History of the 6 Hour - 1970 October 18
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Race Report
A Triumph won the inaugural Castrol Six-Hour race in 1970. Len Atlee and the late Bryan Hindle had a trouble-free run to give Triumph its only win in the race. The 68-machine Le Mans start was marred by a pile-up and another chain-reaction crash on the second lap drastically cut the field. Moral winner of the event was New Zealander Craig Brown riding a Honda CB750 in his first open road race. He held the lead until the four-and-a-half hour mark when he stopped to change brake pads. Another impromptu stop to seat the pads five minutes later, almost certainly cost him the race. The expected challenge from Yamaha’s XS650 did not eventuate. Eric Hinton and the late Ron Toombs were close to the lead when the gudgeon pin seized on their XS at the two-and-a-half hour mark but the Osborne brothers, Graeme and Allan, had no problems with their machine to place fifth. The sole BMW in the race was that of Geoff Lucas and Bob Pressley. They held third spot on the R75 until a crash forced them off the leaderboard.
The fastest lap was set by Kenny Blake on a Kawasaki Mach Ill but a missed fuel stop and broken handlebars dropped Blake and co-rider Kel Carrick back to third in class. Bill Horsman rode the Pittmans R5 Yamaha 350, like a man possessed, to win the 500 class. The most impressive ride in the event was the team of Dave Burgess and Joe Eastmure on a Suzuki T20. They rode consistently fast all day and took the 250 class win and third outright. Both riders were to have considerable bearing on the future history of the event.
Several female competitors featured in the event and all of them finished. One all-girl team overcame a crash to greet the chequered flag.
The highest placed female in the event was Peggy Hyde who teamed with Rod Tingate to place fourth in the 500 class on a Kawasaki Mach Ill.
Being the first endurance style production event, quite a variety of machinery lined up at 10.00 am on Sunday, October 18, 1970. Ducati 250s and 350s, a Norton Commando, a Norton 650SS, Honda 250s and 450s, a Bultaco Metralla, an Ossa 250 and even a Bridgestone 175 were amongst the starters. Suzuki T20s were the most popular machine in the race and they dominated the 250 class from their fiercest competition, the Yamaha DS5 (also 250). One pre-release DS6 ran in the event but crashed out.
Dunlop K81 tyres were favoured by the leading outright contenders. Smaller capacity classes leaned more toward Metzeler.
Rain fell during the last hour of racing.
A protest was lodged after the first two machines were stripped. The winning Triumph was fitted with a quick-action throttle but the protest was dismissed.
Results
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Provisional Entries
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