Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

... . . .. . . -:-----------------~-------- :--. Saddleback TransAMA - DeCoster does' it By Jody Weisel IR VI N E, CAL. , NOV . 7 oger DeCoster , five time World Motocross 'Ch am pion , put his fifth T rans-AlvlA p lum in his pocket a t Saddleback Park on a hot, dusty day in the hills outside of Los Angeles. The American contenders sat in the pits afterwards' in stunned . silence. Saddleback was to be their day. Yet-for -all their " Go for ' R it" jargon and "He'll have to come after me " pre·race hype DeCoster cut a swath through America's best motocrossers in front ofits most ehtnocentric audience on its most bastardized track . The Americans had been saying all season that DeCoster .was the man to beat , but that his high placings in recent' weeks were gift victories , In fact Roger had won races while scoring no higher than third in either moto. It was the kind of talk that Roger wanted to quelch. Roger doesn't show up at the track very early these days, but when his sleek Ferrari Dino drove down the dusty pit road the exhaust note was tuned by the excited crowds oohs and aahs. Roger doesn't take any chances. He pa rked his Dino in the Suzuki pits, and then noticed he was on the American side with DiStefano and Grossi . The R.D . got back in and moved to the European side, So much for team spirt , The Maico team, a polyglor of Nationalities, spread itself in small bands thro ughout the pits with Gaylon Mosier drawing more attention than Adolf Weil , Alberto Angiolini or Sylvain Geboers (who ' won his appeal on th e Dall as T ra ns·AMA dis qualification). It was SoCa l and Mosie r would show his Eu ropean counterparts how to go fast all d ay to fin ish fourth . At the Bu lta co transporter things were hot all day , unfortunately the hott est item was their tempers. Bul ta co withdrew fro m . the previous weeks round to cure transmission proble ms that had beset Jim Pomeroy and Wayne Boyer. The solution was to bring out the old 'p rototype 400 engine that was first unveiled in 1974, Pomeroy agreed to ride it in practice, then came in and said he would not race it on · this day. Bultaco said he would , He didn't. A Bultaco spokesman said, "J im turned competitive 'times ·in practice, but he said it 'wasn't good enough. This engine weighs five pounds more and Jim says it affects the handling. He could race, but he said he would probably crash. Next week we will lower the engine in the frame," The Spanish accent was slightly sarcastic and there is little doubt that the Pomeroy-Bultaco honeymoon is over. Up in the Husky pits Brad Lackey unveiled the only a:: w other innovation - a 17 inch rear wheel with a wide ~ profile Trelleborg. Everyone came over to look , but ::; " most walked away shaking their heads. Gary Jones w " and "We used to use that it 10 finish our Triumphs s said, BSA's." Lackey used years ago on second ·behin oll ...J DeCoster with a 2·4 score. w '" Team Honda separated into three isolated work ;;: areas in the lower corner of the pits with a ~ o disappointed Tommy Croft (Ceboers' victory in the -. political arena cost him one on the track) , Marty "" Smith and Pierre Ka rsm ak ers. Smith and Karsmakers iii would be gunned dow n in the first moro by red engine . failures . Across the way a t Yamaha the early morning smiles were meant to read "Home court advantage" ~ =; for Bob Hannah, but his monoshock broke wh ile > flying down Banzai Hill in the first moto, When one

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