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/126043
~bo ve. Heikki The Wolf tends to business, inset, he tends to pe rsonal preparation. Opposite page, a tired Bad Brad hangs in. ru. Mikkola, Boven, and Joel Robert. Gaston was knocked down at the start. He got up dead last. b, Sylvain's mechanical luck stayed with Iiim in the fmal rnoto. This time it was the 400 Maico 's gearbox. Heikki then fiad a clear shot at Brad, who fou nd so me necessary reserves of energy to keep the lead for six laps. Mikkola finally came past and the two Huskies vau lted seco nds ahead of everybody as Geboers went out; Robert 's 380 Puch se ized ; and Boven started suffering from llizzy spells. That series of events left Gerrit Wolsink in third. ! Meanwhile, the Belgian crowd of 20,000 was going wild. Gaston Rahier, starting dead last in a field of 43 international riders, had come up to 10th place. He was absolutely crazy. His crew of Japanese mechanics tried to slow him down and he responded by sailing 50 ft. horizontally over the uphill jumps. Heikki stretched out a slight lead as Gerrit moved up to trouble Brad. He eventually got past, but Brad came right back to catch him. The duel for second place, conducted with machines of 50 HP at distances of th ree to five paces, carried Wolsink and Lackey nearer to Mikkola, but Heikki was never headed in his bid for a three-win victory. Gaston was st ill doing it but when his mechanics informed him he 'd gotten up to fifth be hind Adolf Weil, he backed off a couple of notches from the banzai mode. Brad was getting worn even further down by , the torrid pace that he had originally established as the speed for winning this last race. Gerrit opened up the gap just a bit toward the end. Adolf Weil cruised quickly behind Brad to a fourth and a fourth overall The final order after two 25 0cc and two 500cc motos was Heikki Mikkola, Gaston Rahier, Gerri t Wolsink, Adolf Weil and Brad Lackey - the latter three separated by only six points. When the announcer asked Heikki what his feelings were after his devastating vict ory , he terse ly replied, "I'm happy." Contin uing the witty repartee, the annou ncer asked if he thought he co uld win the 250cc World Cha mpionship, Heikki said, "Maybe," In 1971, ' 72, '73 an d '75, Roger. DeCoster won the Belgian Easter Trophy and went on to be World Champion . Heikki Mikkola won in 1974; taking the 500cc World Championship the same season. Heikki has won again in 1976 and is curren tly leading the 250cc World Championship standings. It has got to be. a psychological boost to have beaten the best in all three classes at one race. • Results SU NDAY 2S0cc: 1. Helkkl M ikkol a (Hus ) F in. 2 . Sylvain Geboers ( Ma l) Bel . 3. Adolf Wen M al) Ger. 4 . Jaak Van V el thoven (KTM) 8019. 5. Br ad Lacke y (Hus) USA . 6. Jean-paut Mlngel s IBu l ) Be 19. 7. R Oller D eCost er (Suz l Be19. 8. Q uy H uy nen (B ul ) Belg. 9 . H arry E verts (Puc) Bel g. 10. Jea n-ctauce Lac~uaye (Bu l) Belg. 500cc: 1. He lk k l M i k kola ( H us) F in . 2. Gasto n Ra hler (Suz) 8elg. 3. Ge rrlt Wo lsln k (Su z) Neth, 4 . H arry Everts (Puc) Belg . 5. A dolf Well (M al) Ger. 6 . Brad Lackey (Hus) USA. 7 . Rorr beCoster (Su z) Belg. 8. Han s Maisch ( Ma l Ge r. 9 . A nd re Malherbe (KT M) 8 e19. 10. Andre M assan t ( Vam ). Belg. MON D A Y 2 5 0cc : 1. Ga sto n Rah ler. 2 . Roge r D eCo ster . 3 . Ha ns Mais ch . 4 . He lk k l M ikkola. S. Ji m Pomero y (B ul) USA. 6. Ge rrit W o lslnk. 7. Brad La cke y . 8. GUY Huvnen, 9 . Y van Va n den Bro eck ( M al) Belg. 1 0. H arry Ev ert s. SOOcc: 1. Helkkl Mikkola. 2 . Ge rrlt Wols in k . 3. Brad Lac k ey . 4. Ado lf wen, 5 . G aston R ahler. 6. Ha rry E vert s. 7. .Jean-Ctaude LacQ uay e. 8. V van V ande n Broec k. 9. A nd re Massant. 10. An dre Malherbe. 13