Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Russian smashes to world 'championship lead as Pomeroy fades along with his suspension By Mart in Christie SZCZECIN, POLA"'D,~lAY 12 Fl yin g 2 6.year old Russian, Gu nnadv Moisseiev, on the factory Ki M, pulled o ut a 15 point lead in this year's 250 Motocross World Championship on Sun d ay, winning bo th races of the Pol ish Grand Prix at Szczecin. On a hard, tight ty pically East Euro pean co urse, Moisseiev w al ked away with m aximum po in t s b u t th e man who dominated th e G P wi th h is fran tic speed neve r even fin ished. Early points lead er 23 yea r-o ld Cze ch Jaroslav FaTta, was put out o f both motos when his CZ engine sei zed on the low gr ade Polish gas. In the second ra ce, he had pulled out an II se co nd lead aft er only four laps when tro uble struck his factory CZ . Reigning World Champion, Sw ede Hakan Andersson (Yam) has now virt ual ly lost all cha nce of retaining hi s titl e. With ba ck an d leg injuries suffere d in • pract ice in Czechoslov aki a th e p re vio us week, he co m p le ted o nly three laps o f raci ng be fore re tiring in sever e pain. T he b ad luc k whi ch ha s d ogged t he pluck y Swe de t hroughout his m o t o cro ss career - and changed m iraculously o n ly las t year to m ak e hi m a n easy Worl d Cham pion - has now, it see ms , re turned wi th vengeance. Ande rsso n fo ug ht h is w a y into Grand Prix racing on Husq va rna, bu t whe n he was almos t wi th in reach o f a title, he b roke hi s left leg badl y in several places. Ove r the las t three years he ha s bee n fighting b ack agains t th at crip p ling inj ury, seemingly d oom ed to be th e ete rnal ru n n er-up . Then last year , moun ted on th e virt ua lly inv inci ble Yam ah a monoshock, cam e th e winning stre ak . But this year, it's been a different story. The European facto ries have fought bac k, and the Yamah a has definit ely been st ruggli ng t o keep u p o n the hard, rutted Euro pean circui ts. Riding in Po land has on ly aggrava te d hi s wrist, ba ck an d leg inj uries, a nd with an impossibl e number o f alrea dy lost points to Mo sseiev and Falta, Hakan.s season lo ok s bl eak . So, t o o , d oes Jim Pomer oy 's. A fte r a h alf-reasona ble rid e in Sp ain, fas test practice t im es and leading b oth m o to s in It al y, Jim has been hel d back wi th b ig handlin g problems on the Bultaco o ver th e m or e to r t uo us tracks of Ea st Eu ro pe, With th e bumpy trac ks turning the d am ping flu id in h is rear KaNi s to wat er, an d the Bul fron t e nd ne it he r steering no r da mping the way he wan t s. J im is struggling; st ill un im pressed with the facto ry 's experiments with 1I1arzo cch i fo rks. He was way o u t o f the run ning in Polan d . In fac t, after the Eas t Europeans, ne xt m o st impressive m an of t he day was t igerish Belgian Gaston Rahi er . T hough rat ed the t hi rd man of the Su zuki team the flam bo yant little , joc ke y threw his Suzie in to second p lac e in both races - getting good sta rts an d sta ying up th er e. Suzuk i Team mate Sylvain Geb o ers, minus his ap pendix, wh ich he lef t in Du sseldorf, Germany last week, made a n incredible recovery to fin ish fifth in th e firs t mota. But he was o u t of lu ck in the sec o n d, co l l i d i ng with f ell ow c o u n t r y m a n and multiple World Champ ion Joel R obert. Joel was last aw ay in th e first heat, but fought hi s way thro ugh the field to seventh. Then, the cras h in the sec ond ra ce put bo th him and Geboers out. O ther te ammates crashed in th e second ra ce. Harry Evert s, th e prom isin g Belgia n 2 1 year-old an d Ge rman Herbert Schmitz sm ashed ea ch other. That finished Pu ch 's hopes, after th e tw o fac t o ry riders had a fourth and eighth in the first ra ce . Bu lt aco rid er Vic All an, had a good fourth in th e second hea t but he lo st out in the first, wh en a sharp stone, thrown up fr om somebody's back wheel • . .1 ' j'j, 1974 arnaco shocks Yo u've read the glowi ng repo rts and heard a lot of t al k about these re ma rk. a ble ne w sp ace age shocks. Now t he y ar e even better in 1974! Mor e bui lt- in de pend ab ilit y, w it h ad d ed strengt h in vital stre ss ar eas and new competition tested oil seals. Lightest .of all na me brand shocks. . .only 2 Ibs. 8 oz. with spring ! KAWASAKI CZ YA MAHA MA ICO SUZUKI HUS KY STEEN PE NTO N OSS A SUGGESTED RETA ILPRICE fS4:990.. Winning both m otos of the Po lish 250 GP, Russian Gunnady Moisseiev t o ok his third G P for KTM and sailed into the World Championship lead. RPAIR Now, for the first time, you can order Amaco shocks directly from the distributor ! INSTANT MAIL OROER and we mean fast! When ordering specify make, year and model bike, spring rate desired, weight of, rider and shock length (12, 12i1, 13" etc.]. Enclose cash, check or money order. Personal checks must clear prior to shipping. Prepaid orders will be shipped freight free! C.O.O. orders will be accepted . Cali fo rn ia resid ents add 6 % sales tax. A LSPORT DISTRIB UTI NG CO. 233 South Seventh A ve . City of Indu stry. Ca. 91746 ( 2 13) 33 6 - 450 2 ~ ,&;~ ~; Czech Jaro slav Falta was fa stest, led both motos by comfortable m argins b ut se ized in o ne heat a nd had his ignition short out in the other. hi t hi s fro n t fo rk a nd j amm ed th e ligh t allo y slider sol id . S howi ng tha t the 25 a Pursan g ca n st ill be ridden qu ickly in G rand Pri x , Du t ch ve teran J o Lamme rs go t on the board in se ven th in th e seco nd m o t o riding a privat ely en tered Bul tw eak ed t o fac tory sp ec ifica t ions. An oth er o ld Grand Prix ca m pai gn er , Swe d e Olle Pe tt er sson, too k t ime o ff ] f rom hiI s .l 0 b as K awasa ki1 ' d ev e I o p m e n t S rid er to c om e hom e eigh th in th at race . . h . h h - ign o r rng t e unreli abi lity t a t put t e Kaw asaki fact or y 's m OTC sp ect acular num ber o ne rider, T orlief Han sen . out o f ho th mot o s. Strong Wes t G erman ri d er, lIans Ma isch , th e so n of t he Ma ico boss, kept h is d ad hap p y w it h a co nsis ten t six th and a fi fth . • Resu Its Moto O n e : 1. G u nnad y M Oisse ie v . USS R ( KT M ) ; 2 . .Gaitan Rahler , 8el9 ( 5 u.l); 3 . Pav e l Jim Pomeroy is not happy about switching ar ound suspensions on the Bulta co . The sa me t hing hurt his o verall finish last season. R u lev, U SSR (KTM ); 4 . H arr y Eve rts, B el g (PU C) ; !) . Sy lvain c ec ce es. B el g (Su z l i 6. Hans Mai scn , W . Ge r ( M ai) ; Joel R ober t , Belg (Su z): 8 . H er b ert SChm itz, W . Ger ' ( P UC) ; 9 . Eygeny R vbat t cn e n k o , USS R (CZ) : 10 . stroke carb s. Also conversions for alcohol & nitro fuels. r, Raymo nd Boven , Bel g. (M o n ). Mo to Two: 1. G u n n ady Motssetev, USS R (KTM) ; 2. G asto n R a nie r , B e l9 (S UZ); 3 . Ml ros lav H al m , C SS R tc z i . 4. Vic A ll a n , UK ( Bul) ; ~ . Hans Ma tse n . W . Ger (Mai); 6 . J iri C huravy , C SS R (C Z) : 1. Jo Lammer s, Neth (B u l ) ; 8 . One Petter sson, s wee ( Kaw) ; 9. K a l8v i Vehko nen, FIn (Hus) : 10. Pa vel Ru le v , USSR (KTM ). 2 ~ O W Or ld C n a m o to ns tu o S tand i ngs af ter four Grand s Pri x: 1. M o rsse tev ( KTM) 80 ; 2 . Falla rcz) 55; 3 . E ver t s ( PUC) 4 1 ; 4 . H al m (CZ) 41 ; 5. Ru ley ( KTM) 4 0 ; 6 . Ratner (Sull 39 ; I . Maisch (Ma i) 3 1 ; 8 . BO ven (Mon) 2 6 ; 9 . Sc h miU ( P UC) 2 2 ; 10. Po m e r o y ( Bu~) 1 9 . - _._-,,--- WHITTIER HONDA Motorcycle T railers Bell Helmets F ull Bo re Prod ucts 14324 E. Whittier BIIId. 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