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Walt Fulton had finished sixth in the 1970 200 riding a Harley, but for 1971 switched to one of the new air-cooled Kawasaki 500 triple two-strokes. His bike was tuned by Erv Kanemoto, who would later earn fame in 750cc racing with Gary Nixon, and in GPS as Freddie Spencer’s crew chief. Fulton qualified a strong eighth for the 200, but failed to finish.