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/125801
-O'er latemational (,ents, Affairs ." Happenings - - - - - - - - - - - . '. TROPHEE: First report from the Trophee Des Nations motocross in the Netherlands is that Bradley Lackey was top American with a ninth overa" on his proto Kawasaki. Brad finished eighth and thirteenth in the two 45~inute motos, for his fin~1 ovenll placing in the top ten. No Yank has ~er broken into the top ten before in this most prestigious race in SOO class motocross competition. Roger DeCoster was first overall in the ·'Trophee" on his Suzuki. co N • c. " '" • NON-ISDT: • • • J .N. Roberts, the top desert rider who was supposed to represent the USA in the recent ISDT on the-Silver Vase Team did not make the Six Days since he was hospitalized after a run~n wiJh Los Angeles police. J.N. underwent surgery for a fractured skull and possible brain injury late last week and WllS reported as being in ytisfaewry condition on Monday afternoon at USC Medical Center. The complete story will have to wait for the straight word from I.N. himself when he's able to receive calls or callers. ~ w z W ...J U * • • • • RACE OF THE YEAR, MALLORY PARK: >- U Jaroo Saarinen, the new stormer in European road racing sometimes referred to by sportswriters as "The Flying Finn", has won the Race of the Vear at Mallory Park circuit in England. Saarinen was aboard a 350 Yamaha for his victory. Giacomo Agostini did not race since MV Augusta officials were annoyed that he had raced other English circuits without their leave and denied him permission. Paul Sman and Yvon DuHamel finished first and second in the Superb ike International class on their H2R 750 Kawasakis. Three-time Race of the Year winner and 1971 Ontario victor John Cooper was quoted as saying that Saarinen "could be the main opposition" in the Big One. One British journalist identifies Saarinen as "the hardest rider...since Mike Hailwood." Look out, Champion Classics at Ontario. Here comes Saarinen. • * • • * MORE TO COME: A complete report on the Trophee and Motocross des Nations and full Race of the Year story will follow in upcoming issues of Cycle News. Stay tuned. DuHamel in a beard. Smart in Few of the lucky fans who witnessed the inaugural running of the Champion Spark Plug Motorcycle Classic will forget that day last October. Motorcycle Weekly called it "some of the toughest road racing ever seen in this country." Popular Cycling summed it up: "It was the type of racing you had to see to believe:'" you should have been there, you really should:' In case you weren't, you've got a second chance on October 1 to see the world's . longest, toughest, richest road race...The second running of the ChamRion SRark Plug Motorcycle Classic. A blistering 250-mile road race divided into three parts. One hundred and twenty-five miles, followed by a mandatory 45-minute pit stop during • ~ turn. which the bikes are literally rebuilt in the pits. Then, a 125-mile fight to the finish. The pit stop simply makes everybody more competitive fi I' the final heat. How competitive? How does half a dozen lead changes per lap sound? Or a final winning margin of/our inches? It all happened last year. And believe it or not, things might even be closer this year. Because every bot shoe who can beg, borrow, or steal a ride wants a shot at nearly $100,000 in prize money (plu national AMA championship points). All the great American riders will be there, plus a few legendary European names who only come out for the big, big money. They'll be tiding some of the meanest machines that ever put two wheels on a track. The brutal new 750cc "super" bikes that accelerate like a runaway dragster and can top 175 miles per hour. Just close your eye and picture 80 to 100 of them on the Big O's punishing 3.2 mile road course at once. Unbelievable. And that's just the climax to four full days of constant racing excitement. On Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, you can watch ten hotly contested preliminary road races, ranging from blazing flat-out five-lap qualifying heats in all three classes to Saturday's 125-mile Expert-Junior Combined Lightweight feature (Kel Carruther topped an all·star field last year by four-tenths of a second). Plus four hours