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/125698
'" & rf o " '" ,,' ~ z ~ By J'ohn Bethea. ~ DALLAS, TEX., Nov. 8, 1970 - Joel ~ Robert came, he rode, he u conquered ... that was today's ~ Trans-AMA in a nutshell, and that's what approximately 4000 spectaton had paid to see. From the beginning it appeared a Suzuki would win, but just which one was the question. Ole Pettersson shot from the rubber·band start and hit the ftnt left-hander in the lead with teammate Robert in second Fifty feet further and a muddy, deep ditch: no change. Esses back and forth formed into a straight and the first jump, topped ftnt by Pettenson and then by Robert. Only a lOth of the way around the grassy and muddy coune and the Suzuki duo had already began opening up ,a h<:althy lead over third place John Banks and fourth Jeff Smith. Next came- the "hill". Up one side, fly over the level top and land on the down slope into another semi-straight went the pair and on around the coune, building their lead as they went. By the third lap, the race was deinitely between the two. Pettersson leading with Robert breathing his exhaust. Then midway through the lap, Robert caught an opening and mot past, never to be headed. ' Pushing hard, the incredibly fast Belgian began lapping slower American riden before 10 minutes had expired in the 30-minute first feature moto, while holding a steady and strong lead over Pettersson. At the checkered it is, of coune, Robert_..now Pettersson. Go out and get a coke because it'll be a while before Banks arrives to take third. In the second and final featured moto, start reading this article again because Pettenson again took the lead with Robert second, only to be passed in almost the same spot during the third lap again. But, this time the BSA's were not caught napping and J eff Smith and John Banks were hot on the Suzukis' tails. One mistake by Robert could have meant dropping to fourth, but he didn't make one. Chalk up'another victory and another overall win for Robert, the third since joining the circuit. Just by watching how the different riden took the jumps one could tell, basically, if he was one of the leaden or not. One jump, a third of the way around the course, is of particular interest. Actually, it was only half a jump, with a mound of dirt just before a mud-containing ditch. The mound was on one side of the coune while the other side was flat making it impossible to take the obstacle at high speeds. Most of the Europeans and a few of the high-placingAmericans including top American Brad La"key, took the tum wide leading to the spot so as to take the jump in third gear. In comparison, many of the Americans and those Europeans who had a very poor start or were having trouble with their machines opted to take the inside and the ditch, several times not getting out. Whether it was the mud or high, gusty winds that engulfed the coune or not, many top riden failed to ride to expectations. Jim Wilson, after a fairly good start in the ftnt moto, was unable to perform well in the second A better finish than seventh overall for Lackey (CZ) was primarily caused by a middle of the pack start in the fll'St moto. Right behind Lackey were Dick Burleson (Hus), Sonny DeFoe (CZ) and Tom Rapp (Bul). Dave Aldana, who did an over-the-hand1eban spill in moto one, finished down in the standinp. Only a very few chose the ''half-jump'' in the support class but one who did was Gary Bailey, who completely blasted the rest of the competiton from start to finish in each moto. He was, however, penalized for jumping the start in the second moto 'and, therefore, moved to second To this, Bailey retorted with a few , well-chosen, hanb comments. Robert voiced disapproval of that jump-it-or-wallow-in-it ditch, but since he chose to jump, it made little difference in the end Even if Brad Lackey wasn't top American, he cer1lIinly was the highest! The COune was beautifully laid out fair-sized lake. A chainlinked fence with many obstacles and lots of tums surrounded th'e area and spectaton were which bordered on the shore of a restricted outside its bounds, much to their disapproval. During the first featured moto, however, uobstructed entrance was found and the majority of those on 'hand eased into the area. (Results on page: 32) Joel Robert takes jump $ill!Jt jmd ture .and fast. Bryan Kenney (6) and Tom Rapp eye unexpected obstacle.