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/126396
Jimmy "The Jammer" Weinert led every lap of his qualifying moto and the main event at the Oakland Coliseum Toyota Truck Supercross on his Roy Turnertuned Kawasaki. (lnsetsl Jammer ran the weirdest tire ever, The Hooker. Kawasaki teammate Brad Lackey was on hand to congratulate his friend . AMA/Y'oyota Supercross Series Round one Champagne Jam mer opens' 79 season By Charles Morey OAKLAND, CA ,JAN. 28 Jimmy "T he Jammer" Weinert, winner of the Oakland Coliseum Toyota Truck Supercross , sat astride his Roy Turner-tuned works Kawasaki , .consoling runner-up Bob "Hurricane" Hannah as he prepared to uncork h is champagne a nd use it as a crowd control device on the hoard, of photogr ap hers surrou nding him, 6 "Heyl" said Weinert 10 H an na h . "We'll be racing all yea r . . . that was a good race!" . "I st ill can't believe it . . ." Hanna h replied, then turned to announcer Larry H uffman . ~Th e 01' ma n tore me upl" he told the near-30,OOO spectator co nt inge nt through Huffman 's mi crophone. Weinert laughed , shook the bolt le, and doused everyone who'd assembled around him alOp the Toyota Tower J um p. "What about the tire? " Huffman wanted to. know , "Did it ~ork? " He was refernng t? the sand ,ure Turner had boug h t In a retail store to expe riment with, a paddle -whee lloo king device with scoops placed every fou r inches o r so around its circumference, W einert had the only one at O ak land . a nd he'd been producing roosts fou r-ti mes as la rge as anyone else's with it all afternoon. "Well, it didn't help much at all. " sly Weinert re p lied , " b u t it sure psyched -our the cornpetitionl" Huffman completed his on -the-spot interview, and the top three: Weinert, Yamaha 's Supercross Champ Bo b Hannah and third placer, Team Honda 's Steve Wise , headed for the press level of the Oak land Coliseum to play question -and -answer. It was a sore-but -happy Weinert who led the three-man procession. Sporting a quickly-fabricated neck brace throughout the day, Weinert was riding with a pulled upper back muscle suffered in a crash on the previous day . The neck pad minimized irritation of the painful injury on the rough , sandy track. Weinert's one -off Ka wasa ki, with its controversial tire , had led every lap of . his qualifying moto and every la p of the final event. It 's a p rime exa m ple of the specialization of this year's new Su percross machi nery seen at O akl and : Ligh ter , qu icke r -handl in g at the sacrifice of extreme long trave l suspe nsion and tu ned for torq ue to pull ou t of sta d ium tracks' tight, soft surfaced turns. "We let the m ech a nics build thei r own way," Kawasaki team manager De n nis Da vid explained. Turner's machine , which grazes the weig h t limitation ru le, utilizes a frame from a 125cc motocrosser, his 250cc works motor and shortened suspension components. And a very funny looking tire. Likewise, the H ondas, Su zuk is and Yamahas have a new shorter look about them. And it's just the ticket for Supercross, Qualifying motos Weinert bega n his hot streak immedi ately, jamming to the front of the first qualifying moto where he'd stay to take the checkered flag 10 laps la ter. Beh ind him, however , an elbowbum per developed be tween Suzuki's Da r rell Shu lt z and Ya m aha's Bo b Ha nna h. After stalling once, at th e hal fway po int whe n he a tte m pted to pass Shultz, H a nn ah finally stuffed in under the Suzuki rider on the next time around to secu re his second place finishi ng position. Mik e Bell , H annah 's Ya m a ha teammat e, worked his way up from a m id pack l l th -pla ce sta rt to follow Shu ltz across in fourth . Marty Moa tes. riding a n LOP Yama ha , took fifth, the fina l transfer spot int o th e main event, Qua lifying moto two saw Las Vegas' Lenny Giger kee p his Honda ahead of Team Suzuki's Danny LaPort e until Giger fell a couple laps later. La Porte then inherited the lead and Danny