Throwback Thursday: Steve Beattie vs Tim Mertens at the 1992 San Jose Mile
Larry Lawrence | November 28, 2019
Throwback Thursday: Steve Beattie vs Tim Mertens at the 1992 San Jose Mile
Mitch Friedman photo
On this Thanksgiving Day edition of Throwback Thursday, we dial back the clock 27 years to 1992 and that year’s 40th running of the Hap Jones Memorial San Jose Mile. This Mitch Friedman photo shows a tight race between Steve Beattie and Tim Mertens, possibly in a Semi on the mile. Mertens won the first Semi on his Belleville Honda RS750, while Beattie finished fourth. In addition to showing a good battle between two tough racing veterans, the photo also illustrates the XR750 vs RS750 battles that lasted for over a decade starting in the mid-1980s when Honda introduced the RS750 to challenge Harley’s dominant flat-track racing machine.
You can read about the ’92 San Jose Mile, the Harley vs Honda flat track battles and much more by subscribing to the Cycle News Archives at: https://www.cyclenews.com/cycle-news-archives/
