Continental Report
CONTINENTAL REPORT
B.R. NICHOLLS
NORTH WEST 200
The overture to the TT races comes in Ireland a week before, at the annual classic North West 200 event. Twenty years ago it was the ideal testing ground for the Isle of Man, but as works support dwindled, the North West lost its attraction and failed to draw the aces. Now it seems to have revived, and entries for the 1971 event included: Paul Smart, Phil Read, Rod Gould, Tony Rutter and Derek Chatterton. Everything pointed to some fantastic scraps until the weather intervened and it rained all day.
Racing started with the 350 class. Away went Phil Read and John Cooper. By the end of the first lap of 1 O'A miles, based on Portrush, they had been headed by local favorite Tommy Robb. Paul Smart then moved into 2nd spot, and by the 4th lap Read was in front. Robb crashed and Cooper took the lead. Read retired with engine troubles. By now Smart had got the message and went on to win from Cooper, with Rutter 3rd. All were Yamaha mounted.
That was where Smart’s luck ran out. And Rutter’s too, for as they sped together at the vanguard of the 250 race, Smart crashed and took Rutter with him. Both sustained concussions and Smart added a broken right wrist to the left he broke during the Anglo-U.S. match race series. So, Triumph lost their number one man for the TT.
With Smart and Rutter out, Cooper led until Derek Chatterton made up a lot of ground after a bad start and went on to win. That left Cooper with two 2nd places, and he made himself man of the meeting by winning the 500 class on a Seeley from similarly mounted Geoff Barry. For Cooper it had meant racing for 200 miles, and every one of them in the rain.
Smart’s crash must have caused Triumph a headache which would have lasted had not Tony Jefferies so brilliantly raised himself to win the Formula 750 race for them and Pickrell the Production 750 class.
'The American style Formula 750 was a highlight of the TT series. On this year’s showing, it must develop into something really big if handled properly by the ACU, and if it gets FIM blessing.
AGO AT I.O.M.?
Another talking point this year was whether Agostini will ever race again in the Isle of Man. He is an outspoken critic of the mountain circuit and has been reported as saying that he would try to persuade Count Corrado Agusta, new boss of the MV concern, not to contest the TT over the famous mountain course. This led to the team manager stating that he thought that MV would continue to support the TT.
So, what it amounts to really, is not whether we see Agostini in the Island next year but whether Vittorio Carrano will be there. Ladies say he is as good looking as Agostini, and has the additional advantage of maturity. He is, of course, the MV mechanic who has been to the Island every year since 1954, tending machinery in the 350 and 500 classes for such aces as Surtees, Hartle, Hocking, Hailwood and Agostini.
Like it or not, the TT is still the prestige event that road racers regard as their Everest. It is not dead yet. If MV are there in 1972, Vittorio Carrano will also be there, and that is what matters to the fans. If Ago decides not to ride, there will always be someone around to> take his place, though regrettably there are few who could do as much justice to the MV at the moment.
Phil Read is his most obvious replacement. Even Read, with his hard-headed and practical attitude toward racing, went to the Isle of Man for more than just world championship points this year; he had never won a 250 TT. It has been his jinx event. Ten years after scoring his first ever TT win when he won the 350 class on an AJS, he gained the elusive 250 victory that escaped him all the while he rode for the official Yamaha works team. T hat is the sort of thing that makes champions want to race in the Island. For those without even the proverbial snowball’s chance in hell of winning, it is the thought of the replica, silver or bronze, that sends them on the annual pilgrimage.
SUPERBIKE SERIES
A development from the Formula 750 series has been created by the popular British weekly paper Motor Cycle News. Called the Motor Cycle News Superbike Championships, it is for machines in the 501 to 1 OOOcc category, and is open to international riders.
'Two rounds have been held so far, and as a result, veteran Percy T ait has a useful 21-point lead over Bob Heath. Scoring, which counts in all six rounds of the championship, gives double points at the final round in October, and five extra points for the fastest lap in each race, with riders scoring on the reducing basis of 15 for a win, and 12-10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1, down to 10th place.
The first round was disappointing. The meeting at Brands Hatch was on a public holiday and so clashed with other meetings and the start of TT practice. Only 1 1 machines started in the race, which was completely dominated by Percy Tait on a T rident Three. He took the lead on the first lap and was followed home by Charlie Sanby (Kuhn Norton) and Martyn Ashwood (700 Weslake Métissé). Tait also set fastest lap.
The second round was the traditional post TT meeting at Mallory Park and provided much stronger opposition, including Ray Pickrell and Bob Heath on Rocket Threes, Tony Jefferies (Trident), and Peter Williams (Norton).
Perhaps T ait was lucky at Mallory, as the Superbikes use the old fashioned run-and-bump start. He had a pusher from the back of the grid which gave him a very good start, and he lead the pack into the first bend. He also set the cash register going, ringing up the primes at $24 a lap over 20 laps. He had his share of luck though, for young Tony Jefferies set about catching him in determined fashion, but just as he seemed set to take the lead in the closing stages, he dropped back to 4th with gearbox troubles. He had the consolation of setting fastest lap and gained an extra five points and S60. Second placeman was Pickrell, but only just from Williams, whose Norton certainly seems to have the speed, if not the handling qualities, of the more exotic Threes. There is a six-week gap between the second and third meetings which will give all concerned time to sort out problems, the most pressing of which is to sort out the regulations.
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The run-and-bump starting system of the Superbike championship handicaps riders of the big 'Triumph and BSA three-cylinder models. They require a pretty hefty shove and well timed bump to get a good start. It takes no imagination to realize that a rider sitting astride his machine at the rear of the grid, with a sturdy mechanic pushing him, will get a pretty good start and advantage over those sweating and shoving on their own. At Mallory, Tait was joined at the rear of the starting grid by Sanby, Pickrell and Ashwood, all with doctors’ certificates allowing a pusher. Quick to realize that their championship could become a farce under such conditions, the sponsors, Motor Cycle News, already envisage clutch starts as the answer to the problem. It is certainly the simplest solution, as all American racers know.
In the other Mallory races, Agostini won both the 500cc and lOOOcc classes, while John Cooper took advantage of the fact that Ago had no 350 to win from Mick Grant and Tony Rutter. Rutter was 3rd in the 250 race behind Phil Read and Steve Machin. Barry Sheene was the 125 race winner on his Suzuki and then, riding the 500 Suzuki that Frank Perris had taken to 3rd place in the Senior TT, Sheene finished runner up to Agostini in the 500 race.
But the big surprise of the day came in the final event, the sidecar final. Mallory is getting quite a reputation for staging really grandstand sidecar finals. This was no exception. With such aces as Norman Hanks, Chris Vincent and Mick Bodice competing, there was expected to be quite a battle between them for the lead. Instead, they fought for 2nd place, and the order listed above is how they finished. Out front was Pat Sheridan screwing the neck of his big 750 BSA to such effect that he equalled Vincent’s lap record and broke the race record for good measure!
So much for road racing, where the international world-title chasers are now embarking on a fantastic six-week session that will take them to six championship meetings, and give a good idea of who the champions will be by the end of it.
MOTOCROSS SERIES
'The motocross boys are still deeply involved in their world titles, and the spotlight is on the 500 class which is wide open after seven of the 12 meetings.
At the Czech round the reigning champion Bengt Aberg (Husqvarna), scored his first points of the 1971 series when he took 3rd place overall. The winner was Roger DeCoster (Suzuki), who won the first race only after Adolf Weil (Maico) had been slowed by gearbox troubles, when leading. He finished 3rd behind Aberg.
In the second race, Weil really put on the pressure to lead from Jak Van Velthoven (Husqvarna) with DeCoster 3rd-positions that would have given Weil overall victory. But in the closing stages of the race Van Velthoven slowed, DeCoster went by and made certain of overall victory. This closed the gap at the top of the table to one point, Weil leading 54-53.
So to Russia, where Aberg continued the fight to retain his title. He won the first leg from his fellow countryman Ake Jonsson (Maico) by the narrow margin of one second. Title leaders Weil and DeCoster were 3rd and 4th. So it was obvious that there would be a battle royal in the second race between these four. In the early stages John Banks (BSA) led but was ousted by local hero Vitchi Krasnochekov, who obviously did not know how to pace such a race.
By the halfway stage the pattern had developed. Jonsson led Aberg and maintained a sufficient gap to gain overall victory, while DeCoster’s 3rd place in front of Weil failed to deprive Weil of 3rd overall. So he still led the title table by 64-61 from DeCoster.
It was wet and muddy for the East German round. Weil failed to score for the first time this season. DeCoster was also out of luck, so the top two positions were unaffected. It was almost Russia all over again. Aberg won the first leg from Jonsson, and Jonsson won the second from Aberg. But this time it was Aberg who gained overall victory from Jonsson, with Banks taking 3rd overall from two 3rd places.
We now have an intriguing situation, with Weil leading on 64 from DeCoster with 61, Jonsson, 53, Friedrichs, 48, and Aberg, 37. Having failed to score in the first four meetings, Aberg must be particularly happy with his last three rides that have gained him 3rd, 2nd and 1st places. Will he be able to maintain form and take three titles in a row just as Friedrichs did? It is still anybody’s title.
