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/126267
(Above) Bob Elliott (681 grabbed the holeshot in the support class. (Below) At the bottom of the BIG downhill Schmitz . (9) leads Howerton (15) and DeCoster (1). (Bottoml Gaylon Mosier warmed up for his wedding day by taking a third in the second moto and a fifth overall, 8 the holeshot, p-ro viiti -t he - H, )nda's power a nd quickly stretching out an early lead as the rest of the field of the best riders in the world fought traffic. in previous appearances at the U. S. Grand Pr ix Pomeroy had been forced to sta rt from the second row because of . h is co m pet ing in t he 250 World Champ ionship rounds. This yea r, Pom ero y proved th at a fro nt row sta rt made th in gs a lot easi er . In an ea rly second pla ce wa s H erb ert Schmit (Mai) fro m West Germany, foll owed cl osely by Kent H ow erton. The leading trio was chase d by five-time W orld Ch ampion Roger DeCoster , who , aft er p osting the fastest qualifying tim e , was on the gas and making up ground fast. By lap two, DeCoster had slipped past Howerton for third and began to reel in Schmitz. The second lap a lso marked the retirement o f Pi erre Karsmakers (Ya m ) his bik e's handlebar bolts came loose , all owi ng the bars to make contact with the gas tank . On the next lap DeCoster didn't waste any time, and moved into second as Schmitz began to fade. Pomeroy and DeCoster ran away from the rest of the pack. Back in third Wolsink had Mikkola tu cked in on his rear fender and th e duo flew past Schmitz to take over th e third and fourth spots. Tommy Croft's late-mote cha rge carried him from ninth place at th e start int o fifth at the finish. Croft was rea lly serious and didn't fa lter as he held off Tony Di Stefano ( who wa s fr esh off another 250 National Championship and who had first ridden the new Open class Suzuki j ust one week before th e race). Lackey f..d ed b a ck in the rnoto - afrer , breaking his toe th e week before he had been sick and was a little short on end ur a nce . . W ith th e fall ing of the checkered fla g , Pomeroy made history. After being the first American to win a Gr and Prix (250cc , ~pain , 1973) , he u became th e fist to Win a moto at the U .S. 500cc Grand Prix. DeCoster, who had narrow ed Pomeroy's lead to , three seconds at the moto end. was., second, followed by Wolsink , Mikkola , Croft, DiStefano , Lackey , Smith, Schmitz and Gaylon Mosier. Six of the& i.) top 10 places belonged to Arnericans.j In no other country has there ever 1 been a domination of the top riders as.1 in the United States. Our national 1 riders are consta ntly proving that theYg a re indeed some of th e best in the.[ world . l As Art Sch oll dazzled the crowd 1 with an air circus between motos, m echanics wer e changing an unusual , number of flat rea r tires. The roughs track was taking its toll. Out for the day was Bengt Ab erg. J! .. A head gasket blew and we" d on 't have a spare. A 50 ยข part 'l knocked us ou t for t he day." said Lars 1 Larrson , the Torsten Ha llrnan g di stributor who was helping in the . pits. Lackey's 17-inch rear tire was J flat. On th e Banks CCM the shift. splin e broke and knocked John out of th e first m ot o. Hakan Andersson ., f\idn't ha ve a bike for pract ice on Saturday - there was a 'm ix up at the airport and finally his Montesa was flown int o Los Angeles at 3:00 a.m. Sunday. Haken wasn't having very good luck as he didn't finish in the top 18 riders in either moto. As the riders took their 'p laces for the start of moto two the crowd was wondering if this could be the year an American took the overall as well? Pomeroy looked smooth and fast in the first moto. Hopes for an overall for an . American vanished in th e first turn. "I screwed up on th e start and was pushing it hard into th e first turn. Gerrit was hit by a rider and pushed into me . All I can remember is Gerrit falling i n front of me," Pomeroy sa id