Continental Report
CONTINENTAL REPORT
B.R. NICHOLLS
SCOTTISH SIX DAYS
Lone American contestant in this year’s international Scottish Six Days trial was the ever-cheerful desert rider Bob Ewing of Sepulveda, Calif., who rode a 250 AJS through to the end of the third day, when he was excluded on time.
One infamous section of the trial, Rannoch Moor, was colorfully described by Bob as being like “riding in a greased bath tub.” Among the problems he
encountered were running hub-deep in bogland, putting water in the works, breaking a chain, having a puncture, and having his timing sent amok by a rock. All this added up to something like 10 minutes outside the one-hour time limit. But the bug has bitten, and Bob plans to return next year to keep the Stars and Stripes flying amongst the Scottish highlands, home of two of the more pleasant things in life, the six day’s trial and malt whisky. If I might add a personal note, make it an Hodaka next year. Bob. The boys over here have never seen one, and it must be the equal of any of the 125s around.
The trial was one of the most dramatic of recent years and underlined the strangle-hold that the Spanish factories now have in this field of competition.
At the end of the first day’s run, which took the riders over the 150 miles from Edinburgh to Fort William and embraced 28 sections, the king of them all, Sammy Miller, was the only rider with a clean sheet. Hard on his heels came Bultaco teammate Malcolm Rathmell, with one mark lost. Third was Rob Edwards (Montesa) with 2 lost. A mere six marks separated the first 12.
Tuesday was Edwards’ day. He rode brilliantly to be unpenalized over the 33 sections.
Rathmell held his 2nd place with six marks lost. For Miller, it was a day of disaster. He lost nine to put him down to 4th equal with Geoff Chandler (Bultaco) and behind Mick Andrews (Ossa).
Then came the 150-mile run of the third day, including the 15-section ascent of the Loch Eild Path. Far worse were the three sections of Edramucky, a boulder-strewn terror. It was the day that Miller showed he is the most professional of them all. Having studied his route card and the regulations, he realized that the time for Rannock Moor was tight.
Rathmell brilliantly cleaned Edramucky, and goes on record as the only rider ever to have done so. Miller lost 6, as did Edwards, who got into further trouble on Rannoch Moor when he drowned his motor and incurred a time penalty of 11 marks.
This dropped him down to 5th and gave the lead to Rathmell with 15 marks lost, just one ahead of Miller, who lost no marks on time. Andrews and Chandler tied for 3rd on 19. At the end of each of the first three days, a different man had headed the leader board. Usually it is at the half-way stage that the nerves of the riders start to fray. This is what makes the Scottish so different from other events: there is all the time in the world to think about a mistake before the next group of sections. The average clubman can, to some extent, enjoy the magnificent scenery through which his route takes him. For the ace, it is a time to wonder whether the opposition may have done better.
On Thursday, the fourth day, there were 114 miles of beautiful scenery to enjoy, and the weather made it the finest week for the trial since 1962. But to shatter any daydreams were many old favorites. Devil’s Staircase claimed only one dab from Miller, but 3 from Rathmell, which toppled him from the lead. Rathmell lost 5 that day to Miller’s 2. So Sammy was in the lead again, with 18 lost to the 20 of Rathmell. Andrews was even with both Edwards and Chandler on 23. It was clearly a fight between these five, for next best scorer was John Hemingway (125 Alta Suzuki) on 35.
The first section on Friday was a long, loose rock climb at Laggan Locks, where Rathmell made the only clean run. Two riders were outstanding, as Andrews and Hemingway each lost three for the day, giving Andrews a 5-point lead over Miller, who was only one ahead of Edwards. Rathmell lost 12, slipping down to 4th.
On the final day, Miller’s only chance of a fight was back at Pipeline, a tricky, straight, loose-rocked climb on which he lost last year’s trial to Bill Wilkinson. Miller tackled the three sections first, but was perhaps too tense; although he had cleaned the same hazard on the first day of the trial, he footed twice this time, losing 6 to the 3 of Andrews.
To further Miller’s plight, Edwards lost only one mark on the hill, to which he added a further one down the road at Martuim, where only Miller and Andrews were clean. It was a performance good enough to make Edwards runnerup to Andrews and relegate Miller to 3rd. Rathmell finished another two marks down in 4th place. These four were well clear of the rest of the field.
Results were:
ENDURANCE RACE
Following the trial marathon in Scotland, the Motor Cy c/e-sponsored 500-mile International Grand Prix d’Endurance for production machines was held at Thruxton near Andover, home of Norton Villiers.
The 1970 race got off to a start in dull and dismal weather, with rain clouds looming up in the distance. For a few glorious minutes it looked as if the sun might win the weather battle, but it was not to be. After a period of steady rain, the heavens opened and deluged the track. It ruined what had been for the leaders a short circuit scratch up to that time.
A 750-cc Honda Four rushed away first from the Le Mans-style start, with rider Peter Darvill taking advantage of the electric starter. But the end of the first lap saw production race expert Peter Butler at the front on a Triumph Trident and going great guns. He held the lead for almost half an hour, until Norton Commando-mounted Ray Pickrell and Paul Smart closed on him. These three then diced together with Peter Williams, also on a Commando, and Malcolm Uphill, on a Trident.
That was the order at the end of the first hour, except that Dave Croxford (Kawasaki Three) had pushed Uphill down to 6th. The second hour saw the rain and retirements start. First out was Pickrell. Then Barry Sheene, who was sharing the Kawasaki with Dave Croxford, crashed while leading the 500 class, thus modifying the alternator to the point where it gave no sparks.
Coming into the pits to hand over to Alan Barnett, Paul Smart dropped his machine on its footrest, and they later lost a lap replacing the gear change lever which was damaged at that time. So, at the end of the second hour the Butler Trident was still leading. Williams had moved up to 2nd, and Barnett was 3rd and riding well, as he always does in the rain.
Then the leading Triumph blew a cylinder head gasket, so that at the end of the third hour three Commandosridden by Barnett, Williams’ co-rider, Charlie Sanby, and Tony Melody, sharing with Ron Wittich— were in the lead. In 4th place and running like clockwork was a 500 Suzuki Cobra, ridden by Frank Whiteway and Stan Woods. Then Barnett crashed, sidelining the Norton. The Uphill Trident retired with valve trouble.
By now the Williams/Sanby Commando was well established in the lead, which they held right through to the end, winning at a speed of 74.75 mph.
Early delays with plug trouble had kept a BSA Rocket Three off the leader board. Its riders, Brian Steenson and Pat Mahoney, made up a lot of ground toward the end of the race and, by the end of the sixth hour, had moved into 2nd place. But then it went onto two cylinders, in which state it was no match for the Whiteway/Woods rigs, which ran on to win the 500-cc class and finish 2nd overall.
The 250 class was won in professional style by Charles Mortimer and Dave Browning, on a Ducati. They led from start to finish but developed a misfire in the last minutes of the race. They were so far ahead that Mortimer was able to stop short of the finish line and wait until the winner had crossed the line before pushing over to ensure a class win.
It was an international race counting toward the FIM Coupe d’Endurance, but only three riders came from abroad to compete. French riders Daniel Erdich and Andre Porgoloti rode a Honda Four but retired after 150 laps with gearbox trouble. Two teams from Holland competed on 250 Suzukis. Ted Lablans and partner Henk Kist finished 3rd in their class, with Petrus Hogervorst and Ronald Vingerhoed 6th.
THE MOTOCROSS CHASE
For the 500-cc motocross boys it looks as if 1970 will become known as injury year, particularly among the British contingent.
Due to the injuries sustained by John Banks and Dave Nicoll at the Swiss G.P. neither has been competitive. And, in a non-championship event in Holland, Andy Roberton cracked a bone in his wrist and will be out for at least three weeks. For young Andy it was a tragedy, as he had won the first leg of the motocross event and was leading the second when the mishap occurred. As a result, victory went to Paul Friedrichs (CZ).
In the title chase, Bengt Aberg (Husqvarna) showed his championship form of last year by winning the meetings in Switzerland (reported last month) and in Austria.
However, it was a case of being third time unlucky when they went to Holland. In the first race Aberg was beaten by his fellow countryman, Chris Hammargren (Husqvarna), and then retired in the second with a shoulder injury. A third Swede, Arne Kring (Husqvarna), won the second leg and so gained overall victory from Jef Teuwissen, the Belgian rider who could well spring a championship surprise.
Moving from Holland to France for the fourth round gave Kring the chance to race in the conditions which made him a star almost overnight last year. Once again, it rained and the course was very slippery. He won both races to take the lead in the world title fight, and Teuwissen, finishing 2nd, moved into 2nd place in the title race. Aberg was 3rd, still not fully fit after his crash the previous week.
SUZUKI PAIR LEAD
In the 250 class the Suzuki pair, Joel Robert and Sylvain Geboers, continue to dominate the scene, though the Czech, Miroslav Halm, is showing brilliant style on the CZ.
Battling it out in front of their home crowd in the Belgian round, Robert obviously gave all he could to win the first race by a slender margin from Geboers, but when it came to the real nitty gritty in the second leg there was only one man in it. That was Geboers, who stormed to the front in a display of power riding that Robert just could not match. As if that was not enough to send the home crowd wild with delight, Roger DeCoster took 3rd place overall and might have made a better fight of it had he not been slowed by a puncture in the first race.
If anyone thought that, as a result of the Belgian meeting, Robert was going to lose his crown to Geboers, then he had a shock a couple of weeks later. Robert bounded back at the Yugoslav meeting to win both races. Geboers had a bad start in the first race and as a result finished 3rd overall behind Halm. Consequently, there is only one point between Geboers and Robert at the top of the table.
DUNSTALL KAWASAKI
The latest use that Paul Dunstall had found for his spine frame is housing the 500-cc Kawasaki three-cylinder engine. As a result, he has created an extremely competitive 500-class mount, where the weight has been kept well forward and as low as possible. Twin disc brakes at the front and a single at the rear provide the stopping power. This is a machine that could well be challenging for the British 500 title by the end of the season.
