Wylie to compete in world championships

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33779, 27 February 1975, Page 12

Wylie to compete in world championships

(By

R. O. DEW)

Although by no means fully recovered from the high-speed crash at Timaru which ended his hopes of winning the recent Marlboro international series, the 1974 New Zealand 500 c.c. road racing champion, Dale Wylie, of Christchurch, has confirmed his intention to contest the approaching world championship series in Europe.

Wylie is to be sponsored i by Plough (United States)

Limited under the banner of Coppertone for an undisclosed but substantial figure. “It is more than enough to pay my fare to Europe and back. There should be enough over to meet some of my travelling and accommodation expenses in Europe, as well,” he said. “This is the best sponsorship I have ever had.” He intends to ride a TRSOO Suzuki Mark 11, which is being lent to him by an Asian company on the understanding that he returns with it in time for the South-East Asian circuit in September. He will also take his water-cooled TZ2SO Yamaha for the light-weight championship events. Suzuki racer Wylie is quite convinced the Suzuki will be fully competitive in the 500 c.c. class, in spite of its relative simplicity. “The only machines which will be better will be the MVAgustas and the new Su-

zuki fours. The Yamaha four was disappointing last season. It is a big bike with a small motor. The power-to-weight ratio of the Suzuki twin is not much different from the Yamaha 700 s. And because of its simplicity, it is utterly reliable. This will be

very important in view of the number of meetings 1 will be racing at.”

Another reason for choosing the Suzuki twin is because he knows its handling characteristics so well. “Every circuit will be a new one to me and they will be difficult to learn. I want to be on a machine I know how to ride properly”

At one stage, he had considered .converting his TZ7SO Yamaha to a 500 c.c. racer but has abandoned this idea. He plans to leave the big Yamaha in New Zealand and use it for the next Marlboro international series when he returns. The Suzuki will stay in Asia at the end of the world championships. Wylie does not envisage any trouble obtaining entries for the world championship rounds. “There are no other New Zealand riders in Europe at the moment and I think I stand a much better chance than a lot of English riders.” Injury mending

Wylie’s right arm, broken at the wrist and at the elbow when he crashed while practising for the Timaru round of the Marlboro series, is mending well. He has the plaster off the elbow and an x-ray has indicated that the wrist is also healing perfectly. However, it will be another three weeks before the plaster is removed entirely and he has decided not to race in the Malaysian meetings at Easter. “Even if my arm is out of plaster, there will be no strength in it,” he explained. “Your arms are very important, especially under braking. They have to support a heavy load.” Because of the injury Wylie will miss the first world championsip meeting — the French grand prix — on March 28 and 30. But he hopes to be in Europe in time for the second rounds at the Spanish grand prix on April 19 and 20.

He will not contest the Isle of Man T. T. He watched this when he was in Europe in 1971 and that was enough to convince him to stay away.

Other world championship meetings are: West German grand prix, May 10 and 11; Italian grand prix, May 18; Dutch grand prix, June 28; Belgium grand prix, July 6; Swedish grand prix, July 20; Finnish grand prix, July 26 and 27; Czechoslovakian grand prix, August 24; Jugoslavian grand prix, September 19 to 21.