I
t was a question that
surely must've been
asked that afternoon
of March 12, 1972, at
Daytona International
Speedway: was anybody
going to win the 1972
Daytona 200? One after
another, the greatest
racers in the world were
taking turns running out in front
one moment, only to be pound-
ing the fuel tank of their broken
motorcycle the next.
Early in the race, Art Baumann
was leading on his Suzuki before
engine problems cropped up.
Yvon Duhamel and his Kawasaki
took over before he broke down
as well, handing the top position
over to another Suzuki piloted by
Jody Nicholas, whose machine
would also seize ("welded solid,"
reported Cycle News). Other front-
runners included Yamaha rider
Gary Fisher, privateers Dave Smith
and Ray Hempstead (who
had passed race leader
Phil Read on a Norton),
as well as a rookie by the
name of Kenny Roberts.
They were some of the
11 riders (according to
CN) who would be at the
front of the pack in what
was at that time the most
important motorcycle road race in
the world.
Somebody had to win, and
as the race neared the end, it
appeared as if Geoff Perry, the
Suzuki-sponsored ace from New
Zealand, was going to be that
man, carrying the Team Suzuki
flag to victory while represent-
ing his luckless fellow soldiers
whose steeds had failed them.
Then, with just a little more than a
couple of laps remaining, Perry's
Suzuki gave up the ghost. It was
as if the Grim Reaper himself,
tasked with the termination of
CNII ARCHIVES
P126
BY KENT TAYLOR
Geoff Perry dejectedly
walks back to the pits
after his bike broke
down while seemingly
on his way to victory at
the Daytona 200 in 1972.
Crashes and
mechanical
breakdowns cursed
the 1972 Daytona
200.
THE 1972
DAYTONA
200
A RACE NOBODY SEEMINGLY
WANTED TO WIN
