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/126333
-":"- - -,..' , i ~ • E > 00 e- 0') ~ ~ I-< Q.I ..0 0 ~ U 0 Marty Smith 111 sc~res a holeshot over Brad Lackey 17111. Denny Swartz 1331 and G~ry Semlcs (11); Smith wound up a 5-4 third overall.IBelow left) Swartz leads DeCo~ter. IBelow right) Marty Tripes leads Mickey Kes~ler. • DeCoster for third pl ace. Semi cs was doing well to keep his Can-Am in fifth ahead of Smith and Lackey , but on the last lap a leaking gas tank left Sem ics with a hard ride, all for ,.not hing . Crossing the finish lin e behind Lackcy was a Swartz I Sta tenl nTripes bash over seventh with Swartz ""com ing out on top . .. Honda's Marty Sm ith , in an attempt to ,rega in his lost form . put awa y the powerf ul RC450 works Honda of this sea son and b rough t out from ' orctirem ent an RC400 simi la r to th e bikc he took to his Na tional Championsh ip last se as on. The mo r e manageable powerband was all he need ed to sna re the holeshot in the second 45 ·minute moto ahead of Swartz, Lackey. Suzuki . Stackable , ,Sh u lt z, Kessler , Ka l icki , Sun.. , DiS tefa no , DeCoster, LaPorte and Hannah. When he kn ocked ou t some ''O-r his wind on the crossbrace of his ha nd leba rs, Hannah dropped even fu rt her back in the op ening laps. but guic kly regained his form and sta rted cha rging back. ' I ~,j Meanwhile , up front Ohioan Denny Swartz was putting more than a little ~ pressure on Sm itty with his fact ory ' Ma ico. By th e fifth lap the sem iprivateer had berm blast ed Marty and taken the lead. "I just passed Smith . I o could n' t believ e how eas y it was," he sa id . " For the next 30 minutes Swartz held the . po int to the , chee rs of ,tlu; Obio .crowd . Sm ith ran about five seconds behind , tai led by battles th at include d European teammate Brad Lackey, Staten , Shultz, Noyce and Kessler. But soon even the Buckeye fans had switched loyalties when they saw how Hannah was charging his way back up through the pack, passing th e ent ire four -man Su zuki team incl ud ing DeCoster on just one lap. Soon the Hurr icane was ru bbing Sm itty's rear fend er an even brighter shad e of red , but the one-line course held Bob back for two laps. "Smith was all over the track and th er e was just no room out there to pass . My bike wasn 't handling too well either. This was its first race , and it was swa pping all over. It will take us a race or two to dial in the suspension." said Hannah. O nce past Smith, Bob made up th e five-second gap to Swartz's lead alm ost instantly. W ith th ree laps to go he had the second moto wrapped up and he ba cked off the gas . Just at th e same time. though. tuner Keith McC arty flash ed Bob the pitboard which read . "TRIPES CLOSING FAST." ~ Marty Tripes had figured out how to ride the Honda and had ch arged his way up from 22nd position on the opening lap to set the fastest lap tim es of the day in the process. With ~ ne lap to go T ripes caught Swartz, but was th en balked by a lapped rid er and had to settle for third place. Swa rtz kept his well-d eserved .sc:co.n ~ . !is Hannah racked up the overa ll win . 250ee Support Steve W ise finally pulled off his first m ajor win since join ing Team Ho nda th is season as he secured th e overall win in th e first 250cc Support class of the series on his Cliff White·prepped CR250R produ ction b ike . In the openi ng moto , however , it was hardly Steve's show . The first m oto belonged to I2 5cc N ationa l Champ Broe Glover and Mickey Boon e as the two gen erated en ough heat in their battle over th e lead to m elt their plastic fend ers. Broc was rid ing Yamaha's new YZ250F production bike , a poly ca rbon replica ~ of the more exotic metal clad OW-38 with wh ich Hannah dominated the 250cc races earlier this yea r. Mickey Boon e was mounted on a full -fledged KX250 works Kawasaki . The loss of Boone's Suzuki factory contract was brought a bou t by mutual agreement. Suzuki felt he should hav e performed better in th e Nationals with their works bike. and Boone wouldn't step ba ck down to the production bikes they offered him for the Trans·AMA series, even though Boone felt th e product ion RM 's probably were mo re competitive than the works RN 's. Back and forth the lead traded between Glover and Boone in the first rn oto , with Boone finally edging out Glover to take the.win in his first race with Tea m Ka wasak i, \~. LOP rider Mark Gregson and Luftsponsored Ron Turner dropped back from a likewise hot battle over third, passed by Marty Moa tes on another LOP bike, then Marty bailed off to put a hard charging Steve Wise up from mid-pack into th ird a t the finish, backed up by teamma te Warren Reid on a nother CR Hon d a . then Jim Turner of Moto -X Fox. T he second moto start saw a big pile-up whic h too k down rou nd one winners Boone an d Glover . That's all th e help Gregson needed to get out in front of W ise. Reid , Glover and Theiss and sta y there the entire moto with his LOP Honda . Bu t the overall win belonged to Ste ve W ise. •. Results 500cc INTERNATIONAL: 1. Bob Hannah 1·1 IVam); 2. Denny Swartz 7-2 (Mai); 3. Marty Sm ith &4 (lion); 4. Roger DeCoster :HIlSuzl; 4. Marty Tripes 9-3 (Han); 6. Brad lackey !Xl (lion); 7. Chuck Sun 4-9 (Husl; 8. Tommy Croft 2-13 (Hon); 9. Rex Slllton 8-5 IVam); 10. Graham Noyce 12·7 (Hon); 11. Mickey Kessler 11-10 IVaml; 12. Denny LaPane 16-11 ISuz); 13. Tony DiStefano 14-17 (Suz); 14. J immy Weiner11o-' (Kew); 15. Gayton Mosier ' -12 IKew} ~ 16. Leo Wilson 16-15 IMei); 17. Patrick MOI'onoy 15-18 ISuzl; 1e. Steve Staekable 13-' IKaw}; 19. Gary Semica ' ·14 (C·A); 20. DarrellSh uhz 21-16 IMei). 250cc SUPPORT; 1. Stev e Wille 3-2 IHan); 2. Merk Gregson 5-1 (Han ); 3. Broc Glover 2-4 IVem); 4. Werron Reid 6-3 IHon}; 5. Jim Turner 7-6 IHon); 6. Marty Moates 9-7IHan);-7. Mickey Boone 1·25 IKew); 8. Frank Stacey 8-11 (Yaml; 9. Mark Garrison 10-10 IKTM); 10. Tad Perkins 11·9 IVeml; I I , Merk Rakestrew 14-8 IMai); 12. Greg Theiss 18-5 IHan ); 13. Ron Tum.. 4-' IVam); 14. Bob Runer 13-13 ISUll; 15. Kirk Pierce 12·15; 16. Dan Turner 15-12 IVam}; 17. Roger Brown ' ·14 IK TM}; lB. RobM Shupe ' -16ISuz); 19. Denny Weir 16-21 (Hon); 20. Charles Cooper 21-17 (Hon). • Denotes plac ong outside top 20. . . . ... 9