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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126263
IAbove} Lackey and tuner Steve Whitelock embrace after the first moto. (Below,leftl Brad's second moto ended with a jumped chain. (Below, right) Mikkola collects the champagne and a kiss. SOOcc MX World Championship • Rouncl 3 Helkkl storms Sweden, Lackey wins first moto By David Maltais/Asahi Pentax EDSBYN , SWEDEN, MAY 15 Heikki Mikkola, current 250cc World Champion and former 500cc World Champion, is coming on strong with his 384 Yamaha and has now stretched his lead toward a second 500cc title over five -times ' World Champion Roger DeCoster by 22 eight points aft er collecting 27 points for his 2-1 day in the Swed ish Grand Prix. . He ikki, for the second week in a row , posted fastest qualifying tim e on the very short 1,50 5 m eter Wox nadalens Motorklubb circuit with a best lap of 1.48.4 Brad Lackey on the fa ctory -H o n d a was aga in second fastes t th is week and tied with Roger with a 1.50 .1 Bengt Aberg, on his home track, clocked a 1.50.7 and the rest of the top 10 'q u a lifie rs were Noyce, Karsmakers, .Lindfors, Andersson , Wolsink with Sigmans and Bauer tying for tenth with identicall .53.6s. The circuit was only five meters over the FIM minimum of 1500 meters and even though it was on the short side none of the riders complained about. the length , especially after last week's endurance race course in Holland. The starting gate was wide enough for 36 riders, but on ly 32 were allow ed to qualify for the two W orld Championshi p races and there were no support classes. The area of Sweden where the race was held is mostly under water now as a result of an unusually long winter with record snowfall. In several places water ran in a stream across the track and a small sand-covered bridge made of trees was built on one section. Behind the starting gate the deep sandy mud turned into an axle deep rut that threw many riders off their bikes in practice and was the undoing of many iii the race. The .circu it was com p a ct and spect a tors at certain locations a long the track cou ld see th e rid ers for the complete race. A no rmal sandy tra ck is not so dangerous on machines but th e track a t Edsb yn was filled with rocky gra vel . la rge stones hidde n in th e mud , wood ch ips and sawd ust. The wood by-products wer e used in an attempt to absorb some of the wet. T he weather Sunday morning was cold bu t not rai ni ng. After the rider's presentation th ey were called to the starting area for their I :30 p .m . race . They rolled onto the concrete slab and when a ll 32 rid er s were ready . the gate slammed do wn and th e bikes spun onto the sand, blasting th eir way to the first tum . Brad Lackey gunned his Honda ahead of the pack to the first right hand sweeper bu t H erbert Schmitz had taken a wide line wayan the outside and he rode his Maico with the momentum that drove him . past Brad for the lead as they charged out of the comer. Heikki tu cked int o third with Noyce in fourth. In mid -pa ck at th e first tum Pierre Karsrnakers hit a rut and fell, injuring his left wrist as the bike fell on him . His left arm and neck got scraped up pretty bad and h e was helped stagge r off the track as his Yamaha was dragged off to th e infiel d . Roger got a bad sta rt whi ch he lat er blamed on too much wheel spi n on the con crete . ... (Above) Lackey beat the world 's best in Swed~n. (Below) Karsmakers holeshot away from Mikkola (22/, DeCoster (1), Lackey (15) and the pack. Aberg's (301 TT500 is out of control. After two laps Brad was st ill pressing Schmitz with Heikki falling back until he came by the mechanic's area, pitted, ~nd had ~echanic Heikki Penttila straighten hIS bent shifting lever. Heikki had fallen back because the gearbox was stuck in first gear as the result of a rock bending the lever . Heikki had lost no positions, that's how far the first three were out in front. On lap four it was Brad who emerged in first position when Schmitz crashed. Brad didn't see it happen, he just came around this corner and Schmitz was still on the ground. Brad now had no one in front of him and he began to ride to keep his lead over the hard-charging Finn . Bengt Aberg was up with th e front runners when his rear axl e broke on the outside right stem , it backed-out and the loose wheel snapped the chain which ripped a hol e in the cra nkcase , Bengt did fu r ther damage to th e engine when he crashed and th e shifting spline bent backwards. Gerrit Wolsink had a rough time in his struggle to finish eighth. H is chain came off on the second lap, he rolled it back on and remounted only to have it happen again in the last m inutes of the race. He was disgusted and depressed after the race. Adolf Weil was for ced out with a flat rear tir e a fte r th e first 10 m inutes. Up ahead of all the traffic , crashes, chains derailing and spokes getting busted on th e machine-ea tin g course, a red Honda a nd white Yamaha wer e smoking everybody . With a bo ut 10 .minutes and two laps to go Heikki started to gain on Brad. The crowd tensed for the climatic finish between the two former teammates. Heikki cut the gap to eight seconds then really started pouring it on . The ruts were becoming deep muddy traps that were catching and crashing riders at every comer. Brad kept it wide open in his determination to keep ahead of the Flying Finn and Heikki had his throttle twisted to the maximum . With only a few laps to go Brad lost momentum when his front wheel hit a rut and caught for an instant. Heikki closed in on him but Brad's reflexes jumped he and the Honda out of the hole before Heikki could pass him and when Heikki hit the same hole he al made a little mistake and Brad got back what he had lost. The last four laps had all the retired riders , mechanics , supporters and fans cheering them both on and running from th e terrific race that Brad and Heikki were waging. On th e last lap Brad was giving it everything wit h his Honda skim mi ng ' th e long sweepin g corners . diving into the sha rp com ers an d blasti ng onto the strai ghts . Heikk i was m ak ing an all ou t effort to get by and was right on Brad's ba ck wheel when th e checkered flag appeared . When it dropped , Brad had won by seven -te nths of a second with a 24 -lap tim e of 45: ) 5 flat. As Brad shot a glance over his sho ulder . crossi ng the finish lin e Heikk i wa s rig ht by his side. For Brad it was th e first win in his first season with Honda of Japan and more important it gave h im fifteen valuable World Championship po ints. mo ving him up to fourth in the stand ings ahead of Noyce. Brad was super' happy about the win and Heikki , flashing his boyish grin, gave his now famous statement about his second place finish with the comment, " Not so bad, better than nothing." DeCoster had recovered from his bad start and had flashed through the pack to take third with Schmiczremounting after his early crash and finishing fourth . Arne Lodal of Denmark brought the Husqvarna factory's new prototype 390 into a well-earned fifth place with Bauer finishing sixth after a last lap duel with KTM teammate van