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
away from ois former Dutch count man, e \,y pointing at his sh ocks every co up le of laps. The focus of . atten tion shifted to the battle for third place as 38 year old Ado lf Weil was under pressure from Honda mounted To mmy Croft. Cro ft was not even mentioned as a race favo rite or semi-favorite. Even at a National Croft is not co nsidered a th reat and here he was putting the screws to o ne of th e m asters. Croft was on th e gas and Adolf gave groun d , suddenly Croft was past Wei! and th e crowd ch eere d the local yo u th on. Wei!'s Brit ish te ammate Graham Noyce was running in th e top five when he stalled at the bottom of the downhill and allo we d ten riders p ast be fore resuming the race . At th e 20 minuw: mark DeCoster pulled in to have his front brak e cable unkinked, He qui ckl y returned to act ion . Two laps later he was back in again , only this time he dismounted and called it quits. The bike: was repaired in seconds, bu t Roger wanted a top two po siti on or nothing. Vic Allen collided wi th Rex Staten an d both rid ers we nt into the pits. Rex complained to his Harl ey-Davidson me chanics of pain in the hip and they lifted his jersey to find it severely swollen and red. A medi-vac helicopter landed on the starting line and Rex was flown to the hospital with undetermined injuries. The race continued with the Doktor 20 seconds ahead of Pierre's Honda. Croft had closed to within ten seconds of Karsmakers, but Brad Lackey began to drive from mid-pa ck . Just a fter the halfway mark Lackey took Weil at the top of the uphill and pulled to within five seconds of Croft in third. The crowd urged Croft to increase his speed, but unnoticed by thousands, Croft's fro n t wheel was unlacing i tse lf. ' He must slow down. Lackey pi cked up the p ace, and slipped past the wobbling Honda at th e top of the hill . Ake Jonsson got by Wei! and set his sights on Croft. T ony DiStefano got past Herbert Schmitz for seventh and went for Wei!. J onsson got Croft on the last lap to move the youth back to fifth behind Wolsink, Karsmakers, Lackey and Jonsson. DiStefano ju st m issed nipping Wei! at the fmish line for sixth. Schmitz was eighrh, Van Velthoven ninth an d Stackable ten th o The hat trick Gerritt Wolsink won th e USGP for the third straight ye ar in a most convin cin g manner. Brad Lackey was seco nd overall with an inconsistent 7·3, Herbert Schmitz was th ird (5·8) , Ake Jonsson fourth (10-4 ), with Tommy Croft and Ste ve St ack able fifth and sixth overall. 250 National Support Ken t Howerton wanted to ride the International class, and every rider in the Support class wanted him to ride ,th e International class, but Husky wanted him to ride the 25 0s. Howerton had an up-and-down day as he won both motos after falling off in both motes. Kenny Zahrt (Oss) grab bed the first moto lead and tried to put some ground between himself and Kept Howerton. Everybody knew that the Texan would be coming. On the third lap, after Ken t had passed four people to move right in behind Zahrt, he spun it and lost all four places. Zahrt kicked his 250 Ossa into over-drive and tr ied to pull farther away. Behind Kenny, and in front of Kent, Gary Ogden and Bob Elliot were providing all the sparks. Howerton squared off the large jump to pass Ogden and Ellio t and moved to within ten seconds of Zahrt, The ten second cush ion lasted about one lap and Howerton passed Zahrt on the uphill to pull off the win. Zahrt 's fron t wheel started to loosen from the pounding he had been giving it in his flight from Howerton, and Bob Elliot brought his RM Su zuki even with him halfway up the hill. The ir lines bise cted and Zahrt lost out in the contact sport and fell to the wayside. The first moto ended wi th Howerton, Elliot, Ogden, Chuck Lampe (Mal ] and Dennis Brand in the top five. The second moto star ted with a Bob Elliot holeshot and a Kenny Zahrt crash. Howerton didn 't want to play th is moto , as he quickly took the lead and pulled away, until Keith Mayberry cr ashed in the tight finish line co rn er an d leisurely picked himself up. Howerton, unaware of Mayberry, centerpunched the stationary and hapl ess rider. Elliot passed the carn age and got on the gas. Kent recovered and at the halfway mark regained his lead. Elliot was second, and Gary Ogden came from last to third in an inspired ride from last week's Mammoth MX winner. • Results 500cc INTERNATIONAL MOTO I: 1. G. Wolsln k. 2. G. Noyce. 3. G. Mosier. 4 . St. Stackable. 5. H. SChm itz. 6. J. Van vettnccven, 7 . B. LaCkey. 8. V. Allen. 9. T. Corft . 10. A. Jonsson . • MOTO U : 1. G. Wolslnk. 2. P. Karsmakers. 3. B. Leckev, 4. A. Jonsson. 5 . T . Croft. 6 . A. Well, 7. T . DIStefano. 8. H. SChmitz. 9. J. Van Velthooven. 10. S. Stackabl81 . 500Cc INTERNATIONAL TOP 20 OVERALL: 1. G. Wolsink (1 ·1). 2 . B. LaCkey (7 -3). 3 . H. Schmitz (5-8). 4. A . Jonsson (1G-4). 5. T . Croft (9'5) . 6. S. Stackable (4 ·101. 7. J . Van Velthooven (6-91. 8. G . Mosler (3·15) . 9 . A. well (lJ.6J. 10. T . Clark (12,12). 11 . T. D IStefano (18.'7). 12. G . Noyce (2-DNF). 13. J. F oland US-II). 14 . P. Karsmakers (DNF-2) 15 . M. Blackwell (16·13). 16. V. Allen (8·DNF). 17. W. Bauer (1I·DNF) . t8. R. STaten (I4-DNF). 19. G . Jonos (DNF·I4). 20. c . se encs (l7-0NF)' 2 5 0Cc SUPPORT OVERALL, 1. K. Howerton (1 '1). 2 . R. Ell iot (2·2 ). 3. G. 09den j3.31. 4. C. Lampe (4 ·5). 5. C. Sorranos (6-4 ). 6 . Brand (5·7). 7. . v iere (9-6) . 8 . Classon (8'8). 9. Boll (11'10). 10. R. Jonos (13·91.