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/125756
rans-AMA " 1 garner series' Top American t! " a - ~ w Z W ..J U >- U Hart. (7) overall series winn er in t he 250 National class, tak es the high road wh ile D oug low . fou rth -ru nn ing Ge boers, A mistake by Sy lvain migh t have been a d elightful circ umstance but DeS ot o's spirits broke wh en th e rear sprocket asse mb ly did an d J o hn ca lled it a d ay . Lackey , holdin g an point lead o ver Blackwell Mark the first moto and suffered an igni tion fail ure - closed p oin ts in th e second. A fter comp u ting th e confus ing sy stem ,of sc oring, Brad figu red h e would attain the "highe st-American" cr own o nly if Blackwell fin ish ed wo rse " 250 World Motocross Champion Joel Robert : he met 50 0 World Motocross Champion Roger DeCost er at Cycle World Magazine's T rans-A MA moto cross toda v .a nd lost. What would happen if they met in a 250 class? '~ Adolf .... . eil (20 had to hold off both Joel Robert and Sylvain Geboers in the first moto . He failed in the former/ succeeded in the latter. Schutz Repeats Win; Chaplin Plagued, Injured IRVINE, CAL. , Dec. 5 , 19 7 1 - T h e I 2-even t T ra ns-AMA Se rie s has b een taking its- toll on machin ery and men during the final few rounds and today was little different for the National Support class o f 250cc bikes. Gary Chap lin (Mai) seemed in top form again this week as he jumped to the lead o f the first m ota . Battlin g West Germa n ace Wern er Schutz p at ched up h is fair star t an d tu cked into second. Midway th rough, th e wo rk s Maic o rider go t b y h is Coop er Mo to rs teammate and wen t o n to win . Ch ap lin suffere d me chanical problems and gave up second to Overall Se ries win n er Ti m Hart an d dropp ed ou t. Har t clinc he d the series win last week in Liverm o re, .Calif'. After challen ging ea rly, DeWay n e Jones (Yam ) dropped bac k off th e pa ce to retain fourth a fter b ein g p assed by the AJ S w orkhorse , Doug Gr ant, wh o rode th e m o to from lap three with a dis en gaged left rear shock. " I jus t th ought my numb er pl a te was rattling and co ming off," h e co mmen te d whe n h e first sawi t in th e pits . In the second rou nd , J on es go t ano the r strong. start and p icked off th e p oin t p osit ion early before Ch aplin cree pe d up and too k over the lead o n lap ,tw o with Sch u tz flying har d t o ca tc h up. He did, and pass ed five laps later. Gr ant, m eanwhile, h ad a lso p assed J on es and began h oundin g th e slowing Ch aplin, wh o wa s being.Jl)J&?~~. ,\t¥.. tr oubles again - th is time he los t his rear brake r od. On th e last lap , Chaplin disp lay ed the "go on by" sign to his traveling co mp an io n th is weekend and Grant took heed and mo ved into second. Chap lin held for third with Jones again fourth . e xper i e n cing tw o A fter middle-o f-the-pack starts in the first two ro u nds, Tom Rapp final ly go t a good start in t he last and was bi ckering with Schutz for th e lead. Like J im Wic ks did a wee k earlier in th e third m ota, Rapp go t b y th e West German an d went o n to win th e m o ta in a h ealthy manner. Earl y in the race, th e tr oubles fin ally came to a h ead for Ch aplin , wh o wen t d own h ard an d p ossib ly broke hi s a nkle. Ti m Har t, wh o had anothe r of his typical slo w star ts, b egan cha rging through th e p ack with brilliant style and to ok over third pl ace ah ead ' o f Lars Larsson (Hus) a nd Gra nt. Ov erall , Schutz collec te d the win for the secon d week in a ro w amid a few grumblings on th e Am erican sid e o f th e Nation al lin eup. Sever al were thi nking o f p rotestin g the validity o f a West German racing in th e Support class but they did n ot file. Grant, rele gated to · th at fif th in th e fin al m oto, pic ked up second overall with Rapp's fin al cha rge co uple d to hi s fifth an d six th 'p lace fin ishes earlier made enou gh a total for third. Despite n ot fini sh ing the second round, Hart st ill picked up fourt h fo r the series fin ale. than seventh in th e final mota . It d idn 't see m likely th at Mark would . Luck was on h is sid e, and Mar k punctuated it w ith so me fla t-out riding. Sev eral Europeans wh o usu ally occupy the top five spots weren 't aro und for assorte d reaso ns. Blac kwell m oved quickly into seven th an d held off th e super-aggress ive Gary J ones for the wh ole 30-min ute battle . Brad rode in the ten th position , too far b ack to h ave a sh o t at his Husky-mounted o ppon en t. No o n e kne w fo r sure h ow th e fina l tal ly lo o ked but Lackey could sense th e worst. Hours later th e ve rdict was reached. Total sco re fo r the series: Lack ey - 66 2 ; Blac kwe ll 632. But th e fin al standings are based o n th e b es t-o f-ni ne sy st em a nd it fig ures th us : Blac kw ell - 604; Lackey - 60 3 . On e point.