Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

the lead. For three laps they banged together as Bob pulled beside Marty on the straights. Marty revved the Honda 'til it popped, held his good 'line and kept Bob blocked out as they slid sideways into the turns. The crowd let their seats get wet as they waved Hannah on and vibrated the stadium with their clammer. The decibel count in Pittsburgh approached sonic boom proportions as Bob kept the Yamaha ~ed on a set of quadruple jumps and turned the airborne pass into the lead. Ii Hannah's lead over Tripes only lasted until the next comer. " I tried to get a good drive out of the 'tu rn on Marty. I hit a rut and got pitched off the track and onto the plastic covering. I wanted to get back on the track where I went off. By the time I got turned around , the bike wouldn't move. The mud on the plastic was like grease and my tire just SHun like crazy. I couldn't get going. I lost a lot of time." Finland U.S.A. Belgium Belgium Holland Germany Belgium Sweden Belgium England e UUNE4 ansI! 102 92 61 48 46 38 35 24 24 18 It was over eight seconds that the H u rrica ne had lost as he routed himself back onto the track in fifth position behind Ch uck Su n . By the mid-point in the 20-l a pper Bob was back up into third spot behind Jimmy Ellis. Getting around Sta ten and Sun though had left him some 15 seconds behind the leader. Could Marty be reeled-in by Bob at nearly two seconds a lap? The halfway order was Tripes, Ellis , Hannah, Staten, Sun, Bell, Pomeroy, Croft, Weinert , Burgett, Wise , Moates spun out to 12th, Barnett , Clark, LaPorte, Kessler, Savitski, Stackable and then Grossi in his final few laps before the prototype Ca ra bela DNF. Weinert would get spooked on a jump and lose steam, dropping back further. Mike Bell and Chuck Su n provided one of the few behind -t he-scenes battles for fift h spot. Yamaha's ' new 500cc class rider wou ld get a wheel Team Honda's Jimmy Ellis picked up the Toyota Tower Jump money. un d er C hu ck on the last lap to win the tussle. Rocket Rex woul d be the class of the evening with his Marty Smi thwrenched Bassett bike to claim his solid fou rth spot by race's end. Meanwhile, over 60,000 arms were waving him on in hurricane force as Hannah closed on Ellis and passed him easily on lap 12. Four more laps and Bob was rubbing Tripes' red rear fender raw. Bob had made up ground on the rain-soaked track at the unbelievable rate of three seconds per lap. A slight blip of the throttle and Hannah was leading. The stadium shifted on its foundation. Fireworks exploded overhead. As Hannah passed, you could see in Marty's face that he had no determination to try and fight back. Within a lap Bob was running with a six-second lead. Even a lap later when Bob stalled in a turn and had to resta rt the flywheel -light Yamaha, Marty showed no incentive at trying to reclose the gap. He knew he had to beat Bob , but he wasn 't pumped the way he had been the two weekends previous in O m a ha an d Southwick when his bike DNF while leading . In vict ory circle, as Bob lea ned an arm over Huffman's shoulder, he was happier than he'd ever been all year. Once again he had overcom e impossible odds in a come-fr ombehind charge to win . Bu t now he could feel that second consecutive Supercross Series title within his grasp. He already had the 250cc Nationals nearly wrapped up at the halfway point, and the mechanical problems that kept him from winning everything in sight last year are now history. A new game plan is beginning to develop in the back of his mind . One which will grow during the remainder of this year and probably bloom forth in Europe next yea r . • Results ANAl: 1. Bob Hannah !Yam); 2. M8'ty Tripes (Hon); 3. Jimmy Ems lHon); 4. Aex Staten !Yaml ; 5. Mike Bell !Yam); 6. Chuck Sun IHus); 7. Jim Pomeroy lHonl; 8. Tommy Croll tHon); 9. Steve Wise lHon); 10. Aick Burgett !Yam ); 11. M8'ty Moates (Suzl; 12. Danny lBPone ISuz); 13. John Savitk si (Yam); 14. Michael Kessl'" (Yam); 15. Jimmy Weinert IKawl ; 16. Mickey Boone lSuz); 17. Denny SwOftZ (Maij ; 18. Steve Staekable (Kaw); 19. Greg Theiss (Hon); 20 . Fred Vertucci ISuz); 21. Terry Clark IMai); 22. Kenneth Adams IMail; 23. Scott J ordan ISuz). CONSOLATION: 1. Steve Staekeble lKawl; 2. Mark Gregson (Suzl; 3. John AY"'s (Suzl; 4. Parry Klassen (Mai); 5. Ron Shou p (Suzl; 6. Tod P",kins (Yaml; 7. M . Anderson (Han); 8. Don Kudalski IH-D); 9. D. Bowman IHon); 10. D. Boles IMall . A MA TOYOTA SUPEACAOSS SEAlES POINT STAN DINGS: 1. mel M8'ty TripeslBob Hannah 11951; 3. Kent Howerton 11211; 4. Tom my Crolt (109); 5. Steve Wise (106); 6. M ike 801111041; 7. Jimmy Ellis !B8) 8. ; Aich Ei"'stedt (83); 9. Jim Pomeroy 11301; 1O Mickey . Boone 1 ; 11. Au Stat en 1681; 12. T",ry Clark 1 691 611; 13. Aick Burgett 1S7l; 14. me) Gary SamicslM8'ty Smith (53); 16. mel chuck Sun/Jim my Weinert ISll ; 18. CThree-way tie) Mark BarnettITonv DiStefanoJOanny lBPorte 1451. TOYOTA TOWEA JUMP POINT STANDINGS: 1. Jimmy Ellis (16); 2. mel Scott Ja

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