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/126283
Brad Lackey had gotten off the line in 12th place. By the end of the sixth lap however, he had passed all riders up to the fourth place and started working on Gary Semics for third. As Malherbe and DeCoster charged away out in front. only Lackey seemed capable of holding the pace as others dropped back. . At the halfway point DeCoster began his move, closing the gap steadily on Malherbe's Penton. The two lapped Gerrit Wolsink (who 's still unable to ride well because of his injured knee) and Bengt Aberg on the four-stroke Yamaha (who ran into problems and dropped back in the pack) . . Not far behind the Malherbe/DeCoster duel was Lackey. lapping teammate Jim Pomeroy. At the same time Bob "Hurricane" Hannah kicked his Yamaha into overdrive and passed both Semics and Smith for fourth place. Finally, near the SO-minute mark. DeCoster tailed Malherbe through "Gravity Cavity" (formerly "Screw U") , tucked in under his fellow Belgian on the next greasy right: hander, and shot into the lead - a positions he'd hold unchallenged until , the end. With one lap to go Lackey closed a wide gap on Malherbe, found an open line on a straightaway. and slipped into second place. Malherbe finished third ahead of Bob Hannah, Marty Smith, Gary Sernics, and Jimmy Ellis. Danny LaPorte, Steve Stackable, and Rex Staten rounded out the top 10. With DeCoster and Lackey 1-2. the stage was set for the dramatic second moto. Moto two - Lackey: So close and yet ... 14 A mass pileup in the third turn ~fter the , start put Marty Smith. Gary Sernics and a host of others down in the mud. Bengt Aberg pulled off to have a medic check his ankle that was injured in the crash, and then called it quits. Meanwhile DeCoster had stolen the holeshot followed by a hot-to-go Tommy Croft, Herbert Schmitz, Jim Pomeroy. Brad Lackey. and Andre . Malherbe. A tigbt-packed quintet of Hannah, LaPorte, Ellis, Rick Burgett, and Stackable followed in elbowknocking formation. When they came back into view near the end of lap one, Tommy Croft had r taken the leadl Pomeroy had moved up a slot by passing Schmitz, and a Hannah/Ellis duel had broken from the quintet. Marty Smith. after remounting from the third turn crash, rode 18th. Gary Sernics, who had restarted even slower . was giving it a good try; he'd eventually make it up as far as 16th. Croft's bid for glory ended as quickly as it had begun on the second lap when The Tomahawk dumped it" and dropped back to seventh. "I found a new line. and it didn't work for beans, man!" he'd describe it later. But the setback didn't discourage his attempts to regain lost ground. Near the end of the third lap , under pressure from a Pomeroy/Schmitz dispute, DeCoster - already troubled by dirt in his eyes - seemed to miss a shift and both Pomeroy and Schmitz got past. Schmitz stalled the big Maico in the next turn, letting DeCoster back into second, and a few turns later. The Man repassed Pomeroy for the lead. But only one lap later DeCoster was suffering with his vision problems even worse thai. in the beginning. He had slipped and dropped back to fifth place behind Pomeroy, Schmitz. Lackey. and Malherbe. Less than five laps into the race Herbert Schmitz spun out, and Lackey and Malherbe took his place in a fight for second. DeCoster, at about the same time . gave up fifth place to Bob Hannah. Things looked dark for the former World Champ.