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Trans-AMA MX Series - Round one
DeCoster solid,
Hannah fragile,
Hondas 2-3-4 at
Mid-Ohio
By Charles Morey
LEXINGTON , OH , SEPT. 25
Team Suzuki superstar Roger DeCoster, top
ranked among the three Europeans present a t
Mid-Ohio Moto Park's opening round of the
1977 T rans-AMA Motocross Series, put together a 3-1 day to take the overall win . DeC oster's victory, howh dl d .. b
ever, was ar y ecisive e~ause
he spent most of the sunny middle-
6
America afternoon chasing Team
Yamaha's Bob "H u rri ca ne" Hannah
around this winding motocross track.
Hot from the start , Hannah took the
first rnoto unchallenged. Honda 's
Marty Sm ith , second in the fir~t race,
had at one point been nearly 40
seconds behind the flying Hurricane
before closing the gap to 27 seconds a t
the finish .
Fourth off the line when the gate
dropped for moto number two ,
Hannah found a hotline to th e front
within two laps and gave all
indications that he'd stage a second
runaway win. Bu t , has happened in
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,the AMA 5.o0cc Natio~al ~X Series, a
29~ part failure st~le his WIn.
Near the 30-m Inu te mark, one of
the screws that hold the chain guide
to the swingarm either sheared or
came loose , allowing the guide to
drop , With no guide, the chain soon
slapped off the sprocket, and the
Hurricane stopped. As Hannah
fumbled with the chain , DeCoster
passed for the lead. Hannah stopped
a t the mechanic's area where Keith
McCarty faste ned the guide in place
wit h a n electrician's tie and sent the
OW 32A back out on the track in
seventh place.
Hopeless -as it appeared - DeCoster
had been shaving two seconds per lap
off Hannah 's lead before the
equipment failure - Hannah tried to
'regain the lost time. The tie lasted
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