Round Up
ROUND UP
JOE PARKHURST
THE BAJA 500 told some new tales this year. Newly routed to an almost all off-road race, thanks to the National Off Road Racing Association (NORRA), only 53 miles of the 600 were run on pavement. Bikers were almost certain they would win for the first time in several years. I agreed.
Sorry to say, bikes didn't make it, and probably never will. The supersophisticated single seater buggies and the awesomely powerful Ford specials and trucks are simply not to be beaten by the smaller and slower bikes. How ever, two wheelers were still the fastest in the very roughest going, but Baja has too many over 100 mph super fast dirt roads. And, bikes will not be able to overcome a car's advantage at night with their incredible lights.
A puny little single, or double lamp, mounted on the twisting and turning forks of a bike cannot possibly light up the night the way the car's stably mounted, multi-unit light systems do. No matter how bright.
I have criticized NORRA for several years, primarily because of the excessive mileage of pavement in the 500 and the more prestigious Mexican 1000 in the fall. Fortunately, they have taken the racing off the pavement now, and have made great strides in crowd control. Many unruly Mexicans either fail to realize, or don't care, how dangerous their presence is on the roads so neal the cars and bikes.
The 500 this year was not a pointto-point event as in the past. The course was marked all the way and drivers! riders were warned of the penalties for not staying on the course. In several areas short cuts could have saved miles of rough going by simply slipping onto the pavement, so their concern was justified. 11:
The unbelievable Parnelli Jones won again. A lot of us are eating crow. His so-called "Bronco" made it down in just 12 hours, 18 minutes. Just as amazing was the Ford pickup driven by Walker Evans that took only 13 hours, 6 minutes. First bike was a Husqvarna, not surprisingly, ridden by iron men Mickey Quaid and Howard Utsey. They finished in 13 hr., 54 mm. Baja bike riders Phil Bowers and Mike Patrick switched to a single seater buggy this year, and came in 3rd overall in 13 hr., 31 mm.
(Continued on page 10)
Continued from page 4
Retired bike rider (age got to him) John Steen drove his Baja Bug down in 14 hr., 27 mm. He won his class handily. Pre-race favorites were Mint 400 and Mexican 1000 winners Roif Tibblin and Mitch Mayes. They finished fourth after Tibblin's head light went out 80 miles after the start and he hit a tree.
_J. c. Big Twins got back into the thick of things when the Dempsey brothers, Gene and Sam, ripped down the course into 2nd place in the over 250 class on a 750 Triumph desert sled. Big Twins will always be hard to beat in Baja, especi ally on the high-speed fire road style going found there. A few years ago I speculated that the best Baja racer would probably be a 500 to 750 Twin, in a very light chassis, capable of over 110 mph on pavement and smooth dirt roads. I didn't reckon with the really tough two-strokes like the multi-speed, 450cc Huskys. They'll always be a threat.
Baja veteran and ex-winner Larry Berquist rode a 1000cc Harley-Davidson Sportster. It broke in half in the 1000 in 1972; and didn't finish again this year. Lovely Mary McGee, without doubt the best all around woman motorcyclist, riding the newest 250cc, six-speed Husky, made it to the halfway point at Punta Final, but only after several sei zures and flat tires.
The 100-degree plus heat that ex tended over most of the course didn't help any. Curiously though, the one rider that seemed most affected by it was a Mexican! Luis Guzman, riding a 125cc Carabella for the factory, was spotted late at night, lying alongside his bike.
Before rescuers could reach him he remounted and rode into the halfway point. He looked like death warmed over-as my mother used to say.
Heinrich Fr. Rupp, from Aurora, Cob., made the most interesting entry; a 180cc Piaggio, or Vespa as they used to be known, motor scooter. He had been promised $1600 merely to finish. He didn't, but it was a nice try. Last year's Mexican 1000 second placers, Ron Bishop and Don Bohanon, ran well,
up until Bohanon got off during the night. They rode a 400cc Suzuki that was really tricked up.
Billy Silverthorn and Gene Fetty rode a 350cc Honda Single again. They finished 3rd in class, going strong all t way. Silverthorn had plans to build lighter bike, using a Boyd & Stellings chassis, but he couldn't complete it before the race. The heavy hand of American Honda was not present for the 500; they had fully supported a team effort in last year's 1000. Silverthorn rode for the super active Lemon Grove (Calif.) Honda dealership. Since the pavement is expected to be completed clear to La Paz by the end of the year, speculation is wild as to what NORRA will do about it. It is becoming increasingly more difficult to run a real off-road race in Baja.
At press time rumors were grinding away that NORRA would stage a 1000 mile road race on the new pavement in March, 1974. Shades of the old Mexican Road Race, and the frightening specter of spectators and racers getting killed. they do stage such an event, we can only trust they will limit the size of cars and bikes to those capable of perhaps only 130 or 140 mph. Anything faster than that on the narrow and poorly engineered paved roads of Baja would be disasterous.
