Ascot Season Opener
ASCOT SEASON OPENER
BY CAROL ANDERSON SIMS
PHOTOS BY WALT MAHONY
A visibly tiring Sammy Tanner, Triumph 5TA-mounted, staved off the persistent bids of BSA Wrecking Crew stalwart Jack O’Brien to take the 15-lap season opener at Ascot Park’s half-mile dirt oval in Gardena, California.
Equalling his main event win performance of the entire 1961 racing year on his first night out in ’62, Tanner picked up over $500 for a display of high groove, rooster-tail-tossing artistry that left 5,200 paying customers itching for more.
Fans were treated to the warmest evening of the year as a backdrop for J. C. Agajanian’s initial flattrack offering, and over 80 Class C riders, including 38 novices, listened intently to AMA Referee Bert Brundage’s pertinent remarks at the first rider meeting of the season.
Novices, as in the latter part of 1961, were restricted to brake-equipped 250cc machines, and proved the worth of this ruling by presenting a close, exciting and accident-free program of events.
Pre-race Main Event favorites were last year’s champ, Neil Keen, winner of 19 features in ’61, and half-mile master AÍ Gunter, Keen’s number one nemesis. Neil’s opening night performance was under close scrutiny as it was his first ride at Ascot since switching from BSA to Harley-Davidson, and he managed a fifth in the 15-lapper after taking the “backdoor” to the Main — an Expert Semi win.
Gunter, surprisingly, didn’t even make the feature event, though it undoubtedly would have been a different story if a spark plug wire hadn’t fallen off at the start of his heat, leaving him a lap behind and minus a transfer spot. Albert, BSA mounted, had earlier clocked fast time of the evening (24.11) over a dry and slightly rough race track, and sailed to victory in the Trophy Dash ahead of O’Brien, Stuart Morley and Dick Hammer. Time for the 3-lapper — 1:13.37.
In the Amateur division, first year yellow plate rider Clyde Litch (BSA) was convincing as he took both heat race and main event honors, turning the 10 laps in 4:13.06. Also impressive among a talented crop of amateurs was Russ Baccarella (BSA), who bounced back after a year’s layoff to snag his heat and give Litch a run for his money in the feature. Third spot went to Matchless-mounted Jeff Sperry, an ever-improving crowd pleaser who sports distinctive “Mighty Mouse” ears atop his helmet, and Idaho scrambles champ Mert Lawwill (BSA) grabbed fourth place, looking like an experienced flattracker in his first oval try.
The Main Event was a rouser from start to checker. Six national numbers graced the 12-man lineup (O'Brien, Morley, Tan ner, Hammer, Keen and John Mucken thaler) with Blackie Bruce, Bob Kircher, Ralph White and Bob Souza rounding out the roster.
Tanner roared to the front at the start, dove deep into the turn and gave im mediate notice of his intentions. Looking like the unbeatable "Flea" of 1959, he twisted it on with a vengeance, relin quishing his lead only briefly to O'Brien about midway through the race, and then regaining it within a lap - on the outside!
Meanwhile, first year expert Bob Kir cher (Tn.) was surging relentlessly through traffic and appeared to have third spot sewn up until a slight throttle mis calculation sent him too deep into the number one turn, where he unloaded without injury (except to pocketbook).
Stuart Morley, BSA Wrecking Crew vet eran, set an aggressively steady pace which netted him third place money at the pay off window, ahead of three H-D riders, Hammer, Keen and White, and three BSA riders, Muckenthaler, Bruce and Souza. Tanner's time for the 15-lapper - 6:07.13.
Probationary novice Jim McMurren (Parilla) was the man to beat among a most promising field of fledgling riders, nabbing first his heat and then the 8-lap main event with seasoned aplomb. Other noteworthy novices included Brad Harp (Tn. Cub), Mike Van Ness (Yamaha) and Guy Louis (Ducati).
Several top Eastern riders have indi cated that they will make the trek to Ascot's lightning-fast course within the next few weeks, thus adding even more spice to the tasty Friday night racing menu. As always, fierce competition awaits the eastern invaders, and another fast-moving 33-meet season is well under way. S
