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/126430
IAbovet Andre M111herbe flew his Alan Hahn-tuned RC460 to the lneugural Trans-USA wln.IBeIowt Chuck Sun tak.. the tint moto win with D..... Shultz c:IoM behind. Malherbe I)y his finish ahead of Sun in the day's second moto. It was an exciting day all around, with the new unlimited displacement format in both the International and National classes which allowed riders to race whatever size bikes they wanted. Not one rider ventured to try a 125cc class bike. but toany did try running 250cc machines against Open bikes and found them to be highly competitive on the muddy and twisty Mid·Ohio course. In panicu1ar, Team Yamaha 125cc National Champ Brae Glover proved to everyone he could ride a full-size bike as he dealt out devastating perfortoaDCes in both motos with his 250cc Yamaha OW-40 works bike. Glover led the first moto by a huge margin before one of the tricky mud bogs did him in. The mud itself proved to be a great equalizer and made for quite an event, as toany of the top stars who were expected to roost to the win found they had met their match at one point during the day. Positions changed conatantly as greats like Brad Lackey, Mike Bell, Danny LaPorte, Darrell Shulu, Mark Barnett. Jim Weinert. Kent Howerton and others found themselves stuck up to the handlebars from choosing the wrong lines through thegoop. Never materializing was the five rider American venus European team toateh series. partially becawe of lack of interest by lOme of the European riden and then becawe of injuries to selected riders like Sweden's CarlC\vist, England's Noyce and Amenca's Hannah. Additionally, Many Tripes did not ride at Mid-Ohio since he is waiting out for the expiration of his Team Honda contract before making his initial appearance with Team Yatnaha. Mid-Ohio also saw the introduction of Honda's radical new lever-action rear shock RC-400 works bikes in the hands of Steve Wise and WaJ'J'etI Reid. Just as innovative as Yamaha's MonocrOSl system and Kawasaki's UniTrac, Honda's lever-action rear shock system employs a pivoting shock absorber mount on the rear swingarm to allow shock action to be position sensitive relative to wheel travel. These completely new twin-downtube framed works bikes proved to be highly competitive in their first outing, despite a last minute rush by the team to dial·in the bikes which had just been air freighted in from Japan. International Class AMA Trans-USA MX Series: Round one Lone European whips all the Yanks at Mid-Ohio / Riding an RC-450 works Honda prepared by American mechanic Alan Hahn, Malherbe, who was ranked third overall in By Jim Glanatsls LEXINGTON, OH, SEPT. 2S Team Honda's Andre Malherbe, the only forthis year's ~OOcc World Championahip eign entry in the newly revised Trans-USA standings, tied Team Husqvarna's Chuck Sun in moto finishes at Pete Series beat back all odds to score the overall Wiedner's Mid-Ohio Motonport Park . ••••• with th~. prr ,!II win aw~r9id to 16 win in the fi~t fR\Wq. . ... .Ill. When the staning gate spilled forward it was LOP's Marry Moates with his 426cc kitted YZ Yamaha grabbing the lead of the fint 45-minute International moto ahead of Shulu, Jeff Ward, Bell, Sun and new SOOcc Champion LaPorte. Shulu immediately stuck his bike in the first mudhole he found and dropped back to 15th place as Brae Glover, ",""ingiy blasting up from nowhere with the right linea, caught leader Moates on the second lap and took control of the l~ad hiJmeIf jUJt two laps later. From that point on Glover began using his 250cc Yatnaha to pull away frotn the bigger bikes at a rate of 2-' seconds per lap. AiIo doing well on 250cc bikes were Ward and Mark Barnett. but Barnett was soon out with a broken motor in his RH Suzuki while Ward found hil1llelf dicing with Moates and Sun for second place. Twenty minutes into the moto Glover saw his 10 second lead disappear as he plopped over in the mud and stalled his Yatnaha. He just barely restarted again to hook up with Moates, Ward and Sun as they splashed past. Glover might have taken back his lead, only he was riding 10 loose that he and his bike paned