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
teams In 19 76 t he big f our Jap an ese tea m s will be led by Mar t y S mith , R ick Burget t, J imm y Wein ert an d Ton y DiStef ano , Jam m in' J im m y will sw it ch fro m yellow t o green and be th e veteran su rrounded by a h o t young group of graduates from th e class of '73. te am in tact. Ji m m y Elli s , Buck Mu rphy , and Mike Runyard will be placing m o st of th eir efforts in t o the 250 class. Ellis will probably .l;2n test a few 125 's, but the AMA scheduling will force the Can-Am star to decide between the 125's and 250's early in the season. Can -Am will have to start to work on the Open class bike again be cause the Can-Am team is too good to ride the su port classes again this season. Harley-Davidson Finally America enters th e American motocross wars with Harley providing Rex Staten with a bundle o f support. Harley has been too tentative in the past to make a n y impact on th e m otocross market. In 19 76 they have swi tched t o a co nven tio nal rear suspension and Rex will compete in the 25 0 class. An Open class bike is repo rte d to be in the works. Jones-Islo T hree ti me National Champion Gary J ones will continue the development of the Mexican/American venture kno wn as the Jones-lslo . Gary seriously injured his leg at Daytona and was sidelined m o st of the 1975 season, only to come back and ride the Trans-Am circuit . Gary didn 't do well in the Trans-Am, but it was more of a testing session for his leg a nd the new bike. Missing from act ion ,- J ohn DeSoto will be a t ho me in Hawaii resting and relaxin g while the dirt wa rs continue. Big John was the first rider to officially serve hi s time an d retire with honor. Peter Lamppu is expected to hang up his m otocross glo ves after an American career that saw him finish third a n d fifth in th e 5 0 0 Championships and fourth and seventh in t h e 250 's . Also mi ssing this year will be vete ran J im West w ho died from in juries sustained at the Saddleback Trans-AMA and rookie pro Mark Stapleton, who w as killed preparing to start the second season of a promising career. Premature prognosticat ions The 12 5 class should provide the tightest racing of its short history with Marty Smith fin ally having co mpetition in t he for m of Bill y Grossi (Suz) and Danny T urner (Ya m) . Othe r co me rs in t he tiddler class will be Warren Reid, Bob Hannah and Steve Wise , but it re all y pares down to a duel between Marty Smith and Billy Grossi. The 25 0 class should com e down t o the wire wi th th e same two men as last year. Te xan Kent Howerton and Pennsy lvania 's Tony DiStefano st and head an d sh o uld ers ab ove the rest of th e natio nal riders when it co mes to the ' deu ce-and-a-half's'. Tony D is curre ntly unbeatable, while Kent is ri ding ou t a cold streak, but when the National points are on the line things heat up. The 500 's remain the domain of whoever can take it. Last year five riders went into the final moto with a shot at the title. The same five riders have a chance again . Steve St ackable could take it if you we re picking sentimental favorites , but two-time champ Weinert, Gro ssi, Karsmakers, Howerton or DiStefano are all equals. In 1976 the AMA will score by moto , which is to say that instead of eight 125 ra ces for points there will be 16 mo tos for points. This system is similar to the European method of scoring a nd should result in more co mpetitive racin g all year . With something up for grabs everytime the gate drops y o u can co unt o n the action be ing serio us for every rider. • 31