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/125859
ig g ocr s d and dirty in Belgium'sbiggest XI-EME TROPHEE DU WEEKEND PASCALI XI-DE TROFEE VAN HET PASSWEEKEND By John Huetter MARC HE, BELGIUM , A PR IL 14 It was the 33rd time this motocross had been run - continuously since 1947. Yeah, they do tak e the sport seriously in Belgium and \ so did the international and Grand Prix riders who had gathered for the long Easter weekend. In 1963, two separate promoters at two separate tracks (one, Marche, in Walloon ' Belgium; the other, Betekom, in Flemish Belgium) conceived of having two days of motocross: two 45-minute motos at Marche on Easter Sunday, and two 45·minute m o to s- at Betekom on Monday. The best three finishes from the four motos would count t o determine the overall standings. All four were 500cc in ternational motos priginally. In 1972, supposedly at J oe l Robert's urging, the motos were split with a 250cc and a 500cc mota each day. That's th e way it is run today. But on ly the combined scores of both 250 an d . 5 00 motos count. So everybody brings t heir best bikes - two of them. This motocross has always been one of t he most important and prestigious in Belgium, which means t he -start money an d prize m oney are significant, which means the top riders in Europe are there. Of the big names, it's simpler to say who wasn '/ at Marche. Joel Robert had not gotten the start money he wanted and didn't race anywhere. Jim Pomeroy's manager in Belgium had bungled the deal, so Jim went to France for better start money. World Champion Hakan Andersson broke the wrist he had injured in the Spanish 250 Grand Prix. This also mean t he wouldn't be racing the next 250 GP in italy. He was unhappy and not riding anywhere, either. All the rest, names that are mispronounced household words on both sides of the Atlantic: DeCoster, Jonsson, Weil, Lackey, Van Velthoven ... and more, were there. Roger D had won overall the last three years b ut came to Marche with a Sunday at Marche It got pretty intense between Tor lief Hansen and Heikki Mikkola in Sunday's 500 moto. throttle hand that was badly infected, swollen with pus and corruption and incredibly painful. Roger's metabolism was upset by the an tibiotics prescribed for the ~fection and his band was a big, Adolf Weil (Mai-68 ) and Jaak Van Velthoven (Yam -3) got down and out fastest in the first mota of the lkace long Easter Weekend in Belgium. 28 ugly lump. He kept it in his jacket pocket with a grim face. Yo u rn us t drive from Spa-Francorchamps, site of the Formula One Grand Pri x, through the villages of Huy, My, Sy and Ny to get there, past crumbling stone forts and castles, from some of which the Belgian flag still flies. The roa d win ds t h ro ug h spring-blooming, hilly fields, hit tin g cobblestone stretches. Brad Lackey picked up his American flag tie-ons and en try papers at the pub in Marche and we found the pits, followed by his Swedish mechanic, Pe r r a , with a GP 360 and a stock-looking 250 Husqvarna. The usual Belgian encampment of tents, cars, and trailers, plus a few factory vans , spread itself over the cowfields from which the cows had been temporarily removed all the way to the town school which ' was abo ut 300 yards from the motocross course at the west end of town. There were Junior, Senior, and Inter "B" support races to be run off but the ones that counted, the motos that had 15,000 people standing in the trees and on the hillsides, were the 250 and 5 00 rounds for the Easter Trophy. Torlief Hansen (Kaw) fo ught for the lead fo r about one lap with Adolf Weil (Mai) in the 250 moto, then grabbed it an d starte d st retching it out. He had a good I O-sec.ond cushion after abou t 15 minu tes when h is KX 25 0 GP bike threw a" chain. Adolf inherited the lead for a very short time, then was passed by Belgian J aak Van Veith oven as t he fans shouted and waved approval. Willi Bauer, showing the go -fast form that had eluded him so far this season, moved up to third after about 30 minutes and the front three settled out, going very fast but neither gaining nor losing on each other. Brad was following Gaston Rahier, the diminutive Belgian Suzuki works rider, up through the pack after both had gotten mediocre starts. They were running about seven and eight overall when the left rear cantilever shock on the Husky broke, then Brad didn't move up any more. He was able to hold position at eighth, even moving up to Mik kola had the speed and altitude in the seventh for a few laps, then dropping back as the rear wheel bounced off the fender. The scoring of the first 250 mota was open to considerable question. Ha rry Eve rts , current favorite on the Belgia n scene riding for Puch , h ad nailed down fourth and Gaston was in fifth. Officially, t hen came Mikkola (H us), though his own mechanic thought he'd missed a lap (so did I), Willy Van Loo n (Yam), Raymond Heeren (Mai), and agai n officially, Brad in ninth. Lackey got sideways on the wide grassy sweeper trying to pass Heeren on the last lap, bu t Belgians were already starting to run au t on the track to congratulate their hero, Van Velthoven, so Brad had to shut off, A few impartial observers tho ugh t Van Loon had been lapped also bu t he is Belgian - as is Heeren. George Houssonloge (Man), another Belgian, and Ake Jonsson (Yam) follow Brad and Co -. a good distance back on the tight, rocky, tree-lined, grassy rutted course: typical track for Belgium. Very technical, yet at the same time, very fast. Almost as notable was who di dn't finish. Roger DeCoster started in spite of infection, then got in a terrible crunch with Jean.Paul Mingels' Bultaco Uean-Paul had already left it.] and was d umped on the rocks severely injuringhis back. He retired. Sylvain Geboers, also on the Suzuki Team, got a poor start and retired about halfway thro ugh the mota. Yamaha kamikaze pilot Tarao Suzuki banzaied his way around the track for a few laps and then pulled ofL, He is the fastest front wheel-only rider in international competition. But the only American, Lackey, had to scuffle for ninth, not too shabby in such company, but below what he deserved based on riding skill. Brad never pu lls in during international competition if the bike's still running even with a broken shock on the Husky. Master Holeshot Artist of the Galaxy, Adolf Weil, grabbed it again when the gate dropped for Sunday's 500 moto. Exclaimed Torlicf Hansen later, after doing pretty well himself, "I'm so goddam tired of watching Adolf