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/125700
~ '" C1. o .... The Great Joel Does It Again '" By Charles Clayton ~ w Z w oJ U >U Bryan Kenny, 5th overall in Trans, AMA points standings, 2nd American. Sonny DeFeo, 9th in points. International class bombs away in a blur of speed. Tim Hart leads Mark Blackwell in the SOOcc support class. They were that close. Gary Bailey, Carlsbad's top American, leads arch rival Peter Lamppu. Malcolm Davis, riding for the AJS factory, finished 2nd CARLSBAD, CALIF., Nov. 22, 1970There are some 10,000 motocross racers in Belgium, and one of them is Joel Robert. He is so far and away the world's greatest high-speed cross country motoerocycle racer that he makes the rest of the Europeans in the Trans-AMA series look as bad as they make the Americans look. Joel did it again at Carlsbad Sunday, running away with hath 250cc International Class motos and $1,000 in prize and contingency money (Bell Helmets, Champion Spark Plugs), and hoe wasn't even trying. Rohert got a good start in the fIrst mota and led aU the way. In the final leg. he got away fifth, allowing the estimated 3,OOO-plus crowd to watch in awe as he leisurely picked off .the front running four and then amused himself playing games with the grim riders he was lapping. He'd pull alongside a man, stare at him until he caught his eye, then crank his Suzuki swiftly out of sight, completely demoralizing his opponent. He seeined to enjoy passing the BSA team riders, only to place his bike sideways in their path, forcing them to shut off, then with a grin, Joel would be gone again. Spectators all around the course were treated to brief snatches of the ineredible Robert talent as he aviated the long downhills, banked flat horizontal on the powdery berms and passed riders in midair whenever possible, just to blow their minds. It is worth whatever it takes to watch this man do what he does. Maybe when America has 10,QOO motocross racers, one of them may prove to be as good as Joel Robert - but don't count on it. Talent like this probably doesn't come but once in a couple of generations. After Joel, everything else seems anti-elimactic, but what the rest of the racers lacked in sheer genius, they more than made up for with fierce competition. Mark Blackwell took a second and a first in the big bike support class to shut out Tim Hart with his second and fourth. Bryar Holcomb won the first mota, but only managed a fifth in the second leg, giving him third place overall. These three waged some close battles that showed they were very evenly matched. Physical stamina seemed to be the deciding factor, as the 20-minute motos wound over the demanding,maze-Iike course. Robert's teammate OUe Pettersson erashed on the start of the first Internationa1-moto and didn't get going until all the pack had disappeared in the copious dust. He then proceeded to earn his sponsor's money by working up to seventh in the 3o-minute heat, doing some spectacular hard charging all the way. First American (unless you count Swedish transplant Gunnar Lindstrom) was native Californian Gary Bailey, back in his home state after many months of traveling and teaching mo tocross schools around the U.S.A. Bailey's victory wasn't easy by any means. New England's Peter Lamppu gave him a hard way to go in the second mota, and Tom Rapp finished just ahead in the first leg. BSA's British factory team had a bit of bad luck when :J ohn Banks' rear tire went flat on lap 12 of the second International mota. Banks gamely nursed the squirrely Beezer to a 13th placing for an overall fInish of eighth. Those 250cc 4-strokes demonstrated a lot of power. But the brightest European star after Joel was Britain's Malcolm Davis on AJS. Davis scored two thirds (after Jeff Smith and Pettersson, respectively) to take second overall for the Norton-Villiers factory. Altogether, eight Europeans showed . the way to the American contenders, and the AMA officials, aided this time by the CMC, showed that they leam fast when it comes to putting on motocross. The four-race show went smoothly and everybody went home happy. Your next and last chance in the the Los Angeles area to see the World Champion Europeans race it out with each other and the Americans will be Dec. 5 and 6 at Saddleback Park. Robert, Banks, Davis, ET. AL. will meet Aberg, Kring, DeCoster, etc. of the Inter-Am series in a big, two-day super star spectacular. You wouldn't want to miss it. (Results on page 20)