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/141061
ma n y o f hi s co n tine n tal bookings. A u trey has been scoring sevens and eights for Exe ter and recently gave a splendid display at Wimb ledon, wh e re Exeter went do wn 42-3 6. In o ne race h e didn 't realize tha t t he fin ishing line is 10 y ar d s p ast the sta rti ng gate an d he shut off befo re th e chequered fla g, allowi ng a Wimb led o n rid er to pi p him for a poin l. Wo ods h as been scorin g quite well for Newport, who lo ok like being one o f the surprise teams in Britain thi s year. T hey have no t h ad much success in recen t years but with Norw egian Reidar Eide in fin e form - he rece n tly handed ou t a c o uple o f spanking defeat s to O le O lsen - th is could be a much better season fo r them. Sumn er McKnigh t, with m y oId club Sw in d on, is n ot havin g so much joy , un fo rtun atcl v. He has found it hard to score po in ts 'w ith any co nsistenc y and a maj or p roblem at present is hi s ga tin g. Often he 's bein g left at th e tapes wi th to o much di stance to make up . He ca me to German y with m e for a few d a ys (I ran a trainin g schoo l in R up ho ld in g) in addi tio n to ridin g in a c ou ple of me etin gs, and p erhaps he le arn ed a few th in gs. Scott is a mem ber o f a ne w team which ha s j us t been la un che d in Bri tain c al led the " Briggo Bo ys ." 1 am spon sorin g five riders this ye a r , · with leathers , hel me ts, boots and a lo ad of o the r gea r fo r themselve s and th eir bikes. SCOll is o ne of th e lads. T he o the rs are Graem e S taplet on from New Zealand, Ph il Crump from t\ ustralia , Dave J essup and Mar rin Ashby from En gland. They ar e all riders wh o, I reckon, w ith th e right so rt of help and e ncou rage me n t, co uld m ake it in a bi g way . Cru m p , in h is first seas on of fir st divi sion racing o ve r here , suffered a se t -back a co up le o f wee ks ago when he b ro ke a wrist. He has re turned home to • Au str alia for a while, b ut should be ba ck lat er this year to co m plete t he sea son with Kin gs Lynn . I had m y first meetin g in En gland at Wimbled on in April, but a slo w m otor kept m y points tall y right d own. I was als o part of the TV -team that covere d the me etin g, w ith hi ghli gh ts being shown on the co mmerci al ne two rk a co u ple of days later. At Ruph olding 1 was back in th e groove wi th a 15 p oi n t ma xi mum aga inst a top class field, wh ich incl ud ed top rid e rs like Man fr ed Posc hen reide r , Ben gt J an sson an d J o h n Louis . Bu t m y nex t batt le ta kes p lace off th e t ra ck a nd in th e o ffices of the Sp eedway Con trol Bo ard in Lon do n . I hav en't m issed a Wo rld Cham p io nsh ip in o ver 20 yea rs, and I d on '; real lv sec wh y I sho uld 'st ar t n ow . . - BA R R Y BRIGGS So uth Ham p t on, Englan d EDITOR'S NOTE We ta lk ed w i t h D Oli Wo o d s , co m pe tit ion dir ector fo r t he AMA , about th e ex clusion of t he A m eric ans . It seems that th e A m ericans had t o go t h ro ugh th e AMA to rid e in th e Wo rld C h a m pio nships. Th e A .HA wasn 't info rm ed in enough tim e to be able t o m eet th e FIM's de adlin es. Th e Brit ish wer en't able t o get the U.S. rid ers ell tries because t hey are only aI/ow ed a certain num ber of en t ries and 'th ey ha ve mo re t han enougb E nglish rid ers to f ill th e m. h ave won National Half-mile ra ces in p a s t s e a so n s . BS A, D u c a t i , Harley -Davidson, Norton , Triu mph and Yamah a will all be rep resented, with T rium ph havin g o ver fo rty en tries. I\l ark Brels fo rd is e n te re d at S an J ose, but is a d o u b t ful participant. He: is still re coverin g from Dayto na h u r ts . JIm Rice, winner in '69 and ' 70 on a B~A , is listed as rid ing a new Ha rley-Davidso n and Ri ce pu t his official sp on so r down a s the Harl e y -Davids on M o t o r Company. Th e defending San J o se Champion is Triumph-mounted Gen e Romero, who h as won the past two y ears in a row. The S an J ose vic to ry a year ago wa s his on ly Xational win in ' 72. Rom ero is hack wi th a n ew Tri um p h s h o r t- rod 750 Bo nn eville , t rying to beco m e th e fir st rider to e ver win it three times . Cali forn ian s have won the last fo u r years , but strong co m pe tit ion lo oms from su ch o u t-of-starers as Rand y Scoll (O regon). Mike Kidd (T ex as), Ted Newto n and Re x Bea uc h amp (Mich igan ) and Dave and Do ug S e hl (Ca nad a) . D ave Sehl was the bi g win ne r at San J ose ' s "R ace of Champio n s" last O ctober. Beau champ h as a lready bagge d tw o Half-mile win s, plus a mi le tra ck fin al alr eady this year in t he eas t. T he two officia l Ya ma ha Team fact ory e n tries, Ken n y R oberts an d Don Castro, will both be lo ok ing fo r thei r firs t National Half-m ile wi n , In fa ct Cas tro h as yet to score a maj o r win sin ce join ing th e Ex pert class. R oberts won th e S an Jose o pe n ing in early April, turning b ack Gary Scott. A n ad de d hi gh ligh t will be a Junio r "Invitational" race, match in g the twelve best J uni or West Co ast half-rnilers in a ten-l ap ru noff. The ' rid ers h ave been sele cted on th e basis o f poin ts th ey have scored this yea r a t As cot an d San Jose. Top three a re J ohn Gennai (T ri). Rick Hoc kin g (Ya m) and Danny Ho ck ie (BSA). Di ck Mann takes his first o ffic ial Half-m ile rid e on a T riu mp h , and Yam ah a Team rid e r G ary Fishe r bas j u m ped ove r to a Ducati fo r th is one. T riu m p h has the dep th , H-D will have their official tea m plus Rice, Yama ha is anxio us and Norton goes it alo ne with n ave Ald an a. T ime trials st a rt at noon, M ay 20, Th is Sunday AMA un vei ls their new Ex pe rt -o n ly, :\'ation al H al f-mil e pro gram on Sunday, Ma y 20th a t San Jose, Calif. So me doubted, wh en th e new rule was first anno un ced. tha t th ere It's a must that yo u have a name and num b er for all PRO A MA RACES S12.95 each name of bik e on front. \LO. o r «"1 :1: 1· .. ( 'III-("ti (II : \\l' I:I ,,1l SPOI: I S I'!CO Il ' ·' '" . s \11e.. n f "I~O - \ \ 1 P m elll el ~ . lI ic.hla ll ll '" \\h il l' ...1.... (· J'! I t l~fl· p n ... hur.!:. . P e -nu a . 1. t;OI l ~I/.I.: t I . .. I I \1 I ) I. 111(' . , I \ 1. HUSQVARNA MOTO-CROSS SCHOOL Dese rt Ri d e rs-No vices. Any brand bike. Storage-rentals available. Coach Ro lf Tibblin ! O ne week sessio ns $145.00. Enroll now. Husqvarna Training Ce nter, 4935 Mercu ry St., San Diego , Ca lif. 92111 . Pho ne : II DE ALE RS AND DI STRI BUTOR S CAL L (412) 836-1302 714·292·0670. A L E A D E R S I NCE 1935 IN THE AU TO MO TIV E GA SK E T FIELD PRO UDLY ANN OUNC ES IT S E NTRY I N TO T HE MOTOR CY C LE GA S KET F IE LD Our Co m b ina tio n Kit Fi ts Ma ny Mo dels Cu rren tly Ava ilable . Yamaha 125-175·250·360 Co mi ng Up Soon : Suzuki - Kawa sa k i Bu ltaco - Hond a + Ma ny O th er s ,," MR . DISTRIBUTOR DROP US A LINE ON YO UR LE T T E R H E A D FOR YOUR F R EE SAMPLE K IT ~~Je~:' ~ sneth 11 79 LACADENA DR. R I VERS IDE . CAL. 9250 1 714-686· 1006 CONTACT 319 WEST 17TH ST. LOS A NG E L ES . CA L. 9 00 15 2 13· 32;;-0437 : ::;: '" ~ z ~ o ~ ce re m o n ies at 2 A .~ I. Los Ange les radio KB IG ( 74 ) will carr y Ro xv Ro ckwood's run do w n afte r th e ra ce ' at 5 :45 1'.1\1. an d Cy cle News will have the c o mp le te coverage on th e ne wsran d s and in the sho ps may 23 rd . Most o f th e ran kin g tale nt is expec ted to stop o ff at Ascot th is Fr iday n igh t th e 18th Fo r th e " Regio n al" Half-mile race . (jET READY FOR THE '73 TRANSAMA & PRO MX RACES WITH YOUR PRO-AM MX SHIRTS F EATU RES: Ny l on vented •. padded elbows •. we ighs les s than 6 oz. Shir t comes "ith name and number on back Jnd ~ ~ p re-race May 20 - Th is Way to San Jose would be enoug h entries. Other said it would create mo re int erest , and more riders wo uld travel t o National races. T h e latter prevails at S an Jose. O ver ·70 E xperts a re o fficially en tere d fo r th e 7th a n n ual National Half-mile th at will p ay o ver 52 0, 000 in p urs e a nd contingency m o ne y. T he n ew fo rmat will quali fy 48 riders fo r th e heat races. T wel ve rid e rs will co m pe te in th e National Fin al and an o th e r d o zen will ri de in the new "Trop hy Fin al." Half of th e field of q ualifie rs will share in th e p u rse, an d th e Natio nal winner \\111 take h ome ov e r 13 ,000 plus 150 n ational p o ints. Expe rts fro m ten sta te s and Canada are e n te red , in cludin g ten rid e rs wh o M bi ...