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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126471
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NAr-rIONAL
PAPERS
Six Winston Pro Series Nationals are on the
boards and already
what a season! Five
different winners and three of those five are
first time National victors!
Now th e circuit heads east for
four half miles , three road races
and a TT. We have watched all
of th e Nationals to date and can
22
tell the fans that are still waiting to see
thei r firs t this year th a t they are in for
a real race , no matter whe re it is.
T he half miles and m iles are
especially loaded with equal ta lent a nd
ma chines. No on e can really p redict in
ad van ce who is going to fin ish in t he
top three . Let's look a t some exa m ples
from this season.
Ronnie Jones , a second yea r Exp ert
who ha d never come close to win ning a
National in '7 9 and in fact qualified
for few Na tional finals as a rookie, ran
on e of th e finest start -to -fin ish short
track races to win at Houston .
Then there was Hank Scott . the top
po in t gainer in the mi les two yea rs ag o
who d id not come close all last yea r for
a mile victory.
But Hank is back and is the title
holder for not one but both of the
miles run th is season.
His mile engine is so strong that he
ca me from last place at Sacramento to
win it all and th en from l Sth to win at
San Jos e. At Sacramento he d id not
even ha ve the tuner, Sal Acost a , with
him in th e pit s!
But th e biggest upset of all to date
may ha ve come a t Ascot on Ma y 10.
The not so young ma n by th e na me of
Billy Lab rie came ou t to Ascot a few
weeks early and raced it only twice
before Nationa l night.
He looked good in his first a tt empt
but did no t come close to the win. The
night before th e N at ional he did in
fact win the Exp ert fin al . but ag a inst a
lim ited field .
I don 't thi nk there was a singl e
pers on in the crowd on N ation a l nigh t
that pick ed Billy to win it all. mostl y
because few had ever seen him race
and th e word has long been out how
tough it is to win Ascot and generally a
rider who moves through the ra cing
ranks at Ascot is hard to beat. Somebody forgot to tell Labrie.
How does a rider that starts out as a
road racer and then switches over to
dirt go on to become a contender for
the title? Don't ask me, because I don't
know of any rider that has started that
way and ever come close to winning
anything on the dirt tracks. We have a
raft of riders that started on dirt and
then went road racing and became
winners , but not the other way
around .
Ascot was actually a triple upset
and an indication of things to come
this year that make it perhaps the most
wide open W inston Pro Series ever.
Ricky Graham , second at Ascot . has
never won a National. Scotty Parker
has never won a hal f m ile Nationa l.
T hese were the th ree th at took it to th e
finish line for th e win over a sta rti ng
field of 48 that had inclu ded no less
than 12 riders that had won at lea st
on e previous half mil e Na tion a l!
Now th e tr ail points towards Louisville and Harrington , two tracks tha t
J ay Springsteen has mo re or less
dom ina ted for sever al seaso ns.
But what of J a y? He would not come
out for th e opening ce remonies at
Ascot but came back to look like he
was going to join Samm y T anner as
th e only four time Ascot winner when
he won his hea t in normal Sp ringer
style. But it was a d ifferent story in the
m a in event and J ay was far off the
pace after the opening la ps.
Jay has won four of th e previou s six
Louisville races but th e odds do no t
fa vor him at th is time .
And what abou t Steve Eklund?
Well , what about Steve. It is the
b iggest mystery in racing a t this point.
Bad lu ck and personnel cha nges - the
mechanic that helped Eklund to th e
titl e last year has been let go . according to to the reports - add to th e
mystery.
The season is just underway but
neither Jay nor Steve appear to be
ser ious contenders at this point in
tim e. Not that they are slowing do wn
but rather th e fact that so many othe rs
are going so fast and are equal in
talent , experience and engi nes.
There is one TT
on
the
eastern /midwest swing. the one at
Chicago and one th a t Steve a nd J ay
have both done well at in th e past. Bu t
one TT was run ea rlier th is year. J ay
fin ished fourth and Steve fai led to
qualify for th e fin a l. It was ca lled
Houston.
You m ight say that Steve is running
a round searching for the right
me chanic and J ay is ru nn ing a round
sea rc hing for the right doc tor . Both
rid ers have their problems .
Watching the rookies on the miles
and half mile shows only two ha ve
popped up that may become serious
contenders for Rookie of th e Year:
Texas ' Bub Shobert and North Carolina's
Gene Church. Both have been the best
of the new gang in time trials in the
west and Shobert actually made the
final at Ascot. No other rookies made
it to the point event in the two miles
and single half mile .
Give Church about two more horses
and he will be in the finals. Many were
comparing his riding style to that of
Springsteen. Of all the rookies,
Shobert is probably the best all around
at this stage .- ha lf mile, mile. short
track and TT.
Right now it looks like both Ricky
Graham and Alex Jorgensen hav e the
ability and horsepower to maybe go all
th e way. Randy Goss is also right th ere
and only a late lap miscu e kept h im
from taking it to the line a t Ascot.
Rock y Rockwood
Andre M alherbe w ent 1-1 in Franc e on the A lan Hahn-tuned Honda .
World Championsh ip
500cc MX Series:
Round 3
Lackey's lead
slashed by Malherbe
By A lex Hodg kinson ,
frame which lowered seat height by
three inc hes, failed to score at all,
being forced out of the first moto when
his exhaust came adrift and p ulling
out of the second whilst unplaced .
It was a bad day all round for the
Dutchmen with Gerard Rond crashing
out of the second race when the rear
suspension assembly snapped.
a
Results
Andre Malher be (Hon) 1·1; 2. Jean Jacques Bruno
15uzl 2·3; 3. Brad Lackey IKow) 5-2; 4. Groham Noyce
GAILLEFONTAINE , FRANCE,
MAY4
IHonl 3-4; S. Arne L;nd!ors (Yoml !Xi; 6. Hakan
Corlqvist (Yom) 4-'; 7. Reger DeCoster (Henl '-4; 8.
Incorrect gearing and suspension
problems in the first moto coupl ed with brilliant double moto
wins by Honda's Andre MaIherbe
10. Gerard Rood lSuzl7· -; 11. tvan Van den Broec k
(Mail 8-'; 12. T.pan; Pikkaro;nan IMail · ·9; 13. Riclla