Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Mark Barnet t and trainer leon Wolek prepar e for Mark's 250cc class winnin g ride. 12 had taken the Kawasa ki's fourth place position . At that point, Bell cruised along in front of Vroman s, Wolsin k, Noyce, Weiner t, Malher be, Klassen, DeCost er, Sun and Maico's Herber t Schmitz . Two laps later, Wolsin k overtoo k Vroma ns for second , 10 second s behind Bell, and Malher be moved his Alan Hahn-t uned Honda past Weiner t for fifth. Malher be's conque st was short-li ved, however, as the infamo us Devil's Gulch mudho le - the one that stopped both Lackey and Mikkol a put him on the ground . And like the others, MaLherbe called it quits. At the halfway point, Bell looked great. Wolsin k followed, well outside challen ging distanc e, and behind him followed Vroman s, Noyce, DeCost er, Sun, Weine rt, Schmi tz, Klasse n, Staten, Bruno and Gary Semics /Rick Burgett battle. Two laps later, Weiner t pulled in, the victim of heat exhaus tion. He would not ride the second moto. Bell. startin g to show the effects of oncomi ng heat exhaus tion, was losing two seconds per lap to Wolsin k. DeCost er was closing on Noyce at an amazin g rate, conside ring conditi ons, and Sun was workin g hard to stay with The Man. Six laps from tbe finish, DeCost er caught Noyce and slipped into third. Five laps to go, and Wolsin k bad closed to witbin four seconds of Bell. He reeled in the fading Yamah a rider with four laps remain ing and took comma nd. Bell pushed off the course, visibly wobbli ng and in obvious need of attentio n as he headed for the pits with only tbree laps to go. Tbe top places were set. Wolsin k led DeCost er, Noyce, Sun and Vroma ns to the checke red flaK. Comple ting the top 10 were Schmit z, Bruno (who'd recover ed from 26th place). Staten, Burgett and Marty Smith. The pits looked like a field hospita l. Riders, packed in ice, sipping Leon Wolek' s ERG "juice," and retiring to Suppo rt air· conditi oned motorh omes were in rough shape. Many would not start the second moto, among them Roger DeCost er, who was seen being carn'ed into an air conditi oned motorh ome, Mike Bell and Jimmy Weiner t. Yamaha 's 500cc Nationa l Champ ion Rick Burgett best-gu essed the second moto gate drop, but it was Yamah a's 500cc World Champ ion Heikki Mikkola who found the best line through turn one .and stole the lead. On the openin g lap, Wolsin k took over second with Burgett on his tail and Brad Lackey close behind . Lackey was fresh from sitting out most of moto one, as was the leader Mikkol a. At tbe comple tion of lap one, the Finn led Wolsin k. Lackey , Burget t, Wayne Boyer, Klasse n, Noyce, Malher be, Sun and Danny LaPort e. LaPort e had retired early from the first moto. Mikkol a crashed in front of Suzuki's 500cc Nationa l class series points leader, and in taking evasive action, Danny stuffed the Pat Alexan der-tun ed Suzuki into a hole bendin g the forks. The fans, remem bering last year's fight. were anxiou s for anothe r Mikkol a/Lacke y duel. It wasn't long in coming . A lap and a half into the moto. Lackey bad closed on Wolsin k and was pushing to pass. Wolsin k bumpe d Mikkola's back tire, faltered , and that's all it took for Brad to. get past. He zoned-i n on Mikkol a, pushing and probin g the World Champ ion's defenses, looking for a weak spot. In a replay of last year's skirmis h, the Americ an challen ger and the reignin g World Champ put on an incredi ble demon stration of world caliber motocro ss racing, carving at the cboppy Carlsb ad course and finding fast lines where there appear ed to be none. "Yeah, 1 was watchi ng him," Lackey respon ded to a Huffm an questio n when it was over. "I though t f'd push him a little and see how fast of moto one. Mike Bell looked like a winne r until three laps from the end TJlen the heat caugh t up with him ... he'd go. He didn't go that fast, so 1 set him up and passed him up front where everybo dy could see itl" he admitte d with a very pleased grin.. Lackey pulled off a clean pass, snippin g under Mikkol a as he passed the mechan ics' signalli ng area. On the next time past, the signal 'THIN K" appear ed on Lackey 's pit board. Mechan ic Steve Stasiefski undoub tedly was thinkin g of the heat-in duced retirem ents and felt he should urge Brad to do the same. On lap eight, Lackey had establi shed a six-sec ond lead on Mikkol a, and the World Champ was followed by Noyce, who'd just pulled off a daring pass to overtak e Wolsin k. Marty Smith was putting in an excelle nt ride; he held down fifth place ahead of Burget t and Sun. The top five places remain ed the same; once Lackey br~ke clear of Mikkol a, the fight for the moto win was almost over. Mikkol a mainta ined his solid second place to the end of the race. He pulled up to challen ge once in the second half of the moto, but Lackey held firm. Mikko la droppe d back. On lap 12 of the 18-lap moto. Wolsin k set up and passed Noyce. Noyce, after having pushed hard earlier, was dealing with the heat. While the top three positio ns remain ed steady to the finish, Marty Smith overtoo k Noyce for fourth on lap 15. Places six through eight were up for grabs, depend ing on who could hold out the longest , among Burget t, Sun, Staten and LaPort e. At the finish line, it was Burgett taking sixth ahead of LaPort e, Staten and Sun. Parry Klassen wrappe d up an admira bly consist ent day with 10th in the second moto. 250ee Suppo rt I Jim Gibson looked like a winner as he rockete d off the line and through Carlsba d's turn one ahead of Carlos Serrano , Jeff Ward, Cliff Lett, Scott Gillma n, Mark Barnet t and Donnie Cantalo upi. But by the third lap, Team Suzuki 's Mark Barnet t had moved into third in his charge toward the front. A few laps later, and Barnet t had taken over the lead and the top three places were set. Gibson went unchall enged in second, and Cantalo upi held.a secure third. Jeff Ward, who also showed winnin g potenti al in the .openin g laps, faded back to 18th by the moto's end. Ward droppe d the Kawasa ki on lap two and was unable to recover to a compet itive position . Moto two, however, was a whole new ballgam e, especia lly for Jeff Ward. The "Teeny Meanie " overtoo k holesho t artist Carlos Serrano on the openin g lap and - as one of the Kawasa ki crew put it - "smoke d em." Ward won the moto, but Barnett came back from a 12th-pl ace stan to place third in the moto and take overall honors. Second overall went to Donnie Cantalo upi who moved into second place behind Ward on the openin g lap and held it to the • checke red flag. Resul ts 500cc INTERNATIONAL: 1. Getrit Wolsink 1-3 ISuzl; 2. Gr-" Noyce 3-5 IHonl; 3. Chuck Sun 4-9 l)-iust; 4. Marty Smith 10-4 lHon); 5. Rick Burgett U (Varni; 6. Re. Staten U IVam); 7. Parry Klassen 11-10 IMai); 8. Monte Anderson 14-12 (Mail; 9. Ga'Y Semics 12-14 (Honl; 10. Denny Swartz I B-l1 IMaiI; 11. Ken Adams 16-16IMai); 12. Wayne Boyer 17-15 ISuzl; 13. Btad Lackey DNF-l IKawl; 14. Heikki Mikkola DNF-2 IVaml; 15. Roger DeCoster 2-ONF ISuzl; 16. Andre Vromans 5DNF ISu"; 17. Herbert Schmitz 6-DNF IMail; 1B. JeanJacques Bruno 7-DNF CKTMI; 19. Denny laPorte DNF7 ISuzl; 20. Bob Wright DNF-13 ICCM); 21. Greg Theiss 13-DNF IVam); 22. Fritz Kobele 15-DNF (mai). 500cc WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MX SERIES POINT STANDINGS: 1. Graham Noyce 1931; 2. Brad Lackey 1841; 3_ Hoikki Mikkola (82); 4. Genit Wolsink 1811; 5. Roger DeCoster (52); 6. iTlEI Andre MalherbeJJeanJacques Bruno (521; 8. Andre Vromans (34): 9. Gerard Rand (31); 10. Herbert Schmitz 1171; 11. Fritz Kobele 1161; 12. Chuck Sun 1141; 13. Bob Wright (10). 250ce SUPPORT: 1. Mark Barnett 1-3 ISuz); 2. Donnie Cantaloupi 3-2 (Yam); 3. Brian Myerscough 4~ ISu"; 4. Jim Gibson 2-10 IHonl; 5. Steve Rhyon 13-4 ISuzl; 6. Steve Bauer 6-11 IVaml; 7. Clark Jones 9-9 (Yam); 8. Jeff Ward 18·' (Kaw); 9. Carlos Serrano 14-5 (Mail; 10. Darren Rhoten 12·7 (Hon); 11. Bob Myers 714 (Mai); 12. Mike Loeffler 17-8IHusl ; 13. Koji Masuda 10-17 ISuz); 14. Alan Smitl1 16-12 IHusl; 15. Scott Gillman 5-DNF ISuzl; 16. Michael Twigg 15-16 IYaml; 17. Danny Chandler B-DNF IMatl; 18. Roger Jones 2113 IHusl; 19. Cliff Lett 1'-DNF Vam); 20. Michael Goodrich 22-15 ISuzl; 21. John Grant 19-DNF IMoil; 22. Ron Sun 2D-DNF Ihusl.

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