Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

; ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::~:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::~::::::::;::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::{:~:~:}}~::::::::::::::::::::::::~:~:~:~:~:~:~:::::::::::::::::}:: ; Another tie for first. Decision: DeCoster t By John Huetter PAYERNE, SWITZERLAND, APR. 13 The battle lines are drawn. In the two opening motos of the 1975 -.. ..- 500cc motocross championship, 0.. < defending World Champ Heikki Mikkola (Hus) won and three-time World Champ Roger DeCoster (Suz) won. They defeated each other in alte rnate rounds. The fact that the face- off be tween these incredibly tal ented r ide rs was no big surprise didn 't detract one whit fro m the fasc inatio n and tension of watching the best riders in the world competing against o n e anothe r. They tied with 27 points apiece t oward the World Champi onship. DeCoste r wa s decl ared the winner based on sh ort est elapsed time - so short he near ly nailed Heikki at the ch ec kered flag in mo to two. The season is goi ng to be very interesting. Sole American 500 rider Brad Lackey ac hieve d anot he r mileston e in U.S. sports hist o ry by finishing fourth overall be hin d Du tchman Gerr it Wolsin k. That is th e be st overall finish ever achieved by an Am erican in 500cc Gran ds Prix . Brad 's fin ish was surp rising o nly to those who weren ' t awar e ' o f his unprecedented string of international win s. Th at , unfo rt unately, includes m ost of the Americ an public. Brad went in to the Swiss GP with four seconds (ove rall ) an d a first in th e previo us five races, including a second be h ind Roger DeCoster in the prestigious four-moto One ha lf of the World Championship title swapping team of DeCoster & Mikkola. Gerrit Wolsink calmly watched the madness up front from his third place seat. two-class Belgian Easter Trophy. He attributes his improvement to good starts an d har d tr aining. Perra has also ketp Brad 's 360 Husqvarna free of DN Fs. Afte r loo kin g in diffe ren t in practice an d co mp laining of not feeling " o n " am idst mutterings of teeth he co uld be drillin g, Ge rrit Wo lsin k go t an impressive holesh o t in th e fir st mo to . He was followed by DeCoster on an other quic k-turning, much-suspended Suzuki. Heikki got away ab out 10th; Brad , abo ut 12th. After o n e lap , Aberg o n a stock 352cc Bultaco an d Frans Sigman s (Mai) had fallen in behind th e Suz uki pilots. An d behin d th em was Mikkola. charging insanely . Heikki was devouri ng rid ers in a rush t ha t see med o ut of co ntrol bu t yo u kn ew the Finn wasn 't over his head. By th e third lap, he'd passed Lackey , Aberg and Sigmans to settle in a closing third . Brad him sel f ha d moved up to fifth after as man y laps on a sinulous, bumpy circuit that ha d been u nder snow three days before the GP. Mikkola was hurtling but, by n o w, Roger had gotten by Gerrit and was developing a good lead of his own: Only a few minutes later, Heikki was looking at the rear knobby of a wo rks Suzu ki. Scattered in his wake were Gerrit Wolsink, smooth Bengt Aberg, Brad Lacke y , Ake J onsso n , and John Banks on a stock CCM four-stroker, " The Baron" is still mighty good. Roger pic ked up a little breathing ro om over Heikki as the Finnish flyer Mikkola & DeCoster about to make a pass on a slower rider. The start of the 500 Grand Prix season geU underway in style with DeCoster and Mikkola neck and neck. experien ce d stinging sal t sweat running into his eyes. Th e same problem afflic ted many of the riders but Heikki att ribu ted the waterfall of sweat to helmet design and swi tc he d ba ck to a Bell R-T for the sec o nd moto, He was also to comp lain o f a faile d Girl ing gas shoc k. Mech an ic Pella Persson could not de fin itely confirm or d en y this. Roger didn 't much care. He j ust too k off. Even wh en Hei kk i go t his act ba ck togeth er, DeCost er wa s act ually go ing away fro m h im to bu ild up a lead o f over 30 sec o nds a t th e finish. That, as it devel op ed , would prove the m argin of victory . Roger loo ked just fin e. Gerrit was alone in third. Bengt was unruffled in fo urt h , and Brad didn 't kn ow wh ere he was in fifth. Bet wee n-m ote discussion wit h ace mech an ic Perra Widell go t that ta ken care o f for moto t wo. Racing on a serious leve l was generate d by a pass-repass duel be t wee n Ake J onsson an d Arne Kring, behind Lac key. Ake m ad e his last pass sti ck. Nobody wasted any t im e wh en the Swiss starting ga te fell inward fo r t he second 40 min u te plus two lap round of the GP. DeCoster had the lead halfway do wn the sta rt straight an d on in to th e first hairpin corn er. Second was Mikkola ; third was Wo lsin k. Brad was away ab out sixth or seventh. He quic kly dispatched Frans Sigmans an d on the second lap, he cut inside Bengt Aberg beautifully on the start hairpin (which ended in a downhill dropaway ) and grabbed fifth. The brash y oung American just outrode the crafty former Wo rld Champion - both may be riding the closest thing to stock bikes in the top 10. Arne Kring, also on Husky, led Brad. On th e third lap, Roger made a rar e mistake. He slid out on a downhill off-camber co mer. When he go t go ing again , he was in third behind Mik kola and Wolsin k. Then began o ne of th e most intense; he ll, just plain fast est , . rides I've ever see n in 17-18 Gran ds Prix. Two laps after his crash , Roger was ba ck past Gerrit. The dentist with the myopic blue eyes was not exactly strokin ' it, either. He had led that first mota for a surprisingly long time. Brad passed Arne Kring on the same lap. The GP looked like a Husqvarna-Suzuki part y: the Huskies, frighteningly stock; the Suzukis, super-secret nearly-400cc something-or-others to the point of tedium. Bengt Aberg smashed his right hand (again) into a course marking stake and retired fro m fifth. If y ou can't hold on , yo u can't race. Particular ly on a co urse that was soggy and bumpy simultaneously . Yo ung Belgian flash Jean·Claude Laguaye, an o t her protege of former Belgian Natio nal Cham p Marcel Wiertz Uim Po mero y is o ne of the other noted Wiertz students. ], had intruded his 3 62cc Bult aco up to seventh in his first 500 GP after a first mota ninth when a Bilstein rod snap ped. His place was taken by still another hot, 20-ish Belgian, Andre Massant, rid ing for Yamaha-Europe. Everybody else held position-at speed. With two laps to go , Roger had m oved to within three bike-lengths of Heikki, The two had opened an enormous lead over Gerrit and Brad. A wav e of cheering fo llowed their rapid progress aro und th e circ ui t - so close together it was hard to say who the ch eerin g was for. Bo th , probably . Everybody 's p ulse jumped 30 a minute. Thre e seconds after the " I lap " sign ca me o u t, Ro ger go t a wheel under Hei k ki in the st art tum. Heikki stood it on th e front wheel down the dropaway - us ing the adva n tage o f inertia. On th e last series of Svturns Roger was moving in an d o ut of the roostertail fro m Heik ki 's kn obby. It was too tigh t to pass an d no room for a drag ra ce to th e checkered . They tied. T wen ty-seve World Ch ampionship points each. Thi is only the begin ning. Results MOTO O N E ' 1. R0ger De Co st er (Su Z). 2 He lkkl M ikkol a (HuS). 3. Gerrlt Wolsin (S uzl . 4 . Ben gt Aberg ( Bul). 5. B rad Lacke (Hus). 6. A k e Jon sson (Vam). 7. Arne K r in {Hus} . 8. Frans Sigmans (Ma l) . 9 . Jean-Clau Laguaye (Bul). 10. A r at o ly aetenkov rcz). MOTO TWO, 1. Heikk l M ikkola (Hus). 2 Roger DeCoster (Su z). 3 . Gerrlt Wolsin (Su z). 4. Bra d Lackey (Hus). 5 . A r n e Krln (HuS). 6 . A ke Jonsson (Vam). 7. F r an . Sigmans (Ma l) . 8. Christer Hammargr. (Kaw). 9 . A ndre Ma5~nt (Vam). 10 . Jaak V a Velthoven (Vam) .

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