Usmc Grand Prix

USMC GRAND PRIX

An American, Don Vesco, introduces Yamaha's new 250cc Grand Prix bike with a smashing debut.

ALTHOUGH Japanese machines dominated the third annual two-day program of events at Florida's Daytona International Speedway, Don Vesco of San Diego, California became the first American to cop the coveted USMC Grand Prix of the United States.

Twenty-three-year-old Vesco, aboard a new 250cc twin-cylinder, rotary valve Yamaha factory machine, snared the lead on lap two, staved off bids by riders on bikes of twice the engine capacity, and wound up nearly two full laps ahead of runnerup Lance Weil of Los Angeles, on a 500cc Norton, His winning ride was not without incident, however. After success fully maintaining his lead throughout a 50 second pit stop for gas, Vesco unloaded several laps later while making the transi tion from the back stretch onto the wind ing infield course. Sustaining only a bruised arm, he quickly remounted and continued, still ahead of the pack. And there he remained.

Third, close behind Weil, was Canada's Roger Beaumont, also on a 500 Norton, as were the next three finishers, Californians Frederic Chase, Wes Cooley and John McLaughlin.

Earlier, Vesco had set fastest qualifying time of the day over the 3.1 mile course, 89.696 mph, and he very nearly main tained this pace throughout the race, averaging a remarkably consistent 89.405 mph for the entire distance.

There was lots of action behind him all the way - and in front of him, too -for the first lap. Two Nortons lead the 21-man field off the line from a deadengine, run and bump start, but it was Fumio Itoh, Don's Yamaha teammate, in front at the end of lap one, ahead of Beaumont, McLaughlin and Vesco. Next time around, Vesco had assumed the lead and Itoh, plagued by a sticking throttle, fell back to fourth, finally going out on lap four. Ron Grant (Norton) then moved into contention behind the top three, but he, too, was sidelined shortly, pitting for repairs on the 9th circuit and retiring for good with a seized engine on the 27th.

Vesco, meanwhile, had built his lead from 10 seconds on lap 5 to 25 seconds at the end of lap 12, when Beaumont was forced to the pits and out of front-running contention by ignition problems. McLaugh lin took over the runnerup slot, 45 sec onds in arrears. For a while he was hotly pursued by David Thompson on another Norton, but Thompson parted company from his machine soon after, and was out of the race for several laps.

Vesco and McLaughlin then had the front spots to themselves, with John lower ing the advantage to 10 seconds when Don pitted on lap 22. Six laps later, though, McLaughlin's machine fell victim to a broken chain, ending his bid for the win. Vesco motored on implacably, capturing $500 of the $1750 purse, and giving Yamaha an early lead in the World Cham pionship race.

Suzuki was the machine to beat in the earlier 50cc and 125cc races, while Ya maha evened things up with a win in the 250cc class. Internationally known riders were prominent in all events; Japan's Fumio Itoh pushed his rapid Yamaha to victory and a track record in the 250cc class, Ernst Degner of West Germany took 125cc honors on an eight-speed Grand Prix Suzuki, and Mitsuo Itoh (no relation to Fumio) also shattered a course mark as he came home first in the 50cc ahead of four other Suzukis. New Zealander Hugh Anderson displayed his distinctive knee-out style to American viewers in two events, finishing 3rd in the 50cc on a Suzuki, and retiring with gearbox troubles in the 125cc.

Conspicuous by their absence from the winner's circle were Honda machines and last year's winner, Kinimitsu Takahashi, who still holds the Grand Prix record over the demanding Florida course. Honda had decided not to contest the race with factory team machines or riders, though Taka hashi, now recovered from serious injuries suffered at the Isle of Man last year, is ready for the upcoming European Grand Prix circuit. •

50cc - 22 laps, 38 miles, 1.66 mile course Fin. Rider and Home Machine Laps 1 Mitsuo Itoh, Hamamatsu, Japan Suzuki 22 2 Ernst Degner, Dillingen, Germany Suzuki 22 3 H. Anderson, Auckland, New Zealand Suzuki 22 4 Isao Morishita, Hamamtsu, Japan Suzuki 22 5 Gene Wise, Pomona, Calif. Suzuki 19 6 James Matthews, Jacksonville, Fla. Honda 16 7 Len Wray, St. Petersburg, Fla. Yamaguchi 16 8 Robert Oakes, Madison, Wisc. Honda 15 9 Masten L. Cowie, St. Louis, Mo. Ducati 15 Time: 37:19.0, Average Speed: 58.719 mph (new record) i9c..~. - i~,, 1 cc

IZDCC - if laps, bZ miles, 1.bb mile course 1 Ernst Degner, Dillingen, Germany Suzuki 37 2 Haruo Koshino, Hamamatsu, Japan Suzuki 37 3 Abbott Lahti, Cambridge, Mass. Bultaco 31 4 R,bert Oakes, Madison, Wisc. Honda 26 5 H. Anderson, Auckland, New Zealand Suzuki 25* 6 Walter Lee, Daytona Beach, Fla. Bultaco 9* Time: 57:23.00, 64.220 mph

•`q~'. 250cc - 46 laps, 77 miles, 1.66 mile course 1 Fumio Itoh, Tokyo, Japan Yamaha 46 2 Ron Grant, Temple City, Calif. Honda 44 3 Jim Hicks, Tampa, Fla. Ducati 43 4 Gordon Thomas, St. Petersburg, Fla. Yamaha 42 5 George Huntoon, Palm Beach, Fla. Ducati 40 6 David Hamilton, Santa Barbara, Cal. Ducati 40 7 John McLaughlin, Duarte, Cal. Ducati 40 8 Walt Larson, Daytona Beach, Fla. H.D Sprint 39 9 Gene Fulmer, Jacksonville, Fla. Ducati 39

10 Don Vesco, San Diego, Calif. Yamaha 38 11 Fred VeGlia, Bergenfield, N.J. Ducati 34 12 C.R. Schroeder, Dumont, N.J. Motobi * 13 Wes Weis, Brownwood, Texas Yamaha * 14 Guy Spencer, Miami Beach, Fla. Honda * 15 Frank Scurria, Glendale, Calif. Ducati * Time: 1:09.03, 66.351 mph (new record) IJSMC GRAND PRIX - 40 laos. 124 miles. 3.1 mile

course 1 Don Vesco, San Diego, Calif. Yamaha 250 40 2 Lance Weil, Los Angeles, Calif. Norton 500 39 3 Roger Beaumont, Quebec, Can. Norton 500 39 4 Fred. Chase, Los Angeles, Calif. Norton 500 38 5 Wes Cooley, Hawthorne, Calif. Norton 500 37 6 John McLaughlin, Duarte, Calif. Norton 500 37 7 C.R. Schroeder, Dumont, N.J. Matchless 500 36 8 David Lloyd, Toronto Matchless 500 36 9 Jimmy Nicks, Tampa, Fla. Ducati 250 35 10 David Wright, Hollywood, Calif. Triumph 500 33 11 D. Thompson, Great Falls, Va. Norton 500 33 12 W. Larson, Daytona Beach, Fla. Honda 250 32 13 Stan Friduss, Margate, Fla. Norton 500 24 14 Gene Fulmer, Jacksonville, Fla. Ducati 250 23 15 Wes Weis, Brownwood, Tex. Yamaha 250 21 16 Ron Grant, Temple City, Calif. Norton 500 * 17 Don Pruitt, Atlanta, Ga. BSA 500 * 18 Oliver Howe, Toronto, Can. BSA 500 * 19 Fumio Itoh, Hamamatsu, Japan Yamaha 250 * 20 Guy Spencer, Miami, Fla. Honda 250 * 21 Doug Huddle, Kingsport, Tenn. Zundapp 450 * Time: 1:23.13, 89.405 mph * Did not finish