led after swallowing a length of
fence wire, but I still finished,
drenched, covered in thick red
mud and exhausted.
But leg two brought joy.
After nearly one hour of racing
I finished 15th, giving me 20th
overall and $200 in prize money.
Hallelujah! The race marked the
first-ever American victory in the
Trans-AMA, with Weinert taking
the checkered flag.
It turned out to be my final ride
in the series. Back home, in ad-
dition to the Honda dealership, I
had a modest sideline importing
motorcycle accessories, but the
quality motocross stuff that was
commonplace in the USA was
still not available, so I decided to
abandon the Trans-AMA and fly
to Italy for the big annual EICMA
Show in Milan, where all the
accessory manufacturers would
trot out their latest wares.
It was a worthwhile move as
I snared the Australian distribu-
torship for Sidi boots and held
it for quite a few years. Mean-
while, I left the Maico and the
van with Laurie, who completed
the series, and even finished in
the money once in the final four
rounds—not bad for the oldest
rider in the field—before selling
the van in LA, crating the bikes
for shipment back to Sydney,
and flying home.
It had been quite an experi-
ence, humiliating on occasions,
but there's no doubt we were
both far better riders as a result.
But motocross was now a tech-
nology war, with suspension sys-
tems so sophisticated that you
could jump over tall buildings,
and tracks built to suit. It really
didn't grab me, and I switched
to road racing, although Laurie
continued motocross for years
before branching into enduro
and representing Australia in
several International Six-Day
Enduros. CN
1973 TRANS AMA MOTOCROSS
P84
Feature
The
Maico
covered
in
Texas
mud.
