Indianapolis
INDIANAPOLIS
Cal Rayborn is Conductor On the Harley-Davidson Freight
THE BIGGER they are, the harder they fall. Yvon du Hamel, the little French/ Canadian from Montreal, assumed the role of David in his pursuit of all seven of the mighty Harley-Davidson Goliaths to lead, if only for a few laps, the AMA 110-mile National Championship road race at Indianapolis Raceway Park. After du Hamel’s luck and spark ran out. Cal Rayborn (H-D) regained the lead and carried on to an unchallenged win from Gary Nixon (Triumph).
Only two major races were contested over the demanding 2.6-mile Indianapolis track, a 20-tap Amateur race and the 43-lap Expert National Championship. Rain the previous night delayed the start of practice, which was shortened to accommodate the advertised start of qualifying heat races.
Qualifying times of the first three in each class heat were very close, which caused the 10,000 spectators to anticipate hard fights in the two finals. Advocate of the older AMA road race style, Bart Markel fitted his H-D with both the clutch and front brake levers mounted on the left handlebar. However, the clutch lever is used only at the start, as his machine also is fitted with H-D’s slick-shift, cam-operated gear change lever cum clutch disengager. At first glance, without the knowledge of the clutch operating gear change pedal, an average spectator would consider this setup suicidal, as do most riders.
According to AMA rules, any road race of a greater distance than 100 miles must incorporate a compulsory pit stop for a minimum of one quart of fuel. The Indianapolis race was over 100 miles, bringing into force this compulsory pit stop. Because most of race day was overcast, and at times rain threatened, the majority of riders chose to pit late in the race in event the 100-miler were called before the finish.
f rom the start of the Amateur race. Art Ninci (H-D) swept into the lead, but soon was relegated to 2nd, then 3rd place as John Potter (Matchless) and Bill Lyons (Honda) squeezed past. Ron Pierce, riding Phil Read’s 350 Daytona Yamaha, carved his way through the field to lie 3rd. Next lap around, Lyons crashed without injury. Pierce now was 2nd. Luck seemed to mark Pierce to win this particular race as Potter’s Matchless soon coughed and coasted to a silent stop, after enjoying a 30-sec. lead. Pierce toured past in the lead, where he stayed, to give Yamaha its first big-bike success since advent of the very fast 350 two-stroke in 1967. Tom Rockwood (Hansen-Matchless) finished 2nd as he had edged past Ninci who finished 3rd.
The tractability of cubic centimeters was very evident at the end of Lap 1 of the 110-mile Expert race, when no fewer than seven “works” Harley-Davidsons stormed through the start in close formation-with one lone Triumph in 3rd place. Rayborn led, with Markel 2nd, closely followed by Nixon. Also at the end of the first lap, the “works” Yamahas of Art Baumann and CYCLE WORLD Associate Editor Mike Duff pitted, Baumann for fresh plugs, and Duff to retire with a blown head gasket. Eor the first dozen laps, Rayborn only just managed to maintain his lead, as he was hard-pressed by Markel and Nixon. All three gradually pulled away from the remainder of the field, except for one rider, Yvon du Hamel, who, from a slow start, was reeling in 1 or 2 sec. per lap on the leading trio. Equally as impressive as the H-D freight train on the first lap was the speed of the little Yamaha as du Hamel motored past Rayborn in front of the main grandstand for all and sundry to see. No one was more surprised than Rayborn himself as du Hamel disappeared over the horizon. By this time, Markel literally had fallen by the wayside, but was not injured. Du Hamel’s small stature must be a tremendous asset to the performance of the Fred Deeley Yamaha, for it was clearly the fastest machine in the race. Before Rayborn pitted for his compulsory fuel stop, du Hamel had stretched out a 23-sec. lead. When Rayborn rejoined the race from his fuel stop, he was nearly a full minute behind du Hamel. Three laps later, du Hamel pitted. His engine stopped, which is uncommon for these minimal pit stops for a quart of fuel. The spark plugs were changed, Rayborn flew past into the lead, Nixon, Haaby, Fulton, Lawwili, Nix and Elmore also passed before du Hamel started to push his Yamaha. With the aid of his mechanic, he pushed the full length of the pit straight without success. It soon become apparent that the fouled plug was more than just the common two-stroke difficulty. So ended a gallant ride on a private machine by the little Canadian who has enough determination to conquer the world. The excitement of du Hamel’s pursuit gone, the main grandstand was all but empty as Rayborn crossed the finish Une to win his third successive road race National. Gary Nixon finished 2nd and Dan Haaby was 3rd.
Rayborn’s win placed him within four points of Nixon in the battle for the AMA No. 1 plate. Gary’s score totaled 444, to Cal’s 440.
In AMA racing today are sidevalves, pushrods, overhead valves, dohc lay outs-and no valves at all. Where will it end? The twostrokes are here to stay, and are undoubtedly the engines of the immediate future. ■
