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
(A bo ve) Gaston Rah ier was on t h e gas for another w in in Switzerland. (l nsetJ Gerard Rond is the fastest chaUenger - but not quite f ast enough. 125ec World Championship MX Series - Round nine Rahier scores double'in Switzerland By David Maltais/Asahi Pentax ROGGENBU RG . SWITZERLAND, JULY 10 S . r---------~ I I SUBSCRIBE NOW! 1 1 I 1 • MAILTO: CYCLE NEWS, 2201 Cherry Ave. Long Beach, CA 90801 or call (213) 427-7433 CYCLE NEWS (1 year) $15. 0 50 ISSUES CYCLE NEWS (2 years) 27. 0 100 ISSUES CYCLE NEWS (3 years). '. 37.50 0 150 ISSUES I Thi::::s~:::::;.~~~.~.~.~~.~r. ~.~~.~ ~.~i~i.~~.. 0 Please bill me . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 I enclose check or money order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 0 I I I· Name (Please print legibly) Address City P1 ease I I L; fill ' I State ZIP . . I m your comp ete account number and card exp iranon date below: . • Card expires The Issu er of th e card ,de nt 'fled on "liS Ite m IS authou.led to pay th e am ount shown as .........- I ............l.-.l....J................. ...J--'-.i-l........ ..J-_ TOTAL upo n propet' peese n ta . no n I pr omi se to pay such Date of this order TOTAL (t og ethe r With any ot her cha rges due thereo nl subteCt to and In . I I I I I I I I I ecco edaoc e -------- i9 nature 36 I I I w,th ,he 09'ee......t .90; . I '" oon9 the use of suc h card . uzuki's Gaston Ra hier , Worl d Champion in '75 and '76, is now certain of adding another world title to his credit as he won both races on the Motocross Club Loewe nburg's beautiful circuit near Roggenb urg in the Swiss 125cc Grand Prix. (The following Sunday at th e Mid· Ohio Valooline U.S. Grand Prix, Rahier did clinch his 't hird con.secutive 125cc World Champion.s hip title . . . Editor.} Ra hier has led the series since after the third round in' Belgiu m when 'the lea der Akira Watanabe was sidelined with tom ligaments in the muddy race. Gaston no w has 12 first. place wins 'ou t of 18 races. Wata na be won two races before he was forced out of the title chase because of his injuries. Gerard Ra nd of the Netherlands, 250cc National Champion in H olland, is now second in the standings after . posting four wins this season, coming on strong with his dou ble win in Denma rk followed by a second a nd a win in Pola nd and a second and a win in Czechoslovakia . In West Germany he scored two second pl aces behind Ra hier, When the gate dropped in Switzerland , the riders j umped off the line into a very muddy circ uit , the result of a huge rainsto rm late Friday night a nd early Satu rday morning. R o n d powered his factory Yamaha into th e lead with Rahier second an d the rest of the field slipping and slidi ng behind. Three quarters of the way around th e first la p Ra hier passed Rond on an uphill sect ion of the course a nd hel d the lead to the che ckered flag . Rand was hold ing off hard-charging Finn Cote Liljegren on . his pr ivat eer KTM and Andre Massant on th e other fac tory Yamaha. Both Ra nd a nd Massant get their machines from their respec- tive importers but they are special • machines from Japan. Rond was forced off his line by ' a slower rider he was about to lap and he slid off the course and rammed his hand into one of the wooden posts all owing both Liljegren and Massant to pass him for second and third positions. Gera rd charged hard but cou ld n't catch the Finnish and Belgia n riders and had to settle for fourth . Gilbert De Roever finished fifth after having to resort to his back-u p bike whe n his main bike snapped its cra nkshaft in timed training. De Roever's Beta ne ver m issed a bea t during the race. Sixth place went to Matti Autio of Finland on his Silja Line-sponsored Su zuki . • Ranier's win ni ng time for the ·18 laps was 47 .07 .5 with on e second separating Liljegren and Massant with times of 47 .09.1 and 47 .10 .3 . Rand finished 14 seconds. off t heir pace in 47.24.4. Rah ie r wen! unchallenged from start to finish in the second race the .su n came out, dried the track and made the long hills super fast. Gaston completed 19 laps for the 40 minute plus-two-round race in 45 .27 .0 and Rond finished second 13 seconds off the pace. in 45.42.1 . Andre Massant finished third for t he second time of th e day with Autio mo ving up to notch the fourth spot after fellow Fin la ndsm a n Liljegren lost two places when his fuel pe tcock got turned off and he finished , in sixth behind J iri Ch uravy. Ra hier lap ped a ll bu t the top nine riders . • as .Results . 1lit MoIO: 1. GIIItqn RlIhier 1Suz); 2. Goto UI~ IKTM); 3. Andro M_nl )yom); 4. Go<_d Rend Nom ); S. Gilbert Do Roo_ IBoll; 6. Molli Autio ISuz); 7. Jiri Churovy ICZl; 8. MicNol Woia IC-A); 9. Go<....d Huber IC·A); 10. Yuri Khudjok ICZl. ov 2nd Mote : 1. Gooton RlIhier lSuz); 2. Go<_d Rend Nom );3. Andro ~ Nom); 4. Molli Autio 1Suz) S. ; Jiri Churovy ICZl 6. GoIO Uljogron IKTMI; 7. Gorhord ; Huber IC-Al; 8. Jyon A1borgholli (Apr); 9. PovoI Rul.. ICZl 10. Jooof lDotochor IKTM). ; .