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/126272
.. • ; I ~ t Bad Brad ... 1" l' , 0') Lackey co rIJ Talks Motocross 61 ;:j By Dave Haw kins < IAbovel Lackey in action at the USGP. IBelow) Bad Brad speaks out on m ot ocross. ' Eu ropea n masters at ' th eir own spo rt in th eir own backyards, A fo rmer m ember of "T ea m Acid -Rock" in 1972 with Kawasaki. Lackey has matu red .into on e of th e fin est Open cla ss rid ers in th e world . Brad's growth to a World Cla ss contender was not a n overni ght mirack. • " You don't just go over to Europe and win a World Championship . you 've got to pa y your du es, " said Brad recently relaxing at his 15 acre ranch in Clayton , Ca lifornia north of Oakland . Lackey is currently fourth in th e points race for the World Championsh ip , behind Heikki Mikko la , Gerrit Wol sink and Rog er DeCoster. All 500cc motocross masters each with more tha n 10 yea rs of Grand Prix racing experience in Europe. "You have to know when to shut offas well as gas it. " t the age of 24 , Brad Lackey has experienced the entire spectrum of motocross competition, from a privateer on a CZ to a serious World Championship contender .with Team Honda. A "l owe everything to one man:' said B·rad. "He believed in me when no on e else did and helped me get started the right way. W hen I . went. to the CZ factory he. gave me a booklet t ha t he made of new one doll ar 'bills glued together on one end like .a coupon book. Whenever I needed anything for my CZ all I did was tear a few of the crisp dollar bills and the ported cylinder 1 needed was mine. I can't tell you how much his help and friendship have meant to me. 1 ca n't think of a way to even begin to repay him ." Brad speaks of Dick R.K . Lightner,a n early sponsor. . 14 Now , right after becom ing the first American to win a 500cc Motocross ' Gra nd Prix overall, Brad planned to drive to Seattle, Washington to visit his longtime friend , R.K. "If I didn't get to visit him 1 would feel really bad. He would never say anything but I've got to see and thank him again ," Brad said . Thanking friends who helped him along the way to his most im po rt a nt victory - the 500cc World Championship round in England on July 3, was a top priority for Brad upon his return home for. a four-week break from the Grand Prix wars . Lackey isn't as well known in America as he might be because he has devoted his time and efforts to racing in Europe for the World Cham pionship . T he Grand Prix only comes to the United States once a year. so Brad is rarely in the spo tlig h t of t he American p ress. With his triumpha nt return from England. it's time to take a look at America's best hope for . a World Ch ampionship. In 1971 on a CZ, Brad placed second , by a single poin t. to Ma rk Blackwell in the First Am er ica n Motorcyclist Association lAMA) 500cc National Championship . The next ' yea r Brad took the National title by storm . amassing a total of 2,030 points ah ead of Gary Jones' 829. W inning was easy for Brad in thos e infant stages of motocross in America . Yet . he ch ose to give up eas y victories and. consequently. easy money to challenge th e Mikkola refers to th e 500cc title as " the BiR" . One." It is the most compet itive mot ocross class a nd is th e cla ss in whic h La ckey had de d ica ted his life to winning th e title - World Mot ocross Champion . Wh y di d La ckey ch oose to race in Eu rope when he could win easi ly in th e Sta tes? " I was in Europe in '71 and got to see what it was like a littl e bit ," answered Brad . " I rod e ab ou t half of t he 250 Grands Prix that yea r and when I got home in '72 1 had a littl e bit of European experien ce - I had gotten lapped a bunch of tim es, found out that I didn't kn ow how to ride very good yet, when , of course 1 thought I did. After riding if! the States in '72 I won all th e Nationals that 1 rod e. Fini shed first American in eight of 10 Trans-AMAs . Crashed once and got second once the other two times, so it was a pretty easy year for me to beat a ll the Am ericans. I don't know why . . . maybe I advanced a little bit sooner th a n the other guys . " At th e end of the season I thought'; what else is t here to do? I had won all the races easily. It was nice and fun to win but I wamed to go back to Europe and try to beat th ose guys who were la pp ing me just a year before. T hat wali. the main reason I went back in '73 an d ever since I coul d see that I was im provi ng stea dily . a litt le bit each ti me. I / wa nted to keep ge tti ng better , so I just got in the habit of rid ing the World Championship. I tried to improve my placing each yea r." remembered Brad. Each year Lackey did get better. It became just a matter of time for Brad to put everything together for an overall, that , until July 3 , had escaped him . ':1 felt that I never really had it together enough