Records fell in every class and Agostini’s best lap during his winning 500cc fell 9 seconds short of Saarinen’s 350cc best!

Aussie Kim Newcombe who has developed and now races the German Konig-4, highlighted the 500cc race. With Agostini and Alberto Pagani well separated and clear of the rest of the field, first off the line, Newcombe settled down to do battle with Dave Simmonds (Kawaski). But Simmonds lost ground and almost pulled out of the race on lap 5, when he felt physically sick. “I drank a tin of Coke between races, it could have been the cause,” he said.

Newcombe’s bike developed a persistent misfire on the last lap to keep a Konig raced by veteran Ernst Hiller in 5th place, while Jack Findlay, on his new Suzuki-based Jada, got the better of Billie Nelson (Yamaha) in a 7th place contest.

There were further worries for Giacomo Agostini in the 500cc race when 250cc race winner Phil Read, this time on a 354cc Yamaha, overtook him and then led the race for a lap until a coil earth wire came adrift.

On the second lap, Agostini had his initial lead snatched away by Phil Read on a 354cc Yamaha on of the fastest sections of the course. Read kept the Yamaha in front until his machine started to slow and he was finally forced to quit a lap later when an earth coil came adrift.

For the first time, Agostini felt free. He was out on his own and there was no real chance of French champion Christian Bourgeois bettering 2nd place on his 354cc Yamaha.

Kurt Florin, on one of the fast Konig-4’s lost 3rd place at half distance when ignition problems set in and New Zealander Keith Turner, who was given a pain killing injection before the race to help deaden the effects of a fractured ankle, lost 6th place at the same time when his Suzuki’s rear chain broke. Turner’s exit inspired his close rival, Dutchman Rob Bron, for he promptly passed three riders to take 3rd place by just a fifth of a second from Swiss rider Bruno Kneubuhler (Yamaha).

With the exception of the closing laps drama it was simply a matter of waiting for Giacomo Agostini to lap every rider. Agostini set off at a slow pace with Roberto Gallina (Paton) and Frenchman Eric Offenstadt (Kawasaki), both due for early engine seizures, exchanging the lead.

But on lap 6 it was Agostini who took the lead and there he stayed until, with 12 laps to go, he had lapped all other riders at least once. It was then that an electrical wire came loose and the MV slowed.

Czech Bohumil Stasa, in 2nd place on a modified 420cc CZ-4, got by the MV to save the lapping embarrassment, but then, after stopping for an 18 second refueling pit stop, came to a halt with a seized piston with only 4 laps to go.

There was never really any suggestion that the Ducati twins would be any match for the MV-3 and it did not take Agostini long to establish an invincible lead.

It was on lap 3 that the double champion passed the 4 riders in front of him, including Alberto Pagani on the second MV, who made use of the tow to secure 2nd place.

From the start, it was Bo Granath, then 2nd in the 500cc world championship table, who led the pack while New Zealander Keith Turner saw his chances of retaining the championship runner-up spot he held last year diminish when his Suzuki simply refused to start. Granath’s Husqvarna twin slowed and finally came to a halt as Paul Smart moved to the front on lap 2 on one of the Ducatis.

As the MV’S roared on in their expected positions, Smart settled for 3rd place, but there was trouble ahead for the rider in his first and possibly only grand prix of the season. He was forced to pull into the pits to adjust the Ducati’s carburettor in the closing stages and Jack Findlay nipped into 3rd place on his Suzuki-based Jada. But then on the very last lap, Findlay stopped with ignition failure. “It was really heartbreaking, he said.

Another in a long line of retirements was Frenchman Eric Offenstadt, in with the leaders in the opening laps, who stopped with a suspected engine seizure. Bruno Spaggiari, always on hand, took advantage of all the troubles to ensure a Ducati 3rd place.

Ton-up tycoon Giacomo Agostini beat his MV teammate Alberto Pagani by nearly 8 minutes after John Williams lost 2nd place when he ran out of petrol 8 miles from the finish of Friday’s Senior TT. The 226 mile race was Agostini’s 5th successive Senior win on his Italian world beater. He zoomed around 6 times at over 100 mph and he raised his score of ton-up laps to a record of 53, 2 more than Mike Hailwood’s total.

But John Williams, on an Arter Matchless after joining the ton-up club on a Formula 750cc Honda, was the hero of the 500cc race, the longest of the week. He led Pagani on lap 1. Pagani clawed back until his chain oiler went wrong. On lap 3, Pagani stopped at Ramsey to see why his foot kept slipping off an oily footrest. At the Bungalow, Williams passed Pagani on the road.

Having made up a minute’s starting difference, the Englishman was in business. Both riders stopped for petrol at half distance, Williams notching this year’s only 100 mph lap by a single cylinder machine. Eager to get away before Pagani’s mechanics cured the trouble, they adjusted the chain and oil drip in 1 minute 39 seconds, Williams stopped only 30 seconds to tank up and blast off.

Agostini, then leading by 3 minutes 49 seconds, took 46 seconds to refuel. There were anxious moments as Williams tugged a flapping boot zip before Pagani set off in pursuit. Though the Italian fought back, after slipping to 4th, Williams kept a 1 minute advantage until the last lap drama. As Williams motored past the Verandah, near the summit of Snaefell, his engine cut out. He tried in vain to restart and as he pushed to the Bungalow, with an empty tank, Pagani rushed on to second place.

It was a sickening climax for the 26-year-old tanker driver sponsored by Bill Smith, himself an early casualty after splitting the crankcase of his Kawasaki. Having thrown away a £350 prize, Williams limped home 28th, but he was excluded for obtaining petrol on the way.

Mick Grant, with a Padgett Kawasaki which misfired through being over jetted, repeated his Junior effort in 3rd spot. His back tyre was badly worn and his tank was bone dry after narrowly missing 100 mph when he slowed to see poor Williams coasting home.

Kevin Cowley, a 25-year-old Manxman working as a dental technician in Luton, was 4th. A TT newcomer with an ex-Dan Shorey Seeley he previously raced in the Manx Grand Prix, Cowley was sponsored by the Isle of Man Courrier.

Derek Chatterton, who stopped twice to refuel his Chat Yamaha, was 5th. He used only 5 of his 6 gears after a broken piston ring lost him 1000 revs on the last lap.

Charlie Williams completed the leaderboard in 6th place on a Dugdale Yamaha. His troubles included struggling with a broken steering damper after the retaining spring of an expansion chamber snapped.

Hordes of flies were unexpected. The start was postponed 3 hours through bad weather. The weather remained cool and though damp patches dictated caution through spots like Laurel Bank, John Stanley broke both legs and an arm when he came off at Black Dub, flies proved to be the biggest problem. “I could not see through my visor on the last lap,” said Agostini, whose fastest lap of 105.39 mph was fractionally slower than Ray Pickrell’s Formula 750 record. Italy’s world champion whose 9th TT win was worth £750, reported slippery areas from Ballacraine to Ramsey and on the Mountain during the first half of the race.

Squashed insects gave imperturbable Pagani a nasty moment: “I almost crashed near the Mountain Box” he admitted after peering through the smears.

Chatterton’s visibility was impaired by his inability to use his sponge after jumping Ballaugh Bridge. “The Cause was too much Fairy liquid. I was smothered in froth when I tried to wipe off the dead flies. It was terrible going up the Mountain”, he declared.

Jack Findlay’s early success in splitting the two MVs was frustrated when his Suzuki tightened at Brandywell.

While Williams got around 2 seconds quicker than Pagani, Findlay dropped to 5th before his engine seized on lap 2.

Peter Williams, runner-up for the past 2 years, stuttered around to 8th before being sidelined by a split petrol tank. No bigger than normal, his pannier tank was fitted at the last minute to lower the centre of gravity of his famous mag wheel Arter Matchless.

Tony Jefferies, whose Suzuki was a sluggish starter, retired with oiling problems and a split tail tank before Pagani achieved his first ever 100 mph lap of the 37 mile road. After 2 laps, Pagani was 10 seconds ahead of John Williams, who missed the magic ton by a whisker with a speed of 99.99 mph. Jefferies, though 25 mph slower than Agostini, through an electronic speed trap at the Highlander, Williams rode superbly. His fast and neat style was rewarded with an undisputed 100.26 mph next time around.

At Ramsey, where Pagani stopped about 5 seconds after alarming tail wobbles, Williams was 41 seconds ahead of the MV. At the Bungalow, Pagani was touring miserably and Williams bombed past him to lead the MV by more than a minute on corrected time.

As he lingered in the pits, Pagani lost 3rd place to Grant. He caught him again before Ballacraine but the Yorkshireman retained a 22 second advantage at the end of lap 4.

Chatterton was only 12 seconds down on No.2 MV. Having surrendered 2 places in 2 laps, Charlie Williams came under pressure from Kevin Cowley, who leapfrogged both 6th and 5th places on lap 5, Pagani repassing Grant with his second 100 mph lap.

When Keith Heckles came off the leading Norton at Ballaugh, escaping with bruises and shock, Seylwyn Griffiths stepped up to 7th. But Charlie Sanby suffered hard luck on the last lap. Less than a second ahead of Stan Woods as he hammered down Bray Hill, Sanby felt the symptoms of fuel starvation at the 13th milestone. Shaking his Hi-Tak Suzuki did the trick until it conked out at Governor’s Bridge.

Both Sanby and Woods, whose dragging clutch and erratic gears caused an embarrassing moment after the finish, he dropped his Crooks Suzuki on his way to the paddock, were pipped by Clive Brown and Paul Cott. Timekeepers could not resolve their tie for 8th position.

With Billy Guthrie out of 7th place after a good dice with Woods, only 2 bored out Yamahas scored world championship points in the blue riband of TT week. Still the highlight of a unique series, the Senior was not without humor. Eddie Johnson, whose mishaps included a leaking petrol cap, a broken ignition wire, and a missing tailpipe, helped himself to petrol when he found his pit deserted. Wrongly informed that his man had retired, Eddie’s mechanic was in the beer tent. Later, responding to a report that Eddie had crashed the mechanic was on his way to see him in hospital.

Geoff Barry, the 10,000th starter in the TT races, took 5 minutes longer to complete the course. Geoff was last, having stopped at Quarter Bridge on the first lap and running back to fetch a plug and spanner to get going.

Rubbing home MV superiority Pagani chalked up his 3rd and fastest ton-up on lap 6. 10 100 mph laps. 6 to Agostini. 3 to Pagani. 1 for unlucky Williams.

Almost unbelievably, Giacomo Agostini’s MV also packed up in the 500cc race. On lap 15, with a commanding lead, the MV blew a cylinder head gasket and he handed over the victory to teammate Alberto Pagani, who went on to score his third Grand Prix win, but his first outside his native Italy.

In the early stages, Roberto Gallina (Paton) and Eric Offenstadt (Kawasaki) trailed Agostini, but Gallina dropped back to finish 10th and the Frenchman retired on lap 11 with gearbox trouble.

Dutchman Rob Bron was also up with the leaders until he crashed his Suzuki without injury.

2nd place finally went to Chas Mortimer on the “oversize” Yamaha who won a close dice with Paul Eikelberg on a fast Konig. 6th place, Charlie Dobson was the highest place Scot in a world championship event since the great days of Bob McIntyre and Alastair King.

Giacomo Agostini had things all his own way in the 500cc race leading almost from the drop of the flag to the finish. His riding was sheer perfection with the stamp of a true world champion. He swung the mighty MV-3 through the Assen curves with contemptuous ease and dashed any suggestions that his riding skills were deteriorating after his unimpressive early season rides.

For teammate Alberto Pagani there was a lot of hard work in store before he moved into 2nd place on lap 6. After one lap he was down in 11th place, but he set about his task in masterly style cutting back the odds on every lap. The last man to fall was Dave Simmonds who was having troubles with his Kawasaki. A large hole that appeared in the centre expansion chamber of the 3 cylinder machine caused a power loss of 1,500rpm. “It was like losing top gear,” said Simmonds who held on to 4th place.

For most of the race, it was left to stylish Jack Findlay on his Jada hotly pursued by Jerry Lancaster (Yamaha) to make the leaderboard changes as he moved through to 6th place.

Kim Newcombe held the position for 12 laps until his Konig-4 developed a misfire on 2
cylinders.

The 500cc race, one of the most interesting of the Grand Prix series this year, developed into a crowd appeal spectacle with MV riders Giacomo Agostini and Alberto Pagani taking it in turn to lead. However, the operation came to a premature end when Pagani’s MV-3 became yet another MV to suffer a split exhaust pipe.

Agostini, from an almost unheard-of 3rd row position, took the lead within a quarter of a mile. At the end of the lap, he was well on his way to his 11th title, as Pagani hustled round in 4th place with Dave Simmonds on his Kawasaki-3 and Rodney Gould on the oversize Yamaha between him and the leader.

Next time round Pagani was through to 2nd and closing on Agostini as a wheel-to-wheel 3rd place battle developed between Jack Findlay (Jada), Simmons, Gould, Kim Newcombe on his Konig-4 and Hideo Kanaya having his last ride before returning to Japan.

Chas Mortimer on a third Yamaha stopped at the pits to try and adjust a carburation problem, but his efforts were in vain and when the fairing became loose 3 laps later he decided to call it a day.

Pagani took over the lead after 5 laps and stayed there for the next 3 laps, but then exhaust pipe trouble struck and the power dropped. Findlay was the first to leave the battle when his motor locked up on lap 6. Dodds was already out with a broken exhaust pipe and Newcombe was destined to go 3 laps later with an engine seizure. Gearbox trouble started to slow Dave Simmonds, and finally put him out at Stavelot on the last lap while he was in 4th place. This left the two Yamaha riders to contest 3rd place and it finally went to Gould by three-tenths of a second.

Once Agostini decided to take the lead on the 5th lap of the 500cc race there was little further excitement in store. Rodney Gould on an oversize TR3 led from the start with Agostini up to 2nd place by the end of the lap. Then halfway around the next lap, Aussi Kim Newcombe put the Konig-4 in front. He stayed there until Agostini decided to clear off and was then content with a safe 2nd place which he was robbed of with just 4 laps of the 21 lap race to go.

His machine suffering from the heat like Chas Mortimer who almost toured round into 5th place, developed a fuel starvation and Gould nipped by.

As the four went slower and slower the only real contest developed as Swiss Bruno Kneubuhler closed with his Yamaha and almost pipped him at the line.

Bo Grannath limped his misfiring Husqvarna home in 6th place ahead of Alois Maxwald who lost his chance when he had to stop his Rotax to take on fuel.

Agostini, so annoyed about his 350cc failure, set off with the intention of making no mistakes in the 500cc race. He won with ease, crossing the line 2 minutes ahead of Jack Findlay and his Jada and lapping all but the next 6 finishers.

Findlay, riding with his normal smooth style, came under pressure for a time from Swiss Bruno Kneubuler but on the last lap, he lost ground when his Yamaha ran out of front brake.

The soaring heat proved a little too much for 5th finisher Billie Nelson. After the race, he lay on the grass for 10 minutes before being able to get back to his caravan and then he had to be treated for heat exhaustion by the course doctor.

Rodney Gould kept up his consistent performance on the oversize Yamaha but Chas Mortimer on a similar machine, seized on lap 1.

Rodney Gould shook world champion Giacomo Agostini by leading the 500cc race for 13 laps on his 352cc Yamaha. “It surprised me as well,” admitted Gould. “I am quite pleased that I was able to hold the MV off for so long.”

Still elated by his 250cc victory, Gould rocketed away at the start taking everybody, including Agostini by surprise. On the first lap, as Agostini struggled to get through from 12th place, the Banbury rider thrust his “oversize” 350cc Yamaha into a healthy lead. It took Agostini just about 3 laps to finally get past Jack Findlay due to pulling out 2 laps later when his Jada lost all its top end power and take 2nd place.

But there was still a long way to go to catch the leader and Agostini, officially slower in practice than Gould, was clearly worried by the situation. He drove his 3 cylinder MV, not the best of machines for the twisty tight cornered Scandinavian raceway, to the limit.

He knocked almost 4 mph off his year-old lap record and took to the grass on several occasions before the Yamaha was finally in his sights. Then he eased the pace and was content to clip off the seconds until he took the lead on lap 14. “It was tough going, he certainly made me get a move on,” grinned Agostini.

Gould was so well ahead of the pack by this time that he simply had to keep going to assure 2nd place, but behind him a ding-dong developed for 3rd place between Dave Simmonds’ Kawasaki and Bo Granath’s Husqvarna. Simmonds lost the place on the last lap when he ran out of fuel “a terrible sin,” he admitted, but he was lucky enough to have been lapped by Agostini and was able to push over the line in 4th place.

As expected, Agostini clinched his 4th successive Finnish double when he won the 500cc 23-lapper. Though he was always in a comfortable lead, it wasn’t a ride without problems. His MV-3 spluttered onto 2 cylinders for much of the first part of the race but cleared in the last 10 laps. He still won by 1 minute from team-mate Alberto Pagani, who lost ground when he overshot up a sliproad, a common occurrence in the race.

Rodney Gould finished 3rd, on the same lap as the MV’s. He said: “My only moment was when I was slipstreaming Lothar John. I saw a puff of blue smoke and just dived over in time for he suddenly slowed.”

Billie Nelson was 4th, a lap down on Agostini but 18 seconds up on Dave Simmonds, who had to replace a chain on his Kawasaki before finishing 5th.

Findlay had ignition trouble. Kneubuhler’s Yamaha expired when he was 3rd. Chas Mortimer’s clutch broke and he went up a slip road as he led the pack on the opening lap.

Kim Newcombe, on the impressively fast Konig-4, retired after a fine ride in which he held 2nd place, splitting the MV’s for 8 laps. The Konig coughed on to 3 cylinders and he slowed and stopped.

The 500cc race, shortened from 40 to 35 laps after several riders had complained that it would be impossible to complete the race without refueling, looked like becoming a Bruno Kneubuhler benefit in the opening stages. He got his 352cc Yamaha off the line in fine style in company with Chas Mortimer on his oversize works Yamaha and at the end of the first lap he was out on his own with Giuseppe Mandolini on a factory Aermacchi in 2nd place.

After 4 laps Kneubuhler was 8 seconds ahead of the Aermacchi being challenged on the next lap by Jack Findlay on his Suzuki based Jada, Dave Simmonds on his Kawasaki-3 and Mortimer. Simmonds broke through and set about attacking the leader. He quickly whittled down the gap before moving to the front on lap 9.

And the tiring Kneubuhler was in for more trouble. 4 laps later Mortimer stormed past him and Simmonds to take the lead. Another 4 laps and Findlay got by the Swiss rider who seemed content to settle for 4th place.

Simmonds put up a keen fight to stay with Mortimer but the young British rider had the scent of a first 500cc victory and gradually pulled clear.

352cc Yamaha and Sven Gunnarsson on a Kawasaki-3 were locked in a 5th place battle that ended in the Swede’s favour by under a second.