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/126003
m' 51 DQ :IiI!I ~ O'l ,.....; DaveAldana There was a problem with the promoters, be cause it was really muddy , and about fifteen riders didn 't get scored for finishing practice. They co uldn 't see th e ri ders very wel1 during practice because of the mud, so they [the promoters) just made some stupid rules and elimin ated a bunch o f the riders. They just did wh at they wanted to do. Everyone m ade enough laps. The F.LM. rules say th at y o u h ave to make five laps practice before you can o fficially race on the tr ack, and it doesn't say on wh ich day or when y o u h ave to m ake th o se laps . Saturday I practiced 15 laps and on Sunday m ornin g I practiced 10 laps , fo r a total of 25 laps. They sai d I di dn ' t do five. "Since I didn't spea k Ital ian , there was nothing th at I co uld do. I didn 't have any Am erican jury member that I could go to. They '11 usually tel1 the jury members wh at's going o n, and the jury m embers will tel1 th e riders from th eir own co u n try. A lo t o f th e other m embers knew wh a t was go ing on, but no one came and told m e. No o ne told me there was a problem until I go t to the lin e fo r th e r ace. An d th en it was too late. " After It aly cam e Finland, Ru ssia, and Fran ce where I pi ck ed up finishes o f fo ur -five, four-six , and four-seven to m ove me back up in th e sta ndi n gs. Then cam e Carlsbad, wh ere I go t se cond in the first he at. And th en my fro nt wheel broke in th e' next heat, which didn 't help at all. Currently I'm in fifth pl ace in the world stand ings, but p retty far be hind any cha nce of moving up be cause o f the bad lu ck. " Sin ce fly in g back to Eu rope , Brad h as fo un d that he h asn 't shaken off th at bad luck. It has fol1owed him, a nd po or fin ish es at th e last two Grand Prixs in En gland and Germany h ave allowed Ake J onsson to in crease his points lead ov er Brad for fourth, an d let Jaa k Van Vel th oven move up and tie Brad on points for fifth . On th e o the r hand Roger DeCo ster, wh o h ad m ore than his share of m ech an ical mis fo rtune last y ear, wa s able t o clinch his fourth World Champi onship for Su zuki at th e Beu ern, West German Gr and Pri x. - It is o bvio us that if things had been favorable for Brad, he 'd be up in third or fourth p lace in the World Ch ampionship. Even now, his present fifth pl ace stand ing is substantiall y better th an last y ear's eighth ove rall final position in the 500 World Cham pionship . .Brad is ge tting better each se ason with experience, and perhap s in ano the r tw o years we 'l1 h ave an Am eri can World Ch ampion. If rumors th a t Heikki Mikkola may go to Honda next season are true , Brad m ay have the ad de d in cen tive to do wel1 as the number o n e rid er o n the Husqv arna fac tory team. TI, e p roduc ti on 360 CR Hu sky is good en ough to win at any Grand Prix, and onl y DNFs ca us ed by problems th at co u ldn't be fore see n , li ke the broken front wh eel a t Carlsbad, h ave p reven ted By John Ulrich "I can 't get a go o d enough start on my dirt tracker, and then I can't ra ce with the leaders. All I Can do is race with the squids. I know I can ra ce the thing, Ijust haven't been able to ge t it going. It 's a good running motor, real strong. There's just no ex cu se. It's just me. It's been a lot easier for me to make money in road racing, like in En gland. , (David was top rider a t the Match race s this year.) But there aren 't that many big races around here anymore." Brad fr om doing well. He pointed out the differences between his bike , and th e one down on y o ur dealer's showroom floor. " Every th in g 's stock except I've got a lighter exhaust pipe. The forks ar e sta n da rd ex cept there 's a gas fork kit which also extends the travel to nine inches. It's the Steve Sim ons ' kit from The Moto-X Fox, which anyone can buy. The cy lind er's fast, but anyone can port th e st o ck cylinder to go faster if they need it. Other than those thin gs, it's a stock bike ." Fo r the present, Brad says that he '11 finish o u t th e remaining races on the GP circu it with the hope of trying to improve, o r at least hold on to his present fifth pl ace in the standings. During the early part of the racing season in Europe, for the International races , he makes his home a rented house in Belgium. Once th e Grand Prix season has go tte n underway, he and fiance Lori Hagman find it easier jus t living on the ro ad. It gives th em a c hance to enjoy th e co u n tri e s wh ere Brad races, witho u t having to wo rry, about ge t t in g bac k and forth to Belgium eac h week. This ye ar 's 50 0 Grand Prix circu it finishes up on Aug us t 10th in Lu xem bourg. From there , Brad will move back to the Un ite d States fo r the rem ainder o f the ye ar . He 'Il race the three remaining events in the M iA's 50 0c c Na tional Champi on ship and then th e T ran sAM A Seri es this fall. Fo r Br ad Lac key, t rying to win this year's 50 0cc National Championship w on 't be easy , sin ce h e will h ave mi ssed the firs t two races in the five-race series, but for a rider wh o is one of the five best in th e world, it's not im p o ssible. All it takes is a little lu ck, which has to be abo u t due.