John Player Transatlantic Trophy Races

John Player Transatlantic Trophy Races

U.S. Versus Great Britain, Chapter Three. We Lost Again, But This Time We "Wuz Robbed!"

B. R. Nicholls

EASTER WEEKEND in England nowadays means the chance to see a three-meeting match race series between the United States and Great Britain. It's really a battle of giants, with Suzuki and Kawasaki threecylinder two-strokes lined up against the four-stroke Harley-Davidsons, Triumphs and Nortons. The meet obviously has a lot of potential, but to ensure success, the teams were increased from six to eight riders for 1973.

Cal Rayborn captained the U.S. side, consisting of Mert Lawwill, Doug Sehl, Gary Nixon, Art Baumann, Yvon duHamel, Ron Grant and Dave Aldana. The British team was captained by Paul Smart and included Barry Sheene, John Cooper, Peter Williams, Tony Jefferies, Percy Tait, Mick Grant and Dave Potter. At least, that’s the way the teams started out. Both sides, unfortunately, had problems so other riders were called in.

Points scoring was on the basis of 16 for a win, 15 for 2nd, on down to 1 for last man to finish. A team rider only failed to score if he failed to start the race. All retirements scored points in order of their dnf. A point was worth approximately $12 and there was $12 for the race leader at the end of each lap; so although the basic idea is that of a team event, take home money depended on individual effort.

The excitement started at Brands Hatch on Good Friday. Before racing even began, Tony Jefferies threw his Trident away in great style and had to be replaced on the team by similarly mounted Ron Chandler. Dave Aldana also slid off but only scraped the fairing.

After the usual hullabaloo of introducing the teams, riders lined up for a clutch start. As the flag dropped it was Ron Grant (Suzuki) that led the pack, but it was very short-lived. As they went into Paddock Bend on the second lap teammate Paul Smart had a converging race line and they hit. Down went Grant and Smart pulled out when he realized what had happened. “It just should not have happened,” said a rueful Paul. The incident looked particularly bad for Grant, who was a non-starter in the second race. The bad shaking he got obviously affected his riding for the entire weekend.

Next out was Mick Grant, riding a Boyer Trident, when the oil pressure disappeared. A lap later Barry Sheene (Suzuki) was sidelined with a tire puncture. To neatly round off British team retirements to 50 percent, Ron Chandler slid off at Druids hairpin.

By then Cal Rayborn was out front just like last year, but being chased by Peter Williams, (John Player Norton) and Dave Potter (Kuhn Norton).

Then it was the American supporters turn to have their hearts sink as Rayborn dropped it at Paddock. But any help that may have been to the British team evaporated when Williams did the same thing at Druids. Neither Cal nor Peter were hurt. That left Potter out front and he went on to win. But he did it without any team support, for behind him came five Yanks—duHamel (Kawasaki), Doug Sehl (H-D), Art Baumann (Kawasaki), Gary Nixon (Kawasaki) and Dave Aldana (John Player Norton). Second Englishman home was John Cooper, not looking at all happy on the JP Norton following a practice crash on his Yamaha. Mert Lawwill took 8th place in front of Percy Tait, who was the last English rider left racing.

The event resulted in a resounding defeat for the British team by 81 points to 55 and it was obvious that the American team could at least win the first round with that very useful 26point lead.

Things started to warm up a bit in the second race as “Art The Dart” hurtled off into the lead, only to have it taken from him by Sheene. Williams moved up for his attack and Rayborn also moved through the field. After 12 of the 24 laps, Williams’ white fairinged monocoque JP Norton was in the lead, followed by Smart, but 3rd and 4th were duHamel and Nixon. At that stage the odds were on Smart making amends for his first outing and few would have rated Rayborn’s chances.

But racing is a story of mixed fortunes and as the event progressed, it became a three way fight between Smart, Rayborn and Williams. And in getting to the front, Rayborn equaled the lap record—not bad for a guy with a strapped up shoulder and a fall in the first race. With two laps to go Smart took the lead and it seemed all over until he missed a gear at Clearways, not the thing to do with Super Cal just behind. Cal gratefully accepted the offer and rushed through to win, with Williams 3rd. DuHamel was 4th. Although losing that leg 60-75, the Americans won the meeting by 141 points to 130. But any joy in victory was tempered by the fact that Doug Sehl, 3rd in the first race, had crashed in the second and broken a collarbone.

The weather for Brands had been bitterly cold. At Mallory it rained. Hands got numb after four practice laps. As a result, race length was cut from 22 laps to 15, notwithstanding the fact that by the time the event started the rain had stopped and the track was dry.

With Sehl out of the team Gary Fisher was pressed by team manager Gavin Trippe to stop spectating and start racing. A phone call to the States got the okay from Yamaha for him to ride a Harley-Davidson for the first time in his life. “It really was wet enough out there for a baptism,” said Gary after practice. “The bike felt good and never scared me!” Gary wore leathers and a helmet borrowed from Barry Sheene. The crowd had a helluva time trying to guess what was going on, especially as tough guy Ron Grant was also out practicing with a Sheene helmet on.

Chandler was dropped from the British team, as Jefferies had repaired his Trident, and Cooper had dropped out suffering delayed shock from his Friday crash. His place was taken by Dave Croxford on the JP Norton.

At the start of the first race the green fairings of the three Kawasakis ridden by Nixon, duHamel and Baumann, took the lead and held it for two laps. “They should have put the flag out then,” said team boss Bob Hansen.

Sheene spoiled the Kwacker glory by taking 3rd place, but then dropped his Suzuki at the hairpin. The challenge was then taken up by Williams and Croxford against duHamel and Nixon. It was four-stroke versus two-stroke, the faster Japanese three-cylinder two-strokes against the slower but better handling British Nortons, and the crowd loved it.

At first it seemed odds for Super Frog (as duHamel was called), but Williams was determined to make amends for his Brands mishap. Three laps from the end he took the lead with duHamel hampered by a stiff throttle. Riding the JP Norton for the first time, Croxford rode brilliantly, but not brilliantly enough to beat Nixon and duHamel, who finished in that order behind Williams.

Baumann was 7th, but the British riders packed the places to win the race by 75-60, so taking the overall lead for the first time by 205-201. Fisher had earned four points. The sensation of the race was the disqualification of Sheene for riding a 500cc Suzuki which he grabbed at the last moment before the race when his 750 was minus the front wheel. After all, if Sheene could be allowed to get away with that why shouldn’t Fisher have ridden a 350 Yamaha—that really would have put him among the leaders. A great deal of the appeal of the series is the big bike aspect and at this point it would be foolish to bring in smaller capacity bikes against the big ones.

Anxiety on the line led to a false start at the beginning of the second race, so after one lap it began again with Sheene hurtling into the lead. But at the end of the first lap it was duHamel leading from Nixon and things looked good for America when Rayborn took 3rd behind them. Cal was unfamiliar looking, as the Harleys had their fairings off because of crosswind trouble tending to lift the front wheel off the ground on the long 180-degree right hand Gerards, which is taken at around 100 mph.

Nixon took the lead for laps five and six, but then dropped out with plug trouble. DuHamel held first to the end, although Williams chased hard, and Smart moved into 3rd by the flag and Rayborn was 4th. Baumann was 7th behind Potter and Tait. Fisher finished three places better as he began to get the hang of the Harley. With the Americans outscoring the British in that race by 69-67 the teams set off for Oulton Park with only two points between them-USA 270, GB 272.

At Oulton Fisher blew the Harley up in practice, so Cliff Carr raced a Kawasaki in his place, and Mick Grant, who had crashed the Boyer Trident pretty badly at Mallory, was loaned a JP Norton. Once again the weather was very cold and damp but spirits were high. At that point there had been four different race winners (Potter, Rayborn, Williams, and duHamel) and the sides were obviously evenly balanced.

The first race was duHamel’s worst of the series as he was never in the hunt, although he did take 6th place. Baumann led, chased by Williams, with Dave Aldana in 3rd place for the first five laps. Then Williams was able to take the lead when Baumann had gearbox troubles, but Baumann hung on determinedly and only lost 2nd place on the last lap to Smart. At the same time, Croxford forced past Aldana. But it was another 69-67 win for the United States. That meant a tie at 339 points each with one race to go.

The tension on the line was terrific and the acceleration of the Kawasakis took Nixon and duHamel into the lead as the race started. Things looked good for the States when Smart crashed on the second lap, but then Williams forced to the front once again to win ahead of duHamel. But with their best rides of the series, Sheene and Tait took 3rd and 4th. Although Nixon and Rayborn took 5th and 6th the British team won the race by 77-59 and the series by an 18point margin—416-398.

Highest individual scorers were duHarfiel and Williams, both with 84 points. Nixon, Baumann and Rayborn all earned 60. So the Kawasaki team was the backbone of the Yankee effort, scoring over half the team’s points.

There is no doubt in my mind that the Americans deserved to win and probably would have done so had it not been for the two vital crashes at Brands which obviously affected Grant’s riding and eliminated Sehl after a fine 3rd in his first event.

The rules, in fact, robbed the Americans of victory, for every rider who started in a race was eligible for points even if he did not finish the race. Having done a re-score on the same basis of the competition, that is 16 for win, etc., but giving no score to those who did not finish, America would have won by a margin of seven points—388-381. In the end, England wonr but you wuz robbed!

RESULTS

BRANDS HATCH

First leg (24 laps): 1, Potter; 2, duHamel; 3, Sehl; 4, Baumann; 5, Nixon; 6, Aldana; 7, Cooper; 8, Lawwill; 9, Tait; 10, Williams; 11, Rayborn; 12, Chandler; 13, Sheene; 14, Mick Grant; 15, Smart; 16, Ron Grant. Race points: GB 55, USA 81. - - -

Second leg (24 laps): 1, Rayborn; 2, Smart; 3, Williams; 4, duHamel; 5, Potter; 6, Sheene; 7, Nixon; 8, Baumann; 9, Cooper; 10, Chandler; 11, Lawwill; 12, Mick Grant; 13, Aldana; 14, Tait; 15, SehI. Race points: GB 75, USA 60. Total Brands points: GB 130, USA 141.

MALLORY

First leg (15 laps): 1, Williams; 2, Nixon; 3, duHamel; 4, Croxford; 5, Potter; 6, Baumann; 7, Mick Grant; 8, Tait; 9, Smart; 10, Jefferies; 11, Lawwill; 12, Rayborn; 13, Fisher; 14, Ron Grant; 15, Aldana. Race points: GB 75, USA 60. Second leg (15 laps): 1, duHamel; 2, Williams; 3, Smart; 4, Rayborn; 5, Potter; 6, Tait; 7, Baumann; 8, Sheene; 9, Aldana; 10, Fisher; 11, Lawwill; 12, Nixon; 13, Ron Grant; 14, Mick Grant; 15, Jefferies; 16, Croxford. Race points: GB 67, USA 69. Total Mallory points: GB 142, USA 129.

OULTON PARK

First leg (11 laps): 1, Williams; 2, Smart; 3, Baumann; 4, Croxford; 5, Aldana; 6, duHamel; 7, Mick Grant; 8, Rayborn; 9, Carr; 10, Tait; 11, Nixon; 12, Lawwill; 13, Ron Grant; 14, Jefferies; 15, Potter; 16, Sheene. Race points: GB 67, USA 69.

Second leg (11 laps): 1, Williams; 2, duHamel; 3, Sheene; 4, Tait; 5, Nixon; 6, Rayborn; 7, Croxford; 8, Mick Grant; 9, Jefferies; 10, Lawwill; 11, Ron Grant; 12, Potter; 13, Aldana; 14, Baumann; 15, Smart; 16, Carr. Race points: GB 77, USA 59. Total Oulton points: GB 144, USA 128.

MATCH TOTAL: GB 416, USA 398.