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/125881
USA scores second at M otocross des Nations By Terry Pratt HUSKVARNA , SWE DEN, S EPT . 15 00 Sparked by America's two Grand Prix riders Jim Pomeroy and Brad Lackey, supported by National Numbers One and Two J im Weine rt an d Tony DiStefano, the Unite d States took second plac e in the 1974 Motocross des Nations to o nc e and for all establish the u.s. as a power fu l fo rce in International Motocross. Sweden wow th e even t o n the fast, san dy circ ui t. The star o f th e show (an d every o ne's favo rite ) was two time past Champ Bengt Aberg who purred to firs t place in both 4 0 minute heats aboard a fac to ry Bultaco. Husqvarna didn 't retain Aberg's co n tr ac t for 1974 and Bengt apparently decided to prove he still h ad it in him at this las t race o f the y ear whi ch was held in' the shado w o f the Husqvarna fac to ry. The biggest bummer of the da y, and perhaps of the year, was a bad crash whi ch left Belgium's Jaak Van Veith oven and a Swedish flagman stretched out unconscious on the track. Jaak was hospitalized with face and bead injuries while the flagman was in eritical condition with back inj uries. First Heat • In the first .t urn it was Aberg and Roger DeCoster out front, a duel that continued through the hea t, b ut Roger could n't close the gap on the inspired Aberg. J im Weinert got tangled up in an eight ri der shunt in the first lap so he spen t the rest of the race co ming back f ro m last place. Pomeroy started seventh and Bra d was II th o By lap five the USA was leading the team scoring with Lackey eighth, Po meroy l Oth and DiStefano 11th. Brad and Tony unsuit and take a break in the p it s between heats. ~ u ..c o ..... u o Swedish Champion Arne Kring brought his works Husky from way back to seventh place to put Sweden in the lead at the end of the first round. World 500 Champ Heikki Mikkola tweaked his , fragile foot in t he early going and he retired for the day. Hans Maisch of the Mai co -rnounted West German team had fourth place until the last lap wh en h is car bureto r fell off. Ad olf Weil and Willy Bau er were alrea d y out of the running so Hans _pushed in to the pits instead of waiting at the finish lin e. Lac key and Pomeroy were fifth and sixth a t the flag, an outstanding performance when you co nsider that th e starting list incl ud ed the world's to p talent from both classes. Second Heat Aberg agai n snatched the lead when th e starting gate fell, but this time h e was shadowed by Gerrit Wolsink. DeCoster made about five laps before he shed his chain and it fouled in the swingarm, ending the chan ces of th e Belgian team . By lap 10 the Swedes were running away with it, scoring Aberg in first, Kring third and Ake Jonsson sixth. But with Belgium out of the race the USA was clearly well p laced with Pomeroy 11 th, Lackey 13th and DiStefano 25th. In the final stages Kring displa ced Wolsink for second place and the two remaining Belgians Harry Everts and Jean·Calude Laquaye started a drive. Everts battled past Jim and Brad who were now running toge th er in l Oth and 11 th but they held off J -C until the last lap w hen Brad hit a broken off expansio n chamber an d crashed. , Brad had to push' his fac tory 36 0 Husqvarna up a hill to get restarted and was m ostl y pooped when he crossed the line just two positions ahead of Russians Pavel Rulev and Anatoly Bochkov. The Swedes had obviously swept first place but second was a toss-up between the US and the USSR. The next scene harkened b ac k to last year in Switzerland with the boys and te am manager Gunnar Lindstrom nervously wai ting ar o und for the scorers and Jury to tal ly the points. Finally the word was announced, t he champagne popped and the three top teams got to snuggle with the Champion Spark Plug girls. ABC Television's Wide World of Sports had a film crew on hand so watch for the instant replay in a couple of months. _ It's Champagne bath t ime! Ji m Pomeroy soaks down Hakan Andersson an d the rest of the Swedish team. In the center of it all Sengt Aberg has good . reason for h is grin having won both heats. Brad Lackey on the Husky 360 works bike was the h ighest placing American fin ish ing f ifth in the first h eat . J im Weinert hooks around one of the sandy berms on the well prepared ' Huskvarna course. Steady Tony DiStefano wrings o ut his fu ll-on works CZ comple te with air shocks and Czech me chanic . J im Pomeroy put his Eu ro pean experience t o work an d sc o red a co ns istent .sixth and t enth f o r the U.S . team. Results Team Plac ings : 1. Sweden (22); 2 . USA On the next lap Van Velthoven 's Yamaha somehow left th e course in the middle of a fast downhill stretch , jum ped a hu ge d rainage ditch behind the co urse barrier and blindsided the flagman watching the tum at the bottom of the hill. Both we re knocked co ld and the racer s had to zig zag past the injured m en and the stretcher crews carrying t hem to the ambulance. Jaak remained in Sweden under intensive care for a few 'days before being air-lifted to Belgium for an op eratio n . Gunnady Moisseie v, the new 250cc World Champion, held third place behind Aberg and DeCoster. Hakan Andersson worked past all three to p American s for fourth place while (70) ; 3 . USSR (74); 4. England (108) ; S. Holland (114); 6 . F rance (130) ; 7. Denmar k 1 4 4 ) ; 8. Switzerland (147); 9. Norway (197) . NDIVIDUAL PLA C I NGS H eal On e : 1. Bengt A b e r g (Bul ) .swe: 2 . R0ger DeCoster JSUZ) Be1 ; 3. Gunnady 9 MOlssejev (K TM ) SSR; 4 . Hakan Andersson (Yam) Swe: 5 . Brad Lackey (Hus) USA; 6 . Ji m Pomeroy (Bur) USA ; 7. Arne Kring (Hus) Swe: 8 . K al ev) Vetlkonen (HuS) Fin ; 9. Vic Alta n (B ul) Eng ; 10. Harry Everts (Puc) Be lg: 11. Pavel Ru tev (KTM) USSR; 12 . Frans Sigmans (Yam) Hall ; 13. V i c Eastwood (Mai) Eng; 14 . Tony DIS tefano (CZ) USA : 15 . Joseph L ctscner (Mal ) SW it: 16 . Rolf Dlffenbach (Malb W. Ge r: 17. Serge Baco u (Mal) Fran: 18 . aniel Pean (Ma l) l=ran; 19. Arne Lodal (Mal ) Den: 2 0 . Toon K a rsm a k er s (Hus ) Holl . Heat Two : 1. Aberg: 2 . Kring: 3 . Go rr lt W o lsl n k CSuz) H o lI ; 4 . H an s Maisch (Mai) W . Gor; 5. Moisseiev ; 6. Everts: 7. Andersson; 8. Ake Jonsson (Vam) Swe ; 9 . A dolf Weil (Mai) W. Ger: 10. Pomeroy; 1 1. Jean · C lau de Lacquay (Yam) Be19: 12. Allan ; 13. Paull Pippo!,a (CZ) F in; 14. LaCkey ; 15. D iffenbaCtl : 16. Rulev ; 1 7. Anatoly B och k o v (CZ) USSR; 18 . Sigmans ; 19 . Jea n Claude Nowa k (Mon) Fran: 20. LOdal . 1 23