Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

C'I l""""'4 l-o Q) ..0 o .... u o T hirteen minutes into 'the race , Jimmy Ellis tipped over , letting Lackey, into third place and putting DeC oster and Schmitz rig t on his rear fender. In some of the best racing seen in '77, almost every rider in the field was engaged in combat with at least two others - from the duel for the lead to the battle to avoid coming in last .. Just short of the halfway flags , Bob Hannah moved into the lead when Smith fell . . " I went off a jump and landed in the mud ," Marty described it later." My forks had bent on about the fourth lap." The Honda's front wheel had twisted off sideways, out of line with the handlebars, making control difficult at best. The bent tube hadn't resulted from a crash; it had simply bent under "normal" use . "1 think they must not have heat treated that fork tube ," Marty's mechanic Dave Arnold speculated. Sm it h remounted immediately , losing only the one position to Hannah. Then he and Lackey moved in to ch allenge the Hurricane. From the 25th·minute point until Lackey overtook Sm ith for second place, the top t hree ran in close formation all owing no room for even a m inor error, DeCoster had m a ne uvere d his way up int o fourth place in fr on t of J im m y Ellis, Gaylon Mosier , Danny LaPort e, Mickey Boone, Gary Sem ics and Pierre Karsmakers . J im P om e r oy had recovered from his 28th starting slot and m oved to 11tho Herbert Schmitz, fourth in the first race, had trouble with his Maico overheating and dropped to 23rd in rou nd two . Jimmy Ellis' a irbox came loose in the frame , fell into contact with the rear wheel and dunfped him to 12th. Lackey kept Hannah honest, but the Hurricane maintained his lead to the finish line with Brad only a few feet behind. Smith backed off the pace near the end , knowing he had the 'overa ll win in the bag~ " I just wanted to make .sure Roger didn't get me ," Marty grinned , " I was keeping an eye on him. " . DeCoster kept his Minoru Haradatuned works Suzuki in fourth , good for third overall as Jim Pomeroy completed the second round on his Merle Anderson-wrenched RC 400 in eighth for fourth overall: Fifth overall, Da n n y La Po r te follow ed G a ylo n Mosier in sixth p lace in the mo to on his Pa t Alexander-tu ned Suzuki. And the nation's top privateer, ~ic key Boone, put his S&M Cycle Sales RM370 into a 8-7 sixth overall placing in the international competition . 250cc Nationa l "I'm the tuner - it helps if I get int o my bike," Husqvarna ride r Chuck Sun was talking a bout his win and hie winning machine. " It keeps me b usy during the week, ',' he continued, " . .. gives me some thing to do. " Sun's Husky, winner of the two National/Support class T rans·AMA events run thus far, is a culmination of ingenuity and hard work . Sun acquired one of Kent Howerton's old frames, bummed som e forks and shocks from Howerton's tuner Eric Crippa , then assembled his own motor from parts of his Supercross Series bik e, a few CR390 pieces and odds and ends from his 250cc National Series machine. The result was a perhaps odd but certainly effective weapon for the super competitive Trans·AMA support series. . The Oregon rider also pays his own way - the truck, bike(s) and parts are furnished by Husqvarna - dispelling the theory that fully supported factory riders can't be bea ten by privateers. Second for the second week in a row was Team Honda's Warren Reid . Reid had to beat his way through some stiff competition this Su nday while Sun enjoyed the advantage of two holeshots. Warren scored the 2-4 second placing on his J on R-tu ned RC 250 Ho nda . T hird went to Mark Barnett of the impressive Moto- X Fox team on theit mo dified RM250 Suzu ki. Priva teer Bu lta co rider Kenny Zahrt rode strongly all day to total up a 3·8 fourth ahead of Denny Swartz of Ohio on a Maico. Two top contenders, Mike Bell of Team Yamaha and John Savitski on an FMF Suzuki, ran out of luck . Bell 's "black box " electronic ignition failed in the first turn of the opening moto , Mechanic Dave Osterman repaired it in time for Bell to finish the moto , but it was obviously impossible to pla ce well. Round two saw Bell kn ocked down by another rider exiting tum one and register a DNF. Sav itski's Bevo Forte-tuned RM250 also suffered ignition problems in th e first moto, slowing but not qu itting altogether, and John was able to fin ish sixth. Round two saw the bike's upper left shock mount break loose leaving the Fox Airshox unit flapping in the breeze as Savitski pursued the leader Chuck Sun. H e was unable to finish . A third top rider, Gary Ogden is out with a _ broken leg suffered during practice in California last week. • IAbove left) Smith in the Sugar Tree mud.lAbovel Hannah went berserk in the second moto. IBelowl W arren Reid took his second second in Support - er, National class competition. Results 500cc INTERNATIONAL: 1. Marty Smith 2-3 IHon). 2. Bob Hannah 7·1 lYam). 3. Roger DeCoster 3"! ISoz). . 4. Jim Pomeroy 1-8 lHon). 5. Danny laPorte ~ ISull. 6. Mickey Boone 6-7 ISozl. 7. Steve St ackable 910 IMail. 8 . Tony DiStefano 5-14ISoz). 9. Brad Lackey DNF-2 Ilion!. 10. GarySernics 12·11 U

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