Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

co RACE TWO: Blimey! scratched off me footpeg! " i6' 0.. M .... '" I've The second ra ce at Bran ds was sho rt circuit racing at its best. Again Art the Dart shot in to the lead a t the flag , but he was q uic kly passed by Barry Sheene and then Willia ms. On the next lap Yvo n p assed Art. Sheene began to fade, o nce th e suspension on his Seeley Suzu ki wa rmed up, ruining the handling . Willia ms shot in to the lead followed by DuHam el. Williams' J ohn Play er N orton has th e ne w 850-destroked·to-750 engine in it, and seems to h ave ample h orsep ow er for a short circuit. The frame is mo no co que and it was t he bes t hand ling bike on th e track. Will iams held th e lead for a while an d th en alo ng c ame Calvin . Cal had gotten a poor start an d w o rked his way through traffic. Now he w as rid ing Williams' rear wh e el an d loo king for an ope n ing. In th e me an time Se hl was having p roblems. He was ru nning about sixth wh en he fell in D ru ids , b ut he go t up and got going again, o nly to crash even harder in Cl earways, th e fast last tum . T his ti me he we n t to the h ospital with a broken co llar bone , and Gary Fish er called Yamah a to ask if he could ride a Harl ey . ex> . >- ::E lJ) :s: w z W ..J U >U Brands Hatch Calvin (1) had to wor k to get to t he fro nt in t he seco nd race. But then so d id Smart , who here pr epa res to pass Yvon DuHamel (5l. Peter Williams (12 ) leads followed hv Barry Sheene (10), Art Baumann (61, Rayborn , Du Hamel . Smart, Nixo n (41 and Potter as they com e ou t of Dru ids int o Bot tom Bend . S tory and photos by Art Fried man MAID ST ONE , EN GLAN D, Ap r. 22 , 19 73 - Brands Hatch , the circui t th at hosted the first tw o meetings in the six -race Anglo-Ame rican ro ad racin g series, opene d o n so me thrillin g and disastrous racing . Befo re practice was over British te am member Tony J ef feries threw his Triumph down the road in Paddock Hill Bend, t he first tu m , an d b ro ke his machin e. A few minu tes later Dave Aldana ran off the track at th e sam e place an d wen t flipping along the gras s verge . David w as o kay , but his ma chine devel oped a gre mlin in th e ignition system. Both were able to st art th e race. RACE ONE: Who the hell is Dave Potter? Art Baumann shot into th e lead off th e grid, but 'w as quickly p assed b y Am erican Captain C al Rayborn (H-D) , Pe ter Williams U ohn Player N orton ), and Dave Po tter (Gus Kuhn Norton). Calvin and Peter quickly b egan to p ut a gen erou s amo un t of time and space between themsel ves and Potter who was building a similar ly large lead over. the three Kawasakis of Art Baumann, G ary Nixon, and Yvon DuHam el. Disaster cam e quickly to Suzuki as Bri t ish Ca ptain Pau l Sm ar t and American rider Ro n Grant collide d at th e to p of Paddock Hill Bend. Weavin g, w ob bling, b ob b ling crazily , Smar t m an aged to save it , but Grant wasn't so luck y. He was thro wn off and wen t ricocheting alo ng th e ste el guard rail. In the closing stages..Cal and Paul batt led . His bi ke wen t end over end down the wer e both something unprintable. track, hurling away th e tan k , seat, an d Yo u have probably never he ard of other bits. Ron took a ride in th e meat Dave Potter, but h e n ow had -a th irty wagon , but mir acul ously , cuts an d second lead ove r seco nd place Gary b ru ises wer e the worst of it. -A b ad ly Nixon . Potter is British 750 champio n, shaken Paul Smart d ecided to re ti re on and today he was sho wing his stuff. the next lap. Nixon wasn' t getting any closer, eit he r. The mess in the first tu m ha dn 't even In fact, he was ge tt ing far ther ba ck. A been cleaned up wh en it got worse. h ole h as ap peared in his ex pansio n Calvin an d Peter were still way ou t in chamber and D uHamel went in to front, h avin g cleare d off co mple tely second. from th e rest o f th e field. They were As Nixon continued to slow: Art still togeth er, h owever. Calvin held the _ Bau ma nn an d Doug Sehl (H. D) slipped edg e, but only the slimmest possible by. Yes, Doug Seh l with only three road o ne . Williams' front wheel was ne xt to races under his belt held fourth in an or j ust behind Rayborn 's rear wh ee l. in tern atio n al meetin g. Better than that, Instead o f the road racin g slic k that Doug passed A rt an d took over third. In he used at Im ola , Rayborn wa s usin g a th e meantime , Mick Gran t (Boyer normal Goody ear with tre ad on his rear Triumph) had fallen and Barry Sheene wheel. The difference, as the man (Suz) had retired with a flat tire . Then explains it , is th is: the slic k w arns yo u Ron Chandler , T on y J e ff'e r i e s th at it is go ing to let go by creep ing and rep lacement, also packed it in. Five sliding a little : the treaded tir e holds a Limeys and two Yanks were o ut . bit longer until it - snap - le ts go The Americans led after. th e first co mp le tely . rou nd, 8 1 to 55 . Calvin c am e flying in to Paddock, try in g to put so me d istan ce between RACE ONE RESULTS himself and Peter, and - sn ap - found hi mself slid ing down th e ra ce track. Dave Potter Nor, 16 pt s. Yvon DuHamel Kaw, 15 . Doug Seh l H.D, 14 . Art Baumann Peter went b y, but he did n ' t get far . Kaw, 13. Gary Nixon Kaw, 12 . Dave Aldana Maybe h e relaxe d. May be the crash in Nor , 11 . John Cooper Nor, 10 . Mert Lawwill fron t of him upse t h is timi ng. Whatever H·D, 9. Perey Tait Tri.. 8 . Peter Williams the reason, Peter, with a gia nt lea d , fell (DNF) Nor . 7. Cal Rayb orn (DNFI H·D.6. in Druids. Bo th rid er s wer e OK, but the Ron Chandler lDNFI Tri , 5 . Barry Sheene b ikes n eed ed straigh tening. Calvin did n ' t (DNF) sue, 4 . Miek Grant (DNF) Tri , 3. Paul m ake hi s b roken co llarbon e an y worse , fo rt unate ly. Peter coaste d back to the Smart (DNF) Su z, 2 . Ron Grant lDNF) Suz, pits and co mmen te d to Calvin th at th ey 1• In th e mean time, R ayborn had fo und an opening and pass ed Williams. Cal wa s jus t startin g to look as th ough he mi ght p ul l aw ay wh en he came upon D ave Aldan a (who was still suffering th at ign it ion m alady ) in Druids Bend. Calvin went o ut in to th e slippery st uff to pass , and the Harley s tarte d to slide. Fo r a long moment it hung th ere, Cal holding the gas n either o n n or off, on th e edge. T he n he fo un d - o r made - some trac tion and w en t o n. But in that momen t Peter saw his ch ance and wen t back in to th e lead. Cal went b ack to work. " I didn't have too much tr ouble catchi ng him, " said Calvin, " b ut passing.. . !" When h e did regain his lead, R ayborn Was in fo r an o th er su rp rise . Paul Smart had go tten a ba d star t and the n had been h un g up in traffic. Now he ha d broken fr ee and w as rea dy to mo ve. Mo ve h e d id, nipp ing pas t a surprised Williams and the n rus hing past R aybo rn on th e straigh t, Once agai n Cal poured on the gas, going fast er than he felt co m fo rtab le. The two team cap tains began to slug it o u t with Pau l cap itali zing on hi s knowledge of th e co urse an d his superior power to deal with the better h an dling Harley. Behind the m , Williams was well clear of D uHamel, who, de sp ite his handling difficulties, was lo o kin g very consisten t . Behind hi m , Sh eene led Potter, Nixon and Baum ann. On the last lap s, Rayborn screwed it on in Cl earways an d got on to th e straigh t just fas t enough to stay ahead of Smar t a t th e flag. T he British ers too k the sec ond race , 75 to 6 0, but th e to tal score was 141 to 130 for t he U.S . DuHamel le d in divid ual points with 28 . Second place Potter h ad 2 7. RACE TWO RESULTS Cal Rayborn H·D, 16 . Paul Smart Su z, 15 . Peter Williams Nor. 14. Yvon DuHamel Kaw, 13. Dave Potter Nor. 12 . Barry Sheene Suz .• 11. Gary Nixon Kaw, 10 . Art Baumann Kaw, 9 . John Cooper Nor, 8 . Ron Chandler Tri , 7 . Mert Laww ill H.D , 6. Mick Grant Tr]; 5 . Dave Aldana Nor, 4. Percy Ta ilt Tri, 3. Doug Sehl (DNFI H·D, 2. On e o f th e m o s t signi ficant devel opments a t Brand s was in Cal Rayborn's head. He 'd crashed o nce today an d almost crashed again. His collarbon e was still b ro ken and needed to be pin ned again, p utting hi tn ou t o f Na tional co mp eti t io n for at leas t three weeks. How would Cal feel ab out going eleve n. t en t h s if the competition con tinued to be so intense? " I d on ' t know if I can ride that hard for fo ur mo re races, n said Cal. If he could n't, then wh o co uld take th e place as American standard-bearer that had been accorded to Calvi n?

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