Commentary On Competition

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32321, 12 June 1970, Page 14

Commentary On Competition

The brilliant young Christchurch road racer, D. Wylie, has fully recovered from the injuries he received in a crash at Wellington at the end of last season and he has now set his sights on the American international classic —the Daytona 200. Wylie and his partner, R. J. Harris, have sold the G5O Matchless which served Wylie so well last season and are now looking for a 250 c.c. Japanese two-stroke. “It will be either a Yamaha or a

Suzuki,” Harris said last week. “A lot will depend on the spares position.” The change to twostrokes is being made in preparation for a tilt at the Daytona 200 next year. They have "slight hopes” of obtaining a 500 c.c. Suzuki, similar to that used Ust season in this country by R. Grant, but the chances of obtaining a smaller capacity machine appear much greater. While in America, Wylie will investigate the possi-

bility of bringing a new machine back.

Recently Wylie explored a new facet of motorcycling. He competed in the Pioneer club's Kaikoura trial and took second place in the road section.

Harris, who replaced Wylie in the New Zealand grand prix, emphasises that this was his last ride in a road race. However, he still hopes to compete in trials and is at present trying to decide whether to accompany Wylie to Daytona next year or use the money for a trials machine.

The Harris G5O, which Wylie rode into second place in the New Zealand Rothmans championship last season, has been bought by B. Neilson, of Invercargill. In his first outing on the machine at Ruapuna Park he won. Although competitors disliked the circuit used for the street races at Southbridge on Easter Monday when they first saw it, they adapted well and by the end of the day were quite satisfied that it had a future. Only ninetenths of a mile round, it was rather too tight for the larger machines to do themselves justice. Whether the meeting will become a regular feature of the road racing calendar will depend on the attitude of residents in the area, but if it is to i ecome a success it will need greater support from riders. Only 10 competed.