3 replies to this topic

[brands77]

I read recently on a US website that Dick Mann's Daytona 200 win on the Honda was controversial and set back Honda's reputation in North America for a number of years after. It implied that it wasn't planned for Mann to win.

I have never heard this and it certainly doesn't seem to fit with Honda's racing philosophy.

Can anyone shed light on this? Is this true and if so what is the background to this or have I just been taken in by ironic comments and not noticed?

 

[GregThomas]

I think the implication was that one of the European riders in the team was expected to win - and Mann's ride was a courtesy to the US dealers.

 

Not so much that Honda won - just that the wrong rider did.

 

Bob Hansen was interviewed many times about this. From memory he said something like "the factory wasn't pleased" 

Which may easily have been misinterpreted.

Edited by GregThomas, 25 November 2024 - 04:19.

[brands77]

Thanks Greg,

I have just found this here https://www.motorcyc...y-mann-machine/ it seems that Dick Mann's bike was the only one prepared by American Honda. The other 3 factory bikes, for Ralph Bryan, Tommy Robb and Bill Smith, were prepared by Honda Japan and there were differences between them. Hansen also seems had a "difference of opinion" with Nakamura during the end of the race and he was sacked by Honda shortly after. This makes sense as to is why Honda weren't pleased.

Why it set back Honda's reputation in North America after that though I am not sure. They certainly didn't appear as an official team at Daytona or the AMA road racing series after that until it went to superbike regs. In Don Emde's Daytona book he says they elected not to enter in 1971. Gary Fisher's CB750 entry in 1971 was a privateer effort, I think tuned by Pops Yoshimura, and he did lead early on. I can see in 72 there were entries for George Kerker and in 73 for Morio Sumiyama, Steve McLaughlin and George Kerker, were these also Yoshimura entries? So was Honda's withdrawal connected to the 1970 incident? Or was it because they thought the 2 strokes were too fast, but 4 strokes still raced and won for a couple more years at Daytona and other AMA road races.

[GregThomas]

Thanks Greg,

I have just found this here https://www.motorcyc...y-mann-machine/ it seems that Dick Mann's bike was the only one prepared by American Honda. The other 3 factory bikes, for Ralph Bryan, Tommy Robb and Bill Smith, were prepared by Honda Japan and there were differences between them. Hansen also seems had a "difference of opinion" with Nakamura during the end of the race and he was sacked by Honda shortly after. This makes sense as to is why Honda weren't pleased.

Why it set back Honda's reputation in North America after that though I am not sure. They certainly didn't appear as an official team at Daytona or the AMA road racing series after that until it went to superbike regs. In Don Emde's Daytona book he says they elected not to enter in 1971. Gary Fisher's CB750 entry in 1971 was a privateer effort, I think tuned by Pops Yoshimura, and he did lead early on. I can see in 72 there were entries for George Kerker and in 73 for Morio Sumiyama, Steve McLaughlin and George Kerker, were these also Yoshimura entries? So was Honda's withdrawal connected to the 1970 incident? Or was it because they thought the 2 strokes were too fast, but 4 strokes still raced and won for a couple more years at Daytona and other AMA road races.

 

I've seen an interview where Bob Hansen says the argument was a misunderstanding. The result of which was that he walked away from Honda. Not sacked, he walked because he thought his head was on the block for the "failure".  Some years later he bumped into a senior manager of Honda who told him that far from sacking him, they'd been going to expand their American racing presence. But without the man who'd led the racing effort and with no replacement visible, they scaled it back.

From that point their involvement was to support individual dealers and Yoshimura.

I think it was Classic Racer who published a very full interview many years back.