April 8th Friday at Brands Hatch: John Cowie 4th on 980 GK BMW in Production Race also entered in 1,000cc Four Stroke race.
April 24th at Zandvoort 600km race: In atrocious weather, with rain and hail, Leon/Chemarin on the Honda won.
The GK BMW's fate unknown.
June 18th & 19th at Nurburgring, Coupe d'Endurance: Motocourse reports: John Cowie and Bernie Toleman rode a consistent and at times spritely race on the Gus Kuhn BMW to finish eighth.
July 9th & 10th at Barcelona, 24 Hour race:
First non-works supported team were John Cowie and Bernie Toleman of the Gus Kuhn 980cc BMW twin. They had the speed, as their third place in the practice times showed, but the detailed organisation wasn't quite up to scratch. First the grips were covered, then uncovered with tape, a rear tyre wall lifted, a fault which affected several other teams and finally top gear refused to engage. Their seventh place was safe though, the next team were 42 laps behind. [John Nutting, Motor Cycle 16/7/1977]
The best BMW. "The finest BMW I have ridden," was the opinion expressed by West German journalist and racer Hans-George Marwitz about the 980 Gus Kuhn long distance racer after a test session at Brands Hatch. "The handling was the best I have experienced from a BMW and in fact there was little if anything I could fault about the machine's performance." [MCN 5/10/77] |
17th July at Paul Ricard, 1,000 km: John Cowie and Bernie Toleman on BMW finished 8th overall.
August 20th at Snetterton National: Cowie is entered on the Gus Kuhn BMW.
September 17th & 18th at Le Mans, Bol d'Or: The Gus Kuhn BMW, ridden by Cowie and Toleman, suffered ignition and gearbox problems before retirement on lap 221.
September 25th Sunday at Thruxton, 500 Mile Endurance Grand Prix:
The toll during the first third of the race included John Cowie and Bernie Toleman on the Gus Kuhn BMW which again struck gearbox trouble – a repeat of their Bol d'Or misfortune. [Andrew McKinnon Motor Cycle 1/10/1977] |