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/126258
teammate Hannah was closing fast; with the race half over he was already up to second place. Marty Smith had latched on to Hannah's fender when he went by and wasn 't going to let the Hurricane pull away from him , Together they closed on Burgett, the three of them, no more than 50 feet apart. With Smith pressuring him from behind, Hannah didn't have the 'time to look for an easy section to overtake his Yamaha teammate. A downhill, off camber turn offered three bermed lines. Bob took the top line ,as Ricky took the bottom one. As the turn ended though, the berms converged, Neither teammate wanted to be the one to back off first , not with Smith riding shotgun so close . "T he two berms came together. He didn't shut off and I came into the new berm a little ahead," said Hannah. " I was coming up and my front wheel clipped his rear wheel and I got pitched off," moaned Burgett. "If I hadn't bent my bars so bad I would have passed Tony D at the finish for fourth place." As it was, Burgett recovered in 'time to hold onto fifth. Hannah was shocked over having accidentally crashed his teammate, "After Ricky fell , I was thinking why I had let it happen. My bike didn't have the power to pass him anywhere else. I was daydreaming a whole lap over what happened. Smith almost got by , but the crowd was yelling and waving, which brought me back to what was happening. " , " I almost got Bob on the last lap ," .said Marty shaking his head, "bu t I screwed up in a turn and he was able to pull awa y." The top ten finishing positions for the moto read ; Hannah , Smith , Howerton , Tony D, Burgett, LaPone , Sernics , Pomeroy, Mosier and Croft. Howerton's charge up through the pack was almost as remarkable as Hannah's, with Kent fin ishing third after coming around the track on the first lap in 16th. MotoTwo . Hannah decided to make things easier for himself in the final moto , -a nd left folks wondering how slow his Yamaha really was, as he took the lead a few turns awa y from the starting line on the first lap. Marty Smith had his new Dave Arnold tuned , l2 -inch travel suspension RC Honda in second ahead of Howerton , Semics, Mosier, Burgett, Sun, Ellis , Tony D and Jennings. Ellis quickly began making up for his vacation in the first moto as he tied open the throttle on his bike, which will probably become Can-Am's MX ·4 production racer this fall, to have fourth place under control by onl y the third lap. Just as the fans were beginning to place bets on whether or not Jimmy could catch Hannah before the moto ended , the bike ground to a halt again. This time the culprit was a broken countershaft sprocket. " 'This sure has been my lucky day," half-grinned Ellis as he snatched off his goggles and helmet. Gone were the hopes he had to win this year'S-.-250cc National Championship. Still , he and papa George were looking forward to next week's race in New England. Hannah found himself with a free rein to pull off with the second moto win as well, taking it by some 15 seconds. Smith and Howerton battled the entire race for second place, with Kent edging Marty at the finish line by no more than ten feet to nudge the Honda rider out of second in the overall standings as well , " I'm just now staning to get over my injuries after hitting that tree at Hangtown. My hands , and my sides still hurt' to go too fast." Kent looked good and so did his Eric Crippa -tuned Husky. Now the factory was giving them trick parts to play with, instead of keeping them in Europe for development first. Kent's 250 CR had new fork tubes which provided 11 inches of travel. They are experimenting with different valving in Husqvarna-made gas /oil reservoir shocks, and the engine has a 390 rod and spaced-up cylinder to allow larger ports in the cylinder liner. Battling behind Howerton and Smith were Tony D and Burgett, with the "Lumberjack" almost passing DiStefano in the final turn before the ch eckered flag , Jim Pomeroy brought his Honda in for sixth ahead of La Porte, Sun, Mickey Boone and Mickey Kessler. (Above) Gary Semics (5) leads LaPone and Howenon at the beginning of the first moto. (Below) Danny LaPone 17Iwas one of the riders Hannah passed in his charge from 17th to first in the opening moto. Open Support Kawasaki's Terry Clark continued his romp in the 500cc Support class with his Steve johnson-prepared 400cc works bike. Terry had to work in the first 30 ·minute moto as he 'worked up from an eighth place start to take the lead away from Dean Brooks, Maico mounted from San Jose , CA , but the second moto proved to be a runaway for Terry from start to finish , Problems in the second moro prevented Husky's Arlo Englund from taking second overall for the day on a 390 CR Automatic after he placed ' second behind Terry in the first race. Second overall went to Bill Moyer (Mai) from Aneny, Iowa , and third was copped by Tom Adams, from Aspen , Colorado, on a Husky. Results 25Oc<: NATIONAl.: 1. Bob Hannah I -I (Vaml. 2. Kent Howerton 3-2 (Husl. 3, Marty Smith 2-3 (Han). 4. Tany OiStafano 44 (Suzl. 5. Riclc Burgett 5-5 {Vaml. 6. Danny laPorte 6-7 (Suzl. 7. Jim Pomeroy U (Honl. B. Chuclc Sun 11-8 IHus). 9. Gary 50mics 7-12 IKawI. 10. Tommy Croft 1().10 (Hanl. 11. Mickey Boone 13-9 ISuz). 12. Mickey Kessler 12·17 (Man). 13. Koji Masuda 16-1'1 (Suzl. 14. Gaylon Mosier 9-32 (Mai). 15. Don Kudalski 2()'11 IC·A). 16. S'8IIe S18ckable 15-16 IMail . 17. John Savitski 17·15 (Suz). lB. Rex Staten - -13 IH01. 19. Je" Jennin9s 14-- ISuzl. 20. Greg Robertson' 19-1B (Oss). • Didnotfinish in top 20 SOOcc SUPPORT: 1. Terry Clark ,., IKaw). 2. Bill Moyer 6-3 IMail . 3. Thomas Adams 5-4 IHusl. 4. Deen Brooks 8-2 IMail . 5. John Kelly 4-11 IHusi. 6. Mike Meyer 146. 7. Brad Bendy 11-9 IHusl. 8. George Wood 28-27 IHus). 9. Gary Casper 17-7 ISuzl. 10. David Stermer 16-8 (Bull. 11. Barry Hill 23-14. 12. Arlo Englund 2·28 (Husl. 13. Chet Perkins 19-12 (Vam). 14. Curt Ross 18-1B (Yam). 15. Ted Dimitro" 18-16 (Hus). 16. Joe Bennett 24-13 (Husl. 17. Barry Hill 23-14. 18. Devid Spriasler 22-16 IHusl. 19. Thomas H_er 25-15 (Vom).20. Pierce Law21-19 (Suzl. 7