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/125793
'" i lL N .... '" -' ,;, ::l By Gary Van Voorhis Photos by Gary Van Voorhis and J df Harrison ELKHORN, WISC., July 23, 1972 Jim Weinert (Yam) streaked into the lead in the final 250 moto of the day, giving Hakan Andersson some competition. Weinert began moving away from John DeSoto (Kaw) and Gunnar Lindstrom (Hus) opening up a 15 bike lellgth lead by the end of lap one. Andersson, meanwhile, had gotten a slow start and was bogged in traffic for a short while before beginning to pick up two and three places a lap, moving in to second place on lap five before taking the lead on lap ten. Once Andersson had the lead, it was an instan t replay of motos one and two as he began to increase his margin to almost thirty seconds at the end. Andersson's style of riding devastated the competition. Any rider who tried [0 stay with him either ended up losing it on one of the many berms-lumps. turns that dominated the course or decided that anyone who ride that fast has got to fall or break. No such luck. While Andersson was exciting the crowd, Weinert was plugging away, putting together a third (after Montesa rider Mike Runyard slipped by) with his fourth and fifth placings to capture second overall for the day. Gary Jones found himself on the line with a dead engine as the rest of the field roared away ,then proceeded to tum in one of the most spirited rides of the day moving in to 19th at the end of lap one, eigh th by lap six and fifth on lap eight before dropping back to eighth after breaking blisters raised in the earlier mo tos. The final mo to provided the best show for the different makes as Mike Runyard (Mon) picked up a second with Weinert third. Gunnar Lindstrom (Hus) motored to a fourth, CZ riders Dave Bickers and Stuart Nunn took fifth and sixth and Bob Grossi (Hus) picked up seventh. Heat, dust and humidity played havoc with the. machines, causing many of the riders to change air cleaners once, and sometimes twice. John DeSoto's charge in 'the last moto was cut short by rich jetting, Brad Lackey didn't change his air box and g'ot a fouled plug when the dust cut the air supply. cr. ~ w Z W ...J U >- U In moto one, Torlief Hansen jumped into the lead aided by an inoperative starting gate that suffered the crunches after over half the field ran 'over it. Andersson was in close pursuit and took the lead in the back sweepers followed closely by Hansen. Torlief crashed spectacularly at the beginning of lap nine when his engine seized on the fastest part of the course, ending his ride for the day while in second. In what had to be the cruelest freak accident of the day, Marty Tripes got hit in the nose with a rock after charging from twen tieth place to six th in nine laps. Tripes required a trip to the hospital to find out that there was nothing broken. Meanwhile back in traffic, Gary Jones had moved into Hansen's spot closely followed by Brad Lackey- (Kaw) and Jim Weintert; all looking for a top finish. Each remained in file wi th TOl'Sten Hallman (Yam), Arne Lindfors (Yam), and Bill Cook (Mai) rounding out the top finishers. Andersson continued his aggressive style of riding in moto two, knocking off fron t . runner Gary J ones halfway ... through lap one. Brad Lackey moved into second ahead of Jones on lap eight and Montesa rider Mike Runyard into fourth on lap thirteen with Weinert and John DeSoto safely in fifth and sixth. The race within a race in moto two was. between Doug. Sanger (Mai) and Jeff Smith (Born). The two wen t at it for nearly half the race in the middle of the pack with Smith using experience to overcome the power deficiency of his 175 B~mbardier. This will probably be the last time fans will see Smith in international competition. He intends to (Please turn to pg. 25)