en Smith , las t year's Com b ine d ra ce winner, ran o ut o f gas turning an un contested third place over to Evans, with Dick Mann a di st ant fourth. Saarine n, wh o had pulled ou t a 5 5 second le ad o n Carru th er s, cooled it on the wh ite n ag lap an d took th e checke red n ag at th e end o f 52 lap s to becom e the first foreign racer to win the Daytona 200 sin ce th e beach and ro ad course was supe rse de d by the super speedway . Th e average speed for th e race was 9 8. I 78 MPH . The Finnish rid er 's cockiness eq uals or exceed s his racin g abili ty, and though h e made several di sp aragin g remarks aho u t Ame rican ride rs d uring th e week , he simply than ked his sponso rs for their assista nce and smile d when inform ed th at he had won S 12,350 in p urse m oney alo ne . Saarinen was jo ine d in victory lane by secon d p lace m an Kel Ca rruthe rs and an elated yo ung J im Evans . ." Bugs" DA Y TONA E XPER T 2 0 0 MILE R Yam Mert L awwill Yam Mar tin sna ece Yam George K erk er T ri Budd y E lm o re Suz Bob B ailey Ya m T eu vo Lan sivuo ri Jarn o Saa ri ne n Kel Carr ut he rs Jim E van s D ick M a n n D on Emde Con rad Urbanowskl M ori o Sum lya M ick G ra nt D o n C astro Steve McLa ughlin Ha rr y C one F ran k Gille spie R o bert Wi n t ers H on Pet er Willia ms Hon Ji m Me tra ndo B ill M an ley Steve Ba k e r Bob W ake fi eld Yam Yam Da ve Sm it h Gary Scot t Dave Sehl Paul Smar t surprised every one lparticularl v " Honda and K awasaki) didn 't do anythi ng else, how ever. Yam Yam Yam Yam H·D T ri And y Lasco utx Kurt Liebmann T o m Sc h roed er ... Tom Rock wood Iv or t.rc vc • It w as that kind of weekend for some people. r< evin Cameron and Cliff Carr cont inued their usual bad luck. H· D Yam Hon Ya m T ri Yam Nor Ya m Hon Yam Ya m B MW Yam Ya m Hon