Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Brad Lackey was smiling early, but a spill two laps from the end cost him the overall win. Only a minute la ter Lackey flashed up on Pomeroy's rear fender and rip ped past into the lead! Schmitz was forc ed ou t when his heavy-with-mud Mai co pounded the rear ax le so hard th a t it ac tu ally stret ch ed and allowed the wheel to cock sid eways in the swing arm, according to tuner Selvaraj Na rayana . Gerri t Wolsink also retired at about the same time; his injured knee forcing him to call it quits. Hannah a nd LaPorte were bumping bars as the halfway m ark drew near. both pushing hard for the front. At the halfway point. with Lackey holding a good lead over Pomeroy, Andre Malherbe suddenly did a quick 360 in a slick corner. and T om m y Cro ft shot past into th ird ma king it an all-H ond a 1-2-3 parade. Malherb e, in fourth . was pursued by a ha r dcharging Danny LaPort e and Roger DeCoste r. H annah and Jimmy Ellis followed. W ith three la ps to go both Croft and DeCosrer. wh o'd cleared h is eyes somewhat, overtook Jim Pomeroy. " I was hatin' life ," Pomeroy said later. He'd stuffed the RC400 into a ta ll , sticky berm . done " the bosSest handstand" and stepped off. He lost positions tryng to find neutral and fire up the Honda. W ith one and one -half laps remaining, Lackey looked fine , He was in no immediate danger of being caught by Croft, and he was a full 35 seconds over DeCoster in fourth . But th en he lost it . "Aw. I just fell over," he shrugged it off later. "I grabbed th e clutch and the throttle just as it stalled." The motor flooded, and as Lackey hunted for neutral and started kicking the starter. rider after rider swept past. He finally got going again in sixth plac e behind C roft , DeCoster, Pomero y, Malherbe , and LaPorte. . W ith one lap to go LaPorte pushed up past Malherbe and Pomeroy as Lackey dialed it on again and was able to shoot down Malherbe for fifth place before the flag fell, Croft roll ed across amid cheers from th e crowd and grins from the Honda pits. DeCoster got the biggest round of applause as announcer Morris Alpern declared him the overall winner in the almost incredible race, Team Suzuki's 'D a n n y LaPort e registered a n outsta nd ing third place in the moto after a grea t rid e. In' the series sta ndings DeCost er increased his po ints lead over Marty Smith from three to 26 - 130 to 104. Marty kept his second placing despite a tough d ay in which a 5·13 eigh th overall was th e best he could salvage th rough determined rid ing. Bob H annah .edged Jim Pom eroy from the third spot in the standings by a single po int - 99 to 98. An d Brad Lackey held his fifth place safely at 94 . (Cont inued on page 23) Uphill, we always climb with caution; downhill, we crash caref ree. It'HOIMfJlJI£f Bf/(£ pAJ Jt]u J!J PO>tJVUJOKAr TH£81KEFIIUT 8EFoR£ >tJ{/!Pl7C£ 7lIE raxy CHICK /i!lp/N6ITr ON-4 WIiRM,5Vh'NYMoRNllfG Po >fJU I.OC1< "OAA'A~ToR/P//VG 7TJ WORJ<.//V Rr/JII HOUR '!RAFFle? Po YOU Gr4f ITA urns IFYO{/ A 51GN 7JIAT I?£APJ: 8/..OOM/N6 JASMIN! IlNP 7H£ TA5TE OFclUNE:. BUG5 ? IF y(7P W~ BtlHPFOJ.PEP,COiILP YOU TELL THE PIf"FD?£tIC£ BETWEEN/?AIN ANP5MP H/rTlN6 YOll IN 711£ FAC!. r:..T:7 tria~scri= I ~'d::.~~ p-~",:,~ D~a.@a _ State ~ AIL with AN {/6LY, BJ.Acx. SI0£5 A SUMMER'} tvENlNGR!Jr1INP I Add,e ss /5 WE l.EF7 INSTEPOF7HOf£. a I Name 'f)AJ{GEJeOllS Cl/f<,V£5AHE"AP'? I I O ka y, send me Biker [or 3 months . I enclose 51. 97 (so r ry. no bill mt" ! ). AT6011.P.H. ? sa 7A. ~ to- : :, ' the I.stest. funni est, most Inlo" mative publication on the road . 3-month Tr ial Subscription C7 issuesl only $1.97lTry it. you'll buy rt1 ZiLlp _ 11.97 to BIKER Trial SUbscri ption ~Ol Cherry Ave., L:ng~Ch,~ 80~ J I I I 15

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