Racing Review

RACING REVIEW

CANADIAN MARATHON

Although it took several days to verify, complicated lap charts proved Frank Camillieri and Andres “Andy” Lascoutx, both of Boston, won the Five Hour Production Marathon at Ontario’s Harewood Acres.

At the end of the second annual marathon, which 40 machines entered, there was more than a mild difference of opinion over which team had won.

Fven the referee fell victim to the belief that the Quebec team of Yvon du Hamel and Dave Cunningham sharing a BSA 750-cc Three, had completed the most laps. The checkered flag, in fact, was given to du Hamel who finished the last hour for his team.

Assuming a du Hamel-Cunningham victory may have been presumptuous but, to a degree, it was understandable. Du Hamel was consistently the quickest rider of the day.

However, it was team racing, and that was why du Hamel and Cunningham finished second and Camillieri and Lascoutx, on their Norton 750 Commando, victored. They, incidentally. were sponsored by Buffalo’s Gene Conway.

Du Hamel’s partner, rookie Dave Cunningham, was steady and quicker than many, but he simply could not keep pace with the Boston duo.

What fooled many spectators, officials, and riders, was a start delayed one lap by du Hamel because of late repairs by his pit crew. Although he passed the early leaders, Camillieri and Mike Duff (co-rider, Dan Sorenson) before the first pit stop and rider change, two trips past the front men were actually required to put him in the lead.

Each time Cunningham took over, a little ground was lost. With four pit stops to the three by Camillieri and Lascoutx, du Hamel managed three rides to Cunningham’s two, and covered each lap of the 1.91 mile circuit quickly, but not quickly enough, for at the marathon’s end, Camillieri and Lascoutx had completed 212 laps to the 211 laps of the French-Canadian team.

Although Duff and Sorenson were hindered with oil line problems and lost their bid for first place just after the first hour, they did complete 201 laps and were awarded third place. A Honda 750 Four completed 202 laps but ran the entire race under the black flag for having an oversized rear tire.

Two aggressive Junior riders, Randy Platt and Sandy Douglas of Toronto, managed fifth overall and first 250 position on a Suzuki; a commendable showing but embarassing for the several senior and expert competitors that followed. Over 30 riders finished.

In the pattern of last year’s marathon, the day was spoiled by several accusations of illegal machinery (some valid)*, and tempers that produced what one discerning spectator called “motormouths.”

Officials of the sponsoring Nortown Motorcycle Club blamed the unsportsmanlike actions of certain riders and distributors or dealers; and the difficulties presented by lap scoring for their announcement, perhaps intended as a threat, that this year’s marathon was probably the last.

THE ENDURO SCENE

At the Cayuta, N.Y., 120-mile National an Ossa man, Buck Wallsworth, emerged the overall winner, gaining 971 points on a 250-cc Pioneer. He took the decision on a special check from Dave Knutson (Yamaha), who also had 971 points. Another Ossa rider, Gene Ritchie, was third highest point scorer with 964. It was a great day for lightweight machines, the highest scoring “heavy” being Warren Peck (Triumph) 957.

Another Husky rider, Robert Fusan, saw the limelight at the 135-mile Sandy Lane national with a top score of 972. He narrowly beat medium weight class winner Carl Patterson (Yamaha) 971; and light heavyweight winner Norman Ford (Husqvarna) 970.

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OKLAHOMA NATIONAL

Jim Rice, AMA 1969 Rookie of the Year, stroked his personally maintained BSA Twin to his third national win of the season. Never headed, he led all 20 laps for a wire-to-wire victory over Bart Markel.

Mert Lawwill clinched the No. 1 plate for 1970, with a 6th place finish and 13 valuable points, bringing his season total to 619 thus far. Gene Romero, fastest time trialer, came in 3rd, and increased his 2nd place national point standing to 536. With Mert’s point total he could sit out the final National and still be No. 1, even if Romero should win the Ascot 8-Mile Championship.

Dick Mann, who is a sure bet to be in the top five at any National, came in 4th, dueling with 3rd place Romero right down to the checkered flag. Larry Palmgren passed Markel on the last tour and moved into 2nd, but while lapping a slower rider, he bailed off, giving Bart the runner-up spot at the finish. Chuck Palmgren fell in the heat race, and failed to transfer. Dan Haaby, back on a BSA, made his best National showing of the season, with a well earned 5th.

Oklahoma’s only AMA National Championship was held as a memorial to Fred Nix, who was tragically killed earlier this season in an automobile accident. A giant five-foot trophy was presented to winner Jim Rice at the finish of the main by Nix’s widow, who still resides in Fred’s home town of Lawton.

The Amateur final was Don Castro’s sixth National win of the year. His outstanding success this past season has certainly proved he is capable of holding his own against the top Experts next year. Dave Aldana, 2nd place, has also won six National finals this year. The deciding factor will be the final National at Ascot, with the edge being on Aldana’s side, as he is practically unbeatable at the Gardena, Calif., half mile.

EXPERT FINAL 1. JIM RICE ....................BSA 2. BART MARKEL..... Harley-Davidson 3. GENE ROMERO........... Triumph 4. DICK MANN..................BSA 5. DAN HAABY .................BSA 6. MERT LAWWILL .... Harley-Davidson 7. MARK BRELSFORD . Harley-Davidson 8. CAL RAYBORN ..... Harley-Davidson 9. ALURICH ............... Triumph 10. W.T. RUFNER ............ Triumph

AMATEUR FINAL 1. DON CASTRO ............. Triumph 2. DAVE ALDANA................BSA 3. KEN PR ESS G ROVE .............BSA 4. ROBIN MARTIN ........... Triumph 5. DANNY WARE.................BSA

$12,500 BIKE PURSE

Any way you slice it, $12,500 is heavy bread. As prize money for a motorcycle race it is so heavy as to be unheard of in any two-wheeled contest ever held anywhere...until now!

The great part is that, in order to have a shot at this biggest of all cycle purses, you are not going to need a fully faired, watercooled, V-12 factorybacked, Focchaminotti road-racer. No way. The bike to take home the biggest piece of that nut will probably be a near-stock 250-cc dirt machine bearing only the normal reliability modifications made by enduro and desert riders everywhere.

If you haven’t guessed yet, the race will be the 1970 edition of Mint “400” Del Webb Desert Rally, on March 22, 1970 at Las Vegas.

Unlike other cross-country, off-road events, the Mint race has attracted large numbers of spectators due to its closedcourse format with the machines making eight revolutions around a 50-mile circuit. They do all their refueling and pit work at the Sahara-Mint Gun Club where those spectators can rely on a constant swirl of excitement and all those other creature comforts like johns and a bar that people everywhere have come to love. This focal-point idea may be why the Mint “400” in its second year of life gathered more sporting-press ink than any other race of any kind in the world excepting only the hallowed Indy 500. Newsmen flocked to the event and coverage extended to 151 publications around the world plus national network radio and television. Gates Tire, Ford Motor Company and STP all had film crews on hand to do promotional clips.

Prize money comes from two sources, the purse and the contingency awards. Contingency awards are those cash and merchandise prizes offered by manufacturers who also want publicity for their product. In the past, motorcycles have not received a great deal of support from their industry in the form of contingency awards, and this has been a point of some considerable concern to the Mint folks who feel that cycles are here to stay and are an integral part of the sport known as off-road racing.

Las Vegas is a cycle-oriented community (Mint Hotel general manager Bill Bennett, for instance, rides a Honda 750) and being aware of the cycle rider’s problems, the Mint has made some really dramatic rules changes in an effort to encourage both greater rider and more extensive industry participation:

1. Motorcycles will share equally with the three other vehicle classes in the largest off-road purse in history, $50,000. That’s a guaranteed purse and does not include contingency prizes. 2. Cycles will run the entire 400 miles in one swoop all by themselves on a Sunday, without the cars—which will race on Monday and Tuesday, March 23 and 24, in twin, 200-mile events, as they did last year.

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The latter rule change has a number of important side effects that will really be of benefit to riders. The safety aspects are of course quite obvious to both the riders and the drivers, neither of whom has been awfully happy about the other in past encounters. But more importantly, the Sunday date will reduce considerally the expenses incurred by individual entrants, and focus all that beautiful publicity on the bikes alone. Already, in comparison to the Baja races, the Mint “400” is easy on the pocket. No exotic support equipment is needed; entry fees are $100 lower at $250 per team; and if you break down on the course, pickup is not a major logistics problem. Granted, Las Vegas is perhaps a little more expensive than El Arco, but there are compensations.

Just finishing a Mint “400” is an accomplishment, and the rugged nature of the terrain is the great equalizer for the non-professional racer. Anyone can win on any size bike of any make. There are no favorites in that 400 miles of sage and rock and talcum powder. J.N. Roberts and Larry Berquist, both early leaders in the 1969 event, failed to finish. Roberts’ Husky blew its electrics and Berquist had transmission problems with his Pursang. The overall and firstplace winning bike was a Yamaha 250 ridden by Mike Patrick and Phil Bowers. Second bike home was a 360 Greeves pushed by desert veteran Max Switzer and sidekick Dick Dean, but third out of 21 bikes was a little Yamaha ridden by AÍ Baker and Dick Thorwaldson.

Incidentally, the Mint would like to see some sidehack action this year too. For some reason, although legal in the cycle class, no one has ever entered one. There is no shortage of crazy people in the sidehack ranks, so just why they haven’t attacked this form of artistic expression is unknown.

October 1, 1969 is the day you will be able to obtain entry blanks, rules and regulations by writing: Mint 400, Mint Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada 89101. The first rider home will be pleasured to the fullest extent of $6,000, and the first 15 bikes to finish will get paid. (Fifteen bikes have never finished the Mint. Out of 206 starters last year in all classes, only 24 beat the course and the clock and 10 of those were motorcycles).

SIDEHACK EXHIBITION

Afficionados of four wheeled TransAm racing, many of whom had never been near a motorcycle, were introduced to sidehack racing in a spectacular way at Sears Point recently. Because the purpose of the occasion was competition of the thundering Camaros, Mustangs, and Javelins, the sidecars ran for exhibition only.

Before the main event for the autos began, the three-wheelers were allowed a brief interlude in which to practice and give the spectators a taste of things to come. And to many, it was a new dimension in racing, as the teams drifted around the 2.5-mile course. The tight schedule of the day allowed only three laps of the circuit, but this was enough to whet the appetite of the crowd. The outfits were not to run again until the auto race was completed at 5 p.m. Even so, more than two-thirds of the 32,000 spectators remained for the eight-lap motorcycle exhibition. To add excitement, the sidecar race began with a live-engine start. The racers crowded precariously into turns 1 and 2, giving the spectators a good show with the hard working passengers moving from side to side. All the racers, that is, except for Stan Shorrow and Jerry Jarman. Their Triumph 650 outfit broke a primary chain at the start.

As the race progressed, mechanical ills began to take a toll. The Doug Bingham/Ed Wade Harley Sportster fell out with just third gear working. Bob Johnson/Mike VanLaar lost first and fourth gears from their Triumph 650 but hung on until the end. They finished shortly behind the winners Dean Hummer and Rulon Gulbransen aboard their orange H-D. The Auer/Bruchard Kawasaki Three had a furious dice with the Person/McGillivray Triumph Three. The latter team has a thing about two-strokes that brings out their most aggressive riding. But to no avail as the Kawasaki finished two feet in front, both pilot and passenger showing cheesy grins.

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ASCOT EIGHT MILE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP

Mert Lawwill topped off his 1969 season drive for No. 1 by running away with the final National of the year at Ascot Park. Mert was never headed, and left no doubt who deserves the title of Grand National Champion for the 1969 season. He won his heat race and the main event with ease against formidable challenges by local talent Mel Lacher, current Ascot point leader, and Gene Romero, ranked 2nd in National standings.

A further tribute to Mert’s outstanding ability was the fact that in most events his H-D “Archaic R” 750 flathead gave the horsepower advantage to the ohv 650 and 750 British machines. Hail the conquering hero, Mert Lawwill and Harley-Davidson, for a job well done.

Time trials brought about a not too surprising switch, as Amateur National Champion Dave Aldana, astride Lebard & Underwood’s 650 BSA, turned fastest lap of the night. Young Dave’s 22.97 just barely missed the old record of Elliot Shultz by 2 hundredths of a second. Fastest Expert was another rookie. Alex Chinowski. on Danny Macias’ 650 Triumph, shut down all the old-timers with a 23.34. Second best went to Mert Lawwill with 23.36, and Jim Rice looked good in 3rd spot with 23.32.

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The first Expert heat race was a runaway for Dan Haaby, until his primary chain let go, leaving the win wide open for Chinowski. In the second heat it was Lawwill by a country mile, followed by Romero in 2nd. The third was a see-saw battle between Lacher and Seaborne, with Lacher taking the win.

Amateur action started off with Aldana taking the first heat race win. The second heat was all Dave Hansen, as the northern Californian powered his BSA to a decisive victory. The final chance for a shot at the final went to Don Castro. The youngster from Gilroy, Calif., had his hands full with a full bore drive by Frank Gillespie for 2nd.

The Expert Semi was a thriller, as Tom Rockwood, on Dick Kelm’s “Orange Julius Racing Team” Gold Star, led Cal Rayborn and Dallas Baker across the line for the final three to make the Main.

The Amateur final got off to a bad start. Randy Smith from Ventura, Calif., fell in the north turn and had to be taken to the hospital. At the restart Aldana moved away to finish ahead of a close Gillespie, followed by Castro in 3rd. Terry Sage on a Triumph led Keith Mashburn’s 350 Yamaha Twin home to round out the top five. Keith was forced to start in the back due to a faulty clutch that wouldn’t release, and his gearbox stuck in fourth.

Nervous clutch hands caused starter Whitey Lyons to warn a few of the more anxious, but his advice was heeded, and the pack got off to an even start in the Expert final. The start was so even, in fact, that a lack of elbow room in the first turn caused Mike Anderson and Mel Lacher to bump. Lacher went down, and Shorty Seaborne drove over the top of him. Fortunately motorcycle racers are tough, and they all got back in action for the restart. Mert Lawwill took the lead away from Romero on Lap 2, and continued to move away from “Burrito,” who was having his troubles holding back Chinowski. Lawwill went on to win, followed by Romero and Lacher who fought their way past a reluctant Chinowski. Tommy Rockwood moved his 500 up to 5th ahead of Rayborn, Seaborn and Brelsford. Dallas Baker, with his best flat track effort so far, passed Odom on the last lap to get 9th, leaving Jimmy to round out the top 10.

The 20-lap time was a new record of 7:46.03, with Mert breaking his old time set last year by almost 13 sec.