Continental Report
CONTINENTAL REPORT
B.R.NICHOLLS
THE FAMOUS Scottish Six Days Trial had its very foundations shaken this year when the inveterate trials winner Sammy Miller won once again. It was the first time a two-stroke had succeeded and also the first time a non-British machine had taken the premier award. Just goes to show what can be done by a factory when they put their mind to getting the right machine for the job and then getting the best rider available to see that it is given every chance of success. Well done Bultaco and may they have equal success in the road racing field where the water cooled model is about to assert itself in both the 125 and 250 classes. The Spanish factory was not the only overseas firm to upset the traditional applecart for an electric starter equipped M15 Suzuki Sovereign 50cc machine completed the week in the hands of Bob Collier — no fifty has ever done that before.
Bad luck for Scott Ellis for he was leading the trial when on the third day the big end of his BSA seized. Miller battled with Arthur Lampkin toward the end of the trial but the BSA ace was finally defeated by four marks. Triumph took the manufacturers' team prize and an interesting feature of the results is that the first five finishers were all mounted on
different machinery.
The fifty that completed the Scottish was not the only trials surprise that Suzuki had in store, for in the tough 600-mile-long Welsh Three Day Trial, winner Don Barrett rode the 80cc trials model K11T that was an eye-catcher at the Earls Court show last year. This success bodes well for the Six Days models that the factory is preparing. But the real test of Suzuki rough riding iron-mongery will come at the British round of the 250cc world moto-cross, for it has been reported that Japan's champion Kazuo Kubo will contest the event with a factory model.
It will be a tough test; all the leading factory runners are bound to be there with the possible exception of the Russians. If they do stay away it will be difficult to understand the Russian attitude toward championship chasing, for the present leader, Victor Arbekov, has an excellent chance of winning but cannot afford to miss even one round. It could well be that staying away from the Belgian will have stopped his title hopes if either Bickers or Robert now get a good run.
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Belgian ace Joel Robert, who started off the year with ideas of winning both 250 and 500 crowns, has suffered some confidence shattering setbacks, but he made no mistake in winning the latest round in Luxembourg which proved that Arbekov has an intense dislike for wet and muddy conditions. Arbekov, however, finished second to consolidate his place at the top of the table. At the Dutch round the Russian was the winner of both races, though in the first it had looked as if Alan Clough (Greeves) was going to give him a run for his money. Alan had tucked nicely into second place and appeared to be riding quite comfortably when his piston broke for the fourth weekend running. That made him change his barrel for the second race, but to no avail for he again retired. But he must surely register his first championship win soon.
Robert had finished second in the first race ahead of local ace Fritz Selling (Greeves) but retired in the second when Selling once again took third spot to gain second place overall, his best ever in a championship round. Gunnar Draugs (CZ) was third and the consistent Vlastimil Valek (Jawa) fourth. With Russian newcomer Yuri Aguuii (CZ) in fifth place the Russians had three men in the first five. Torsten Hallman (Husqvarna), who had missed the previous two rounds because of engineering examinations, failed to master the difficult Luxembourg conditions but still retains fifth place in the table. Championship table after seven rounds:
0. BICKERS Greeves Britain 41
). ROBERT CZ Belgium 30
1/. VALEK CZ Czechoslovakia 26
T. HALLMAN Husqvarna Sweden 21
V J0NSS0N Husqvarna Sweden 19
V. ARBEKOV CZ Russia 18
In the 500 class Jeff Smith (BSA) has consolidated his position — four out of five rounds won to gain a clear lead of fifteen points over Sten Lundin. At the last round held in Sweden, Jeff won both races and with Vic Eastwood gaining second overall made it a one-two for BSA. Ex-champion Rolf Tibblin was out on a 360 CZ and failed to finish, but these machines can be expected to challenge very strongly at the Czechoslovakian round to be held soon. The CZ concern will field Robert, Tibblin and Paul Friedrichs, an East German who is making his mark in the big class. CZ will almost certainly have other factory machines out as well in an effort to win on their home ground, so if "Smithy" pulls it off he will indeed be a worthy champion.
What are Honda up to? That is the question being asked by all the road race fans and it seems almost impossible to get an answer. I think it lies in the fact that a lot of effort is being put into their grand prix car racing enterprise, which is not meeting with the initial success that they gained when first starting in the two-wheeled game. The reason why is obvious. The car boys have been at it a long time whilst in the bike game Honda moved in as others were moving out.
Alan Shepherd has retired from road racing, a decision reached after making exhaustive practical tests at Oulton Park which, it appears, only bore out medical evidence. Without doubt the decision was wise, but he will be sadly missed by the fans who were quick to admire his courageous riding. The best examples were the Ulster Grand Prix where he rode the AJS 7-R and stayed with Surtees on the 350 MV, setting a record lap. And more recently, that ride at Mallory Park where on the Kirby Matchless he beat Minier on the Gilera. This leaves Honda with only Redman, Taveri and Bryans to contest four classes — it seems the 500 has now been dropped from the plans as Redman has not taken up the entry for the T.T. Ralph Bryans in fact is the only rider who is having any success at the moment for he leads the 50cc title table. Taveri must be saying goodbye to his 125 crown for the Suzuki is a much better bet. So much in fact that the lack of development on the 125 Honda makes me think that they must be designing another new model.
Twins, fours, sixes makes you wonder what can come along next from the highly successful and ingenious Honda. Let's see. Britain can provide singles, Czechoslovakia twins, Italy a three. Russia a four and Japan a six so how about someone bridging that gap with a five?
Redman's trip into the greenery at the West German Grand Prix, though not too serious, meant that he was not fit enough to ride at the Spanish round, for the Montjuich Park circuit at Barcelona is no place for a partially fit rider with its tortuous twists and turns. This left Provini and Read to fight out the 250 class and a right good battle they made of it. But Provini dropped it and that gave another victory to the Yamaha ace. His teammate Mike Duff was third while second spot went to local ace Ramon Torras on the Bultaco. But there was tragedy three weeks later for the brilliant twenty-one-year-old Spaniard crashed at a local meeting on a fast bend and was killed when he hit a tree. So Read with four wins running and Redman yet to score gives the Yamaha man a distinct advantage and psychologically he is well placed for the T.T. He has lapped at over 90 mph on the mountain circuit to come within an ace of the lap record which has stood to Bob Mclntyre since 1961. In addition, Yamaha have signed Bill Ivy for the Isle of Man races, which will give them a team of three against the lone Honda in the 250 class where Redman will also be up against Benelli, Suzuki and MZ.
Sammy Miller (Bultaco) has made a return to road racing in his native Ireland and after finishing sixth in his first outing at the North West 200 meeting he went on to win his class at the Cookstown 100 and finish second to Tommy Robb at the Leinster 200. It was a great day for the Irish at the North West for local boys won all three classes with Ian MacGregor (Norton) beating John Cooper in the 350 and Dick Creith (Norton) winning the 500. But if it was a good day for the Irish it was indeed a very sad one for the United States for Tony Woodman crashed while leading the 350 race and suffered severe head and back injuries. At the time of writing he is still in poor condition but improving.
Now we are on the threshold of the Isle of Man races where Woodman would have been the leading Yankee rider. Nevertheless, the States will be represented in both sidecar and solo classes. Next month you will be able to find out just how they fared in this toLighest, most exacting road race of them all. •w
