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/125812
o The End ~ o ~ w Z W ..J U >- U Off in a cloud of dust and over the starting gate up the rocky hill at Saddleback Park. Left to right: Hans Maisch (Mail; Gaston Rahier (Suz); Brad Lackey (Kawl; Ake Jonsson (Mail. by Dave Schoonmaker Photos by Larry Groves, Patrick Neil and Schoonmaker IRVINE, CAL., Dec.ยท3, 1972 - Today's Trans-AMA at Saddleback Park is the end of series marked with one name: Ake Jonsson. One might reasonably expect a man who has already clinched the title to let off a little. Such is not the case with Ake Jonsson. Saddleback was more completely dominated by Jonsson than any Trans-AMA this year. Not only did Ake win all thiee motos, he was only headed once and for one lap, by Joel Robert; the six times World Champion. . There was no one in the world today who could have bested Ake. In each moto Jonsson was in the lead from the beginning and showed how things were to be by streaking down "Banzai Hill" in a way that no one could touch. Jonsson actually manages to clear a series of bumps midway down the hill in the air. He looks' fluid while the rest bounce their way down. Behind Ake, the European racing game carries on with occasional intrusions by an American rider. The first moto fmds Jim Pomeroy traveling in fourth after the start, with Joel _Robert, Bengt Aberg and Miroslav Halm. They bound along about ten seconds behind Hans Maisch who is about the same distance behind Jonsson. Back behind Halm, but unable to make any time is Gary Jones out on the Yamaha 500. Pomeroy looks great on his Bultaco for the first fifteen minutes, but then While Rich Eiestedt took second with strong. consistent rides. seems to tire slightly. He and Joel Robert have a little drag race down "Banzai Hill" and that seems to dampen Jim's spirit as he begins to faU back, eventually behind Halm. At Halfway point, Marty Tripes is getting the feel of his CZ, back in twelfth, with Brad Lackey recovering from a fall and keeping Marty in sight. By race end both Tripes and Lackey, accompanied by Pierre Karsmaker (Kaw), will get by Gary Jones who seems to be taking a beating from his Yamaha. But by the end, DeCoster will also come by settling irlto seventh, a finish that will hold down liis overall position. Tripes follows Karsmakers on the Kawasaki all the way down to nmth before time runs out, and' Lackey doesn't quite get Jones, leaving himself in twelfth. Up at the top of the list, Jonsson is of course first, with Maisch followinll: by twenty seconds. The other Europeans string out in even increments with Robert, third; Aberg, fourth; Halm, fifth, and Andy Roberton, sixth. Down at the starting gate for the second rno to Ake Joosson is, as usual, first man to appear, staking out his position on the starting line. Down the line some ways is Marty Tripes, looking more serious than usual and a little out of place in his white $3.98 sweatshirt with "Tripes" and "14" scrawled on the back in Magic Marker. Marty doesn't seem to mind the rough line, always getting up on the less favored, inside, end of the start line. The rough line following only Jonsson, Robert and Roberton. He was fourth and not a distant one at that. For five laps he dogs Roberton. Up fron t, Robert seems to' have momentarily forgotten the girls in the pits and is after Jonsson. It is incredible how cool Jonsson is. Robert moved beside him and Jonsson hardly seems to notice that he is there. Robert does get past for the better part of lap, but suddenly Jonsson seems to come to his senses, comes bak by and Joel fades. Roger DeCoster has moved up on the Roberton-Tripes duo and Marty responds by putting Roberton between himself and DeCoster. Unfortunately, it doesn't last and both the Europeans move by. DeCoster is really moving now. He' takes advantage of Robert's relaxation and snaps up second. Joel and Marty fall back through the ranks together eventually finding an opening at seventh and eighth. Tbere they settle into tbeir Own little duel, with Tripes coming out best in the end. The rest of the American con tingen t stick together with Lackey, ninth; Pomeroy, tenth and Jones, eleventh. The third moLO sees the usual Jonsson flash, but Bengt Aberg is not far behind and really pushing his Husky. "Class C" dirt track slides are the feature of this show. There is no doubt that he is going fast but, count the seconds. He's still not going as fast as Jonsson and the lead widens. Gary Jones is standing up for the A'mericans in fifth place and riding very weU. As seems so 6ften the case for the Americans, though, he begins to fade by the' ten minute mark. Cbrister Hammargren, on another Yamaha, is getting things together and adopts fifth position. Soon, he is after Miroslav Halm and eventually Halm does fade out of his coveted fifth position, apparently with some mechanical difficulty. Tripes and Lackey are playing tag through the pack, and Lackey seems almost interested for a time, but then lets Marty go on his way. Marty does keep going, all the way past Hammargren and into sixth. There's a lot of mumbling about Tripes getting Roberton, but the thirty minutes come to an end. Again, the rest of the Americans are suffering from togetherness. Back in eighth, ninth, tenth and twelfth are Lackey, Pomeroy, Jones, and Mike Runyard. Robert came out for a while in the last moto but must have found something more in teresting au t on the back straigh t, as he disappeared. So, Ake Jonsson won't win any more Trans-MiAS, this year. His finish today was, if anything, more convincing than any so far. Bengt Aberg was second overall with a fourth, a third and a second. Not really too close. The race wasn't between Ake Jonsson and anyone else. The other noteable was of course, Marty Tripes. He was sixth overall with a ninth, a seventh and a sixth. As the series progressed, more and more Americans seemed to get better and better. Tripes showed that there are three Americans who can approach the bottom half of the single digit numbers in International motocross. Not too many of us would have imagined anything like that was really possible a few months ago. 250 SUPPORT B.oth motos of the support class belonged to Rex Staten at the c he eke red. He s howe d come-from-behind flashes of speed which made him undisputed winner. He didn't lead whole races, but he sure lead at the end. Peter Lamppu was the sometime leader in the first molO on the Kawasaki. Berth Staten and Rich Eirstedt eventually came by leaving Lamppu with third in the first go. In the second moto, he fouled a plug on the start line, so his spare was quickly rolled out. Deftly. he broke the kick starter lever off the spare and so a bunch of people pushed him around for a while. Finally. they got the bike started and he made it almost to the top of the bill before that one stopped. Forgot to tum on the gas? By the time he got going, he was a lap behind. Bruce Baron was fast on a Honda in qualifying, but never for long