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/125790
AT 'STRA\DDIE tItlE INTER-AMA > "3 ,.., ~ w Z W ...J <.J ><.J Dave Longcor (Bul) won the first 500 moto, then settled back to collect the overall. Swedes, then a DeSoto who was riding his hewt out. He had gone completely to the wall and moved v<;ry fast on the raggedy·handling Kawasaki. Both his and Brad's 250s had stock F8 enduro frames and the frustration of the scary handling was showing on both riders. They tried, they really tried. Lackey threw the chain on lap 3, breaking the c1u tch rod and engine cases. Jones seized with about five laps to go. The up front gang all spoke with Scandinavian accents except for one lonely Hawaiian. That was about all she wrote for a repeat of the U.S. performance. J ones did not contest the third moto; a dejected Brad Lackey, who had started it with no clutch, packed it in, . then got running again. He would go like blazes for a few laps and the bike would break. That left DeSoto running around the course in a Swedish sandwich. The top six were a smorgesbord of Yams and Huskies with some increasingly strong pineapple flavoring. It looked like Hakan Andersson (Yam) would be the one for overall. Then, he missed a lap. That made it Lindfors, Kring and DeSoto. Lindfors, too, dropped out after running high in the pack all day but not making any spectacular finishes. Kring, DeSoto and Hallman finished in that order. Torsten put on an impressive show of speedy consistency; DeSoto put on an impressive show of guts on a 250 ~achine that is still'unworthy of his, or Gary Chaplin tries to squirt champagne Dolly DiffBrake after taking 500 Moto 3. Lackey's, ridfng ability. The Husqvarna factory team was out in force and Kring and Hansen gave them 2·3 overalls for their efforts. There was a definite flavor of paternalism to HaJ.lman's overall win, as if he'd push the young gladiators as far as they could go but if they faltered, he'd still hold it together for a Yamaha win. He designed the bike practically on his own, he should be able to win on it, and he did. The Europeans have ~acted to the strong American challenge made at Boise. The Coliseum is wide open; it could be anybody's race. The word around the pits is that Robert and Ceboers are not that much faster than today's field. And please, Kawasaki, get Brad and John DeS. some bikes that will handle .• NATIONAL 500 CLASS Bob Brown, the mystery rider, ("Who's Bob Brown?") has to be the strongest new talent to come along this year. He was clearly the dominant rider in the 500 class, but a first lap crash (again, in the constant dust) in the last mo to put him back to second. Dave Longcor (Bul) backed up a first in Moto One, his best performance this year, with two more consistent rides' to take the overall. It was the day of the elever tactician. Longcor's 1-4-3 fmishes added up to the lowest point total as Brown could only fight back to seventh after losing about three minutes out of action in the last moto, repairing his brakes. In making up the time, he turned several 1: 30 laps, which was as fast as any Swede was touring the course. I Another great comeback was made by Cary Chaplin (Mai) who survived a tremendous crash, getting run over in Moto Two, to ride a swift con trolled race and a win in Moto Three. After wiping out his bike in the crash: I asked Cary if he was going to hang it up. "I never hang it up." he said. His perseverance netted him a spot in the top 10 (9th overall). Lars Larsso", rode with an aggressiveness that·.,continually moved him up, moto after moto, with the result that his 6-3-2 finishes were good for third overall in the support class. Local boy Cordon Ochs (B.ul) grabbed the lead from the National riders enough times to finish fourth. He too, knows abou t being around at the finish in rno tacross. Cary Jones and Bob Brown still looked to be the fastest in their Gary Jones spectates after seizing. Brad lackey tries to make his Kaw. 250 go fast after breaking. Bob Brown, riding for European Cycles out of Utah, rode impressive come from behind motos but crashed to finish second. respective classes, when they were running. The caliber of competition is so high in this series th at if they fal ter, even Sligh t1y , there are plen ty of international stars and homegrown hotshoes more than able to take it all. Dave Longcor showed that today. This may be the first true Inter-AMA. The Americans and the Europeans are very close and pushing each other very hard. By the way, guess what kind of beer the locals around Tumwater drink. Wrong. It's something called Rainier. '";"Ya, we,ll you got a funny accent, too!" Lars Larsson, Sonny DeFeo, Peter Lamppu.