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/125789
~. > 'S .., ~ w Z w oJ U > U By Buzz Baty BOISE, 10., June 25, 1972 - It was supposed to be another year away, that day when the Star Spangled Banner would be played and the Stars and Stripes waving high, proclaiming victory for an American in an in temational motocross event. Not only should the Star Spangled Banner have been played moto~, there never once was any leader today, but played with much gusto, and except Gary Jones. the Stars and Stripes shoul(1 have been Noone could get close enough to the biggest available. Gary to even challenge him, not even four times world champion, Torsten Today saw Gary Jones, Yamaha-mounted, from Hacienda Hallman, mounted on a similiar Heights, Ca. become the first American Yamaha; not Torleif Hansen on a to win overall in an in temational . Husqvarna, not Arne Kring on a Husky, motocross event held in America. Win?, not Dave Bickers on a CZ. Bob Grossi HeD! he thrashed 'em, smoked 'em,. couldn't get close on his Husky. Kawasaki mounted Brad Lackey and blew 'em in the weeds. He won the first John DeSoto, handicapped by brand moto by more than a 40-second margin. new and unproven machinery, didn't He won the second moto; he won the have the combination to catch Gary in third moto by more than 40. There are what can only be described as an just not words available to describe the absolutely superb performance of absolu te superiority of the combination motocross artistry. of Gary Jone,s and 250 Yamaha. The best that Torsten Hallman could Every moto, from the drop of the do was in the first moto. He f"mished starting gate to the last tick of the clock second, some 40 seconds behind Gary. that signaled the end of the 30-minute The Year of the Americans That second place f"mish was more or less handed to him in the wings of a mistake. Jim Weinert, Yamaha-mounted teammate of Jones, was solidly in second place ahead of Hallman, also factory mounted, when he ran out of gas on the last lap. The first moto was also John DeSoto's best ride of the day, on the brand new Kawasaki 250 prototype. From that third place finish, it got to be a very long day for John, as he experienced many engine and \tandling problems. He re-injured the foot that he stove-in at Tahoe and was walking with a great deal of effort. Brad Lackey, on an identical Kawasaki, hadn't even seen his scooter until the morning of the race and, like John, had nothing but problems. W' However, Brad stayed with it, getting a third place in the second moto to finish the day's efforts with seventh overall. Brad's third in the second mota came behind Torleif Hansen in second place, Hansen's only finish for the day. Dave Bicker's got the second place finish in the third moto on his CZ, just ahead of third place f"misher, Arne Kring. Hallman and Bickers pu t in two of the three or 'four steady rides of the day. Hallman, along with his second - place f"mish in tho< first mota, then picked up eighth and fifth place f"mOOes for second overall, Bickers adding a ninth and sixth for third ·overall. Peter Lamppu rode steady, if not spectacularly, to f"mish fourth overall, earning Man tesa a spot in the top five, while Maico-mounted Bill Cook from Oregon was fifth overall with eigh th, ninth, and tenth place finishes. It's somewhat difficult to write a race report when ther is no contest for the Number One spot. There were dices and personal duels, certainly, but they weren't for first_place. Jones had an absolute lock on that, so anything else could only have been for second place, and there's an age old saying that goes something like, "nobody remembers who finished second." Essentially, this whole. report could have been written with two names, Gary Jones and Yamaha. The most revealing and graphic testimonial to Gary's briUiance today was told to ~e on the plane ride back to Los Angeles by none other than the General Manager of Husqvama West, Everett Brashear. He related that Torleif Hansen came back into the pits, totally beside himself, and said in so many words: "Last year I was lapping this kid and today I can't even get close to him." With the appearance of the Diffbrake folks and their big Winnebago motorhome, all of the racers are finding the assistance provided by Russ Shreve and Gene Sims a tremendous help. They not only help with their welding equipment, grinders, and other tools when needed but they are making the. winners feel like real winners. The winner of each moto gets that big bottle of cl:tampagne and a kiss from Dolly Diffbrake. The third bottle Gary won today had the cork popped and didn't last long as it made the rounds of all the Jones crew'- Then, of course, they have the non-<:ontingency award of one hundred m In Bob Brown CMlI"came so-so S1IIrts t,o s _ the OIJl!n suPPOrt cl....