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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/125888
Everts wins a wet one, Roger widens series lead &Thorwaldson first American at Puyallup Trans-AMA By Lane Campbell PUYAL LUP , WASH ., NOV . 17 "Half the time you're riding with your eyes closed , and th e rest y ou can't see. " That's h ow Britisher Roger Harvey (Ch e) described racing conditions as day-long, steady rain saturated Puyal lup's sandy loam . The fine sand-mud got into everything eyes, mouths, engines, suspension units as pre -race favorites crashed or fell to mechanical a ttri tio n . Harry Everts ,gave the P~ch its first Trans-AsfA Win , upsetting Roger DeCoster in the first moto and taking the overall victory on points. DeCoster. Bauer, and Wolsink were riding with the new Suzuki factory pro to ty p e forks whose leading-axle geometry pulls the fork legs back on a line with the steering Pacific Northwest , people tend to ignore any wetting below flash-flood stage. First moto DeCoster, Hans Maisch (Mai) and Everts were the leading edge of the wedge, as Bengt Aberg (Bu l) worked up to join them on the next lap, followed by Steve Stackable and Mike Hartwig. Then thi ngs began to co me unglued. Roger lit nose-heavy off the "Mt. Rainier" jum p (which is entered slightly crossed-up o ut of an uphill left), slid and highside d. After he picked him self up to get back in it, Weil came off in the same place but managed to land with the engi ne still run ning. Sometimes it was just too hard to adm it defeat. head (not unlike Maico}, requiring indents in the tank for clearance. Adolf Weil 's Maico bore his stamp; he designed th e angled gas/oil shocks and the frame as well . There we re two Cheney-Victors of convent ional layout for Harvey and Wayne Boyer, also a CCM with Vic Eastwood up . Everts' Puc h was so stock in appearance, it was almost no n-d escript. ยป: 6 Hans Maisc h, who took ove r the lead an d hel d it, finally came to grief in the mid dle of the "lake" (fo rmer turn) below the sco rers' booth. The chain came off an d took o ne shock out with it. A mud-mon st er that looked like Bryar Holcomb (or may be Ivan Miller) clo uted Ab erg's rear wh eel on an attempte d pass and cras hed without pe rtu rbi ng Bengt, Then Gary Ch ap lin som ersaul ted over th e downed bike. !loth go t running agai n. Practice had lasted long en o ugh to ge t most of the racers thoroughly wet, co ld, miserable, and primed for what was to come. The steady drizzle and temperature in the low 40s would have most promoters taking a bath, but 11,000 die- hard fans passed the gate. That's not counting the free-loaders wat ching through the wo ods. In the T hese were j ust a few of th e mis haps as b ikes and rid ers flopped or struggled in ever: part of th e ro ller-coaster circuit which p ret zels itself within a natural bowl-shaped clearing ringed with caped and ho od ed spectators. Weil's crew eventually push ed his bike away for the day, Po meroy's engine inhaled a fatal Last one int o the wate r's an ol' maid! Harry Everts (70 1steams away from Steve (2 1) Stackab le in one of the many -er- watercrossings. overdose of crud, and Steve Stackable got bogged in the slop, slipping to 23rd in that moto , Ever ts, looking and sounding very soli d, took the moto ahead of Mike Hartwig (who had circulated almos t unnoticed) . Arne Kring h eld off Yokio Sugio (Yam) for third, while DeCo st er got down to some serious survival mo t o cr oss to co me in fifth . Willi Bau er ro de har d to a six th, foll o wed by Brad Thorw aldson , Mi ke Lac key, Rich Ru nyar d (Suz) and Vic Ea stwood o n the th um pe r to ro und o u t th e top te n. Ab erg and DiStef ano had spent so m uch down-time as to score at th e tail e nd of the mot o, Second moto The first attempt at a start was red-flagged when half the starting gate hung up (Runyard and a re-e ngin Po meroy had a little tro uble getting th m essage ). Arne Kring an d Bengt Aber (former Husky team m ates in th e Ba 0 1' Days) led the restart up " Mt wit h Eiers te dt (Hon) Rainier" St ac kable, Everts, Chap lin and DeCoste in tow. Lackey gated ab ou t 13 th , then fell on the upside of the Mt, Ra ini e j ump. Mean while Maisc h to o k fir e and ca ugh t up to Eiers ted t by th e th ird lap. passin g him to go into th ird th e nex t tim e aro und. Ever ts moved aro und in to fo urth, wh ile Stack ab le and DeCoster lay sixth -seve nt h, Roger co nstan tly having to d uck his head to sh ield his eyes from Steve 's spray . Maisch seized at Mt , Rainer and packed it in , while Thorwaldson moved in behind Suzuki teammate DeCoster an d the th umper freaks were bein g