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/126302
IFar right) Bob "Hurricane" Hannah topped last year's Daytona Supercross.IAbovelTeam Honda's Marty Sm it h. his late decision to run Dayton a . (Baker lost his Yamaha fa cto ry rid e last year when he was unable to provide the factory with a winner in the 500cc championship. He then turned down Yamaha Motor Canada machinery to ride Suzuki for the Italian Suzuki importer. The deal ruled out Baker's Daytona ride, but at the last moment changes were made for 750cc machinery only .) With the field wide open , the speculation again falls on Gregg Hansford and his Kawasaki , As in last year's 200, Hansford was a con siderable threat until he ran out of gas . Later checking proved that his tank would did not hold enough gas for 100 miles at race speeds. You can be sure the problem will be remedied this year. Hansford will be factory backed in the 250cc World Championships for '78 SO he might j ust have an ace up his sleeve in this race. In the past. the International event has produced some of the closest racing going. As a 100 mile sprint , there is no time for strategy. Among some of the best sprinters around are Ga ry Nixon , Skip Aksland , Da vid Emde , John Lorrg , Conrad Ur banowski , Jim Allen. Mike Baldwin, Rich Schlachter. Ted Herner. Ron Pierce, Jim Arnold, Jim Dunn and Mike Baeder. All will be Yamaha mounted. 32 Harley-Davidson will field Grand National Champ Jay Spri ngsteen as their sole factory sponsored effort. Billy Labrie will also be H ·D mou nted. Keep an eye on the following Rookie Lightweight Experts who mixed it up last year as Novices and showed a lot of promise: Craig Morris, Dan Warren. Hal Coleman , Eddie Lawson , Miles Baldwin and Bruce Sass . The almost 20 foreign riders entered should add a little spice to the event and are again an unknown factor . For rid ers who have never raced here before, Daytona is an eye-opening ex perience. Novices The Novices always put on a helluva show and this year should be no excep· tion. It is always hard to give a run down on the Novices since, for the most part, they are rider with no past. This year one name stands out in the 134 rider entry: Freddie Spencer. Spencer's name should be familiar to east coast readers for he was virtually unbeatable in WERRA 250cc competition and gathered up three class titles for the year. Carter Alsop , Norma Bonelli and Wendy Epstein will be adding and upholding the Women's touch to the racing. Look to the Novice race to be a mirror on ttie future. Today's Novices are tomorrow's Experts , Superbike Production Put together 68 riders on 10 different brands of machinery and you have the makings for one of the best , if not the best , event during Speed Week . The beauty of the Superbike event is that it gives everyone a chance to see how basically (within the rules) production motorcycles . get , it on in the hands of some very ca pa ble rid ers. Ducati, Moto-Guzzi , Kawasaki. Hon da , Yamaha , Suzuki , Laverda, BSA, Harley-Davidson and BMW will all be represented , This will be the first championship outing of the year for the new "su per" superbikes - Kawasaki's KZ 1000 , Suzuki GS 1000 and , perhaps, Yamaha's XS Eleven . Harl e yDavidson's XLCR Cafe Ra cer will a lso debut. Riders to wat ch incl u de W es Cooley, Kurt Leibm ann , J ohn Lon g , Rich Schlachter. Fr ank Mrazek , Keith C od e . Mik e Baldwin , Ste ve McL aughl in . Ron Pier ce , H urley W ilvert , Freddie Spen cer . Reg Prid mor e , Shohei Ka to , J ohn Bettencourt , La nce j ones, Da vid Emde and more. One name cu rrent ly mi ssing from th e pre·entry lists is that of Cook Neilson . Neil son , editor of Cycle. . showed the Japanese brand riders a few things about go power with his Du cati last year as he swept to victory . Don 't miss this event. Amateur road races Wednesday, the Amateur road racers have their turn at tackling Daytona when they compete in the AMA 's Amateur National Qualifier. The action takes place in five displacement classes spread out over 13 IO-Iap events. There will be three GP classes and five each in Modified Production and Showroom Stock, Championship points will be earned in each event. Practice sessions will kick off at 9 a.m , with an expected 260 riders vying for a spot on the starting grid . The racing will kick off at noon. Supercross Round three of the nine -event Toyota Supercross Series is the final overture of Saturday's activities at the Speedway. This is the fifth yea r of Supercross at Daytona and, with each new edition , th e event has continued to grow in terms of spectator turnout. The change to the heat race , consolation and winner take all final event Supercross format should provide more than enough action for everyone. Another bonus of the new Supercross format is that it gives the spectator a cha nce to see a ll his favorites in action . Although the entry is limited to riders who have qualified for the ser ies, you ca n be sure that all of the name rid ers will be there. However, anything ca n happen in the qualifying races and th e cro wd favorite ma y just be sitti ng on the sid elines when the fin al lines up at the starting gate. The track for the Supercross is laid out utilizing the grassy portion between the tra ck and pit lane and stretching ou t towards turn one in a sna king , tight. whoop-de-d oc filled torture test tha t demands total concent ra tion and guts to negot iat e at race win ni ng speed . Gr andstand seating is the best viewing point and all ows you to relax enj oy th e acti on and sip on a cool one a ll at the same tim e. e Bob Hannah , last year's winnerand defending Supercross cha m pion, will lead the Yamaha contingent backed up by Bro c Glover, Rick Burgett, Mike Bell and Pierre Karsmakers . r Honda will throw their chances behind opening round winner Jimmy~ Ellis, Marty Smith, Jim Pomeroy, 0 Marty Tripes , Tommy Croft , Stev Wise and Warren Reid . be Suzuki will counter the thrust of Yamaha and Honda with Tony' DiStefano, Kent Howerton. Mark Barnett and Danny LaPorte. J~ Jimmy Weinert. Steve Stackabl :>t and Gayl on Mosier will be doing their work for Kawasaki while Gary Sem ics ., and Rich Eierstedt' will carry the colors of Can -Am . £ Don Kuda lski will make h is H arley.~ , Davidson debut in Supercross corn petition with Gary Jones hoping to be a threat on his Ammex . Chuck Sun IS expected to put Husqvarna's honor on the line with Terry Clark doing th e honors for Maico . 9 Other notable cont estant s include Rex Staten, Mickey Boon e, Mickey Kessler , Billy Grossi. John Savi tski] T on y Summey, J ohn Calathes, Ma rt Moates, Joey Gratton , Sam Dayto n and Barry Higgin s. ' There should be plenty of action. 0 Short track tq A lot of people conside r the sh~tt track events, especia lly th e Friday ~nll Saturday night Expert/Junior wa rfare , as their only rea son for go in g tc Da ytona . If you like close competitionJ with triple th e amount of racing for your dollar's worth then th ere is n". other show in town . l1'l Unfortunately, all the above reasons are why the two events are almost always sold out before the week begins ; Take a chance and check out the ) ticket booth at Memorial Stadium, you just might be lucky. Wednesday features the Noviceonly crowd who a lways put their heart into the racing even if they are sometimes short on experience. Our tip is to keep an eye on Freddie Spencer. He should do business. When he does , remember where you read it first. 1 Thursday the Novices who qualified for Wednesday's .p rogram join the Junior riders in another slam -bang aflit fair. £ Friday and Saturday's Expert/ Junior programs are the highlight of the four night'S of competition. If the entries for the. preceeding weekend's trio of dirt track events are an indication of the talent to show up for a shot at the purse, then the action should be su perb. Among the riders expected are Houston National winner Steve Eklund , Lance Jones, Ted Boody , Corky Keener. Gu y McClure, Garth Brow , Don Goss , Steve Morehead, Bubba Rush, and many others. (I£V The race goers edge r"' Speed Week is just what the name imp lies: seven days of activities featuring almost every type of twowheel competit ion possible . all building up to Sunday's Daytona 200. No one except the total enthusiast and race freak expects to spend Mon day through Sunday watching events, but for those who do here is a ram bling account of just what is going on , plus a few tips for spending your time.