Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

sweat. Everybody got used to watching Weil come around in front from Lap One. THE NEXT DAY- ~ w Z W ..J (,) > (,) ermans Invade Belgium Swiss GP, was on his Puch. Chief gas, like nitrogen) and they clearly Bultaco pilots were Marcel Wiertz and out·tracked and out·handled any other by john Huetter of course,jim Pomeroy. ' b i k e on the course. The shocks are fat. STEKENE, BELGlUM, June 10 - Jim jim didn't plan on doing much after short and mounted two·thirds of the Pomerof motored up from Spain to . two weeks of no competition. He was way up the swingarm. And they make Marcel Wiertz's home in Belgium with a really here just to test the engines and that Maico very smooth. new engine in his Grand Prix bike and shake the bikes out before the GP. Pomeroy came off another second 10 days in the U.S. behind him. The Before the first 500 moto, Roger row start (due to his DNF), was almost prescription to get the machinery and DeCoster along with everybody else, last into the fIrSt tuin and was sixth at the American rider ready for the French commented on the narrow, tree·lined the end of lap one. Whoee! How did he 250 Grand Prix was two Belgian course laid out around a small lake. It ever pass that many guys on a course Internationals on successive days at was maybe 10-20 feet wide but there with two places to pass - both about 20 opposite ends' of Belgium. Jim was was only one line on Inost of it. "Here, feet long? jim fell back to seventh in planning to race his standard bike the start is everything," Roger observed another couple of laps as the cc (W hi c h l' 0 mer 0 y' s B u I tacos in his mildly-accented English. He advantage started to tell and eventually surprisingly, are - just scrupulously put beUeved it, too, because he got the hole fmished ninth in the second 500 moto together.) in the 250 class and his shot and never looked back. jim moved on his 250. He was doing some scary Pursang 250 with the new cylinder in . up from his second row start to seventh passing in the comers, grazin& trees with the 500 class. in three laps, losing to the 400s and his knuckles. Team Maico bad everybody on the 360s out of the comers and catching Two beautiful things in '."acing were payroll at Stekene, as did Team uzuki. them by the next comer. Then, on the happening during this time. One: Tbe factories take the Belgian fourth lap, a CZ rider went down with watching Joel Robert pass from about Internationals very seriously; moreso, it bis throttle stuck open. Tbe .bike spun 13th to futh at the finish. Two: Roger seems, than the Inter·Am Series in the around as the rear wheel caught the and Adolf were having a hell of a dice. bank and bent the shift lever of jim's Coming out of the last tum, Adolf went U.S. Adolf Weil, Hans Maisch, Willi Baue.r, Herbert Schmitz, Werner Schutz, Bul back about 120 degree as jim tried to pass on the outside and wicked it and GP.winner Gerrit Wolsink were on to go around bim. DeCoster kept it on toward the checkered. Roger was fuB the German marque. Sylvain Geboers to the checkered. tb rottle, fifth gear over the tried out his rebuilt left leg, moderately. The second 500 moto gave the stutter-bumps and won by a tank and a for Suzuki along with Rabier, Robert 20,000 spectators ringing the lake and wheel, doing rear end hops in 120 and DeCoster. Yamaba had Jaak Van swamp their money's worth. Roger and degree arcs as he crossed the line nearly Velthoven and jean-Claude Laguaye. Adolf Weil hit the first tum, where stuffing the Suzuki into the trees. God, two of the fastest Belgians around: one there was only room for one, side hy what· a show! Even the unshakable Flemish and one Walloon. (This is an side. Roger had the good line and at DeCos.ter was very quiet for a while. important distinction in Europe.) the end of lap one was in front looking Adolf won the 250 class, both Montesa brought Raymond Boven up like a repeat of moto one. Tben Weil motos. He was followed by Hans Maisch from the 125 GP circuit, along with went to work slicing off inches of (Mai) and Gaston Rabier (Suz) each regular 250 GP riders jean-Claude jobe DeCoster's 15...econd lead in each time. jim Pomeroy seized his engine and J 0 Lammers. Harry Everts, comer. The Maicos bad appeared with both motos. Weil had a big lead in both recovered from a broken ankle at the their new air shocks (actually an inert motos. He doesn't even break into a .....-:-------,~~ ;;:--.--------:-----, Southern C8Iifomians. ewr wonder what it would be like to rece in grass? (stilL ..) by john Huetter THUlN, BELGruM, June 11 - Tbe course at Stekene had been scary, narrow, slippery in places but it turned out was mild preparation for what the club at Thuin bad devised by way of a motocross circuit. It ain't the same as the good 01' American courses. "This is absolutely the worst course I've ever been on:' Jim Pomeroy armounced. I couldn't help hut agree as we had to pass single fIle between the trees while walking the course and hang on to bush.. and tree limbs as we slithered down the north side of the ravine. It was hard to conceive of finishing a lap without falling. The start area was actually in the village square. about' the equivalent of starting a motocross on a shopping mall in the U.S. People pulled the chairs out of their houses on to the sidewalk and watched, smiUng with anticipation . . Horses cropped the grass in the pasture next to the riders' box. Yeah, they feel differently about motocross in Europe. After the bumpy straight and trial by trees, the course disappeared over the edge into bushy, blind turns. There was a gravel road cutback about halfway -down, maybe three bike lengths long, then down more humpy tree roots through the stream and single file up into the woods for tbree uphill.downhill hairpins with the trees still 20 feot apart - at the most. Back down the short hill, >through the water again and, somebow, up the other side of the ravine in two switch backs that approached 60 degrees vertical. Some bikes, including Jim's Bul wi th a new mud PireIIi, couldn't get traction, the hill was sO steep. juniors and Intermediates ran on the same course as the International riders and that's probably one reason why Belgium produces a lot of good mOlocrossers. Survival comes first, then if you can go fast you're going to be a pretty good rider by the time you're International.cJassed. In the first International 250 moto, Adolf Weil on some funny-looking German bike pulled the hole shot and was gone. He never does any thing very spectacular, he's just in front. Not a bad approach for a 35.year old professional motocrosser. Local bero Joel Robert (Suz) hung on to second but didn't close on the smooth German. jim Pomeroy started working up from another second row start, picking off five or six riders a lap. The order on a course that was mostly follow-the.leader settled out to be WeiJ, Robert, Willi Bauer (Mai), Gaston Rabier (Suz), jean-Claude Laguaye (Yam), jean-Paul MingeJs (Bul), Harry Everts (Puc), Claude JObe (Mon), and Marcel Wiertz (Bul). With about five laps gone, jim was boogey-ing down the hill where even joel was second gear cooling it and he lost it right at the edge of the slippery water crossing. Pomeroy went over the handlebars and the Bultaco jumped on bim. Two riders he had just passed narrowly missed him and he smacked his arms into the rocks when falling. jim recovered enough to restart his bike after the Belgian Red Cross tried to drag him away by his bleeding arm and circulated two more laps before retiring. Only some rapid French and the fact that a couple of Americans are usually bigger and more determined than a couple of Belgians kept him from being stretchered off. He got taped up later - nothing serious . Willi Bauer closed on joel, then passed and that's the way they finished. When the gate dropped for Moto Two, it was Adolf, Joel and Willi again. Then on the second lap, Joel pulled in. Tbey had tried som pulled in. A few laps later, Gaston Rabier retired missing a couple of the gears he fel t necessary to ride that course. That put Laguaye (Yam) third, Boven (Mon) fourth, and jobe (Mon) fIfth. That was the top five at the finish, also. Jim had moved up to seventh by lap tbree, circulating rapidly, then teammate Marcel Wiertz came around in seventh. jim bad failed to make the hill and wben he appeared 'a lap later, he was fuJl·throttle sliding. the corners, face red with frustration. Adolf won by a hig margin. it was a bad two days for Jim but die GP bike seemed to work OK. Faced with large doses of reality, everybody went to the town ball to have a beer. ExceptJim. He had a Coke.

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