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/126070
• Trans · M Round 'four ; AA l1li • ~ t '-D r-- 0) "'""" flywheels &snow As t he final minutes of the moto clicked off, Croft built up a safe lead to win the moto with a smooth, controll~d sty le that gav~ him the best finish in his career. "Hurricane" Hannah got by Tony D. for second p lace , "The Jam m~r'" held fourth. , Defloster who had wo rked up to fifth but was still a good distance back, then Wolsink, Watanab~, Burgett, Lackey, Karsmakers and Richter, Casualties for the moto included Marty Smith who seized his Honda on the third lap, Rex Staten who retired for the day with a pulled leg muscle, and Jim Pomeroy who also seized his Bultaco. Second Moto A light snow was falling as spinning knobbies buried the starting gate , and the final moto swept through the first - turn. Already the two top contenders from the first race were having troubles and would b~ unable to go after the overall win . First, Bob Hannah sheared off his flywheel on the monoshock Yamaha before he got 200 feet down tfi~ track. Tommy Croft got off in m id-pack and would work his way up to eighth before the race ended, but it . ,)Yould prove to be two positions short of the overall he wanted. Marty Smith pulled the holeshot with his Dave Arnold wrenched Honda and melted any snow that had settled on the tr ack as he b urned 0 ff with the lead ahead o f Gayl on Mosi~r, Gary Ch aplin , Sy lvain G~b o ~rs . W~in~rt, Karsmak~rs, Tu m a , S~mics, D~Costa, Lack~y, How~rt on , Grossi and Tony D. Both Pom~ro y and Richt~r bail~d off on th~ first lap and bent th~ir bik~s, with Pomaoy retiring to the pits but Richter pu llin g things straight and working fro m last up to 19th. Soon batll~s began shaping up. ~Iosi~r and Chaplin dropp~d back in the pack as Gary Semics banzaied up through it to pass ev eryone and latch in behind- Marty Smith. Lap after lap Gary shadowed Marty waiting fo r him to tire .or m ake a m ist a ke that never ca me. DeCost er was ab le to move up to th ird place , but th e pace that Sm ith and Sernics we re sett ing se emed im p ossible for eve n the five-time Wor ld Ch amp ion to contend with . Roger securely held his position to the end of the m o t o , The most exciting clash of the day was occurring ove r fourth place as Grossi, Lackey, DiStefano and Kars rnakers p layed swap meet. Grossi, who had flipped his Suzuki over backwards on a high speed straight during the first moto when a new 5.10x18 Trelleborg ti re got more traction then he bargained for, almost got radically out of shape a few times as he felt the pressure around him. Finally, "Sugar Bear" just ignored the handlebars in his sides and pulled a way. Marty Smith took the checkered flag . four seconds ahead of Sernics, followed a big gap behind by DeCcster, then Grossi , Lackey, Di'Stefano, Karsrnakers, Croft, W~inert and Wolsink. Kent Howerton had retired from the second moto when he smashed his fingers between the handlebar and his knee when his foot got kic ked u p in a tum. Roger De Coster 's third pl ace for the moto was his best finish Of th e day, and it was certainly bettered by a number of American riders, Bu t it was all Roger need ed for his third win in four rounds of t he T rans·AMA Series. . Support class Dann y La Po rte finally ov~ rcame t h~ bad luck he 's had so far in th~ 250cc Support class and took his Alan Hahn. prepared factory RM Suzuki to the win of both 30-min ute plus two lap motos. It hardly prov~d an ~asy ride for Danny as Honda's Rich Ei~rstedt, lIusky's Chuck Sun, and J o h n Savitski on Suzuki continu~d to mak~ this class the most exciting as far as t he battle for the Series t itl e, Eierstedt put his RC 25 0 into th e lead of t he firs t mot o as LaPorte and Savitski traded paint ove r seco n d p lace, tailed by Sun, Zahrt, Ru n yar d and Stacy . At the halfway p o in t in t h e race Savi tksi really st ar te d coming on strong, passing both Lal'orte and Eierstedt to ta ke over the lead, but it p roved short-lived, A lapped rider cut in front of John, causing them to crash together, and John's Suzuki . threw its chain. .Eierstedt regained the lead, bu t not for long as Lal'orte nudged past and held Rich off by the crunch of a wheel length at the flag . Mike Runyard brought his Can -Am in for third•. chased by Sun, Zahrt, Savitski, Brian Jodry, and Gr~g Theiss, Top series co n tender Frank Stacy retired early in the moto wfth a bro ken axle in his Pen t o n / KT M. The second moto start went to Chuck Sun who blasted his Husky out ahead of LaPorte , Eierstedt, Savitski, Zahrt and Stacy . For the next few laps the four leaders ran p~g to p~g then LaPorte moved qut into the lead again ahead of Eierstedt, Danny held his front position to the finish with a few feet to spare this time ahead of Rich, who was trailed by Savitski, Stacy, Sun, Runyard and Bob Harris. • Results 500ec INTERNATIO NA L : 1. (Opposite page) Tommy Croft won the first moto only to be slowed in the second round . (Centerl NoCal's Pat Rich ter is beginning to attract a lot of factory attention _ with his so lid rides and good st arts. '(Bo tto m ) The mediocre, for DeCoster, 5-3 fin ish was 900d enough to defeat t he youngsters. (Abo ve) Croft and his super suspe nded Type 2 Honda stole the sho w , which (below) teammate Marty Smith helped steal . Roger DeCo ste r 5-3 (Sull . 2 . T on y DIStefano 3· 6 (S uz ) . 3. T o mmy Cr o ft 1·8 (H on) . 4. Jimmy Weinert 4-9 (Kaw) . 5 . B rad LaC k ey 9 -5 (H u s) • 6 . Gerrit Wo l sln k 6-10 (Suz) . 7. l'lerre Karsmakers 10 -7 ( H on). 8 . B illy G r ossi 144 (5uz). 9 . Gary Semic.s 2 0·2 (Ka w ) . 10. Ri ck B u r gett · 8-1 4 (Ya m) . 11. J im T u rner 13-11 (S uz ) . 12. G ary O gden 1 2·1 6 (Suz ). 13. Pat Richter 11-9 ( K TM). 14. NiCkr K in o sh it a 15·17 (Yam) . 15. Mi ckey B o o n e 7 ·18 (Suz). 16. Mike M ci ntosh 1 8-20 (Suz) . 17. Many Smith 4().1 (H o n ) . 18. Bob Hannah 2-4 0 (Yam). 19. John Ayers 22·21 ( M ai) . 2 0. Brad Sen dy 21-22 (Suz ). 25 0cc SUPPORT : 1. Danny LaPorte 1·1 (Suz). 2. Rich Eierstedt 2-2 (Hon) . 3. John Savltskl 6-3 (Suz). 4. Charles Sun 4-5 (Hus). 5. Mike Runyar~ 3~ (C·A). 6. Ken zahrt 5-9 7