Racing Review
RACING REVIEW
ITALIAN GP
The Gran Premio delle Nazioni (or Italian GP) returned to its traditional home in Monza after last year’s excursion to Imola. With one event to go in the 1970 world championship series, the still “open” situation in the 50 and 250 classes was settled in favor of Nieto (Derbi) and Gould (Yamaha).
The 50,000 spectators also witnessed a ferocious Ago-Paso clash, this time doubled, since Benelli fielded a 453-cc four-cylinder for the bigger class, as well as a 350-cc machine.
This time, Paso not only had to fight with his traditional competitor, but also with Angelo Bergamonti, the excellent ex-Morini, Paton and Aermaechi works rider. Count Agusta is said to have contracted Bergamonti to prove that his machines can beat the Benelli without being straddled by a super-star such as Ago.
And the demonstration succeeded, although Paso was opposed by fierce resistance. After the event, the Count stated loudly, “We can win the world championship also with Bergamonti!” Surely these words sounded unpleasant to Ago.
In the 350-cc class, Paso led for four laps, with Ago following him like a shadow. But Ago, waiting for Bergamonti to recover from a modest start, was not fully exploiting his mount’s performance. As soon as “Berga” joined the leading duo, Ago steamed up and soon left his teammate Paso hopelessly behind.
For 10 laps of the famous 3.4-mile autodrome, Ago and Berga circulated together, with the pupil frequently in front of the master. But then the eight-times world champion really got going, smashed the 1967 Bryans-Honda six-lap record, and finished triumphantly at a record speed.
There is little to report about the others. The East German Bartusch went around comfortably in 4th berth on the 300 MZ. Grassetti could not avoid being lapped, but worked hard after a slow start, and took his Jawa Four into 5th place.
In the 500 class, Ago got a bad start, and Paso again shot into the lead, but this time with Berga hunting him. On the first lap, Paso’s mount developed lubrication troubles, and a flow of dense smoke' began erupting from the “belly” of his machine. But, unaware of this, the Benelli star was carrying on as hotly as ever.
While Ago was pressing on furiously to catch the leading duo, Berga got some oily mist on his goggles and lost contact with Paso. But, on the fifth lap, Ago succeeded in getting near his rival. He kept to a different line, fearing the blue smoke, and signalled frantically about the dangerous situation.
Apparently, no executive of Benelli or the organizing committee cared about this. So, Ago tried to pass, but found this operation quite difficult because the Benelli was running as quickly as ever. Paso, in fact, set the day’s lap record, although slightly inferior to the famous 1967 Hailwood-Honda Four performance.
But, the inevitable happened on the 20th of the 32 laps. The central cylinders and the connecting rod-crankshaft assembly seized on Paso’s Benelli (due to a lack of oil) and he was forced to retire. Bergamonti was left behind in the process and finished 2nd, while Pagani, marching toward a deserved 3rd place on the Linto, had to retire with ignition troubles.
It was therefore a Kawasaki bonanza for 3rd, with Bertarelli, Molloy, Zubani and Marsowski scrapping until Zubani and Molloy had to stop for fuel. (The Japanese three-cylinder two-strokes are particularly thirsty, and their standard tanks were not enough for the 1 10-mile race.) Bertarelli came out on top followed by Marsowski, Zubani and Molloy.
The hand-crafted Italian Twin Paton, piloted by Gallina, finished in 7th place.
The three other classes offered excitement too. The 50-cc class, decisive for the title between Toersen (Jamathi) and Nieto (Derbi Twin), began with the leading trio dramatically piling up at Lesmo. Toersen and Schurgers gave up, with their machines badly damaged, but Canellas carried on with a broken left collarbone to finish 8th!
Fastest in practice, de Vries on the Van Veen Kreidler was never hotly challenged. He won comfortably, making the fastest lap as well. However, things looked very uncertain for the runner-up honors. Nieto and Kunz (works Kreidler) were scrapping furiously, but with two laps to go the tap on the radiator of the Spanish machine came off, and Nieto got an abundant splash of 85-degree water on his left leg. Unfortunately, the tap came off in a bend, and Nieto slid off the track, leaving 2nd place to Kunz. Anyway, Nieto was consoled because the retirement of his arch-rival Toersen meant that he could retain the world crown.
Nieto came back and won in the 125 class. During the first three laps, there was an ardent fight between Nieto (Derbi Twin), world champion Braun (Suzuki Twin), and Parlotti (Morbidelli Twin). But then the Italian duo disap-
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peared. Parlotti withdrew with a holed piston after registering the fastest lap, and soon after, Braun freewheeled into the pits with the left piston seized. Well behind Nieto, in 2nd place, was the Hungarian Szabo on the single-cylinder MZ. The new Twin from East Germany, ridden by Bartusch, managed a modest 1 1 th place finish.
Luck was not with Carruthers in the decisive round for the 25 0 title. He succeeded in passing Gould and Read to take the lead, but on the last lap was handicapped more than Gould in overtaking two slower riders, and finished 2nd. Read was 3rd.
This was an exciting race from start to finish. Grassetti took the lead at the start on the MZ, but retired on the fifth lap with a broken clutch. Battles for the central positions were not lacking, however, particularly the one for 5th place between Marsowski, Visenzi and Anelli. Only fractions of seconds separated them at the finish line.
And here again, the Japanese machines came out on top. The Yamaha Twin filled all but two of the first 13 positions. Braun, riding a works MZ, finished 4th, and 8th place was occupied by Szabo, also MZ mounted.
The fastest lap and the winner’s average speed were close to those set in 1967 by ivy and Read on the four-cylinder, rotating-disk, water-cooled Yamahas, proving the excellent performance of the immensely simpler Yamaha Twin.
First introduced as a 350, the exciting new 420-cc CZ four-cylinder machine sports geardriven overhead camshafts, an eight-speed gearbox, and battery and coil ignition. Power output is unspecified, but the 350 developed 58 bhp at 1 2,000 rpm!
MURRAY'S 170-MPH QUARTER!
Boris Murray became the world’s fastest drag racer on his twin-engine Triumph fueler with an unofficial run of 9.03/170.13 mph. Spectators at the National Hot Rod Association Indianapolis meet saw him back this up with a 9.14/169.49-mph run.
But Murray was caught sleeping at the lights and the meet went to Larry Welch at 9.34/161 mph. Welch was riding Sonny Routt’s dragster, a machine similar to Murray’s.
Harley Davidson-mounted Joe Smith set the fastest qualifying time of the meet at 9.21 sec., but the double Triumph machines ultimately proved quicker on the Indianapolis track.
Murray got his revenge for Indianapolis at the “Grand Prix” meeting at Irwindale a few weeks later. A few of the good East Coast fuel riders were there, including the Routt/Welch team. The track was slick with resin and night damp, so it tended to make the probable outcome quite uncertain. And the elapsed time mediocre.
Boris won his first match with a 9.86/162, and then kept his head as Sonny Raslawski and Joe Smith, two West Coast H-D riders, red-lighted against him and were disqualified. The final match won him the evening and a $500 top eliminator prize; he beat AÍ Charlier, a sportster devotee from Buffalo, N.Y.
The Routt/Welch Triumph never made it past the third round, having been drubbed with a 9.40-sec. run by Clem Johnson’s Vincent, ridden by Jim Leinweber.
DAN RIVER NATIONAL
Kurt Liebmann and Chuck Dearborn rode their BMW R75 to a production class victory, completing 109 laps in five hours in the last AAMRR event of the season.
Extreme hot weather prevailed at Virginia International Raceway, and rider changes were made every 45 min.,
instead of the usual one hour.
Liebmann grabbed an early lead and the Amol Precision/Butler & Smith team outpaced the other contestants with a 69.40-mph average.
Art Breuer and Roy McClintock (Honda 750) finished 2nd, completing 106 laps.
DAN RIVER NATIONAL RESULTS
Team Lap
1. K. Liebmann & C. Dearborn (BMW) 109
2. Art Breuer & Roy McClintock (Hon) 106
3. John Sartorius & Dick Stark (Hon) . 106
4. Jess Olinger & Ray Smith (Tri) .... 106
5. John Samways & Bob Stapp (Kaw) . 103
6. Pete Miller & AI Albert (Hon) .....102
7. Dick Niemi & Robert Pepper (Tri) . 101
8. Joe Hollidge & Wm. Goldsby (Kaw) 101
9. Jim Miller & Graham James (Yam) . 100
10. B. Waddell & J. Neighbors (Kaw) .. 100
ASCOT 1970
Gene Romero, suitably pleased over the $10,000 check he received from Triumph’s Peter Thornton and the added $1250 he received from BellToptex, couldn’t be stopped at Ascot.
He had already won the AMA championship series, but gave the crowd a sample of what made him No. 1. He qualified fastest, won his heat race, after passing first-lap leader Keith Mashburn, and then fought his way past H-D rider Mark Brelsford to win the main event.
Perhaps the most significant thing about Ascot was the unusual pre-race ceremony in which Romero received all that extra contingency prize money. It is visible evidence of the American Motorcycle Association’s new program to encourage manufacturers to support racing with contingency awards. The
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crowd was quite impressed with all that money changing hands in public, not only enriching the rider’s purse but adding much prestige to the event. Also impressed was Romero, who quipped: “Right now, I guess I’m about the richest Mexican in town.”
20-LAP NA TIONAL 1. G. Romero, San Luis Obispo, Cal. (Tri) 26 2. M. Brelsford, San Bruno, Calif. (H-D) 19 3. L. Houchins, La Crescenta, Calif. (Tri) 13 4. Dave Aldana, Santa Ana, Calif. (BSA) . 9 5. R.G. Seabourne, Lawndale, Calif. (Nor) 8 6. Jim Odom, Fremont, Calif. (Tri) .....7 7. Tom Rockwood, Gardena, Calif. (Tri) . 6 8. Don Castro, Hollister, Calif. (Tri) .... 5 9. K. Mashburn, Santa Susana, Cal.(Yam) . 4 10. Cal Rayborn, San Diego, Calif. (H-D) . 3 11. Mel Lacher, San Diego, Calif. (H-D) . . 2 12. J. Nicholas, Newport Beach,Cal. (BSA) . 1 Time: 7:54.82 Fastest qualifying time: Gene Romero 22./9
AMATEUR 14 LAP FINAL 1. John Hately, Van Nuys, Calif........Tri 2. Gary Fisher, Parkesburg, Pa.........Tri 3. Allen Kenyon, Cupertino, Calif.....BSA 4. Kristofer Bakke, Los Altos, Calif. . . . BSA 5. Wayne Hosaka, Lemon Grove, Calif. . BSA
OKLAHOMA NATIONAL
Second-year expert Mark Brelsford (H-D) won the last AMA Grand National Championship for 1970 on Oklahoma City’s hard-packed, half-mile oval.
Brelsford, who has been plagued with mechanical troubles all season, broke away from the pack at the start of the 20-lap event, and held a steady margin over Gene Romero (Triumph ).
Bart Markel set a new track record while qualifying, but mechanical problems sidelined him during his heat race. Romero, Gary Nixon (Triumph), and Dave Aldana (BSA) were the otherexpert heat winners.
Don Emde (BSA) swept the Amateurclass with wins in his heat and the final as well. Dennis Palmgren (Triumph) won the remaining Amateur heat race.
Oklahoma City was shaping up to be the tie breaker for top Eastern and Western amateur riders Rex Beauchamp and John Hately. Both have four wins for the season and were hoping to break the tie, but neither qualified for the class final.
NATIONAL RESULTS 1. M. Brelsford, San Bruno, Calif. (H-D) . 26 2. G. Romero, San Luis Obispo, Cal. (Tri) 19 3. Larry Palmgren, Freehold, N.J. (Tri) . 13 4. Jim Rice, Palo Alto, Calif. (BSA) .... 9 5. Don Castro, Hollister, Calif. (Tri) .... 8 6. Dave Aldana, Santa Ana, Calif. (BSA) . 7 7. M. Lawwill, San Francisco, Calif. (H-D) . 6 8. Eddie Mulder, Burbank, Calif. (Tri) ... 5 9. Larry Darr, Mansfield, Ohio (H-D) ... 4 10. Gary Nixon, Phoenix, Md. (Tri) .....3 11. Frank Gillespie, Orinda, Calif. (Tri) ... 2 12. K. Mashburn, Santa Susana, Calif. (Yarn) 1 Time: 8:21.21 Fastest qualifying time: Bart Markel, 24.84
FINAL 1970 POINT STANDING 1. GENE ROMERO...............667 2. JIM RICE ....................574 3. DAVE ALDANA...............459 4. DICK MANN ..................412 5. DON CASTRO ................ 392
6. MERT LAWWI LL .............. 323 7. MARK BRELSFORD ........... 317 8. CHUCK PALMGREN ...........303 9. TOM ROCKWOOD .............300 10. GARY NI XON ................ 271
NATIONAL ENDURO COMPETITION
Bob Fusan (Husqvarna) scored 929 points to win the 150-mile National Championship Enduro at Cayuta, N.Y.
Swamp-like mud, streams, and dense woods thinned out the competition 266 started and only 21 finished the course.
Ron Bohn, also Husqvarna mounted, scored 905 points to take the A division lightweight class. A division mediumweight winner was Fred Ford (Yamaha) with 894 points.
'Fhe Sandy Lane Enduro was tight in places and the 24-mph average speed required was almost an impossibility.
Buck Walsworth (Ossa) emerged as champion with a score of 977. Walsworth scored a narrow victory over mediumweight A rider Jack McLane (Honda) and Norman Ford (Husqvarna), the lightweight A division winner. Both scored 97 1 points. [Ö]
