THEImGP
ArdeIBD Wins- Robert Tires- Geboers Rebreaks
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By Strawberry Enterprises
Photos and Story by Terry Pratt
WOHLEN, SWITZ., Aug. 27, 1972
Hakan Andersson, the Swedish Yamaha
rider who has been going. faster and
faster all seasop long, braugh t down the
curtain on the 1972 250cc World
Championship by winning the last
Grand Prix of the year at Wahlen,
Switzerland.
Andersson suffered a broken wrist
before the season began while testing
the Grand Prix machines brought to
Europe by Yamaha. The young Swede
missed the first few G.P.s and he was
not strong even by' mid-season but
Andersson finished the year with a bang
winning the Swedish GP at Huskvarna
and the Swiss GP here in Wahlen.
Despite the fact that the GP was
scheduled on the opening weekend of
the Munich Olympics which was only
two hours away. the crowd attending
the final World Championship
motocross race was one of the biggest of
the year.
, Knowledgeable estimates pegged the
figure at 40,000 yelling, cheering fans
who blanketed the hillsides along the
course. Bratwurst and beer stands
looked like a mob scene from a
Hollywood movie and the people were
packed so thick
it was almost
impossible to move from one vantage
point to the next.
Hundreds of colorful signs and
banners lined the course and the flags of
all the represented nations were on
display along the uphill starting straigh t.
The track itself was fast and dusty.
After the hay crop had been harvested
the rolling stubblefield became a
motocross track. Big soft berms of dirt
and straw formed in the turns but they
were loosely packed and the tires would
cut through the berms if they were hit
too hard or too high. One section of the
course included an old gravel quarry and
the lay-out crew took advantage of a
'sheer drop-off to add challenge and
excitement.
Going in to the final Grand Prix,
Andersson was in second place in the
World Championship behind Suzuki
factory rider Joel Robert who had won
his sixth World Ti.tle in Russia back in
June.
But Joel's Suzuki teammate Sylvain
Geboers was third in the pain ts race and
he still had a mathematical chance to
take over second place. "Hardluck"
Geboers broke his ankle at the second
Grand Prix of the season but he had
made an amazing comback and earned
enough points during the year to stay in
the race.
Only 200 yards from the starting
gate at Wahlen, there was a multiple
,rider pile-up and when all the dazed
riders, twisted motorcycles and haybales
were picked up, Sylvain lay at the
bottom of the pile, bloody and barely
conscious.
Geboers broke his arm, his shoulder
and broke his leg again although in a
different place. His broken leg was
reported to be quite serious but
Sylvain's fantastic Belgian doctor from
his hometown of 'Mol has used yet
another handful of hardware to bolt the
shattered bones back together.
After the first lap melee, Kalevi
Vehkonen, the Finn contracted to
Montesa, led the race for a few laps but
he was overtaken and eventually
dropped to fifth place.
Pavel Roulev, one of the young
Russians riding a shiny red KTM 2'50,
led the middle laps but Joel came up
from about fifth place and pressured the
'Russian for several laps before taking
the lead with about four laps to go. Joel
won the first heat although he had just
spent two weeks in a plaster cast healing
up the right knee that he twisted in
practice for the Belgian GP.
"r got a little tired in the first heat,"
Joel said. "After two weeks in the cast
it was another week before I even got to
ride the bike so r was a little out of
shape."
Roulev held on to his second spot
and Hakan Andersson had come up to
third. Andersson and Husky regular
Arne Kring were - - ~
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the GP season as he began it, breaking his leg. This time he added an arm
and shoulder to the breakage inventory. Here he motors through the hay in practice.
CZ
team, Jid Churavy, and
smooth-riding Kalevi Vehkonen. The
Montesa ride.r turned in one of his finest
performances this year.
Now Hakan had the lead bike in his
sights, but he knew that because of the
results of the first race Moisseev
couldn't beat him so the Swede coasted
across in second place and took the
- overall WID.
Kring finally had some good luck
with his prototype GP Husky. and he
was awarded second place on the basis
of two consistent finishes.
Moisseev had been sixth in the first
heat so his win in the second he.at added
up to third overall.
As a good indication of how the
sport of motocross is on the rise and
how many different manufacturers are
competitive in Grand Prix racing, the
first seven places in the overall results
were won on different makes of
motorcycles.
