Continental Report
CONTINENTAL REPORT
B.R. NICHOLLS
BRITISH 250 MOTOCROSS
Malcolm Davis is the 1970 British 250cc motocross champion. He regained the title he held in 1968 from Bryan Wade (Greeves), who is now a much disillusioned man following a series of failures that befall most riders at some time in their career.
With one round in the championship series to go, Ajay works rider Davis cannot now be beaten after his two winning rides in the last meeting to be held.
In the first race he led from the start but was passed by Wade, who was moving further ahead when his engine seized. Behind Davis, his teammate, Andy Roberton had been involved in a scrap with Jeff Smith on the little four-stroke works BSA that proved too good for the Ajay stroker. Riding with the apparent effortless ease that marks the expert, Smith got within yards of Davis on the final lap but did not have enough in hand to snatch victory from Davis. Roberton finished 3rd.
Next time out, the young Scottish ace Jimmy Aird (CZ) took the lead followed by ex-Greeves teamster Dick Clayton (Husqvarna) and Chris Horsfield (Bultaco). It took Davis four laps to fight up to 1st place. Smith once again made the running in 2nd place, but any chance of a repeat finishing order disappeared with the air from Roberton’s rear tire as the race reached its final stages. Aird’s chance of 3rd went in a spill that gave the place to Horsfield. Wade was again out of luck with another seizure while riding his spare bike. The form of Jeff Smith is something of an embarrassment, for his 2nd place in the championship leaves him eight points clear of Andy Roberton, and makes him the rider of the only fourstroke that has scored in the championship.
On form he should have been picked for the British Trophée des Nations team, but the team selected consists of Bryan Goss (Husqvarna), Malcolm Davis and Andy Roberton (AJS) and Vic Allan and Bryan Wade (Greeves).
However, Wade is not at all happy with Greeves at the moment and is known to be looking for other machinery. Wade is one of England’s best youngsters who started the season well with a good 4th place in the opening world championship round in Spain, but has been dogged by misfortune ever since. He is under contract to Greeves until the end of the year, but it is now on the cards that this will end prematurely. and Wade will try his luck with a Husqvarna.
Between world title rounds there is a period of over a month, during which the tension can mount if the title chase is close, but of course this year it only involves the two Suzuki teamsters, Joel Robert and Sylvain Geboers. They still compete every weekend in smaller events, as do contestants for the 500 title, when they have a blank weekend.
Whether it is wise to do this has always been debatable for a well paid works rider, but it serves two very useful purposes. In the first place, it helps the rider keep that razor sharp edge to his racing which is so essential for success. Secondly, he is able to pick up appearance and prize money under easier conditions than those of a full-blooded world title round. For some riders there are national championship races to be contested, for a national title is the passport to the next year’s world title series. Such races can be far from easy for a well placed world title chaser.
DISASTER FOR KRING
For Arne Kring just one such race has meant disaster. It happened in Belgium, where motocross means more than soccer to Brazilians, when he hit a large bump and wasshot over the handlebars with the bike cartwheeling on top of him. He sustained pelvic and back injuries that will keep him out of racing for at least a month, so he missesthe last two meetings for the world championship, when he was at the top of the table with a 10-point lead
Before incurring his injuries, Kring Contested the West German Meeting where he could not match the speed of fellow countryman and reigning champion Bengt Aberg (Husqvarna). Aberg won the first leg and finished 2nd in the next, to take overall victory. Kring, with a 5th and a 3rd, could do no better than 4th overall, behind the Maico duo of Adolf Weil and Ake Jonsson.
The West German Maico concern has quietly and patiently persevered in the big motocross class, at first with a 360 and currently with a 386-cc power unit of handsome proportions, which is said to produce around 44 bhp. It proved to be their best performance in two years of racing. Could it be that speed and reliability have at last been found?
A week later the answer seemed to be a very definite “YES." The riders nipped across the border for the East German meet, where Aberg won the first race but was followed home by Jonsson, Weiland a third works Maico man, Willi Bauer. Aberg retired in the second race when his coil failed. Ex-champion Paul Friedrichs (CZ) won the race and was followed home by Jonsson, whose 2nd place gave him overall victory from his teammate Weil, who took 3rd.
Jonsson, a Swede, has been steadily gaining points during the season, and t his win shot him into the 2nd place and made him level on 70 points with Aberg, both of whom are still 10 behind the injured Kring.
Jonsson started motocross riding in 1 961 after he had finished his studies and qualified as machine engineer. He became Swedish 250cc champion in 1964 and went on to win the 500 class two years running in 1967-68. He has represented his country in both the 500cc Motocross des Nations and 250cc Trophée des Nat ions team events. His preference is for the 500 machine which he and Adolf Weil have developed since he joined the works Maico team last year. Like most of the successful Swedish motocross aces, Jonsson is a quiet, unassuming man and a perfect representative for his country when he travels to all the meetings with his beautiful wife U 11a and their l’/2-yearold son Tomas, living in a trailer pulled behind a big Mercedes.
Now suddenly as the season draws to its inevitable conclusion, Ake Jonsson finds he has a chance of becoming champion. With two rounds to go, Kring must wait helplessly and see if anyone can catch his 80 points. Just three men are contending Kring’s position: best placed is reigning champion Bengt Aberg, with 70 points from six rides; Jonsson follows, with 70 from seven rides; and third is ex-champion Paul Friedrichs, 60 from six rides.
There are 1 2 rounds to the championship, and a rider's best seven scores count. Both Aberg and Friedrichs could improve with any points scored in Belgium, while Jonsson would have to finish higher than in the lowest scoring of his seven rides so far.
And so to Namur in Belgium to the famous and dangerous circuit at the Citadel, where fine sunny weather created a dust hazard that made a good start of prime importance. To add to the difficulties, Joel Robert and Sylvain Geboers were out on big Suzukis, and last year’s winner, Roger DeCoster, was also trying to make it two in a row. He was riding a 360-cc CZ which was “going very well” he told me, and he had a works mechanic to help him.
AMERICANS IN BELGIUM
But before t he big championship races comes the national supporting events for junior and senior riders. There, among such local names as Verhoeven, Weytjens, Laquaye and Van Dievoort, and standing out like a light on a dark night was statesider Gary Myers. Along with Dick Loughran, he came to Europe this year, joined a club (AMC Lommel in Belgium), and set about learning European motocross the hard way.
Why pick Belgium? They both feel it offers a great variety of courses, and with that comes experience. Starting at the bottom among the juniors, Myers has now moved into the senior class riding Husqvarna and will give a good account of himself in the Inter-Am motocross series. But more of Myers next month, when I hope to be able to give news of a commercial sponsor for Gary from outside the sport, which he will need if he is to return to Europe next year and make his mark with an international license.
The presence of Robert and Geboers was not taken too seriously, as the Kring episode was very much a talking point, and obviously neither of them wanted to jeopardize their chances in the 250 title chase. So, unless they got good starts, little was expected of t hem.
DeCoster, however, was a different kettle of fish. He has had a relatively poor season for so good a rider and naturally wanted to win in front of his home crowd and repeat last year’s victory which had been the first by a Belgian since Rene Baeten (FN) in 1958. whose three victories in the event are a record.
In the first race, as the field got away in a swirl of men, machines, dust and the familiar blue exhaust smoke, Vic Allan (Greeves) and Bengt Aberg (Husqvarna) touched, and Aberg went down. Off went the pack as the luckless Swede tried in vain to kick-start his machine; finally it was pushed into life, and off he went in pursuit.
(Continued on page 88)
Continued from page 87
Leading at the end of the first lap was Adolf Weil (Maico) with Geboers (Suzuki) on his trail and DeCoster (CZ) 3rd. Those following that trio had to contend with blinding dust. Because of it there were many spills; as a result of one of them, Jonsson bent the gear lever on his Maico. Joel Robert (Suzuki) was soon out of the running with a puncture and spent the rest of the race giving pit signals to his ex-CZ teammate DeCoster.
Geboers retired on the fourth lap with a foot injury, but DeCoster had already passed him by then and was busy whittling away the lead that Weil had gained. Aberg was thrashing through the field making nonsense of the criticism that it was difficult to overtake on the twisty, tree-lined circuit, and was up to 4th on the 7th lap behind Jonsson. But lap l 3 was unlucky, as he spilled and then later lost his chain. His misfortunes dropped him to 8th at the end.
Despite his starting disaster Aberg was not last away. That doubtful honor befell Jef Teuwissen (Husqvarna), who gave his home crowd something to shout about as he fought into 6th place by the time the flag fell. By then, DeCoster had taken a good lead from Weil, with Jonsson 3rd and the unspectacular Belgian Jacques Van Velthoven, 4th.
During that first race Paul Friedrichs crashed. With the throttle jammed open, he wrecked the engine and with it. all hope of gaining the title. That left Aberg and Jonsson to duel for vital points in the second race.
With his first gear ever repaired between races, Jonsson flew into the lead at the start of the second race. DeCoster was in pursuit, and the Belgian knew he had only to take 2nd to ensure overall victory. Order was maintained throughout with Weil 3rd and Aberg 4th and Van Velthoven 5th.
So overall victory went to DeCoster with Jonsson 2nd and Weil 3rd. The 19-year-old Van Velthoven gained his best ever championship by placing in 4th spot. This surely branded him as a star of the future.
Now, with one round left, the title must go to Sweden with Kring still leading with 80 points, Jonsson scoring 77 and Aberg 76.
The injured Kring obviously cannot improve his score so waits to see if Luxembourg will provide a win for Jonsson, which he must gain to win the title, or a fourth place or better for Aberg to retain it.
ROAD RACING
With the ever increasing popularity of production racing, the Barcelona 24-hour race is the most prestigious of the events counting toward the FIM Coupe d'Endurance. For some reason, though, the factories do not seem all that keen on officially entering a race that requires over 650 laps of that tortuous Montjuich Park circuit in Barcelona, even though it does have a specific prototype class in the race.
This year’s winner was Dave Degens riding the machine that he manufactures, a 650-cc Dresda powered by a Triumph unit. He was partnered by Ian Goddard, and their winning speed was 64.40 mph.
They had 1 I laps in hand over t he 2nd place team of Ken Buckmaster and Austin Kinsella, riding a 650 Triumph. They, in turn, were four laps ahead of a third British team, Peter Darvill and Norman Price, on a 750 Honda Four.
As always in a long distance race retirements were heavy, with only 25 finishers out of the 50 starters. During the 24 hours the lead changed hands no less than eight times. For those who have not had enough with one 24-hour race in a year, there is the chance of another at the classic Bol d'Or held on the Mo n 11 her y c ircuit i n F ra n ce.
The classic road race championships are now entering the crucial stages, though Agostini has already wrapped up the 350 and 500 classes on the works MV machinery, and Dieter Braun (Suzuki) has taken the 125 title. T he little 50sare led at present by Angelo Nieto (Derbi) with 8 2 points from Aalt Toersen (Jamathi) on 71. Rod Gould heads the 250 class with 97 points from Jarno Saarinen and Kel Carruthers, both with 57; all three are using Yamahas. Georg Auerbacher and Klaus Enders, the BMW aces, are fighting out the sidecar class with only two points separating them. The Ulster Grand Prix to be reported next month should resolve these last two battles, but the 50s will have to wait until later, as the class is not catered to in Ireland. [Ö]
