Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

CN M Q) ..0 8 Q) ;> o Z lAbovel Bell takes the second NlItionaliSupport class mota, while Glover and Sun fight for second. (Belowl Sun's attempt ends up a rmle awkward and Glover goes around to take second.lBottoml Roger D was engulfed by autograph hounds. and Croft. Croft got around Lackey and the race for top spots settled down for a few laps . DiStefano followed Jimmy Ellis who had his Can -Am in sixth place. But a few minutes later .Ellis pulled off, suffering nausea . By the halfway mark Croft had moved around Burgett and pulled away into a safe third place. Hannah enjoyed a good lead; DeCoster cruised in second. The top three places would remain unchanged for the rest of the moto , 8 Fourth place became the focal point, and no fewer than five riders were going for it. Brad Lackey apprentIy fell again , dropping back out of contention for the spot, and that left Burgett leading DiStefano and Smith wo'd recovered from their earlier crash, and Harley-Davidson's Marty Tripes. " I'm feeling good ." Tripes had said the previous evening and he'd gone on to predict a top placing in Sunday's race. He backed up his claim in round one with an eventual fifth . but a crash on lap one of the second moto put him at the back of the class with a bent brake pedal. He stopped to have it fixed . then dropped out when the futility of.trying to make up lost time set in . Burgett was having problems with the Yamaha's monoshock unit, and he fell to seventh as DiStefano, Smith and Tripes passed. Smith found a way past DiStefano, as 'd id Tripes , and the Smith/Tripes duo crossed the line in close formation behind a long-gone Bob Hannah , Roger DeCoster and Tommy Croft. Tony D came across sixth , and Rick Burgett, Gerrit Wolsink, Pierre Karsmakers and Steve Stackable completed the top 10. Mota two: RO's experience and stamina prevail Gerrit Wolsink, his knee injury no longer a problem, stole the holeshot in the second 500cc International moto with Marty Smith and Jimmy Weinert in tow. But before a lap had been completed Wolsink had dropped to seventh after stalling his motor in a tight tum . "Normally, 1 never do that," the Dutch dentist shugged afterward , "but this time . . ." The St . Peters TransAMA would be Wolsink's last race until the Sears Point event. He returns home to Holland for a short break before traveling to Japan for bike testing; the Sears Point race is on the way, so he plans to race there. Jimmy "jarnrnin' Jaws" Weinert inherited the lead when Wolsink stalled, but before the lap had ended, Bob Hannah came up to take control. Weinert held a close second with Smith and DeCoster rubbing knobs in his shadow. DiStefano rode fifth ahead of Stackable and Wolsink . Lackey, Karsmakers and Rex Staten completed the top 10. Tommy Croft was trying to overcome a slow start in 12th. Rick: Burgett bumped with DeCoster and at another time on lap one had caught his foot under a footpeg. He came around near last place at the end of the first lap and , despite a fading monoshock, managed to get back up to 15th place by the end for an overall 10th place. Lap two saw DeCoster overtake Smith for third behind Weinert. He then flew past Weinert on a high speed jump and set his sights on the leader, Hurricane Hannah. Ten minutes into the race Tony D and Marty Smith were again dueling for position as they had in round one. with DiStefano in third and Smith looking for a way past. Weinert had dropped to sixth, tiring in his first race in months , when Wolsink followed DiStefano and Smith around the Jammer. Croft by this time had moved up to eighth behind Stackable who was only a couple of seconds after Weinert. Near the halfway point DeCoster closed the gap on Hannah. pressured hard . and passed him on a tight infield comer. Hannah hung close , seemingly determined to stick with DeCoster possibly with a last minute play in mind. For the next 10 minutes The Man and the kid had the crowd on their feet and cheering, but Hannah eventually dropped back. He'd tried everything he could think of to rattle DeCoster - he'd bumped him trying to stick a wheel under in the tight turns, he'd pulled alongside on the hillsides only to get shut off in the next tum , he'd made DeCoster aware that any slip would cost him the lead - but the RD held firm. If anything, his ride improved under pressure. Hannah finally dropped back. He 'd planned to cruise for a while . then go for it near the end. But when the time came to pour it on , nothing was left. Judging from his attitude after the race, the Hurricane was impressed by his adversary. Once again the race became a fight for third . DiStefano held firm but Smith was stubborn, too . He pushed and shoved, but Tony D held his ground. When it had ended , DiStefano kept third in the moto and Smith had taken third overall with a pair of fourth placings. . Tommy Croft had blasted up into fifth place by the 30 minute mark, a placing good enough to give the Tomahawk fourth overall with a 3·5 total. DiStefano would take fifth overall. a great showing in what has been a slow series for the three-time 250cc National champion. Immediately at the drop of the checkered flag , the spectators stormed the pit fence and engulfed DeCoster and the other top placers. When last (Continued on page 46)

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