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/126277
(Opp. page) Croft got the jump on Hannah in the second moto. (Above) Stylish Rex Staten is pursued by Jo hn Kaufman. costing him valuable positions as he painfully remounted. LaPorte shifted his Suzuki into full speed-a head , briefly took the lead , then lost it again. He followed for a lap, then tried again. He got past , then shut the door on Hannah as they entered a left hand turn. Again , . Hannah's foo t was ripped from the peg, and again his ankle was twisted , ths time severely. He let LaPorte go . . r- Da nny rode on to win th e second moto as Hannah faded q uickly : wincing and grimacing in pain to finish seventh. Again, Stackable and Croft were involved in a race for the runnerup spot , This time Stack won, outbraking Croft as they went into a tight 180 degree tum, taking the inside line. Howerton recovered from his get-off to score fourth ahead of Marty Smith, Mickey Boone and Bob Hannah . Chuck Sun , R ich E ierstedt and Montesa's Mickey Kessler completed the top 10. Hannah's ride was good enough to hold his se co n d placing i n the AMA /Mr. PiBB 500cc National MX Series standings behind Marty Smith, and Steve Stackable held his th ird place easily. Tommy Croft's first -ever National MX overall win at St. Petersburg moved him up past Tony . DiStefano into fourth for the year. time around, Ogden squeezed under Ha lcom b and began closing on Bell. He reeled in the tall Team Yamaha rider, getting by one lap past the halfway point , then overtook Rein holt on th e next lap . Bell followed , taking over .second ~lace but he immediately ran mto equIpment problems as the monoshock .fa ded , then the electrics quit, taking him out of the mo to , Ogd en 's FMF Suzuki came across the li ne first followed by Re in h ol t , H a lcom b and Georgia's John Gra nt. Bell's bike failed again in the second moto - typica l of the horrible luck experienced by Team Yamaha this weekend - when a wire dangled into _ the chain and wore through . Ogden blew his 1-1 victory when , on the last la p of the final moto, he stopped at the mechanics' area, picked up his tuner John Rush , a nd crossed the finish line still in the lead with Rush on the sea t. He was protested and su bseq uent ly disqua lified for the moto. " I always learn things t he hard wa yI" Ogdensaid later of th e inci d en t tha t cost him approximately S1100 in purse and contingency money. With Ogden out, Mark Rakestraw was a wa rded the second moto win .John Reinbolt's 2·2 score was good for the overall as Charles Halcomb took se c o n d with a 3 ·4 and Johnn y Borders put in a 5-3 ride for third . 125cc Support Results Florida's john Reinholt surprised Support class regulars Mike Bell, Ga ry Ogden and Mark Ba rnett by pulling a first moto ho leshot and hold ing it until past th e h a lfwa y flags. Ba rne tt dro pped out of co ntention on the third lap when his motor seized; he was una ble to ride the second ro und. Ogd en and Bell, sixth and seventh off the lin e , started pushing to' the fro nt with Bell taking second and Ogden fo urth behind Charles Halcomb on the fou rt h lap . The next (Above) Croft was up in the air about his fist National win. (Below ) The smiling SOOcc National Champ, Ma~ Smith. 500cc NATIONAL: 1. Tommy Croft 2-3 IHan). 2. Marty Smrth 1·5 IHon). 3. Steve Stackable 4-2 IMai). 4. • Kent Howerton &4 IHus). 5: Mickey Boone 7-6 (Sull. 6. Oanny laPorte ' ·1 lSuz). 7. Chuck Sun 1118 IHus). 8. Rich Eierstedt 1()'9 IBull . 9. Rex Staten 9-12 IH·D). 10. Gary Semics 3-' IKaw). 11. WAR REN Reid 12·11 IHon}. 12. Marty Tripes 13-13 IH-O). 13. Tony DiStefano 5-' (Suz). 14. Bob Hannah ··7 (Yam). 15 . Gaylon Mos ier 8- 22 IMai). 16. John Joyner 16-14 IYam). 17. Mickey Kessler ' ·10 IMon). 18. Koji Masuda 15-16 ISuz). 19. Pat Moroney 14-17 IHus). 20. Denny Swartz 18-15 IMai). • -denotes placing outside top 20 . 125 SUPPORT 1. John Reinftolt 2·2 ISuz). 2. Charles : Halcomb 3-4 IHus). 3. Johnny Borders 5-3 ISuz). 4. Brian Ward 7-6. 5. Bob Collie 9-7. 6. Terry Hughes 1().8 IYam). 7. Philip Poole 14-9. 8. Alan lucy 12·11 ISuz).9. Bob Sorenseon 17·12 ISuz). 10. Steve McGill 18-13 IYam). 7