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/125874
was the advantage, and 30 se co nds it stayed almost to the end, when the ferocious Finn rolled off and cruised home fo r his ninth Grand Prix victory this year . Kring fell back even further. 'passed by fell ow Swede Ake Jonsson ( Yam) . Brad suffered real disaster, getting a reason abl e start, fa lling off on the second lap and com ing round 25th. Then he fo ught a ll th e way back up to ninth - an incred ible bit of riding, only to loose his c ha in an d drop o ut be fore the flag. Second Moto Mik kola had problems w ith a loose front fender during the second mota, here seen just starting to come adrift. In Europe, fenders count because of a substance virtually unknown in California - mud. B n500 G elgia P Co ntinued fro m page 37 A Trail Rider's Guide to the Environment California Trailbike Guide Send w ith check o r money ord er t o: I I I I CYCLE NEWS P.O. Box 498 Long Beach. CA 9080 1 0 0 0 0 2.75 ' Ho t Ha t 1.00 Escape by Trail Bike 3.50 A Tra i l Ri der's Guide to th e Environmen t 0 shipped postage paid name add ress ~ate 1.25 Californ ia Tr ailbike Guide city 42 Speedway Poster 6.45 I I I I ... -zip modern da y road racers have o utgro wn the ol d IT co urse o n th e Isle of Man , mo tocross bikes are n o lo nger built to ta ckle a co urse wh ich would have been hazardous eno ugh o n a tri als bi ke. T he track was tricky eno ugh in the dr y , but a he avy thunderstorm o ver night made co ndi tions reall y n asty. Ad olf Weil was fastest pr acticer during Sunday's timed training at two minutes 5 7 seconds, followed by Mikkola , Willi Bauer. DeCoster and Wolsink. Brad Lackey, not h appy a t all, was way d own in 20th place , just near enough to get him a plac e o n the front row. That pl ace was esse nt ial for any man who wanted t o get any where. The first sec t io n consis ted of a half-mi le san d y speed way trac k, overloo ked by the o ld citadel, with the field turning ba ck on itself in an ova l, and making an exit where they had started. Riders lost so much gro u nd in this first sm all circ u it , that an yo ne in midfield had no chan ce of catching th e leaders. and within four laps , backmarkers were being lapped. On th at sort o f trac k, it was tantam ount to sui cide. Cha tting with spe c tating American Mit ch Mayes , he to ld me h e 'd th ought about co mi ng to rac e motocross in Europe, but Na m ur was ma king hi m change his mind. Before th e st art, th e at mosp he re was tense be tw een ·Mik ko la an d DeCoster. In a pre-race interview with Belgian T V, Heik ki was reduce to monosyllables. Wo lsink n oted d ril y " T here's goi ng to be so me real fir ewo r ks be t wee n th ose two. I'm go ing to stay well out of t he way." Unfortunate ly, for him, he didn't keep to his wo rd. First Moto The Russian pair of Victor I'o pe n ko and Vladimir Khod iak o v tricd to jum p the ga te. Bu t it didn't do the m m uch good bein g far too wide fo r the. firs t turn, and getting bunche d off the track 10 lose a lap . Weil co llided with van Velthoven , came t hroug h the ropes an d re tire d. Big Jaak did another la p, an d th en fell off. t rying t o make up ground, and twiste d his knee. Willi Bauer d idn' t get round the firs t sweep eit her. He fe ll and broke his fron t brake lever , and was out. . So th ey were a few stars short when they came th rou gh the first circui t, led by Wolsi n k. a short-lived challenge by Belgian Raymon d Heeren (Mai), Ben gt Aberg, Arne Kring and Mi kkol a. After two laps, Aberg ca me to a s to p wit h a burnt-out cl utc h. Attempts at makeshift repairs o n the tracks ide with me chanic Ro y Reed o nly involved the pair in a fracas with unreasonable Belgian FIM delegate Charles Dillon. Bengt carried on, o nly to have to pu sh bac k up th e hill exhaus ted , and find he'd been disqualified anyway for illegal assistance and throwing a punch at an FIM represen t ative. Wol sink last ed five laps . As. he sped o ut o f th e sta rt arena a t the beginning o f the sixth, his motor blew with a sickening crac k th at co uld be he ard half-way ac ro ss the paddock. And th at was it. Kring had fallen and bent his bars, a nd Mikkola was aw ay into the lead. Somehow, DeCoster forced up to seco nd spot fro m a sixth on th e first lap , but he had no chance of over powering the leader. 30 seconds Wolsin k got anot he r fl ying start in th e second race, with Kring and DeCoster pressing him hard for the lead round the half-mile, an d down off the fi rst jump. And th at 's where it happened. as th ey bunch ed for a steep downhill left -bander. Someh ow GeTTi! got edged o u t, through the ropes, and st raight into a tree. A sha ken DeCoster took over, and led to th e end, to the delight of the Belgian crowd. Mikkola pushed by Ado lf Weil and Kring on the first circuit to take sec o n d spot. But with his front mudguard stay broken, and the fender flapping and showering him with m uck , he could make no impressio n on th e Belgian's hero. T hey finished, almost the same distance apa rt as they had done in the first race, but in opposite order. Weil got by Kring for th ird place, but he had to tr amp o n so m e bec ause the lanky van Velthoven was back in the running with a vengeance. At the flag, just a bike's length seperated the two. Willi Bauer was out again, this time without a back brake after the rear stay br oke. Bengt Aberg retired after only a few laps, reckoning the trees were just to o dangerous.. After an indifferen t st art, Ake Jonsson co uldn't quite catc h Kring th is time and had to settle for sixth . Brad followed h im, never looking at home on th e e xtr em ely unpleasant tra ck , and disappoin ted a t missing out on so man y points. • Resu lts F irst Mota: 1. H elkk l MikkOla, F in (Hus); 2 . Roger pecc st e-. 8 elg ( SU Z) ; 3 . Ake Jonsson , Swed (Yam) ; 4 . Arne Kring, Swec:l H US) ; 5 . Jean C la u d e L aq ua y e. Belg (Yam) \ 250cc graded rider, no points}; 6. Acre Lodal, Dane (f&.1a i) ; 7 . J u li an de accver , 8elg (eZ); 8 . Andre Massant, 8elg (Yam) ; 9 . Gilbert d e accver , B elg (Hus): 10 . Dan ie l Pean, Frenc h (Ma i) ; 11. F rans Sigmans , Out (Vam). Second Moto: 1 . DeCoster; 2. Mikkola; 3. Adolf well , Ger (Mal): 4 . Jaak van Velt hoven, Belg (Yam); 5. Kring; 6. Jonsson; 7. B r ad Lackey . U.S .A. (HU5) ; 8. Pea"; 9 . Laquaver 10 . Loda li 11. Massant. Championship Po si tion s (In net p o i n t s best twelve races ) : 1. Mikkola ' (171 ); 2 . D eCo st er (161) ; 3. Gerr lt Wolsln k ( 118) , 4. We il ( 115) ; 5 . V an v et t n ov en ( 113); 6. Willi Baue r (83) . Bad Brad Lackey blasts Belgian Gilbert DeRoover in the f irst mota before lo sing h is chain and d ropping out.