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/126079
By Jody Weisel t has been a long, hard grind since the opening rounds of the 1976 Florida Winter Series last February. Fortytwo races later we can look back on a long season and it all seems so clear, but 11 months ago Jimmy Weinert was without a ride, Bob Hannah was a local racer, 'Rich Eierstedt and Tommy Croft were rumored to be fired from Honda, Rick Burgett was a Support class rider from the North woods, Broc Glover sounded like a bauble in a bath- I tub and countless others were unheard of, over-the-hill , or a couple vears away. 1 he winningest rider was Yamaha's Bob Hannah with six National wins, Semics and Weinert had three , Howerton took two , Danny LaPorte grabbed two and so did Pierre Karsmakers. Winning one National apiece were Steve Stackable, Tony DiStefano, Jim Ellis. and Steve Wise. The most consistent riders for the National season were Team Suzuki's Tony DiStefano and Bob Hannah who .both placed in the top three positions nine times. There were nine separate titles on the line in 1976 ; Florida Winter-Series 250 Champion Tony DiStefano, Florida Winter-Series 500 Champion - Bob Hannah, Super Series Champion - Jim Weinert, Super Series Support class Champion - Rich Eierstedt, 125 National Champion - Bob Hannah, 250 National Champion - Tony Distefano, 500 National Champion - Kent Howerton, and Trans-AMA first American - Brad Lackey. In 1977 there will be three number one plates shared by Hannah , DiStefano, and Howerton. After that the' total individual points are figured for all the classes and each rider is given a number from two to 99. Here is how the top ten riders got to be on the top: ~977-T~;-;j~-;;~ i: " rying to guess w ho's going to be w ith you this early in , the season is akin to playing Russian roulette and allowing your wo rst enemy to load the gun. Nothin g is certain, but if w e were gamblers this is how w e wo uld play the Nati onal Motocross sweepstakes - Team Suzu k i Marty Smith Jim Pomeroy Tommy Croft Brad Lackey (Europe) Rich Eierstedt Team Ossa Steve Wise Pat Richter John Savitski Gary Chaplin Danny Turner Mike Runyard Gary Ogden Bruce McDougal Team Kawasaki M arty Moates Team M ontesa Mickey Kessler Jim Weinert GarySemics Terry Clark I i I l Team AM-M EX Team Husqvarna I' - Privateers Gaylon Mosier Steve Stackable ~ Jimmy Ellis Buck Murphy Team Maico ~ ~ ~ hen Bob Hannah signed with Yamaha at th e beginning of the 1976 season very few of the sea soned pros took him seriously. They had seen too man y Southern California hot-shoes com e to the National circuit and fad e in the long motes and strong pressure. Hurricane Hannah set their minds spinning when he wem to the Florida Winter-Series and won th e Open class title away from Steve Stackable, When the 125 National Championship started at Hangtown Hannah was mounted on a watercooled Yamaha that blew two -time champ Marty Smith off the track. although the racing was tight. Bob's rapid pace continued as he won five of the eight Nationals and clinched the 125 title in Houston on August 22 . Former bicycle- motocrosser Bob Hannah also won a 250 National and finished second in a 500 National. Bob was close to becoming the first man to ever win a National in all three classes. but fell short at the end of the season . In the final Trans -AMA round Hannah came back to win his first Trans·AMA ever. W Team Can-A m Wayne Boyer Kennyzahrt Team Hon da I Team Bultaco Tony DiStefano Billy Grossi Danny laPorte Jeff Jennings ~ number two BobHannahTeam Yamaha number three Tony DiStefanoTeam Suzuki I I L Team Harl ey-Davidson Kent Howerton Chuck Sun Gary Jones Rex Staten Marty Tri pes . Team Yerneha Bob Hannah BrocGlover Rick Burgett Pierre Karsmakers I i __ ........ I._' Tony DiStefano- number one again. ,_........__""".."'' '""","'"..,, ..} f or 19 year old Tony D. 1976 was another excellent. year. He started it off by winning the 1976 250 class at the Florida Winter-Series with an 'a lm ost clean sweep and finished it off with a win at the Daytona Supercross. Tony took a third in Houston and was fighting for the Super series title when the from forks on his Suzuki snapped off while leading the Dallas Supercross. Tony came back from this to clinch his second consecutive ' 250 National Championship by scoring in the top three of all but one of the series races. The 500 series was bad for Tony but would have been excellent for any other rider as he finished in the top three four out of the seven races and finished fifth overall. In the TransAMA Tony finished second behind Roger DeCoster in Buchanan , Michigan and then fourth at the American Motocross Finals in Anaheim. All in all a great year for a rider who has yet to tum 20 .