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/126318
Springsteen leads Eklund early in the National. 0 &1 1 Fe TTl Charity sought to shake a crowd led by Goss with Pea rson , Bood y and Eklund m aking life ha rd . The competition shr a nk. with Poovey going out with a collapsed rear wheel on lap two. and Gennai floundering with elect rical problems from lap on e. Meanwhile , Keener was experiencing transmission woes that would eventually sideli ne him . Eklund moved to fourth on lap four and began hounding Boody in much the same fashion that Goss was bothering Springer. Eklund closed in and on lap seven moved by Boody in the infield. Springer was co nt inually looking around to check his competition and running ragged (a nd longer) line on most of the track due to a wrong choice of tires . It allowed Goss to carry the fight righ t to Sp ringsteen's rear wheel. But Goss' tra nsmission was not select ing gea rs properly and on lap eight Goss faded from contention. Eklund im medi a tely seized opportunity and began to reel Springer. Aldana crashed in infield and began circulating with leaders. the in the the For two laps Eklund probed Springer's defenses and then made his move . As the pair exited the infield on lap 12 , Eklund moved inside and just plain mo tored away from Springsteen's Harley. A steadily drying track was working in Eklund's (and the TT500's) favor . Eklund would , continue on to victory, but Springsteen's problems were j ust beginning. Boody now moved in to hound the champ while Scott pulled to within striking d istance and waited for a mistake, C' ,; ' ' .' > IA bov e) Steve Eklund won his second -st raight Camel Pro TT. IBelow) Gary Sc ott IS) pursues Ted Boody , Scott passed him. then Spring er. IBottom) Hank Scott takes the Trophy Race lead f rom Randy Carthel (87) . Beh ind th e. front ru nn ing qu artet , Lawson , Pearson , Goss, Jorgy a nd Bailey set up their own battles. Bood y continued to give Springer fits, as Scott inched closer. Scott bega n prob ing Bood y on lap 20 saving h is best for a lat e lap cha rge . W ith two laps to go, Scott made his move in tum three and Boody was third . Scott then reeled in Springer and attempted to stuff a wheel under him in the same place. No go . ' The crowd sensed th e fin al la p would be th e decider. Scott mo ved in with his turn three maneuver, but was really sett ing the stage for a move over -cause-I'm -com ing-through pass in turn four. Springsteen d idn't like it one bit , but there wasn 't much he cou ld do . Scott had th e low lin e a nd command of the situation. " It was either shu t the ga s off or kiss the wall ," said Sp ringer later. " I shut off. " Scott's move drew a ngry words about rough ridi ng tactics from Sp ringer to referee Duke Oll iges. "Chickenshi t," sa id Scott. " If he ca n't take the heat , he should n't race ." In the middle of the storm , calm , content and happy beyond bel ief stoo d Steve Eklund savoring his sixth career victory and some cold champagne. Eklund had taken up th e battle for th e • championship. • Results NAnONAL: 1. Steve Eklund (Yam); 2. Gary seen ITri): 3. Jay Springst een (H·D); 4. Ted Boody (H·D); 5. Eddie Lawson (Yam); 6. Scon Pearson (H·D); 7. Don Bailey (Yam); B. Alex Jorg ensen (BSA); 9. Randy Goss (H·D); 10. Mike Caves (Yam); 11. David Ald ana (Yam); 12. John Gennai IBSA); 13. Corky Keenee (H·D): 14. Terry Poovey (Vam). Time: 14 min. 39.34 sec . TROPHY RACE: t . Hank Scott ITril; 2. Phil McDonald (H·D); 3. Mike Kidd IH-D); 4. Danny Cartwright !Yam); 5. Billy Schaeff er (H·D); 6. Randy Carthe l (H·D); 7. Sonny Burres mr); 8. Phil Darcy (H·D); . 9·1~tv'lEI~isp(a.m); lo . qa'r<, HUf sl (Y~ml ' J Twne:'7 min. 12.69 sec. • ." , . 13