MEL DINESEN 1913-2006 Daytona-winning tuner/sponsor passed away June 4th By Don Emde I wanted to pass on the sad news that Mel Dinesen, the tuner and sponsor of my 1972 Daytona 200-winning Yamaha, died June 4, 2006 in Oxnard, California at the age of 93 of natural causes. He served in both the Navy and Merchant Marines before and during World War II, and you could see his military discipline in his style of work. He was very methodical and always following a set procedure in just about every task. His methods were perfect for someone that enjoyed working on engines and other technical tasks. Mel was a dealer in Bakersfield, California from 1950 to 1980, selling Indian, AJS, Matchless, Royal Enfield, Parilla, Hodaka, and Yamaha motorcycles. He first made headlines as a race tuner when 16-year old Eddie Mulder won the famed Big Bear Grand Prix on one of his Royal Enfields in the early-1960s. Dinesen went on to sponsor numerous riders from central and southern California in dirt track racing before turning to road racing with Ron Pierce, a young Bakersfield rider. Ron won numerous club and National level events on Mel’s Yamahas, which earned Pierce a spot on the Yamaha factory team. That opened the door for me to start racing for Mel about a year later. 1969 was my first year on Dinesen’s machines and it didn’t take very long for things to really click for us. That summer I won the AMA Novice National race at Indianapolis, Indiana on his Yamaha TD1-C. More notable, however, was winning the overall AFM #1 plate, as well as the 250cc and 350cc class championships. We beat out many of the top riders that year such as Ron Grant, Art Baumann, Ron Pierce, Jody Nicholas, Steve McLaughlin and others in an era where many of the factory riders at that time would ride the club races in Southern and Northern California in between the AMA Nationals. And I was still ranked as a Novice in the AMA series. In 1970, Mel and I made news again when I won the 100-mile 250cc event at Talladega, Alabama, beating out Gary Nixon and Cal Rayborn. That event was the first ever race in the United States to be won by a 250cc motorcycle at an average speed of over 100 miles an hour. Nixon rode a factory Yamaha in that race with Rayborn aboard a similar fast machine built by Don Vesco. My Mel Dinesen Yamaha was equal to, if not faster, that their bikes that day, which impressed everyone in the sport. In 1972, history was made when I won the Daytona 200 on Mel’s 350cc Yamaha. It was the first time that a two-stroke won the 200, as well as a first for Yamaha. It was also the smallest engine size to ever win the event. All this was achieved on a motorcycle privately entered and tuned by a motorcycle dealer, something that would be considered unheard of today. Thinking back, certainly one of the luckiest days of my life came in late-1968 when Mel called to offer me the chance to race for him. I only had one year of road racing experience under my belt at the time, so I’m not sure what he saw in me, but hooking up with him put me on the path to achieve what I did in racing. By the time we got to Daytona in 1972, I was fully confident that I could win that race on Mel’s machine. I believed that the 350cc Yamaha was the best bike to be on that year, and there was nobody any better at making them go the distance than Mel Dinesen. He never over-looked any details and had a knack for anticipating potential problems, which allowed him to fix things before they were broken. Mel worked so hard through the years, I was really happy that I was able to score that win for him at Daytona in 1972. It’s almost unimaginable today to think of a motorcycle dealer building a bike and beating all the factories in the Daytona 200. But that’s what Mel did in 1972 and I hope no one ever forgets that. Godspeed Mel. Thanks for all you did, and for the confidence you had in me.