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/125864
DeCoster still the fastest as Brad keeps gassin' it By Martin Ch ristie NISSEBJERGET, DENMARK, JUNE 3 Big news before the race had Swede and former World Champ Bengt Aberg apparently sign a two -year contract to ride GPs for Bultaco. Brad (18 ) gets into the f irst turn in third in French internat io na l. Berserk R ussian uses body Eng lish on Czech CZ 400. The re was an other p ict ure of him o n the front wheel t hat was o ut of focu s. 00 ...... Aberg's Cheney is being returned to England"this week, and the John Banks replica four-strokes will never again be seen in World Championshi p competition . Eric Cheney tells m e he can no lo nger afford the ti me an d money to compete with the big fo re ign factories, and will shelve any ideas abo ut buildi ng further GP proto ty pes, His sm all o u tp ut of the b ig thu mpers will go almost ex clusively to American im porter Alan Gr eenwood . Organization at the Monday race was bad, with the Danes obviously un used to running a major m o to cross. The track was a dull 1. 24 miles long wi th a co up le of big ups and do wn , and a lot of sand at the back of the circuit which had riders floundering. First moto Desp ite Flying Finn Heikki Mikkola's early success and current massive lead in the 500 class, one man left no do ubts last week as to w ho is the fastest 500 motocross rider in the wo rld. Reigning World Ch ampion Roger DeCoster (Suz) d o m in ated both practice and racing, through his presence and m as tery of the track conditions, He shot "in to the first t urn in front and led eas ily fo r the firs t 15 m inu tes, before the brackets supporting his exhaust pipe at the rear of t he fr ame broke and he had to pull out . T hat left Mikkola with an undis p uted view to th e fron t, and German Ad olf Weil (Mai) way out of reach b eh ind, But the real exciteme nt was happening behin d the lead ing pair where Brad Lackey was fighting o ver th ird with Gerrit Wolsin k (Suz) and J aa k van Vel th oven (Ya m) , Brad's good rid e lasted for 30 or the 45 min utes, un til h e re ti red with ign ition tro ubl e , leaving van Velth o ven in third at the flag . Lac key airbornes the Husky ov er an Italian and t h ro ugh the dust. Brad 's moustache is :tarting to fill in p retty nicely. Second moto landed, did about five tank slappers and went over t he handlebars. He tumbled down the hill ba ckwards, landed almost on his feet and was ready to start down the hill again when a spectator jumped out on the co urse to catch him in mid-air. Needless to say - Brad was a bit surprised ! After he was solid on hi s feet, he gave the guy the peace sign (There was no time for hand shaking,or thank you's.}, ran to his undamaged bike and was on his way, now in third place. Lindfors still had the lead and "Cupie" was in second place, when Lindfors did a pretty heavy endo! "Cupie" took over the lead with Brad second. Ludwig Reinbold finished n in th . That's how the day ended! Arne Kring was t he Overall winne r and Brad finished second w hich was " better tba n nothing " as he said. Everyone was still in one piece an d we we re lo o king "fo rward to the ne xt day , which would be spe n t o n the lake in Geneva. T hen • o n to Italy! Results M OTO 1 : 1. B . L ackey , 2 . A . L1nd f o rd . 3. A . Kri ng . 4 . L . R emb ot d . 5 . R. H au ff. 6. B . ca ssercom. 7 . J . Q ue lrel. 8 . M. B uri . 9 . R. Boano. 10 . K . Ohli n. MOTQ 2: 1. A. Kr i ng. 2 . B . L a c k ey . 3. A . Li n d fo rs . 4 . R. Hu a t t . 5. L. Ristor!. 6 . B. Casser borq . 7. K . Ohlin . 8 . R . B e an o . 9 . M . B u r l. 10. H . Diet rich . . MOTO 3: 1. A . K r in g . 2 . B . Lackey . 3 . L. R einbo ld. 4 . R . Boano. 5 . R . Hau ff . 6 . K . Oh li n. 7. H . D iet r i ch . 8 . M . B url. 9. A . Lin dfors. 10. J. Q u teret. OV E RA LL : 1. Ar ne Kring (Hus ) Swed . 2 . B r ad Lackey (Hus) U SA . 3 . Rud l H a uff (Mai) W. G er . 4. A rne Li ndfors (M al) S wed . 5 . L u dwig R einb ol d (Mai) W. Ger. 6 . R ober t o B o ano ( H us) Ital. 7. K e n t O hlin (Hus) s wec . 8. B j o rn Casserborg (Ya m) swee. 9 . M i ch e l Bu r l (C Z) swn . 10 . L ou is R i st o r l (CZ ) sw u , DeC ost er ha s demonstrated that he is sti ll the fastest rider in the world in 500cc motocross, He h as wo n every GP moto th at his b ike did n ' t break except one. DeCoster had h is exhaust pipe bolted up good an d strong for the second race , and he m ade no m istakes, leading virtually from start to finish over Mikkola. Heikki's second p lace finis h was good enough to push him fur th er ahead " in GP points for the World Championship. Arne Kring (H us) hung o nto third in the second round, just robbing Brad of another two GP points after hectic pursuit by his teammate. But, despite his first race troubles, it was a good day for Brad, proving that he's finally gotten down to business in Grand Prix. That fact has surprised a lot of people in Europe. The second race was rather depleted, with only 13 finishers. Bengt Aberg was hit by a big rock, and his arm swelled up like a watermelon, so he was out. Jaak van Velthoven retired with gea rbox tro ubles. Ake Jonsson's suspension co llapsed completely. Crazy Ru ssian , Victor Pop en ko , was out d ue to da mage caused by rub bing h is CZ down the • rou gh track - o n its side. Results M OTO ONE : 1. H ei k k l Mikkola (Hu s) F i n. 2. Adol f W ei l ( Ma l) W. Germ. 3 . Jaak va n Vet tboven (Y am) B elg . 4 . Gerrlt Wo l si o k (SU Z) Net n , 5 . W ill i Bauer (Ma l ) W. Ger. 6. Ake Jo n sso n , (Yam) S wed , 7. Arn e Kr lnq (H us) Sw ed . 8. B engt Abe r g_ ( Bu l) S wed. 9 . V i c tor pcce n k c (CZ ) US SR . 10. Arne L o de ll ( M a i) Den . M O TO TWO : 1 . R og e r DeC oster (SU Z) B el g. 2. H ei k k l M i kkola ( Hus ) Fi n. 3. Arne K rin g (Hu s) Swed. 4 . B r ad La Ckey ( H us ) U SA. 5 . Gerr l t W olslnk (S UZ) N et h . 6. Adol f W e ll (Mal) W. Ger. 7. Joh n Ba n k s (CCM) U K . 8. A rne Lod e ll (Mail Den . 9 . V i c Ea st wood (Mal) UK. 500 WO RL D C H AMPIONSHI P POI N TS: 1. Heikkl M i k k o la, 144. 2. R og er o ec e ste r. 56. 3 . Ad olf W ei l , 55 . 4. GerrU Wolsin k and Willi Bauer . 41. 6. A k e Jonsson, 36. 7. A rne K r ing, 35. 8. Jaak V a n Veit h o ve n. 3 4 . 9 . B engt A b e rg , 30. 10. Bra d Lackey. 21. 1 1. V ict or p cc en k o , 19. 27