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/126340
-Yrans-AMA"M X " erie- ~ Round-7 ' Ss Shultz, Chandler master Sear. Point series finale By Charles M orey SONOMA , CA , NOV , 5 Darrell Shultz wrapped up his first year on the American Motorcyclist Association professional 'm otocross circuit by putting his sponsor, Maico Motorcycles, at the head of the 500cc Internationa l class in the Kawasaki Trans-AMA MX , presented 'b y Bridgestone Tires , Shultz held the pace after getting two nearthe-front starts, a necessity on th e dusty course, a nd ra cked up a winning. 3-I score for the two 40 -minute-plus · two -lap motes. "T hat makes up for a bad season right th ere!" an extrem ely elated Shultz exclaimed as he was mobbed by excited friends and fans in th e pits immediately after the final race. "It wasn 't even hard!" he added . While the ride may hav e been relatively easy for the winner , others found problems too great to bear on the .na tu ral terrain track . TransAMA Champion for the '78 series, Bob Hannah , did not finish the first moto , then chose no t to sta rt round two . Hannah overshot a quick turn at th e end of a fast straigh taway on the opening lap of round on e and crashed. He was trapped beneath his works Yamah a for see m ing ly end less m om ents as everyon e passed . He remounted and t ried to make up th e lost time but eventually dropped ou t due to a mechanical problem on his damaged motorcycles. " I tore the front brake cable guide off when I crashed . It was locking up the front wheel on every jump ," Hannah explained as spectators remarked about the black tire tracks on his shoulder. "T hey're my ownl" he said of the tread marks on his jersey , Others succu m bed to the effects of riding under dusty conditions made even more d ifficult as th e sun d rop ped lower over the northern Cal ifornia hills . Marty Tripes, winner of th e first moto, scored no points in th e second race when the tough visibilit y conditions got the better of him . "If I was up further - closer to th e front - and could have seen better , I'd have ra ced . Even m y manager agreed it was ridiculous ," _Tripes stated at th e day's end. Likewise, last yea r's series winner Roger DeCoster quit in the second race ; so d id . '77 500cc N ational Champion Marty Smith. Rex Staten, riding th e Bill Westtuned factory Yamaha , placed second overall for the afternoon . Staten twisted his previously injured right knee - he was . Iim ping no ticeably after the second mote - and wasn 't abl e to hold the pace set by moto winners Tripes and Shultz. " Bu t I got second in the' seri es," Rex grinned when it was over. "T ha t' s what I really wanted ." Staten placed 2·3 at Sears Point. Gary Semics put his Team Can -Am in to third overall with a 4-7 score . Steve Stackable took an 8-4 fourth on th e factory Kawasaki, and T ommy Croft rounded out the top five on his works Honda. In 250cc Support class a ction , Danny " Magoo" Chandler , th e stylist crowd favorite at Sears Point , backed up Shultz's win by putting another Maico on top of the heap. Chandler put in an incredible recovery rid e in moto one after ba iling off on the opening lap, restarting dead last and blasting his way up to eighth by th e end of the 30·minute-plus-two·lap race. He won the second moto. Chandler ride s under Pro Trac Trail er and H i-Point Accessories sponsorship on his Bill Daprato-runed Maico . The winner was listed as sixth alternate on th e AMA sign-up list at th e start of th e day, a position hardly ind icative of his a bil ityl Second in the 250cc event was Dan Turner, the first of three Turners found in th e top five places: Ron and Jim turned in fourth and fifth place rides, Third placer in th e 250cc Support class, Marty Moates won the first moto but a suspension problem kept him from doing better t ha n ninth the second time out. " My shocks pumped up in both motos , on the last two laps of the first one but on the first two laps of the second 'm oto," he explained. It was "Rocket Rex" Staten earning his nickname again at the start of the first 500cc International moto , as he guided the big bore Yamaha into the lead on Sears Point's long starting stra ight. Bob Hannah had the Keith McCarty-tuned works Yamaha right on Staten's fender , but the Hurricane slipped up when trying to slow the quick machine, and he highsided , landing with the bike on top . At the completion of lap one, Staten was busy holding back a hardcharging Gary Semics, and following them wer e T ommy Croft , Darrell Shultz and Graham No yce. A tight three-way scrap over sixth place had sha ped up among Jim Gibson, Rich Eierstedt and Kent Howerton. Gaylon Mosi. and Tony DiStefano rounded out the top 10. Marty Tripes was starting his drive from I Ith, By the third la p , Staten had established an impressive IO-second lead over a three-rider skirmish for second among Semics, Noyce and Shultz. Only a few seconds back another threesome battled for fifth: Howerton , Mosier and Tripes , Staten looked great. He had the big Yamaha flowing over the bumpy hillsides at World Class speed , Bu t by the sixth lap, Tripes had closed on the Semics/Noyce/Shultz group, and the fun began. Within a two-lap period, Tripes got through the trio. In the first half-lap . Noyce overtook Semics, and Tripes got a round Shultz and started banging on Semics' back door. On the next halflap , Tripes put the Can-Am behind him and turned his attention toward Noyce 's Honda. A half-lap later, he'd come full -on and left Noyce behind. Staten grew larger in his sights, and he passed Rex two laps later. Tripes was unquestionably the fastest rider in the field. He dug deeper into his ability reserves and left Staten a full eight seconds behind on the next lapl How? " Desi r e, " said Marty between motos. "T ripes . when he wants to go. Clln gol" Staten said when asked the same question. With seven minutes remaining. Bob Hann ah gave up fi ghting the malfunctioning front b rak e and pulled into the pits, At first , he'd made headway. but it finally became too bad to continue. With five minutes left, both Noyce and Sh ultz closed on Staten and started a fight for second place. Shultz got past Noyce with two laps remaining and tried his hand at shutting down Staten. But Rex kept the door closed. Then, as Shultz tried to pass a la p ped rider, the Maico swapped viciously . Shultz recovered . but Noyce's front wheel was right there. and the Englishman went d own . At the checkere d fl a g. Tripes cruised in the easy winne r . Sta ten managed to hold off Shultz. Semics and Howerton completed the top five ahead of Howerton's Su zu ki teammates. Danny LaPorte and Tony l!') ...... l-< 4J ..0 S 4J > o Z Eventual third placer Gary Sem ics n 11and fifth placer To mmy Croft (71 gassit past a tumbling "Hurricene" Hannah at the sta rt of the first 600cc mota. 9