Wylie on his own, in front

Press, Volume CXIII, Issue 33418, 27 December 1973, Page 18

Wylie on his own, in front

WANGANLi The Christchurch rider. D. Wylie, on an immacu-lately-tuned Suzuki 500 c.c. machine, turned on a tremendous display and won both legs of the Marlboro motor-cycle classic raced on the Wanganui Cemetery circuit yesterday.

y; Wylie clipped 3sec oft the I Jap record and also took twi> e'of the day’s minor races. ! T. Discombe (Cambridge) eland W. Molloy (Huntly, il both rode impressively ami j each claimed a second place i,jin the classic. :ij In both races Wylie got r I away to a flying start and t quickly built up an impressive lead. In the first leg he jwas 6sec ahead after only s three laps and finished 13scc - in front. The second race was not -Imuch different. Wylie wen: II to the lead on the first lap. ilwas 4sec up after five laps, J and won by more than 6sec. Q The struggle for second [place in each race was the Imost interesting. Discombe * and Molloy could not match [Wylie but they had a trejmendous tussle between (themselves. I In the first leg. they were j never more than a length or two apart for the first IS [laps. changing positions I several times. However, the eighteenth lap. Molloy •took a corner too wide, over- ] shot, and Discombe got away . The second leg was similar [but this time it was Dis- ' combe who was under pressure and beaten into third place. The overseas riders did not. show up well on the tight circuit, and only the Americans, R. Grant, P. Hennan and M. Steele, were able to gain minor placings in the big races.