“BENDS BIKE ROUND CORNERS” 17st. English Rider To Race In Moto-Cross

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31206, 2 November 1966, Page 19

“BENDS BIKE ROUND CORNERS” 17 st. English Rider To Race In Moto-Cross

The outstanding English scramble rider, John Burton, had agreed to compete in this season’s Wills international motocross series, the organiser (A. T. Gibbes) said in a telephone interview from Palmerston North yesterday.

The first of the seven meetings in the series will be held in Christchurch on December 11.

Arrangements for the overseas competititors were now in their final stages, Gibbes, an Australian now living in New Zealand, said. Burton had been until recently a works rider for B.S.A.

but had left the works team to race a 500 c.c. Triumph Metisse. He will be riding the Metisse in the New Zealand series. Entries Confirmed Gibbes, who will again be competing for Australia in the series, also confirmed the entries of the American, P. Hunt, and another highly ranked Englishman, K. Hickman. Burton, whose name is in Lutterworth, near Rugby, is probably the fastest rider of the three visiting internationals. At 17st he is unusually heavy for a scrambles rider but more than makes up for this by his great strength. “He just bends the bike round the ’ corners,” Gibbes said. It was because of his weight that he had to leave the B.S.A. works team. The switch to light-weight machinery in international competition by the B.S.A. factory forced this decision on him. The new machines were too small and not powerful enough to carry his weight at the speeds he required. Won Two Internationals Burton has been a consistent place-getter in world championship events since 1958 and has won two international Grand Prix motorcross events. One year he finished fifth over-all in the world championship. His father, “Pip” Burton, was well known to New Zea-

land speedway spectators in the 19305. A top speedway rider, he competed in New Zealand on several occasions. The main international event at each of the meetings would be of 15 laps as in previous years, Gibbes said. There would be two qualifying heats for places. Points would be on an 8,6, 4,3, 2, 1 basis for the first six in the main race.