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/126030
ass • o oes wlwle huwg ,~~ green & Short Stu y Weisel P ofessional motocross began its largest and most ambitious year with the dropping of the gate at the Florida Winter-Series. Barely eigh t years old and alread y the dominan t cycling sport in America AMA motocross offe rs the widest spectru m of entertainme nt to the yout hful m oto-fol lowers. Starting in t he sand of Florida and encompassing the varied terrain o f 16 states , fo ur stadi u ms , and 4 5 separate co m petit io ns the professi onal MX trail will en d with the exciting Trans·AMA series 11 months later. Without th e support of a major spo nso r the national moto cross circ ui t will still exceed $500 ,000 in purses and co n ting enci es, with the most su ccessful riders nearing yearly inco mes o f $ 100 ,000. Factory support has been trimmed in Europe with maj or man ufact urers withdrawin g from Grand Prix co mpe titio n co mple tely, while in America Suzuki and Kaw asaki put the sto p s to their Grand Nat ional programs. As the factory te ams have diminished on the Grand National and Euro pean fro nts American rnotocrossers are still in deman d . Yamah a, Kawasaki, high Ho nda, and Su zuki will all field as larg e o r larger motocr oss teams in 19 76 . The Euro pean firms will go with small but potent rider co mb inatio ns. Moto cross' class of '73 has co me of age and th e gra d ua tes of th at year (DiStefano, St ack able, Howerton and Smith ) are no w set to assu me their places at t he top . Newe r n am es fro m 19 74 an d 19 75 are honed eno ugh to challenge t he old gladiators , and who knows what und isco vered talen t will surface in the co ming year. This is the year for th e class o f ' 73 to.show their st uff. Suzuk i He ad lined by 250 Nat ional Cham pi on Tony DiSt ef ano Team Su zu ki is the od ds on favorite to tak e one , if n ot mo re, nati onal titles back to Hammamatsu. J o inin g T on y D in th e 250 and Op en clas ses will be former Maico rid er Steve Stackable, Stackable barely missed winning t he Op en class hono rs in 19 75 and the dependa ble RN an d RH works Su zu ki's co uld fulfill his aweso me p oten tial. Often bro ken Billy Grossi, now heal ed, will co ntest the . 125 cc National Ch ampionship class on a Gaston Rahier RA-125 replica. Billy 'Sugar Bear ' Gr ossi stands, at the season's opening, as the number one challen ger to the fo rmidable Marty Smith. The ' Bear' will also contest 250 and 500 events when the schedule permits, The roo kie member of Team Suzuki will be yo u ng Sou them Californian Danny LaPorte in the 125. Yamaha Ya maha has lo st the services of National Champion Jimmy Weinert and will enter the 197 6 AMA motocross season w ith th e yo ungest and least experienced team of all. The n umber o ne tal en t of t he team will be Dan ny Turner, fresh off of a T&l\I 125 Honda. Turner sho wed st rea ks of brilliance in 1975 in the futile pursuit of the fleet Mar ty Smi th and fin ished third ove rall Danny's 250 in th e 125 class. experience is limited to the Trans-MIA support class . Yamaha's most experienced 250 rider will be Pacific Northwesterner Rick Burgett. Burgett has largely co m pe ted in the support class where he has turned in severa l fine performan ces. Perhap s Yamah a 's bi ggest ho pe rests o n t he shoulders of t he untes te d Califo rnia local nash Bob Han nah. Hannah, who didn 't have enough points to ride the Trans-M IA suppo rt class, has the greate st poten tial . to turn the tric k in the future. Yamaha • National motocross oarst has o pted for a yo ung team wi th a heavy emphasis o n the 125 class . In football jargon this will be a building year for Tea m Yamaha. Honda Marty Smith, Pierre Karsmake rs, Rich Eier stad t an d Tommy Croft will co m prise the LA FD team ag ain this ye ar. 19 year old Marty Smith has stolen th e Dutchman 's thunder an d will probably be p resse d in to servi ce in both Europe and America. Mar ty can win in an y o f the three classes, but will co nc en trate on the one-two- fives, Kars makers spe n t the win ter shaking off late season inj ur ies and will ret urn wi th ren ewed vigor to try and regain the do min ance he o nce disp layed ove r Ame rican moto cro ss. Eierstadt and Croft were hired by Honda be caus e they had potential, but in a winter sea rch for an established star Honda co nsidered letting th em go. With more expe rie nce o n the RC Honda's than an yone else Croft in t he 125's and Eierstadt in the 2 50's p ro vides Honda with a strong backup for th eir st ars. Don Kudalski remains on the fringes of a Honda team rid e, b u t it will tak e a good showing early in the year to secure it for him. Kaw asak i Jim my Weinert is back on the big green and set to seek a th ird co nsecu tive Op en class National Championsh ip. Weinert 's retu rn to Kawasaki will m ake the o n again -off again gree n team a powerful force in the Op en class. Gary Semics has been Kaw asaki's ma instay and has proved ab le at doing the job. Sernics and Weinert will remain Op en class spe cialists , but m ore th an likely will see d ual service in th e 250's. Young 18-y ear'old St eve Wise will be racing th e 125 's and so me 25 0's. If Kawasa ki is able to sort ou t t he minor proble ms that plagued th em in 197 5 their revitalized team co u ld bring them an Open clas s title. Husqvarna Husky has released most of their riders and keeps a team of Ken t Howert on. who turned down a chance to race in Europe, and Brad Lackey, in Europe. Howerton has been seen testing 125's at home in Texas, but will be going all ou t for the 25 0 cro wn. Kent o rne w ithin a hair of winning the 250 Championship las' year and will be Tony D's most fierce challenger. Lackey will race the 500 GP 's in Europe an d the n retu rn to Ameri ca in time to co mp ete in th e last ro unds of th e U.S. 500cc Natio nal Ch ampionship series. Bad Brad will give away a few rac es, bu t will still ha ve a long sho t at the t itle he h eld in 1972. Ma ico With the loss of Steve Stacka ble Maico was de alt a cru shing blo w. Maico will n ot rep lace St ackab le's Open class talents, but has signed J o hn Savitski to co ntest th e 250 class aboard - th e German machine. Maico 's we a k positi o n in t he Open class is rect ified by the ab le su pp or t of Wheelsm it h and Cooper Moto rs spo nso red Gay ton Mosi er. Mosi er will co n te st bo th the 250 and Open classe s. Gaylon and John fini sh ed ninth and tenth in the .19 75 25 0 standings. Bultaco With J im Pomeroy t ied up in Europe all y ear , co mp eting in the lon g 250 GP season, Marty T ripes will be th e lone Bult aco entry in t he 250 an d Open classe s. Marty was injured throughout mo st of the 19 75 season but will come b ack to concentrat e on the 250 class. Can-Am T he Canadian fir m will keep its 1975