Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Specially for dirt By David Maltais VASTERAS,SWED EN,MAY 16 Stro nger t han ever a nd o n his way t o a cer tai n f i fth World Ch ampi on sh ip titl e, Suzuki's Ro ger DeCoster sto rmed ahead in th e 500cc GP battl e with fastes t qualifying time Sunday morning and first pl ace finishes in both motos o n th e Malm ab anan circuit ncar Vaster a s, Maico 's Ado lf Wei! too k the sta rt o f the firs t race with DeCoster and Pu ch 's Herbert Sch mitz in second and third Husk y 's Brad Lackey me t d isas ter at th e - first co rn er a ro ck go t in between th e chain an d the sp roc ke t and threw th e chain off. Brad push ed th e Hu sq varn a off the track , lean ed it agai ns t a straw bale an d q u ick ly go t t he chain back o n . He started abo ut a hal f a lap down o n the rest o f t he riders, b ut his engin e was not running properl y and he pulled into the pi ts hoping that h is me ch anic could help him fin d th e p roblem . The ch ok e had been put on, probably when the bike had been laid agains t the straw bale and th at was why th e engine had been acting strangely . He was now a complete lap behind an d he retired. Roger was closing the gap on Wei! and finally go t b y midway through the race; Schmitz was also hu ngry and hi s wo rk s Puch w as fas t eno ugh to catch Weil also ' and pass. him in th e last few laps. Gerrit Wolsink and Graham Noyce also got bad starts and the young Engli sh rider used so much energy to cat ch the leaders that he didn't have enough str en gth to push for a higher po siti o n . Halfway through the race Gerrit's lef t co n tac t len s popped o ut and stayedinsid e his go ggles. His visio n wa s so blurred th at he co uld not p ick o u t t he good ra cjng Jines. Fran s Sigm ans go t a good start and was amo ngs t th e lead ers when he hit a ro ck wh ich p itch ed his Maim side wa ys and threw h im off. Ho nda's Pierr e K ar,sPHiI <;.r.s• •was••righJ . J>~i}iJld . ,hj m• • sm ashed in to Frans' bike an d crashed . Directl y behind him was J aak Van Velthovan , w ho was so close th a t h e co uld no t avo id Pierre and ran over h im with h is KTM directly o ver Pierre's che st inj urin g his rib s, bruising th e righ t sid e of Pierr e 's j aw / the inside of his left elbow an d fo rearm . All three rid er s retired. J aak had b een smash ed in the gro in and tr ied to co nt in ue , but th e p ain fOLced him to stop. In th e second race it was nineteen yea r old Grah am Noyce w ho go t th e jump 'o n everybo dy an d got eight to ten meter s ahead of Roger as th ey c ame aro und th e firs t lap . N oy ce led for fo ur lap s with Roger closing up o n him and waiting for the yo un ger rider to m ake a mistak e. Roger said af ter the ra ce that Graham was o ut of control and on the verge of cras hing many times in an effort to keep ahead o f him. Just af ter the st art/Hnish are a when the y started the fifth lap Graham acc elera ted o ut of a turn with too much throttle, th e Maico pitched sideways and t he rear end jumped back an d forth a co up le o f times before he was thrown off. He was a bit shaken, but sai d he didn ' t get back into the race because after he wa s in the lead and crash ed he didn' t want to get b ack and fin ish out of th e po in t. Bultaco's Bengt Aberg retired when a sto ne broke his knee protector and smashed his knee cap . Wolsink co uld hardly see in th e seco nd ra ce when his contact lense s gave hi m trouble again. " I had to start taking ch ances an d gues sing wh ere the lin es were. 1 don't wan t to kil l my self. On the ba ck part of the co urse it was no problem , but go ing past the_ start fin ish straight my visio n was completel y blurred, I co uld n't see. Last time for con tact lenses , b ack to glasses." Brad had go tten a decent start an d wa s in seven th wh en his ji nx of b ad luck struck again. As he came off a slo w drop-off he gassed it to ' take th e n ex t d ownhill str aigh t that had an asp halt lip before th e jump. A little too much gas th rew the Husqvarna ninety degr ees sideways and h e went off th e j ump w ith no way to straigh te n fligh t path . He landed and crashed end over end several times. A ke J onsson was so clo se behind h im th at he had to lo ck up both brake s. T h is stalled his engin e and he had to co me to a c o mple te sto p and restart the en gine. Kar srnaker s was right behind Ake and passed him and Brad to move into fo urth pl ace behind Schmitz. He edge d closed to th e West German until he finally p assed him and started afte r Weil and was gaining on him every lap, but time ran o ut and he finished eigh t seconds beh ind Ado lf. Roger again made the win lo ok easy with a twenty -three second margin over Adolf. Roger said af te r th e race in the Su zuk i tent th at he had ridden in th e ra ce just as fast as he had been rid ing during the week in practice sessions. A fte r wiping th e d irt and sweat off his face he sat b ack in th e chair an d said, "Sometimes it is so hard to make tenth place , o ther times it is so easy to m ake first, The hardest part of the second race was af ter I had taken the lead . I had a hard time concentrating and keepi ng a ra cing pace." For th e first time th i s se ason Roger looked co mpletely relaxed an d in comple te con trol of his Suzuki. In th e previous races this ye ar he wa s a Ii ttle jerky and not displaying the clean smooth riding th at he normally does. His bike is now faster than it was at the beginning of the year and both he and Gerrit are now using new Konis made especially to Suzukis specifications. • If you dig the d irt, ride with Mulholland MX hydraulics, built for treacherous terrain. A full line of tunable and rebuildable MX shocks allow you to fit you r bike to you r individual requ irements. MX shocks are available to fit all off -road bikes , regardless of size. For GP. and cantilever setups, the LTG (lon g travel gas-rebuildable l shock gives t he ult imate in shock performance. A new shock featuring Geretron gas bladder, up to 4~ inches of trave l, extra large o il capacity , 1lz: d iameter piston' rod , aluminum cooling fins, six·stage prog ressive valving and self-lubricating top and bottom bushings. If you ride motoaoss, enduro or trials, Mulholland has a shock for,You. IIIM\\\T W MulhollG.... ~ For into rme1ion on In_e-n', comptIU l int of motorevde p'oduc:n, lend $2.00 to Depc . CN-6 P.O. Box 390, Gardena, Califomia 90247 ................................ , . I AMAAAM. .. A.M.E. ~ ~ A ll Ne w Minicycle Night Motocross at Indian Dunes Every Fr iday Night - Starting June 4 on Mini Motocross Track All Classes: Pee Wee to 83cc modified Expert Special 15 yrs . & over 80cc open class 1st Race 8 pm AME membersh ip requ ired $4,000 Medical Insurance info: 213-881·5778 Results M ot o 1 : 1. Roger o ec e ste r (SU Z) ; 2. H erbert Schm it z ( Puc) ; 3. A d olf Well (M al ) ; 4 . Ake J onsson (Mal) ; S. G err lt W olslnk (Suz) ; 6 . Graham Noyce ( Ma il ; 7. Jaa k v an V ei th ov en (KTM) : 8. C hrlster Hammargren {Kaw}: 9 . Ben9t Aberg (Bul) : 10 . A n at o ly Bochkov IC Z ). Moto 2 : 1. Roger DeCoster (SUZ) ; 2 . Adolf We i! (Mal) ; 3 . P ierre Karsmakers (Hon) ; 4. Herber t Schmitz (Puc) ; 5. Ake Jonsson {Ma l) i 6 . W i lly B auer ( K TM ): 7 . Ch r l st er Hammargren ( Kaw ) : 8. Vlad imir Khud ia k ov (CZ) , 9 . Anatoly Bochkov (CZ) , 10 . Andr e .. .,Ma5sant ( YaD'lJ . . .. _ __ I I ultaco ~ We need Junior riders . encino cycle 2 13·345·0475 17 .

• Cover