Throwback Thursday: Ron Pierce and Walt Fulton Battle at Orange County International Raceway (1967)
Larry Lawrence | June 1, 2023
Yamaha vs Suzuki Battle Up Front
In this week’s Throwback we travel back to 1967 when The Beatles’ “Penny Lane”, The Turtles’ “Happy Together” and The Mamas & The Papas’ “Dedicated To The One I Love” were topping the charts on the radio. Cool Hand Luke, Bonnie and Clyde and The Graduate were playing at theaters. Norton released the Commando and Triumph the Tiger Daytona. Road racing was rapidly gaining popularity in America and one of the hotbeds was Southern California. One of the tracks just opening to host road races (and even more so drag racing) in those days was Orange County International Raceway (OCIR) in Irvine, California. This photo shows one of the early motorcycle road races at OCIR with Ron Pierce (No. 97) leading Walt Fulton III (No. 166). It was a battle between two of the top road racers from the region as well as a brand battle between Yamaha and Suzuki. We aren’t certain who took victory that day, but based on the expression on Pierce’s face he seems to be having a great time. After seeing the photo Fulton said he thinks the rider you can just start to see in third was Don Vesco, so three legendary riders in this great old image.
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