Don Emde Mike Hailwood and Dick Mann 1971 Daytona

In 1970 the British made a full scale attack on Daytona , fielding BSA and Triumph triples , the only noticeable difference between the bikes being the BSA cylinders were inclined forward , the Triumph ’ s straight up and down . Top British and American riders were engaged to ride them , and although they were the fastest machines in the race they were plagued by cooling problems caused by the centre cylinder . Dick Mann won the race for Honda , the first Japanese victory at Daytona in the then 33-year history of the race . Mike Hailwood led the race for the first ten of the 53-lap race on a BSA but was side-lined when the bike began to misfire and he was forced to retire . The British contingent was not discouraged and they returned in 1971 with

ten motorcycles and a large staff . They were not disappointed , Dick Mann won the race for BSA , Gene Romero was second on a Triumph and Don Emde third on another BSA . Hailwood again suffered mechanical problems and didn ’ t finish . Following the BSA victory in 1971 Don Emde won the 1972 event on a Yamaha , and Yamaha would go on to win every Daytona 200 race until 1985 . In the late 1970s the race began to lose much of its prestige , and failed to attract as many international riders . This could have been partly because the owner of the circuit refused to pay start money , which had been approved by the FIM . In 1978 Daytona lost its status as a round of the F750 World Championship . The emphasis had begun to shift back to Europe once again .