Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/125684
MIKKOLA WINS LAST VIKINGEVENT~ ATLANTA, GA., Aug, 2, 1970 - Inter·lIlLtional motocross came toAtlantaAugust 2. Edlsoo Dye's travellng International Motorcycle Circus broug!rt its world aces to Atlanta for the first time aDd they dropped In on the deep south Uke Iodine on broken blisters. For months the local motocross talent bad apprehensively prepared under the bot sun on ever more demand1ng courses but few really knew how gut grabbIngly fast the Europeans go. Between the Americans aDd the Europeans there was . no contest, nor was there a sportsman racer who could measure up to Bill Wetzel, a Husky rider from Athens, Ohio who came and cleaned the plows of our local nonlnternatiOlllL1 class, You watched guys with their initials on their number plates zap the good ole' southern boys while you wondered which American would f1n1sh ahead of the rest of his outclassed comprades. Three 20 minute motos were run instead of the usual half hour grinds in deference to the 100 degree weather. Each time starter Ross Hansen tossed his flag, a 26 year old Fin named He1ld Mikkola shot instantly to a smooth, startllng lead. Right behind the flying Fin was the showier 24 year old Swede, Hakan Anderson. Both are retained by the Husky factory. But most impressive of all from the standPoint of the 9,000 spectators were Levi clad Jlri Stodulka and his Czech mate Karl Konecny who were pulllng every neat trick out of the InterlllLtional racer's bag, JS & KK drew huge oil's and u's for their h1gh powered athletics, and the Americans brave ~ ...::I U >.. u Heiki Mikkola (14) leaps his Husky out in front of the pack at the start. enough to stay with them after being lapped, fell off splendidly. The most impressive moto was the last one and Karl Konecny was thlrd slidIng and sluggIng.Ten minutes of his high springlng, berm sl1d1ng later, Jlri Stodulka was flfth and closlng on Clough in fourth. This in turn forced Clough to turn it on and he put distance between himself and Konecny. In doing so, Clough came so close to catching Hakan that only the checkered flag save Hakan from being relegated to thlrd place. Duels farther back In the pack also entertained the sweating southerners that day. Greeves factory rider, Arthur Browntng and Husky's Gunnar Lindstrom fought a nose to nose battle throughout the first two internationals with BrownIng barely holding Lindstrom off. Gunnar was able to pass once but crashed as a result. Unfortunately, Georila's weather got to Browning's engine which seized, putting him out as a result. "The course was tight, no stralgbts to cool off on," sald Browning. He added that he would have preferred to ride his 380 but the series was limited to 250' s. Back In the pack the Americans were deciding who was best among themselves, Richard Burleson, salvaged his country's pride by putting up, the best resistance to the Europeans. The Florida Jiusky racer outpointed Jim Sholton and his new C Z with three stralght firsts behind the Europeans, Shotton came up with a well ridden thlrd in the first moto and fourth in the last, This was a rich event, The Europeans Miss Atlanta Motocross. The only area where the Americans weren't clearly outclassed. each got $500 appearance money, plus place money ($100, $75 and $50), Helke receives an addlt10nal $500 from Champion Spark Plugs for h1gh point in the series. Soon American motocross racers will command such sums, but for now, we've got a lot of catching up to do, The first event of the new Interam series will be Oct. 4 in Elkhorn, W1sc, October 11, it w11l go to Pepperell, Mass, and October 18 to Larue, Ohio before returning to Atlanta October 29th. I im'f'IIW({ . mJMl!:~m({ i·