Racing Review
RACING REVIEW
BSA THREE'S RACE DEBUT
Bruce Cox
The world competition debut of the BSA Rocket Three, factory bikes from Yamaha-including an RD56 rotary valve Twin that once represented the Japanese company in world championship races—and riders from the U.S., Canada, Scotland and England, formed the highlights of the California International Grand Prix staged at Orange County International Raceway, near Los Angeles, Calif.
Journalist and ex-Yamaha team rider, Tony Murphy, gave BSA’s new Three its debut and, but for a poor start, could well have given the 750-cc machine a win first time out.
He had trouble kick-starting the Rocket for the production machine race, and had to push start after the rest of the field had disappeared. But he forced into 4th place, and lapped faster than the eventual winner, Jerry Greene, on his Norton Commando Twin.
The BSA had been assembled straight out of a crate, but Murphy had no complaints about its speed or handling. “The only problem was that the silencers and footrests grounded,” he said. “If they were tucked out of the way, the bike would handle like a racer.”
In the 350 race, Mike Duff was left on the start line with a reluctant engine, but won after his new teammate, Ron Pierce, from Bakersfield, Calif., had retired. Englishman Dave Simmonds placed 2nd, on a Kawasaki 350 entered by Power Research of Goleta, Calif.
Simmonds rides factory Kawasakis on European circuits, but is working for Power Research and racing in a number of other west coast meetings during the winter. He also plans to ride Kawasakis at Daytona.
Duff suffered another poor start in the 250-cc event, and could only reach 7th place, with an ailing five-port Yamaha. Also in trouble were Simmonds and Canadian Tim Coopey, who earlier had devastated his heat race opposition with his ex-works Yamaha RD56. This machine now is on loan from Yamaha to Coopey’s sponsor, Canadian Yamaha importer, Fred Deeley.
The 250 winner was teen-ager Mike Lane. Lane was chased in the early stages by Dave Scott, a Scotsman now living in San Francisco. But Scott crashed, without injury.
In the 1000-cc race, Don Vesco cleared off from everyone on his 1967 Daytona BSA, fitted with a 650-cc engine. Mike Duff rode another BSA 650—a 1968 Daytona bike—into 4th place.
Most spectacular man of the race was Southern California TT scrambles ace Jack Simmons, who blasted his TT rig into 2nd place, despite a couple of excursions into the dirt to avoid fallen riders. Simmons’ 750 Norton was in full TT trim, apart from a set of road racing tires.
The race was organized by the American Federation of Motorcyclists, a goahead group which has revitalized west coast competition with European-style race meets.
CANADIAN TRIALS
Greg Stott
When Sammy Miller concluded his tour of the United States last fall, he commented, “The Canadian blokes do quite well. Perhaps they have better terrain up there; I believe they hold more trials.”
The world’s trials king is correct. The experience of negotiating Ontario’s diverse terrain forms one reason for the Canadians’ excellent showing in eastern U.S. trials. In the Sammy Miller event in Massachusetts, the three Canadians present notched positions one to three, and at the Michigan trial, an entire troop of the Maple Leaf lads collected positions one through eight behind SuperSam.
Sammy also was correct about the number of trials held. An average of 10 Ontario trials in the spring, and 10 in the fall certainly gives the Canadians plenty of practice. There remains one factor, though, of which Sammy perhaps wasn’t aware. Ironically, that factor is European influence.
And, the Canadian Championship Trial held near Hamilton, Ontario, effectively demonstrates the point. In a trial that defeated more competitors by chilling, damp weather than by extremely tough sections, four of the top five riders were men who had received their trials initiation “across the pond.”
The man who out-performed the other 68 competitors was John De Gruchy, a Manxman who has claimed four of the championships since 1960. De Gruchy tackles trials with a determined attitude similar to Sammy’s, and in his championship effort this year he lost a mere 10 points.
The title actually became his before the final lap of the day was tackled. Experts and seniors completed 10 sections, six times, and by Lap 5, a stern-looking northern Englishman by the name of Mike Hall tailed De Gruchy by only two points—12 to 10. On the final lap, however, a rain/snow onslaught upset Hall’s concentration, and he dropped a further 10 points. He almost gave 2nd place to Bill Sharpless, who finished 3rd with 23 points, just one behind Hall.
Despite his last lap debacle, Hall’s ride was the most intriguing of the trial. Everyone in that area rides two-strokes, particularly Bultacos, in accordance with Miller’s tastes. But, this stubborn Englishman, with his jaw firmly set, plonked through the sections on-good gracious!—an 11-year-old 350-cc Royal Enfield. For his feat, he was awarded the trophy for the best rider of an over-300-cc machine.
Third place finisher Sharpless was the only Canadian-born rider in the first five. Tall, lanky Sharpless was a road racer of renown in the late 1950s and very early 1960s. In 1961, he crashed heavily while leading the pack at Daytona. Since then, he’s been “taking it easy,” winning many enduros and trials.
John Evans, a recent “rather-switchthan-fight” convert from the dying four-stroke-for-trials clan, dropped 24 points, to take 4th position. Although a hint of the Irish brogue gives him away, he’s been in Canada almost 15 years. John Jones, a native of England who really has progressed since he, too, made the switch to a two-stroke, held 5th. First senior rider, who also headed a number of Experts, was Larry Bastedo, in 6th position. His class win netted him a long sought after civic ring (for a championship placing in a sports event) from his city of residence, Hamilton.
Danny Cozens emerged as best junior rider, with a loss of 37 points. A Honda 90 put through the sections by Ron Sale won the 100-cc section. Sale dropped 49 points.
Several riders in the championship event are to enter the 1969 Scottish Six Day Trial. Two Canadian teams will be formed and two of the top five riders from the championship, De Gruchy and Jones, definitely will compete in one team.
Fortunately, the men are realistic about their chances. They realize they’ve tackled nothing comparable in Canada or the U.S. But Miller offered encouragement when he said, “You can expect to finish between the last and middle place men.”
OHIO TT TITLE
Jack Hall
Sunny skies prevailed for the running of the Ohio State TT Championship, where 73 competitors performed before 1600 spectators.
Bart Markel, Harley-Davidson mounted, was the most successful rider of the day. He broke his own track record and won his heat and the Expert final. Ronnie Rail finished 2nd in the Expert final, and Ben Breeding was 3rd.
Tom Faulkner (360 Bultaco) rode well to get past Larry Darr (HarleyDavidson) and take top honors in the Amateur final, with Ellis Giannini, from Illinois, in 3rd place.
After two restarts, results of first lap crashes, the Novice final was reduced from 10 laps to six, with Bultaco taking the first three places. Riders were Dick Davey, Ronald Hawk and Dave Gott, in that order.
The Ohio State Championship race was a separate event, and provided a true surprise. Ronnie Rail was expected to repeat his previous year’s win. From the start, Rail jumped into the lead, but fell coming out of Turn 2. This let Ted Heil into 1st place, but he, too, crashed two laps later. Tom Faulkner, in 2nd place, took to the grass to avoid the fallen Heil. Faulkner restarted to finish 4th behind the BSA of the new Ohio State Champion, Emil Chadima, and Myron Nagorski (Harley-Davidson) and Doug Shrowler (Triumph).
EAST COAST DRAGS
Twenty-six fuelers and 41 gas dragsters made the second East Coast National Motorcycle Drag Championships, at Ateo Dragway, N.J., one of the hottest quarter-mile shows ever staged for two-wheelers.
With only eight places open in each of the main categories, the qualifying action made a show in itself. When the smoke cleared, Bob Barker, of Columbus, Ohio, emerged as quickest of the fuel burners, with a time of 9.55 sec. for his Harley-Davidson. Another H-D, ridden by John Neidengard, of Steubenville, Ohio, qualified fastest in the gas division, at 10.67 sec. In fact, only one non-H-D machine made the show in either the gas or fuel sections. The bike was Sonny Routt’s Triumph, ridden in the gas class by Larry Welch. He qualified fourth fastest, at 11.01 sec.
Among the fuelers, Barker and his machine ran to form, and, in his final race, turned a sensational 9.40 sec., with a terminal speed of 149.50 mph. His last round opponent, Jim de Salvo, from Arlington, Mass., set 9.87 sec., with a top end speed of 143.08 mph.
Minnesotan Marv Jorgenson piloted his A A/D H-D to the gas eliminator title, with a 10.51-sec. pass.
More vivid action filled the less exotic classes. Top stock bike, from 118 hardcharging entries, was the H-D of Jeffrey Mo wry, who urged his bike to a 14.96-sec. run, 0.5 sec. below the record for his class. Mowry was permitted to dial his own e.t., and therefore avoided disqualification, under the rules of handicap racing.
Buck Geils’ D-modified Triumph was the only non-H-D machine to win an eliminator bracket. Geils claimed the street eliminator title, with a swift 13.18 sec., 101.01 mph.
Ten new records were established, from Barker’s 9.40 sec., to the 13.96 sec., 94.53 mph, set by Tom Fee’s E/G class Honda.
RACE OF CHAMPIONS
Jack Hall
An early winter cold spell brought
temperatures plummeting to the low 30s for the running of the Louisville Downs Invitational Race of National Champions, a contrast of nearly 70 degrees from the weather at the June AMA national, run on the same course.
There were no time trials, because heat lineups were based on points scored through the season. Former national champion, Roger Reiman, easily won the first Expert heat, and AÍ Gaskill, from Michigan, the second. Bart Markel, winner of both national events contested at Louisville, experienced carburetion problems with his twin-carburetored Harley-Davidson, and just managed to qualify for the final. Gary Nixon, 1968 national champion, is never at home on the Louisville limestone, and finished 4th in his heat. However, the position qualified him for the final.
Markel’s machine was reduced to a single carburetor for the final, but it became apparent from the start of the race that it still was not running well. On Lap 4, the throttle on Chuck Palmgren’s Triumph stuck open and he crashed heavily, without serious injury, causing the race to be stopped. The event was restarted on Lap 5, with Gaskill jumping into the lead, followed by Darrel Dovel, Ray Little and Reiman. Markel lay 8th, but the next lap around it was obvious that his carburetion problems had been corrected, for he was then 6th, behind Nixon, and by Lap 7 had stolen 2nd place from Reiman. By this time Gaskill had built up a commanding lead, which he held to the finish, with Markel 2nd and Reiman 3rd. However, as Markel had returned to his pit for machine adjustments during the interval after Palmgren’s crash, he was eliminated from the results. Those who finished behind him all moved up one position.
The Amateur final was the most spectacular event of the day as young Canadian Dave Sehl tried lap after lap to pass pre-race favorite, Larry Darr, for the win. Darr was not to be beaten, however, and Sehl finished three lengths behind, with Alton Story 3rd. All three rode Harley-Davidson machines.
The 10-lap Novice final was won by Ken Pressgrove, with Dick Metz 2nd and Charles Chappie 3rd.
The entire event was recorded for broadcast by ABC cameras. [Ö]
