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/141065
it alone. In Jim's c ase, h e has had to do it with out an En glish-sp ea kin g m echanic or friend. He talks n ow o f things h e m aybe only though t abo u t before wi th a new co n fid en ce in self that is a h ealthy sign o f growth, both as a m an and asa racer. Bu t , basically, th e experience of wi n n ing a GP and ran kin g fifth in the wo rld hasn ' t re ally ch anged him. He is both p ro ud of h is achi evemen ts , pulling out ph o to s wi th the eagerness of a Juni or, an d modest abo u t hi s own a bilities. Whil e walkin g th e co u rse with him before a GP , watching Ji m m e n tall y cou n t th e b u mps between corn ers an d c alc ula te th e best gear an d ove rall gearing, the most freq ue nt c o m m e n t he m ade was ; " I've s till go t a lo t to learn . " Nobody in Europe wh eelies th e co bby d own hill s lik e J im Pomeroy d o es. Only A ndersso n , Mik o la and Fal ta are co ns isten tly as fast. (Mon tesa rival Kal evi Vehkonen always seem s t o be run ning against Jim. T he Spanish factory competition emerges he re. T hey're both good riders.) A nd, despi te. hi s lack of affection an d a defe ren ce to the European GP riders, they res pect J im because he can beat them a t their own sport on their o wn courses. He d o es it regu larly . T he re' s been a lo t of tal k an d a lot of in k about ยท fu tu re h opes fo r an A me rican World Champion : WiII it be th is young charger or th is on e? Eve ry fact o ry , or rath er , U .S. imp orter tries t o p ic k u p o n th e. one wh o ' s win nin g th at week and h opes th at he w,1I be th e one to d o it . All th e t alk, all th e predictions b y the p ress, all the a dvertisin g a nd wish ful thinkin g lo o k pretty pal e co mpared to th e real it y o f right now on th e Grand Prix ci rc uit. T he formerl y shy , st ill n aive J im Pomeroy (Bu l) is winnin g today in World Champi onsh ip com petit io n . He's not grabbing b ig he adlines for local wins ; he's jus t going faster than most of th e world's bes t in every G rand Prix he rides. Any A merican who thinks h e's going to be World Champion had be tte r get .. LD 1 M ,... ell ell World Champion next year ? . started . Brad Lackey (Kaw) is in hi s second year of 500 class GP competition...and Jim Pomero y , the racer fro m Yaki m a that didn't im press anybody in th e U.S., is reall y gassin ' it, and he isn't looking back. Pome ro y's doing it th is y ear; he doesn't j ust talk abo u t being World Mo to cro ss Champion. NOT BAD FOR A BLOODY OLD PUSH ROD TWIN A lthough th e Europe an G ran Pri x ro ad race mach ines represe n t the u I ti m ate in fac to ry sop his tication Eng lish man Pe ter Willia ms a nd h is J ohn P layer Norton p rov ed the new er Formu la 75 0 class to be j us t as fast a t the Isle of Man IT June 5 wh en h e turned in the second fastest la p and ra ce times in th e history of th e even t. Willi ams' best lap ave ra ge over th e 3 734 mil e co urse was a bli s tering 107.27 MPH and hi s five-lap average was an eq u ally q uic k 105.4 7 MPH. Onl y th e legendary Mike Hailwood has ever run the course fas ter. He set the c u rren t st a ndard s in 1967 abo ar d a 500cc Honda with a 10 8.77 MPH lap average and 105.62 MPH total average. William s bes ted 8 3 entries in th e ra ce finishin g th e eve nt in 1:4 7 : 19 .2. He was fo llowe d to the fin ish lin e by te am mate Mick Gran t a lso o n a J o h n Player No r to n. Tony J efferi es on a T riu mp h was th ird , Charlie Williams on a Yamaha fo u rth S tan Wo o ds on a Suzuki fift h and Ken H uggett o n a Yamaha was sixth . T he only Americans to c om pe te at th e Isle of Man IT event this year we re Maurice Candy a nd Ed d ie F le tche r. Th ey raced in the 500cc side car eve nt , fin ishing l Oth o ut of 83 starter on thei r 5 00 Triu mp h rig. tailor made - Alpina 125 & 175 Mini -Cycle National Weekend Set For Wisconsin WESTERVILLE, OHIO, Jun e 8 - T he Am e ri ca n Motorcycle A ssoci ati on Yo uth D ivision Direct o r Guy Outland to d ay anno unced th e ad di tio n of tw o Y-AMA National Championsh ip eve nts in Wisconsi n on Saturday an d Sunday, June 3 I an d J uly I. A quar te r-mile Ila t trac k event and a m o to cro ss arc: scheduled for the weekend at Pin e Hills Recreati o n Area, 12 mi les north o f Manitowoc, Wisconsin, o n Hig hway 14 I. T he Wisconsin ra ces bring to eigh t eve nts the s c hedule of Y-AMA Championships which will de te rmi ne th e 19 73 Y-AM A National Mini-Cycle Cham pions . For a d d i t io na l i n fo rma t io n co nc e rn in g the \ Visc o n sin Nationals co n tac t Ro n Kam in ski , P.O . Box 487, Manitowoc, Wisconsin 54220, (4 14) 68 2-4641. AVA ILABLE AT ALL FINE BUL TACO SHOPS