Mikkola held steady under tremendous pressure from Lackey 121 to win the
second moto and take the overall victory over Schmitz,
Team Yamaha's Mike Bell tallied a fourth and a fifth to claim third overall. top
American and to move up to 14th in the World Championship points.
t
J immy Ellis takes the flag for the Support class. leading a 1-2 Honda sweep.
Support class was comparable to a National motocross,
Bel-Ray USGP, Bell top American
foug ht d uel that ended when DeCoster
went wide on a turn , hit a ha rd clay
- berm lip and went over the bars. He
remou nt ed quick ly, losing only a few
spots , and began to work back toward
the front.
Mike ' Bell, at about the same time ,
tagged Herbert Schmitz in the rear
wheel when the German apparently
missed a shift. Bell had just moved
into third according to mechanic Dave
Osterman, but th e fall dropped him
back to 16th where he tried to make
up for lost time,
By the end of lap th ree , Staten was
enjoying a good lead , Schmitz had
passed Burgett and held d own second
place. An dersson rode in fou rt h with
a n anxious-to-pass Roger DeCoster an
impatient fifth.
Then Sta ten dropped out ; his motor
had begun to seize .
"It started to seize , so I j ust shut off
and coasted in ," Rex said between
motos. "W e tried some new reeds . , . I
guess they went out on us .. . and I was
really gain' .. , damn it! If it stays
together, I' ll win the n ext one. "
Fifteen minutes in to the race,
Herbert .Schm itz held an l I -second
lea d over Rick Bu rgett . Ha ka n
Andersson, Roger DeCoster , Ge rrit
Wolsink andJaak Van Velthoven .
Andersson was the next to fade,
He'd undergone an operation on a
tendon in his hand (thumb), and had
hit it during practice on Saturday.
The pain became too much to bear ,
and he was forced to back off, unable
to ha ng on.
Twenty-five mi nutes into the mota ,
Schmitz sti ll led safely , but the race for
positions two thro ugh four had
t ightened considerab ly. DeC oster had
closed t
