1966 Ascot Motorcycle Racing Sammy Tanner - 2-Page Vintage Article

Description

1966 Ascot Motorcycle Racing Sammy Tanner - 2-Page Vintage Article
Original, Vintage Magazine Article
Page Size: Approx. 8" x 11" (21 cm x 28 cm) each page
Condition: Good
ASCOT OPENER
. . . and Sammy Tanner still leads the way.
PHOTOS BY WALT MAHONY
r California racers, the opening
half-mile event at Ascot Park each
April is more of a New Years celebration
than January first. Tuners have labored
long and hard throughout the winter, pre-
paring and improving their very special
machines for this very special Friday
night. Riders, primed and ready after a
five-month layoff, try to outdo one an-
other with flashy new leathers, jumpers
Top two experts fight it out — Ralph White (15), Guy Louis (27).
Marty McDonald cleaned house in the novice division.
and helmets. And race fans by the thou-
sands, eager for the fresh, new scene,
attempt once more to predict the un-
predictable.
THE FIRST WEEK
Novice riders, mounted on brake-less
250cc machines, open the program. These
men are novices in name only, however,
and it shows as they battle determinedly
through their heat races. Each must ac-
cumulate at least a year of sporting scram-
bles experience and hold a current ama-
teur or expert sportsman license before
touching a wheel to the Ascot clay. This
safety-slanted policy of AMA Referee Bert
Brundage, while limiting the number of
potential novice entries, has definitely in-
creased the quality of new rider talent for
1966.
First across the line in the novice main
event was Jim Deehan, a trackwise second-
year rider who competes for Long Beach
Honda. Dick Turner (Bultaco) and Mike
Lithicum (Honda) finish two-three.
Many of last year’s novices have ac-
quired the necessary 20 points and now
advance to amateur status. Making the
big jump to 500cc equipment, they arrive
at a new plateau — faster machines, big-
ger purses and, consequently, greater pres-
sures. BSA-mounted Bert Ershig takes the
opening night amateur main event, staving
off spirited bids by Pete Bodette and John
Carter, also riding Gold Stars.
As the expert main event field lines up,
Sammy Tanner has won 299 races in
eleven years of professional competition,
including spectacular victories in this eve-
ning’s heat race and trophy dash. But
nine of the finest riders in the country
will be doing everything in their power
to keep him from making it 300 tonight
Off they roar, Tanner in the lead. Dan
Haaby grabs second; Dick Hammer (rid-
ing Al Gunter’s BSA in a quick switch
from Triumph) is third. First year expert
Eddie Hammond challenges Mert Lawwill
for fourth, as the rest of the pack jockeys
for position. On lap five the order is
unchanged, but Hammer retires with en-
gine trouble on the sixth, moving Guy
Louis into top-five contention.
Suddenly, in the north turn, there is a
pileup! Cal Raybom has lost control of
his Harley, taking himself and Eddie Wirth
out of contention. And Neil Keen, using
split-second evasive tactics, lays his ma-
chine down to avoid the tangle.
Abruptly black-flagged at ten laps, the
race is no less a resounding 300th win for
Tanner. The C. R. Axtell-tuned BSA on
which Sam has won four Ascot Champion-
ships seems stronger than ever.
THE SECOND WEEK
A new winner appears in the swiftly
changing pattern of first-year novice rac-
ing. Marty McDonald, whose H-D Sprint
blew in its initial outing, charges strongly
through traffic to heat race and main
event victories. Fast-closing Don Roberts
(Yamaha) swoops in for second, ahead
of Montesa-mounted Ed Applegate.
Amateur action finds John Carter re-
ceiving a spontaneous ovation from the
crowd after his free wheeling, high-groove
heat race win on Jack Hately’s BSA. But
Pete Bodette, smooth and steady, pilots
Don Butler’s BSA to first place in the 10-
lap final. Carter finishes a close second;
Casper Grief (BSA) moves up to third.
In the expert division, Tanner’s win
streak is briefly jeopardized. Doing an un-
intentional wheelie off the line at the start
of the trophy dash, Sam is last to the
turn, trailing heat race winners Dan
Haaby, Jim Nicholson and Mert Law-
will. He quickly closes the gap, picks
off Lawwill, then Nicholson. But not until
Amateur John Carter got a special hand from the crowd.
the last tum does he challenge Haaby,
sailing by on the outside and holding his
advantage to the checker.
The main event results surprise no one.
It’s Tanner all the way — with Haaby
(BSA), Lawwill (H-D) and Louis (R.E.)
assuming their runnerup positions of the
previous week. Fifth place goes to Ham-
mer, again BSA-mounted, this time for
Norm Reeves. Sixth is Nicholson, out for
the first time on Joe Dudek’s Triumph,
which Hammer rode last year.
The continuing drama of the Ascot
half-mile unfolds every Friday night,
through November, with top professional
racing in all three divisions.
■
BY CAROL SIMS
RESULTS — First Week
NOVICE MAIN EVENT — 8 Laps
1.
JIM DEEHAN
.Honda
2.
DICK TURNER
.
Bultaco
3.
MIKE LITHICUM
Honda
4.
DAVE LEWIS
Bultaco
5.
CHRIS HARTMAN
Bultaco
Time: 3:34.73
AMATEUR MAIN EVENT — 10 Laps
1.
BERT
ERSHIG
BSA
2.
PETE
BODETTE
BSA
3.
JOHN
CARTER
BSA
4.
TIM
HARRIS
BSA
5.
DON
DOBBINS
Enfield
Time:
4:11.17
EXPERT MAIN EVENT — 15 Laps
1.
SAMMY TANNER
BSA
2.
DAN HAABY
BSA
3.
MERT LAWWILL .
H-D
4.
EDDIE HAMMOND
BSA
5.
GUY LOUIS
Enfield
6.
BLACKIE BRUCE
Enfield
7.
NEIL KEEN
BSA
(DNF)
8.
EDDIE WIRTH
BSA
(DNF)
9,
CAL RAYBORN
H-D
(DNF)
10.
DICK HAMMER
BSA (DNF)
No Time — Black Flagged 10 Laps
DNF — Did not finish
TROPHY DASH — 3 Laps
1.
SAMMY TANNER
BSA
2.
DAN HAAB<
BSA
3.
DICK HAMMER
BSA
4.
BLACKIE BRUCE Time: 1:12.67
Enfield
RESULTS — Second Week
NOVICE MAIN EVENT — 8 Laps
1.
MARTY MCDONALD
H-D
2.
DON ROBERTS
Yamaha
3.
ED APPLEGATE
Montesa
4
ROY SPIKER
Enfield
5.
ROB HARRISON
G
reeves
Time: 3:33.55
AMATEUR MAIN EVENT — 10 Laps
1.
PETE BODETTE
BSA
2.
JOHN CARTER
BSA
3.
CASPER GRIEF
BSA
4.
JACK KONLE
BSA
5.
RON KRUSEMAN
BSA
Time: 4:09.63
EXPERT MAIN EVENT — 15 Laps
1.
SAMMY TANNER .
.
BSA
2.
DAN HAABY
BSA
3.
MERT LAWWILL
H-D
4.
GUY LOUIS
Enfield
5.
DICK HAMMER
BSA
6.
JIM NICHOLSON
Triumph
7.
CHUCK JONES
Velocette
8.
EDDIE WIRTH
BSA
9.
NEIL KEEN
BSA
10.
RALPH WHITE
BSA
(DNF)
Time: 5:58.85
TROPHY DASH — 3 Laps
1.
SAMMY TANNER .
2.
DAN HAABY
3.
MERT LAWWILL
4.
JIM NICHOLSON .
Time: 1:15.55
BSA
BSA
H-D
Triumph
ASCOT POINT STANDINGS AFTER TWO WEEKS
Pts.
1.
SAMMY TANNER
240
2.
DAN HAABY
. 192
3.
MERT LAWWILL
. 154
GUY LOUIS
. 112
5.
DICK HAMMER
79
6.
EDDIE HAMMOND
. 60
7.
BLACKIE BRUCE
. 52
8.
JIM NICHOLSON
. 52
9.
NEIL KEEN
. 50
10.
EDDIE WIRTH
45
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