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/126052
;; I; ~ t - J <.0 e- O'l ~ O'l C'I ~ ... s:: :::l (above) The second mota stan bends around the first tum with Don Kudalski (255) on the way to a mota win. (below) Jimmy Ellis and his .watercooled Can-Am rest before getting pumped up. sale at a ridiculously low 52000 price had frightened the big-buck japanese teams in to pulling them from competition. Almost. Team Suzuki had put Billy Grossi on a modified RM 125, and wlrile no one at Suzuki wanted to say it, it appeared that the stock frame and suspension units might have hurt Billy's chances of maintaining his second place in the point standings. Twice in the first moto, ' t he hastily prepared modified stocker threw its chain. And once in the second round it threw its rider. Billy wound up with a less-than-expected 17th overall score which dropped him from a seemingly secure second to a tie for third in the National standings. Steve Wise made a 5-4 score boost him from fourth to second in the National points race. Marty Smith suffered an up and down day, it was the "downs" that hurt, placing 3-6 for a fourth overall. The afternoon's work put him in a tie for thirdwith Grossi three places up from his former sixth in the standings. Perhaps the biggest jump of the day came when ' Team Honda's Don "Killer" Kudaski backed up his first round fourth with a win in the second moto. In addition to becoming the only rider to win a 125cc moto from "Hurricane" Hannah this year, Don also shot from 15th to fifth in the standings. jimmy Ellis and Team Can-Am thumbed their noses at the claiming rule by showing up with a new water-cooled racer. Unlike Yamaha, Can-Am places the radiator down by the motor instead of up behind the number plate. After recovering from a dead last start in the first moto, jimmy fought his way up to seventh, then backed it up with a third in the second leg. " "We deliver," grinned George Ellis when asked if he wasn't worried about losing his new beauty to the claiming rule. "We ,asked Can-Am about it, and they said to just ask whoever wants it where they'd like it dropped off." Round one Bob Hannah celebrated Fathers Day with another 125 National win. Hurricane lashes Midland By Charles Morey M !DLAND, MICH., JUNE 20 -Bob "Hurricane" Hannah finally settled for a second place moto finish in the second 45 minute round at the Polka Dots M.e. AMA 125cc National MX this weekend breaking his perfect 1-1-1-1-1 winning streak. But that didn't stop the Team Yamaha rider from scoring his third overall win in three consecutive Nationals. Hannah urged his Bill Buchka tuned works bike to a solid 1·2 victory to better Team Honda rider ' Don Kudalski's 4-1 showing. "The only way that bike will be water-cooled is if it rains," Buckha remarked dryly on Saturday, referring to his modifications to Hannah's mount during the previous week. In fact, the Yamaha was the closest thing in the pits to a one-off factory prototype since most of the major factory teams switched to machines less elaborate (and less expensive) than the new development bikes. The claiming rule and its threat of putting a multi-thousand dollar prototype up for The anticipated duel between Bob Hannah and Marty Smith began as the gate dropped for the start of the first moto, The pair entered tum one side-by-side, then Marty pulled ahead to lead through the second comer. At the completion of the opening lap, they'd established a short lead over third place rider Robert Westerman who, in turn, led Billy Grossi, Steve Wise, Bruce McDougal and Don Kudalski. A few seconds back, Mickey Kessler was holding off Honda rider David Glenn. Smith seemed as smooth as always; a style that nears perfection. Hannah seemed content to tag a1on$ a couple . seconds bac~ the early laps. "That's Bob's strategy," Bill Buchka said later, "He put on steady pressure and .w aits for a mistake. n . Smith's mistake came only two laps later. " He almost got off," Hannah recalled, "he ran along beside his bike and I zipped past." "Yeah, 1 did run along beside it," Maty remarked afterwards, "but I couldn't hang on!" Before Smith could remount, Grossi slipped into second place. Hannah rocketed around the sandy Midland course maintaining a fairly comfortable lead, but behind him things were shaping up for some good racing. Once rolling again, Smith closed on Grossi and seemed to play Hannah's wait-for-a-bobble game. Don Kudalski was riding in fourth by now but Mickey Kessler's factory Kaw was closing. Apparently Kawasaki wasn't too worried about the claiming rule, either. Grossi's Suzuki spit its chain for the first time as Smith followed closely. It was approximately 15·20 minutes into the race, and the malfunction dropped Billy from a promising second to a hopeless 26th place, At almost the same time, Mickey Kessler overtook Don Kudalski for third: The top positions held steady for another ten minutes as Smith pushed to recover lost time on Hannah. Then near the thirty minute point, he closed and started to push. Then he fell for the second time. "It was right in the same place," Marty lamented after the race, and like