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/126061
sweeps AJlJmo City By Jody Weisel SAN ANTONIO, TEX., AUG . 15 "I claimed it once before and I'll claim it again," said 125 rider' Bill Barlow's father. "If I have to put it-in a showcase because I can't get pa rts for it I will." Two weeks ago Mr. Barlow had put up the money to claim Marty Smith's new Type 2 Honda works bike and he made (Top) The first moto start was called back when everybody jumped. (Above) Danny laPorte went 3-3 for the while . (Belo w ) Ricky Kidd won the Support class for Penton. (Opposite pa ge) a confident Bob 'Hurricane' Hannah . - 6 ~re that eve'1"0ne knew .t hat he Intended to claim another bike, and whose it didn't matter. "Let him claim it," said a lounging Bob Hannah as he sat in the shade about . ten feet from his sparkling clean watercooled OW-27 Yamaha, "and then let him try to get it." The day 'had started in a war of nerves that now has become standard operating procedure at 125 National Championship events. As Hannah sat in the shade to avoid the direct rays of the 95 degree sun he was the epitome of confidence. Later in the day after two tremendous highly charged performances he would sit the in the same lawn chair for half an hour to see if the referee would come to push his winning bike away to put it on the trading block. The thought didn't unnerve Hannah, but over in arch-rival Marty Smith's camp the aura was co mpletely opposite. No one would claim Marty's bike after the race because Marty had brought his old bike and left the new Type 2 at home. Suzukis two man team of Danny LaPorte and j eff jennings knew that no one would claim their RM engined machines as long as the liquid cooled Yamaha was sitting in the shade so invitingly. As much t im e that was expended on the claiming controversy before the drop of the first moto gate was also spent on discussing the weather. "Holding a National in San Antonio in August is like holding a National in Nome Alaska in December," said ex-Californian Peter Sylagi as he wiped his brow with his straw hat and headed for the snack bar. The riders tried to cool off by soaking their jerseys before going to the line. Most of their jersey's were soaked with sweat before the water could be poured on. Hannah had spent two weeks before the race living in Texas with the air conditioning turned off. Danny LaPorte ventilated his jersey with half inch holes. 'The heat put the pressure on and three men felt it the most: Bob Hannah who had won four o ut of the five previo us Nationals, Steve Wise, who was the only privateer to win a race this year, and fo rmer two time National Champion Marty Smith, who needed points desperately to get back in the run ning. In t~e 25 0 Support class Ricky Kid d took hl~ Pen to n to a clean 1;1 sw~ep of the action. The mO,st sta rt ling ri de of the day was turned In , by local ho t-sh o t Roger Brown who crashed time after time in the first moto, but kept getting up to finish third. In the second moto h t rt d . th b k t finish e ac 0 uu e. s a e . way ~ third . ~am, behIn~ second overall SUZUkI rider Ku rt Ian isch . Round one: False starts As the 40 riders cam e to the line there were only ~9 bikes for t~e.m .to sit on. Texas f~v~>nte Ste~e Wise s.tood nervously wartmg for hIS mechanic to finish a last minute repair. Seconds before the start his bike arrived an d seconds before the gate dropped all 40 machines exploded over the small metal gate. Broc Glover led th e clfarge, Wise was third and the red flag came out next. Glover returned to the starting area, the red flag returned to the starter, but Steve Wise had seized and didn't make the re-start. For a second time the throttles quivered and the gate quaked. They were o ff cleanly with Marty Smith winning the honors by six inches followed by Broc Glover, Warren Reid, Bob Hannah, j ack Keese and Ron Turner. Glover shocked the cr owd by zapping Smith before the first lap was over and putting a little ground on the factory Honda, but Smith surged back into the lead on the second lap and carried Warren Reid and Bob Hannah with him. Hannah dispatched Reid a couple of laps later and started looking across the sweeping valleys to try and catch a glimpse of Smith. For fifteen minute-;-more the best Hannah could do was see patches of the red, white and , blu e jersey going up while he was co m ing down. Danny LaPorte came fro m tenth to move into third ahead of Reid. The standings were now a Factory Honda, factory Yamaha, factory Suzuki and privateers Warren Reid, Broc Glover, and Ron Turner. Th~ race. appeared .to be sC;UliI;'g. into a spnnt With each rider mamtaming a c~mstant distance between himsel~ and hIS pursuers. That changed drastically with only ten minutes to go in the moto, Hannah started to charge and the crowd noticed it immediately. Down the rough, pot.holed. straight they ~ould come, first Smith and then a tight, compact Bob Hannah. The next lap would find closer, and w~th two lap s to ~o It ':"'" H,,:"n~ com~g down th~ s~raIght WIth Smith In pursuit. Marty didn t break off the battle , but he couldn't initiate en~ugh momentum on what had essentially become a shockless machine. LaPor te had tucked in beh ~ d Han~ah at. the thirty .m in~ te mark WIth the mtenno,:, of dO~gIng h~ to the end. and then gomg for I~, but his st;-'te~ slid out. from under hun along Wl~h his SUZUkI.. LaPorte was up for third ahead of Reid an d Glover. 0em Pit patter Smi th sat in the shade of the Honda t railer, ,a s t he big Honda trucks are n ow a thing of the past, an d tried to cool off as fifty eager fans searched his face ove r the fence for si~s fai!ure . Marty had none ; .he had gIven, It hIS best, but the machine wouldn t co-operate. He longed for the new Type 2. Hannah was back in the shade watching Bill Buchka re-prepare his bike.. Bill was sm ilin g and or