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/126248
(Above) Grossi and DiStefano i n 250. (Below) " Lum berj ack " f lies in Open. that Boon e would return in th e seco nd m oto , Billy Grossi fell, lett ing a tight skirmish amo ng Tony Sum mey. Mart y Mo a tes, Terry Clark and Mickey Kessler past into fifth throug h eig hth postion s. In th e fina l laps , J immy Ell is closed on Mickev Boo ne but Boo ne held on fiercely f~r third . And a tight Tony Summey /Marty Moa tes duel ended on the final lap when Summey got by Moates for the last time. Again in round two, Monte McCoy got a great start on his home track leading Ha nna h and Ellis throug h the first turns. The lead was sho rt -lived , however , as a H annah / Ellis b ra wl bega n that ha d Yamaha Na t iona l Ra cin g Ma nager Ken Cla rk chewi ng his na ils. " We' re tryi ng for th a t encore (to last wee k's clean swee p)," Clar k said nehou sly. " But it's g iving m e a hea rt attack right 'n owl' h e ad ded as Hannah rocketed past with Elli s gnawi ng at h is rea r tire . Then , on th e fourth tim e around . tlie pressure su bsided . Bob Hannah came a ro und a ll a lone, and George Ellis sp rinted towa rd th e back sect ion of t he t r a ck where J imm y ha d d isappeared. Eventually J immy ca me along , riding slowly. Part of th e bfakesra y brackerry had come loose and jammed in h is Can-Am's chain , pi tc hi ng Captain Cobalt into a n in st ant endo, From th at po int o n. H annah 's second I -I win in two .weeks was virtually assured. The bike didn' t fail, and neither did the " Hu r rica ne," leavi ng h im with an unblemished 1977 Winter-AM A win streak. Mart y Moa tes , after working clea r of a Kessl e r / Mo a t es /D iS t e fa n o threeso me. moved into seco nd . His positio n was not to last , however , as th e gea rbox lost both second and t h ird gear, d ropping h im to an eventua l 7-5 fifth ove ra ll. W h e n Mo a t es dropped ba ck , DiStefa no a nd Boon e m oved into co ntention for seco nd pl ace. The pa ir circled th e co urse in close formati on with Mi ck e y Boon e t aking . th e initiative on th e fin al la p for h is 3·2 'second overa ll aft ernoon , an exc ellent ride . T on y D wound up third a hea d of Monr esa' s Mickey Kessler, 2-3 ove r 6· 4. Open: Bea r goes berserk It all carne down to a two ma n race between last wee-k's wi nner , Yamaha 's Rick " Lum berjack' Burgett . a nd th e man voted most eager to win at St . D~L12RJo Carburetors Win Houston Astrodome Pet e , Bill y " Suga r Bea r" G ro ssi. Within the first few laps of round one, the two pa ired off a nd p ulled out in front. Bu rgett led after pass ing Grossi o n th e first lap . T he n. th e "Lumberjac k" h it th e firs t of th ree snags in his pla n . " Billy a nd v were com ing up on a l lapped rider. I hit his rear wheel a nd went over th e berm ," Rickv sai d afte rwa rd . He reg ain ed th e lead, but Gross i got past agai n three laps later . Fin all y, Burgett lost it one mor e time. ove rshoot ing a turn on th e back of th e co urse , a nd Joey Gra tton took over seco nd . Alt ho ug h Burgett was ab le to reel in G ratton , Grossi was long gone for the win . Beh ind Joey were Harold Buckingha m and Karl Tavlor, The final moto began -':ith a fight as Bu rgett shot to th e front with Grossi . Gratton , Jeff Jennings and Ha ro ld Buckingham in his tracks. Then. at the finish line at the end of lap two . Sugar Bear shot past and stayed out in fro nt to t he end. Tense pit board ac tion ke pt both Billy and Rick informe d of t he few seco nds sepa ra ting t hem - the ga p never closed below three secon ds - an d Billy racked up his second moto win and Rick scored a not her seco nd , Buck ingh am edged Gr atton for th ird 4-3 to 3·4 , a nd J ef f J ennings' 6-5 too k fift h. • Results , 25 : 1. Broc Glover 1-, IYaml. 2. Dan ny laPort e 2·2 (Suz). 3. Mark Barnett 3-7 (Suzl. 4. John Reinholt 8-4 (SUI ). 5. Edward Co le 7-8 (Yam), 6. Furman Gray 13-6 (Suz). 7 . Samu el And erson 10-9 (Suz). 8. Chr is Dou thi tt J ohn Hateley National #98 w ins the season opener riding a brilliant race on the powerfu l and extremely . well prepared Jack Hateley Enterprises Triumph . Th is moto rcycle was equipped with the all new Dellorto ac celerator-pump carburetors . Available in sizes 30. 32, 34. 36. 38. and 40mm fo r gasoline and 36mm for alcohol. Also complete kits for Yamaha TI500. Profes s ional Racing Equipme nt .C.R. Axtell 521 0 San Fernando Road . Glenda le, CA 9 1203 213-242·21 28 So le u .s . DtstfllJu t or CALI What's ha ppening? HARD TO GET ...--...~ ~~ A ~YAMAHA PA RTS AND ACCESSORIES Largest st ock in U.S. 24 Hour Ma il O;der Serv ice Dealers Welcome DONELSON 3141427·1204 CYCLES. 332SWoodson Road INC. St . Louis. Mo. 63114 DEALERS ATTENTION IF YOU ARE HAVING DIFFICULTY GETTING JIM DAVIS PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT ANYWHERE IN THE U.S., PLEASE ORDER DIREC T TO: BOX 1002 BURBANK. CALIFORNIA 91505 OR TELEPHONE ( 2 1 3 ) 762.2045 . (":..) 24 HOURS A DAY. '0/ 9-10 (Suzl. 9. Robert Westerman 4-'8 (Yaml. 10. Jimmy W alker··3 (Suzl. 250 : 1. Bob Hannah , ., (Yaml . 2. Mickey Boon e 3-2 ISuzl. 3. Tony DiSt efano 3-2 (Suzl. 4. Mi ckey Kessler 64 (Mon l. 5. Marty Moat es 7-5 (Ossl. 6. Ton y Summey 50 7 (Yam). 7. Mont e McCoy 10-6 (Suz). 8 . Dennis Brand 9-8 ISuzl . 9. Denny Swartz 12·11 (M ail. 10. Dan Farley 11·12lHusl. OPEN: 1. Billy Grossi 1-1 (Suzl. 2. Rick Burgett 2-2 {Yaml . 3. Haro ld Bucking ham 4-3 (Yam). 4 . Joey Gratton J.4 (Yam). 5. J eW J ennings 6-5 ISw). 6. Karl Tav10r 5-7 (Yam l. 7 . John Calathes 7-6 (Mail. 8. Shawn Carpenter 8-10 (Suz). 9. Monte Anderson 11·1 1 (Bul). 10. Ross Williams 14-g (Ma il . WARDS RIVERSIDE MOJAVE !By IIenelll l PARILtA CAPRIOtO "~IV AGUSTl 250 B'AIICH I CAPRI SCOOTERS PARTS W orld·s largest inventory far Italian motorcycles Rebuill Engine Excbanges CO$MOP'OL IT• • MOTO. S. laIC. H,J ro It:o p~ ' 90 40 ' 2 1~ 1 672 · 9100 RE P . ARE AS A VA I L . 13