Continental Report
CONTINENTAL REPORT
IT’S ALL HAPPENING, man! The Spanish jinx seems to be running true to form. Yanks are in the winning groove. Triumph does it again in the 500 mile race for production machines. The 50cc appears doomed as a championship class. Another car-engined sidecar racer makes its mark. But let’s start at the beginning . . .
First of the series of 12 250cc motocross rounds is the Spanish, and with it has grown the superstition that whoever wins that first round never goes on to win the title. That’s the way it has been so far, and now, with four rounds gone, the jinx is running true to form.
Winner in Spain was Russian Victor Arbekov, CZ, who won there last year, and although all the aces were in attendance, Arbekov’s trouble-free two rides gave him an easy victory over Swedish Olle Pettersson, Husqvarna, with another Russian, Leonid Shinkarenko, CZ, third. Last year’s champion Torsten Hallman, Husqvarna, failed to score, but a week later, was the winner at the Swiss meeting. All the rounds for these motocross events are decided on the result of two races, so a rider cannot score unless he finishes in both.
Hallman won the first race from last year’s 500 champion Paul Friedrichs, CZ, then struck trouble in the second when his rear suspension went solid. Nevertheless, he finished second to Joel Robert, CZ, and so gained victory overall with Robert, second and Friedrichs, third. By finishing fifth, Arbekov maintained his lead at the top of the table — but only for a week — as in the French round, the order was Robert, Hallman and Shinkarenko in both races, so putting the Belgian ace two points clear of Hallman in the championship. Robert further consolidated his lead in front of his homecrowd the next weekend when he won after victory seemed certain for his fellow countryman, Josef Teuwissen, CZ. Teuwissen fell on the last lap of the second leg when leading, and Robert went on to win from the consistent Hallman. Arbekov failed to score, but with a third of the championship gone, he lies third in the table. Present leaders are: —
Robert 24 points
Hallman 20 points
Arbekov 13 points
While the 250s have been rushing around getting four rounds settled in four weeks, the 500 boys have just gotten off the ground with only the Austrian round held so far. Doubtless the competitors, like the spectators, are still recovering from the shock that it provided: First in both races was the Russian, Gunnar Draugs on a production 360cc CZ, and in second spot, Sweden’s double champion of yesteryear, Bill Nilsson on a Husqvarna. In the first leg, Jeff Smith finished third, but a broken chain ruined his chances in the second, so third place overall went to Jan Johansson of Sweden, 360cc Lindstrom. Johansson just got the better on time of Keith Hickman, who rode brilliantly in his first world title meeting on a 441cc Cheney BSA, after having spent the winter racing very successfully in New Zealand.
So much for the international scene. At home, the British championships have also got cracking, and now, after three rounds in the 500 class, Dave Bickers, CZ, and Vic Eastwood, BSA, are joint leaders with 14 points each. Bickers moved to the front with a win in the last round where he came from downfield to win on the last lap from Eastwood, who is the only rider to score in all three rounds. Eastwood’s consistency has succeeded in garnering him his high championship placing. Chris Horsfield, Greeves, won the second round to give him fifth place, while Alan Clough is still third, though he missed the last round to ride in the 250 Belgian GP (a decision he probably regrets, as he could well be leading the home title hunt).
B. R. NICHOLLS
By the time this is being read, some of you in the States will have had the chance to see the red-haired, lanky Greeves ace, Arthur Browning, belting a Greeves around, together with competition manager Bill Brooker, as a trip is planned for them both to visit the Eastern States at the end of May and beginning of June.
Now to road racing, where Marty Lunde started his season well with a win in very wet conditions at Lydden. He won the 350 class on his AJS, and on the same machine was third in the l,000cc final. Lance Weil, riding Alan Baker’s Matchless, won a heat but retired when leading on the second lap of the l,000cc final.
Without doubt, the news of the month is the 250cc class win at Le Mans by Andy Lascoutx. The 20-year-old Boston Yamaha-sponsored rider really made his mark in this race, which was run concurrently with the 350 event. He finished seventh overall and won his class from Frenchman Daniel Lheraud, who was Bultaco-mounted. The race was run over the famous car circuit in conjunction with some car practice, and conditions, because of the sliding four-wheeled monsters, were decidedly tricky, especially for the 500 class, as it had rained. Three-fifty winner was Rob Fitton, Norton, and Billie Nelson, Norton, was the wet weather ace.
Lance Weil’s moment of glory came in the annual classic 500 mile race for production machines — the British round of the Coupe d’Endurance. Riding a 649cc Triumph Bonneville for Elite Motors, with Peter Carraña as his co-rider, they lay fourth overall at the end of the first hour, moved into second by the end of the next 60 minutes, and were maintaining this place after three hours. Then, with 94 out of the 189 laps completed, Lance was somewhat shattered to see his primary chain rush up the road in front of him. Any heroic thoughts of pushing back to the pits for a replacement disappeared with one look at the alternator, smashed by the claustrophobic chain making its getaway.
Winner for the past five years, Syd Lawton, saw win number six disappear in a shower of sparks and cloud of dust as Chris Conn hit the deck on notorious Paddock Bend, from which readers will guess the event was held at Brands Hatch. The Dunstall Atlas went out with a broken rocker oil pipe and broken carburetor slide. Last year’s 500 class winner, the Dodkin Velocette, stopped with magneto trouble half an hour before the end, but pushed over the line to finish 14th. Overall winner once again was a 649cc Triumph Bonneville ridden by Percy Tait and Rod Gould, who had little over a lap in hand on similarly mounted Joe Dunphy and Ray Pickrell, the latter riding brilliantly but robbed of possible victory by a slipping clutch which took over three minutes to put right.
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As always, there were surprises, and this year the absolute shaker came in the form of a Suzuki Super 6 (sold in the States as the Hustler), finishing third overall, ridden by Kevin Cass and Chris Vincent, who is better known for his sidecar escapades. Fourth overall was a 350 Read Honda that took the 251-500 class. Another Bonneville came in at fifth spot, while sixth and seventh were a couple of 250cc Ducatis.
Keeping their name in the news as ever are Gilera, who had Derek Minter testing a 500 recently at Modena. They have already said they will not race this year, so perhaps they just like listening to it rushing round. It would be cheaper to get a CYCLE WORLD disc . . .
Indulging in more practical demonstrations are the Hannah Patons, which though lacking the performance of the MV and Honda in the 500 class, are obviously going to make life miserable for Norton and Matchless riders. With Benelli also entering the 500 class with a four, and the chance of John Blanchard on a Fath four, the technical interest in this class should be greater than of late.
Looking ahead to the TT — all is set for a great meeting, with record entries for this, the Diamond Jubilee meeting. Keeping the Stars and Stripes flying in the solo classes will be Jacques DuPont, Andy Lascoutx, Marty Lunde and Lance Weil, while Maurice Candy will contest the sidecar class. With the advent of the production races, entries will be an all-time record for the meeting. It seems unlikely that we shall see the Cardani three in the Island, though an added incentive to get the unit racing as soon as possible is the news that the Austrian, Michael Schafleitner, famous for his six speed gearboxes, is busy on a similar project although it is not expected to race until next year.
If there is a shortage of solo racing units, the same cannot be said of the sidecar class, for the large capacity BSA and Triumph twins are very popular, though in the world championships, capacity restriction to 500cc makes a BMW essential at the moment. Ray Pollard, whose Imp powered outfit was described last month, has other ideas, though; he is sleeving down the engine to 500cc capacity. If the idea works, there will be a lot of long faces among the BMW owners, for the units at present cost about $2,800 each, and a modified Imp would be about half that.
Latest and probably the neatest of the car-engined sidecars is the NSU powered outfit built by Bob Pyett. A 998cc fourcylinder engine transverse in the frame is fed by two twin Weber carburetors, and the power is delivered through a BSA Gold Star gearbox. In its first outing at the Crystal Palace, it set fastest lap, only to retire when the magneto sprocket broke up (it has been converted from coil to magneto ignition) and it showed its paces well at Castle Coombe, where’it finished fourth in the final. The winner was Owen Greenwood with the Mini special, while solo category winners were Paul Smart, Honda, in the 125 class, Reg Everett, Broad Yamaha 250, and Rod Gould, Norton, won the 350 race. Americans may have the chance to see Rod later this year if a proposed racing trip to the States comes off. And well worth watching he is, too, being very fast and stylish.
In the 500 race, Dave Croxford, Matchless, got the better of Percy Tait, Triumph. The following day, the main contestants met again. But from the wide expanse of Castle Coombe to the confines of Mallory Park is a big change, and this time John Cooper and Ron Chandler were riding with the latter just winning the 350 final on his AJS from Cooper, who went on to win the 500 race by half a length from Dave Croxford, Matchless. Cooper was Norton-mounted for both races. Peter Inchley, Villiers, won the 250 race after Derek Chatterton had dropped his Yamaha at the hairpin when leading. His luck was not much better in the 125 race, for he was just pipped on the line by Grant Gibson, Bultaco, who is one to watch in the future. Chris Vincent was the sidecar ace, shattering the 15-lap race record with his 654cc BSA, though the honor of fastest lap went to similarly mounted Peter Brown.
Back again and having his first 1967 ride in England was Frank Scurria, but his Kawasakis were not behaving, and, consequently, he failed to make the 250 final and the 350 would not even start in his heat. A couple of hundred miles away, Lance Weil was having better luck at Lydden, for though he did not make the 350 final on the Bill Chuck Triumph, he borrowed a G50 and finished second in the 500 race to Charlie Sanby, Norton.
Lance had not finished building his own 500, which will really be in the flyweight class. As can be seen from the photo, it will be G50 powered, with Ceriani forks and Lyster double disc front brake. The light duplex frame is also Lyster inspired. Seat and oil tank are glass fiber, and a Manx Norton rear wheel and AMC gearbox will be used. The aim is for the whole thing to weigh around 235 pounds, which is a helluva weight saving over a standard G50 of 285 pounds or a standard Manx, which tips the scales just over 300. When this one is finished, a 7R will follow.
Mike Hailwood had a similar frame in mind for his 500 Honda and, in fact, had one built in Italy for use in the world championships, but Honda have forbidden its use in championship events and are sending a new frame for the West German meeting, the first with a 500 race. It is going to be a very difficult season for Mike, now that Honda,have left him to fight the 250, 350 and 500 classes virtually unaided.
The Spanish GP ran pretty well to form, with the 50cc a Suzuki benefit as it will doubtlessly be throughout the season. Anscheidt won and so took the first step toward retaining his title, while one step up, Bill Ivy won the 125 race and is expected to win the title.
Phil Read was lucky to get his eight points with Hailwood having to retire; but one is left wondering what the early season setback, together with Hailwood being unable to contest the next 250 round, will do to Honda. Will they suddenly withdraw from the 250 hunt as well?
Only time will tell, but one class that will be free from the works iron hand is the sidecar class, and here, Georg Auerbacher, BMW, snatched an early lead from similarly mounted fellow countrymen Klaus Enders and Siegfried Schauzu. It will probably be the most interesting battle of all. ■
