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/126290
Championship m a teria l was seriously left in do ubt when Roger DeCoster declined to enter. but watched from the q uestiona ble safety of the track a infi eld. Roger knew when he was over his head. Rider's Race tl-o Q) ..c e Q) u Q) Cl i International class riders like '} Noyce , Lackey, DeCoster and Wol sink co were d in the pits and left the Ame rican stars of the future to put on 1 the show. Practice indica ted 125cc-:l National C ha m p Bro c Glover and 1 Ho nda 's Warren Reid would be ~ providing some 5,000 spectators with a ff night to remember in the Pro class where a purse in excess of $500 awaited the victors. Afte r running away with last year's Ii event on a CR ·125 engined H ond a mini . until the gea rbox blew , Warren~ Reid returned this year with a box r stock XR·75 . "Broc is no competition for me ," snickered the you ng P whippersnapper fro m Team Honda 'T ''I'll blow him away with m y stocker." Bu t th e Reid kid bragged too soon as he bailed off in his qualifying hea t and fa iled to make the tra nsfer to the 25:l lap fea ture. Winnin g his q ualifier ea sily was " Broccoli" Glover who had blue flam es bellowing out the tu ne d exhaust of his l DG prepared Hond a , leavi ng behind t he scent of a skid row wino's b rea th in" the chill night air. Ya m aha tea m ) m a nage r Ken Cla rk offered " NO d com me nt " over Broc's riding another" b ra nd bi ke than what he was con tracted to , along with rumors that 1 teammate Rick " Lum berjack" Bu rgett had been entered in the evening's) program to "assist" Broc in securing; his world championship title. I Victors in the 10 lap qualifiers included Da ve " W or ks" Mille ~ roosting awa y with his potent 100cc Yamaha in th e first round ahead of Mike Farina. Rick Bu rgett and R ic h~ Eierstedt. It was noted that National Mini Bike Champion J eff Ward , entered as a ringer in th e first qualifier by a group of Italians out of ChiTown , fa iled to make the cutoff and retired to the pits in disgrace. Rou nd two, of ' course, went to Glover over local shoe f Dave Fari na . Race three went to #56 wh 0 got passed by # 29 on th e next to '" last lap , b ut #29 fell on the last lap and ) remou nted to finish fourth, ahead of ' #5 b u t be hind #99 x and #5. T he : fourth qualifier was a big bore. btli' some guy did win. ~ Now that we got all these gu ys together to run the biggie. there ' seeme d to be a lot of disc ussion in the pits with some riders claiming it was a fixed event. Differences centered on ; th e Farina brothers who had cherry ' picked the race two years ago , were, shamed away from last year's championship. but returned again this , year in hopes that no o ne would remember them . Well , everyone did , remember them ; along with the fact, they p racticed on the track regularly' a nd their father just happened to be the starting flagman for the festivities . " AMA Pro Motocross Manager Mike DiP re te offered "No comme nt" to" papa Farina's twitchey left hand as he' flagged off the start with the green flag' half-a -second later with his right. The Fa rin a broth ers nailed the holesho r with their Hondas but it was obvious ly a ho rsepowe r show as Miller a nd" Glover wheelied do wn t he starting st r a ig h t a nd took over t he lea d throu gh turn one ahead of the Fari nas, Burgett , Eiersted t , Ram irez. and Sherman Wong. Mil ler found himself in trou ble as Mike Fari na bashed his way by for second spot j ust one lap into the ra ce while Dave Fa rina attacked Mille r from behind.' Two more laps and the Farinas had a stranglehold on the top two spots behind leader Broc Glover. Rick i "Lumberjack " Burgett leads Rich Eirerstedt and w inner Broc Glover in the Pro class. (Above) Guess where the Greek was at the start of his race. (A bove right) Steve Johnson (10) takes charge of the Tuner's race . (Below) Spectators included Bob Hannah. Dick Miller, Brad Lackey, and Larry Carpenter. Glover wins the Richmond Rambler's fifth annual International World Championship Mini Bike Grand Prix By Jim "T he Greek " Gianatsis RICHM OND . CA . N OV. 18 T here are times when a rider's reputa tion, his career, and his entire fu ture is on the line in just one fateful race , For some it's the final event of the World Championships, for others it may seem to be a few insignificant words scrawled on a chalkboard . For m any though among the . '. , elite of motocross, It s the Ram - 12 .bler·s yea rly Mini Bike Grand Prix held at the R ich m ond Ra m b le r clubgrounds on Friday nigh t before the Sears Point Trans·AMA final e. Some th ink of it as an evening of fun , a chance to unwind, after a long season of follow ing the motocross circuit across Europ e and Am eri ca . But for others it's th eir last ditch effo rt to prov e th eir worth and perhaps hold onto their factory contracts for th e following season . After last year's hea ted compe tition . wher e he elbowed a nd edged his way to victory. allowing him to secure a factory Honda "cont~~ct for th e 1977Bad Brad Lackey 78 seasons . decided to sit out this year's race rather than press his luck. "A frie nd told me to retire as Champion . It's better to let the competition say they cou ld have beat me . . . not that t hey did beat me ." O t her C ha m pions attending this year's bout included Bob "H u rricane" H a n na h and Tony DiStefa no who seemed more intent on chasing tootsies through the pits than entering the race. Competition and scoring on and off the track was im p ressive . The quest ion -of'- wh o - really- was World