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/126314
Bad Brad gets mad... or, why his time has finally come By John Huetter . Photos by Dave Hawkins. Charles Morey and Huetter S even' long seasons have passed since Brad, Lackey competed in his first World C ham pionship Grand Prix. He finished 12th on a 250cc CZ though I don't believe he was scored correctly; part of Brad's frustration is that he hasn't seen much improvement in how he 's been scored in International events since then, no matter how he finishes . He's put together seven years of GP experience going from CZ to Kawasaki to Husqvarna to Honda . The problem of riding in World Championship rounds has been complex. Which company would support an American in Grand Prix competition? Who could afford Brad? Who could tolerate him, and who could he tolerate? He is an independent - an original who is not the classically perfect factory rider. Yet he was consistently the best in any motocross environment contested by an American. He provided good value to his sponsors because he was Lackey, the lfi -year-old wunderkind and U .S . National Cha m p who has matured into the prime contender to become .the youngest 500cc MX World Champion in the history of the sport. In Europe, they called him "T he In d ian " during those first couple seasons. Brad's sho ulder lengt h brown hair , aquiline profile, and beads with wife Lori's name worked into them were given ' as the reason, but there was more to it. His casual , laid-back, California style tha t never even got close to being Continental was as foreign to most people on the Grand Prix circuit as if he had jumped the reservation in full war paint. God knows it wasn 't easy . There were months spent in rented houses in Belgium and thousands upon 'thousa nds of kilom eters driving to still another country where he didn't speak the language. Brad is basically the Berkeley-b red , Northern California go -fast social radical whose outrageous skill propelled him into the world of World Championship racing. Skill and a burning ambition to be World Champion. Very few understand that amb ition. Lori , of cou rse , has lived with it a 'long time. Dick Lightner, possibly Carl Cranke and Al Baker, and current master wrench Bill Buchka also understand. Most won't. The dues have been paid. Sometimes theprice was very high, as when Brad was not allowed to start the '76 Italian GP because a lap scorer went out for lunch and .m issed his qualifying time. Som etim es Br ad has made it ha rder on himself by seei ng just how " bad " he could be in grossing out the easily-shocked Europeans. But now it's all coming home. He has matured and come to understand what it takes to win - in addition to bucketsful of natural talent and 10 years of racing experience. This season, nobody in the world has the combination of youthful reflexes , depth of Grand Prix , experience , first rate factory machinery, lack of serious injury, and outstanding mechanical preparation that Brad has brought together . He is now working it out to Honda's advantage with help from Bill Buchka, who seems to tune only championshipwinning motorcycles . He is the prime candidate to win the United States 500cc Grand Prix this year. For seven seasons, he has wanted very, very badly to go to the top of the podium at Ca rlsb ad , to become the first Am erican to win the American ro und of the W orld Championship Series. Brad L ackey h as come closer to that goal than m ost realize, In '76, he was riding in position to take the overall win when a wheel came apart on the Husky, He was furious; he had anticipated the effects Carlsbad's hard adobe surface wou ld have on standard wheels and asked for special rims and lace-up that never happened. Last year, Brad got out of bed with the flu to qualify on Saturday. On Sunday , he was pa le , wane and wea k-looking. Still, he pulled the holeshot in the second moto and was leadingtti l he misjudged at the bottom of a downhill a nd dropped it. Roger DeCoster hit him and went down, too. Brad got back up to finish third overall. There have been other "what ifs" and "alrnosts" but that's history now . Nobody else in the 500cc World Cha m p ion ship race needs to win at Ca rlsbad like Brad does. He needs to win it if he is realistically goi ng to beat out reigning cham p Heikki Mikkola this yea r. He needs to win it for Honda and, yes, some measure of U.S. pride. Most of all he needs to win the U. S. Grand Prix for Brad Lackey. Seldom has any athlete so long and carefully prepared for a single event. Still, th~ local berserko in the first turn cou ld cause a crash and ta ke out half the starters. A flat tire could end it all , and the comparative heat of California will be a factor. But if nothing brea ks and it's heads up racing, Brad will win t he Bel -Ra y U ,S . Grand Prix of Motocross. ' . 33