Continental Report
CONTINENTAL REPORT
B.R. NICHOLLS
THE ANNUAL ELEPHANT RALLY
Snow and ice are hardly the best conditions for riding a motorcycle, but there is a small bunch of super enthusiasts who consider it a challenge, particularly for a long distance run. They are the type that go on the Elephant Rally each January to the legendary Nurburgring in the German Eifel mountains.
About 1500 of them attended the 1970 event and pitched their tents in the snow. Cynics considered that the flu epidemic provided just the right excuse for the English entry to be a record 450. This was exceeded, however, by the French, and other riders came from as far afield as Tunis and Sweden. Television and press coverage now makes the rally almost a national event. But the basic success seems to be the fact that there is no particular reason for doing it. Not a lot goes on when one is there and it can be darned unpleasant getting there and back. In fact, the worse the weather, the longer it gets talked about.
SOUTH AFRICA TT CLASH
On the other hand, in order to avoid such weather, road racers will go to South Africa in the winter. And that is how Phil Read (Yamaha) and Giacomo Agostini (MV) came to be dicing it out on the Hesketh circuit for the South African TT.
They clashed in the big race of the day with Phil on his 350 TR2 and Ago on the 500 MV. Initially they were both led by local ace Peter Aitken, also on a TR2, but he lost out as the race wore on. And then came one of the rare occasions when the MV sputtered to a halt. Perhaps it was the terrific heat that contributed to condensor failure. Anyway, it sidelined Ago and gave Phil his third victory of the day; earlier he had won both the 250 and 350 events, although a bad start in the former had seen him last away. His resultant furious chase through the field knocked a second off Mike Hailwood's lap record for the class, and he set another record in the 350 event. For Agostini there was a consolation win in the 1000-cc event when he took the absolute lap record from Read by 0.2 second.
At the onset of the grand prix season these two are bound to have some furious scraps in the 350 class, where they will be joined by the proven four-cylinder Benelli opposition of Kel Carruthers and Renzo Pasolini. However, the speed of the Yamaha TR2s is such that the Italians may well have a hard time trying to keep the fourstrokes in front.
Santiago Herrero, who came so near to winning a world title in 1969 on the single-cylinder Spanish two-stroke Ossa, is taking his 1970 attempt very seriously. He has already been to the Isle of Man to increase his knowledge of the circuit that he rode the past two years. His road burner for the refresher was a Triumph Trident, but he has expressed a desire to ride a Commando in the production race. Ossa will surely stamp on that one as did the Count when Ago wanted to do the same thing.
THE TRIALS SCENE
This is the season of trials and television motocross, so let's see who has been finishing 2nd to Super Sam, the Trials Man, or finishing 1st when he was not riding.
Main event in England was the British round of the European trials championship, held on the super sporting hills of Hampshire, which was not expected to find favor with overseas riders. The event was sponsored by the Warner brothers, who run a flourishing holiday camp concern. But for the riders the holiday aspect disappeared with the first section. Of course, Miller won the trial, but some indication of the severity can be judged by his 49 mark deficit. However, at the same time it also shows only too clearly his superiority to runner-up Greeves-mounted Malcolm Rathmell, with a loss of 81, and Geoff Chandler, 82 points. Next was Geoff Best, who has been having some good rides this season and could well win a national soon.
Miller's closest challenger in the title race, Montesa mounted Gordon Farley, had a poor day, finishing 5th with a total of 85. Best of the visitors was Sweden's Erland Andersson, who rode an Ossa into 10th place with a loss of 98 marks. Title holder Don Smith (Montesa) was later found to have tied with Farley. But any ideas these two may have had about winning the title must have disappeared a coyple of weeks later at the Belgian round when Sam once again put it across the lot of them with a loss of 23 that included one point for lateness. But the dark horse here was Lawrence Telling (Montesa) who also lost one for lateness in his total of 27. This gave him a one mark advantage over Smith, with Bultaco mounted Swedish rider Benny Sellman 4th with 36. Farley, who had won the St. Martin trial in Beigium a week earlier, was out of touch, finishing 6th.
Miller now leads the championship with 55 points, Farley is 2nd with 35.5. Telling, in 3rd place with 30, probably would have been 2nd but for a poor non-scoring ride in England. Smith is 5th behind Sellman, who is the only non-English rider in the first six.
NEW GREEVES TRIALER BOWS AT SHOW
Greeves has now finalized their new trials iron. The Steyr-Daimler-Puch organization provided the 175-cc two-stroke powerhouse with six-speed gearbox for the new mount which is called the Pathfinder.
The machine was on show for the general public to see for the first time at the recent Racing and Sporting Motorcycle Show held in London. Much smaller than what we have seen at Earls Court, the show consequently was more intimate and very crowded. Spectators had to queue for over two hours to gain admission.
The real "Show Surprise" was a Royal Enfield 7 50-cc Interceptorpowered Rickman Metisse, for which they claim a fantastic weight saving of some 70 pounds over the standard model. The enormous sump on the engine unit certainly gives it an "all engine" look compared with most of the present day Twins.
The accent of the show was on the customizing side and all the goodies that can be purchased to embellish the standard model.
Sponsor of the show was Motorcycle Mechanics, a monthly magazine devoted to do-it-yourself work on motorcycles. Exhibited on their stand was the world's fastest camel, while jockey Mike Hailwood put in an appearance as did John Banks, whose world championship motocross machine was on display.
BRITISH TV MOTO CHAMPIONSHIP
Banks has at last hit form in the television motocross series, if only on the commercial channel in the World of Sport trophy. Big John (he weighs 210 lb.) won both races from Greeves mounted Vic Allan, the Scotsman who is familiar with Stateside enthusiasts for his riding in last year's Inter-Am series. With two rounds to go Vic leads the trophy table with 20 points to the 16 of Banks. Bryan Wade (Greeves) is 3rd with 12.
The BBC national television series for the Grandstand Trophy in both 250 and 750 classes has been providing some excellent viewing for the general public and plenty of surprises tor the enthusiast.
(Continued on page 124)
Dave Nicoll (BSA) is unbeaten in the 750 series and must be feeling very happy with his showing so far this winter. At the last round he just held off his teammate, Banks, whose machine seemed just a little too lively for the tricky circuit. The race started with Bryan Goss (Husqvarna) storming into the lead and Nicoll and Banks in pursuit. It was four laps before Nicoll squeezed past. And then Banks took 2nd as Goss was sidelined with a blown cylinder gasket. Try as he did Banks could not take Nicoll, but nevertheless took all the headlines with a fantastic win in the 250 event on the little BSA. It was Goss again who rushed into the lead, and when Banks closed on him about the halfway stage, Goss (or Badger as his fans know him) pulled out that little bit to pull away again. He seemed to have it all under control until the last lap when Banks made his bid on the downhill run into the final bend. Here the little 250 BSA out accelerated the Husqvarna to win by half a length. In all the excitement nobody had noticed the steady progress of Jimmy Aird (CZ) who rode into 3rd place.
Aird had been the 250 winner in the previous round when conditions were extremely tricky, there being a thin layer of mud over frozen ground. The young Scotsman had raced into an early lead ahead of Bryan Wade (Greeves), then promptly slid off. Fortunately, he kept the motor running and set off in pursuit of Wade, who also came a cropper leaving Aird to win unchallenged from Greeves teammates Dick Clayton and Arthur Browning. In the 750 race Nicoll made his customary good start and was never really challenged. All the excitement came when Banks, who had a poor start, caught up with Vic Allan in 2nd place. Experience told and 2nd place went to Banks.
At all these meetings there is a third race termed simply "invitation" with no capacity restriction. Banks has won all three held so far. But it is the Grandstand event that matters, and in the 750 class, Nicoll leads with a maximum 24 points, Banks is 2nd with 16 and Browning 3rd, 11. Things are much more tight in the 250 class where, after three rounds, Goss, Aird and Browning all have 13 with Malcolm Davis (AJS) 4th with 11. Banks' solitary win puts him 5th with 8 points.
DUNSTALL DISC
News of the new disc brake assembly from Paul Dunstall was given in the February issue of CW and supplies are now available in the United States. The complete kit features cast aluminum (LM11) fork legs with integral double acting calipers, fixed stainless discs that do not rust, aluminum hub with shielded bearings, alloy wheel rim, cast aluminum master cylinder with forged lever, and Tecalam high pressure flexible hydraulic hose and fittings. The whole kit is ready to fit to Norton models from 1964 onward and Triumph Twins and Threes from '69.
Total weight is 24 lb. against 30 lb. for the standard Triumph drum setup. Swept area is 122 sq. in. The disc will be original equipment on all Dunstall 1970 models, but for those wishing to update a machine it will be available in the United States at a cost of $240 retail, absolutely complete.
With previous discs being modified car design, Dunstall feels that this is the first designed purely for motorcycle application, and looks alone stamp it as a Dunstall "goodie."
