Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

- .. "- - --- - - - -- - - ----- ~ - -- . - - - . - - - - - - lAbove) Taking first European at fourth overall was Maico heir Hans Maisch. (Below) Support riders Rickey Burgett (14) and M ickey Kessler crashed their way out of overall victory. handlebars with Maisch on his way past into the lead. Moving up through the pack were Moiseev , Weinert and Hannah, joined by J ohn Savitski for a fou r-way battle iliat went on for a number of laps. It . finally ended when Hannah decided to g"et'serious despite no front brake. Bob dialed on his usual beserko routine to drive the fans crazy. . '''Ad ding to the excitement at the ' h alfwa y point in the race, Tripes got burning as well and began roosting his RC Honda past Sun, Falta, and then Maisch for second position. The moto ended with Marty still trying to reel in teammate Ellis . Maisch had his well deserved third ahead of Howerton , Hannah (now up to fifth when the clock ran out), Sun, Hudson, Falta ·(slowed by the rough track to eighth), Kavinov and Tony DiStefano in his first real 250cc ride since the Supercross at Pontiac's Silverdome where he injured his knee. Moiseev could manage only an 11th place. The amazing thing was that Hannah had proved to be the fastest rider on the course once he decided he could still go fast without a front brake. During the morning's timed practice for starting positions, it h ad been Marty Tripes turning in the fastest time, a 2:32 .84, some six seconds faster than th e ne xt q uickest, Hans Maisch. H a n n a h h ad only prove n to b e 12 t h fastest with a 2:39.62 time. 'J im m y Ellis was beaming over his first moto victory, "The GPs are the only races where you can really hear the crowd yelling and screaming you on - like Carlsbad. Once I got past Maisch and into the lead, I just kept my eye on him. The size of my lead didn't matter just so long as I stayed in first. " Tripes almost had as bad luck as Hannah in his move to second place around Maisch on the last lap . "I had fallen once, and once I sta lled in a tum behind Maisch as 1 tried to pass him . I started driving hard towards the end of th e moto when I heard the crowd screaming me on ." MotoTwo Two things were certain: An American was going to win the second rnoto as well , and that American would be Hannah if he could avoid bailing in the first tum. It almost seemed impossible though , as Tripes led Ellis off the line chased by Mosieev, Sun, Maisch, and Hansen who had crashed out of contention the first race. Hannah was mid-pack as usual, but not for long. Within one lap, he was up to fifth, three laps later both Hannah and Moiseev passed Ellis for second place as they careened off each other in nearly every tum. Up the rough uphills Hannah could just waltz the OW38 Yamaha as Moiseev fought to keep the KTM from swapping from one side of the course to the other. By lap five, Hannah had left the World C hampion eating a d irt roost, closing the remaining d ista nce to Tripes and the lead. Everyone was ex pecti ng Ma rt y and Bob to revive their bat tle fr om the Na tiona ls and Supercross Series, bu t the clash of th e century never too k place. As soo n as Bob ca ught the red works Honda , Marty steered over to the side of the course and waved Bob past. "I was really getting tired towards the middle of the moto, " Marty explained afterwards . "I let Hannah by. I was getting tired , and I knew I didn't have to fight him for the overall win. I needed to relax and regain my energy for my possi ble fight with Ellis. I've been known to pu ll off t he track in the past when I get ti red, but I don't .d o th a t anymore." Once H anna h took the lead , Tripes stayed with hi m for two laps as Bob eased up some to see wha t was going on. Then Hannah got back on the gas to set the fast lap times of the day as he disappeared with 2.25s. In the closing laps. Ellis worked his for third way back around Moiseev place. A thrown rock from Moiseev's rear wheel had hit Jimmy in the stom a ch , making him sick for a number of laps and preventing any confrontation with Tripes over second spot. The mote finishing order was Hannah, Tripes, Ellis , Hansen passing Moiseev on the last lap for fourth , Korneev backing up his Russian teammate, Maisch, Hakan- Carlquist who had bike problems with his works Husky in the first moto , Savitski and Hudson. "It's been my drea m to win a Grand Prix," exclaimed Marty to the gathered crowd around victory circle, "bu t I neve r expected to do it he re in America . . "The Europeans are good , b ut their bikes do need a lit tle work to m ake them competitive with OU TS. Bu t they go fast despite the han di cap." 500cc Support Holeshot expert Gary Semics gave Can-Am its first victory of the year in the 500cc Support class when three of the top runners put themselves out of action with crashes. In the opening moro, it was Mickey Kessler on the J&R Yamaha of Redbank , NJ, who diced in the early laps with Yamaha 's 500c c National se ries te rror. Rick Bu rgett . Mickey traded the lead back and forth with R ick for four laps an d was hold in g a small lead when he di d a fifth-gear endo at the bottom of a fas t d ownhill to put himself out of commission for the moto. Rick went on to win the moto as local homet own favorite Pa t Moroney on the Moto-X Fox Suzuki passed Semics and closed within feet of Burgett at the checkered flag. The start of the second moto took out Burgett, Moroney and Moto-X Fox's Jim Turner in the first with a massive pile -up , This turned the second moto into a 20-minute plus two lap dice between Semics and Kessler that was just as exciting as the GP class action. Kessler eventually held Semics off across the finish line, but Gary's consistency in his double moto victories let him take the overall win. • Results 250cc INTERNATIONAl: 1. Marty Tripes 2-2 IHon~ 2. Jimmy Ellis 1-3 (Hon~ 3. Bob Hannah 5-1 lYam!: 4. Hans Maisch 3-7 IMai~ 5. Gennady ~ 11-5 IKTM);6. Neil Hudson 7·'0 lMai); 7. Valery KorMOY'36 (KTM); 8. Tony DiStefano '().11 lSuz); 9. John Savitsld ' 5-9 lYam): 10. Tor1eil Hansel DNF-4 1J(aw); 11. Kent Howerton 4-ONF lSuzl; ,2. PlIny K - . '2IMal1; '3. Owd< Sun 6-ONF (Hus!; ' 4. DonnisBrend '8-' 3 IMai); , 5. Hakan Cartqvist DNF-a lHusI; ' 6. J aroslav Folta B-ONF ICZl; 17. Vladimir Kavinov 8-ONF II

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