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/126251
(Above) Robert " Hurricane" Hannah - when will he be stopped? (Below) Tony 0 and a Honda team member rocket of the Goal ~_ost ~I!m p . Terry Clark has a face fu ll of determination as he leads a competitor out of a corner. AMA Supercrou Series - Round one High energy . happening la11s to Hannah By Charles Morey ATLANTA, GA, MAR. 5 At least half the 45,873 people who ignored steady drizzle and jammed the Atlanta Stadium's MR. PIBB Superbowl of Motocross didn't know what they were watching, at first . But by the time the fin al mo to ended - with Yamaha's Bob Hannah scoring an u n believable lastib l d ' pass I , e:secon victo ry over 10 Honda s Jim ~omeroy - ther knew. An elect ric tens en:-,s , perhaps generated by the mo b In attendance (who had been programmed to expect an upd a ted versio~ of the Roma n games) filled the pitS as well as t~e stands. Everyone, hter~ lIy everyon e, I~ th~ progr.am was In a . go-for -It attitude. Riders who were stili pumped from re.cent Winter-A~A. Series success stili rode.an adrenahn ~Igh le~t over fro~ Flonda. .others, In th eir first actlO.n of the 7~ ~a~n, were fresh , an xious and Optl'!lIStlC. ~here would be no free ~InS tom~ht. The overall spe edtn p ~heme oJ the evening must be att ri but ed to a > skillfully blended combination of th e proper individual p ieces . Larry . Huffman was one . At once an informative announcer and a madman with the ability to in cite riot if he ~o chose. Huffman had the crowd on Its feet for the start of th e f irst qualifying moto . R emem ber. At least half of them didn't know why . Or what to expect. . The sole exception to the rule was Marty Sm ith . " I just didn't feel safe o u t there ," Marty stated quietly. "Maybe it's just me - ' 1 don't kn ow _ but 1 didn't feel safe." He may simply have been in a "down" sta te of mind. He may hav e seen th e TV spot that pictured his violent endo at the L.A . Superbowl. Or he ma y have just felt too much like a Christian before the Roman-like audience . O th e r non -starters were Pierre Ka rsm a kers, Jimmy Weinert and Billy Grossi . Pierr e showed up but crashed in pr actice , badly bruising his left thigh muscle . One of the ma n-m ade who op s pitched him off and, "the swinga rm la nd ed rig ht on m y leg ." He intends to ride Daytona . Weinert was still recoveri ng from his ABC Superstars training injury (he hu rt t he tendons in his left arm). He, too , plans to ride Daytona . Billy Grossi suffered a b ruised kidney in a Winter-AMA get off and chose to sit out Atlanta but expects to compete at Daytona , too. Steve Somers. weekday evening sportcaster at WXIA (Eleven Alive) TV. said on the air that going over a jump on a motocrosser was the sort of thing that anyone could do . Next thing we knew. the station's P.R . department had him accepting a challenge to clear the tra ck 's Goal Post Jump during intermission . H e doesn't ride. A semi-organized training program was set up wher e Somers soon discovered that it was beyond his ability to master. Frightened. he listened as an advisor instru ct ed him to bail off the back of th e machin e as it left the ground, then slide down the bank as t he bike nosed in to the opposite side of the chasm. Follounne a drawn-out. boring series of "f unny " lead-ins to t he event ual at tempt , Somers finally proved once and for all t hat a sof t , middle-aged body can't always back up th e claims of a quick tongu e. He plopped off halfway up the 'ramp; the bike wobbled up to t he lip of the jump and to ppled over as th e crowd continu ed to boo the controversial commentator. . Followi ng the National Anthem and the accompany fireworks, the first 20 riders in the fieid Of 80 linea up for the first qualifying moto , Immed iat ely a pparent at t he start of the first heat race was t hat Hannah wou ld be a m ong the m on ey makers . Giving National Racin g Ma nager Ken Clark head aches, Hannah insists on riding hi s YZ25 0D p rodu ction mac hi ne . And, alth ough down on power from h is co mpetitors' wo r ks m ac hine ry, Hannah kee ps on winning. He pulled the holeshot amid the stadi um 's fi reworks and a r oar from the Hu ffrnanized crowd to lead all ten laps . Honda's Tommy Croft held second early in the moto, but Marty T ri pes gassed his works Ha rl eyD a vid so n into second befo re the checkered flag . Croft, third led other qua lifiers Fred Vertucci a nd Steve Stackable. Qu a lifi er moto two pitted Su perbowl champ Jimmy Ellis on his C a n -Am against Kawasaki's Gary Semics and Honda's Jim Pom eroy. Semics grabbed an early lead with Pom ero y and Ellis attached determinedly to his tail. The aggressive three-pronged wedge slid , skittered and banged ba rs aroun d the tight stadium course for three laps be fore Semics finally slipped u nder the pressure and spun out. Pomer oy was also desti ned to slip up - twice , in fact - before t he end of the race, just barely m aking the final m oto with a fifth place finish . John Savits ki, rid ing his Bevo Fort e tu ne d FMF Su zuki, ca me u p fro m arou nd tenth pla ce to score a spo t on th e fina l event starting line with a second behind Ellis. T hird and fourth went to Husky's new factory rider Chuck Su n and Ma ico's favorite son Gaylon Mosier. Heat three in the qualifiers saw Husqvarna's 500cc National Champ Kent Howerton take an inst ant lead