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/126526
00 0') Bruno .. fifth with points che.. coming Into Cerlab ed.lTo p right! Suzuk i'. Jeen-J acqu.. lTop lettlDe fenciln g World Chemp Andre Melhe rbe leed8 the right!. n. 1181 third In the points, Juat behind Orehem Noyce (ebove teemm ete Bred Leckey OneetJ 10th. (Above left) Andre Vrome Young lions clash a t Carlsbad By Suzie Mann The Uni ted Stat es .rou nd of the 500cc Wor ld Cha mpi onsh ip MX Series arrives at Carl sbad Race way on June .21. The com peti tors in the pres tigio us Bel- Ray 500cc USG P of Motocross are equall y divided for this year's ninth annua l points paying contest betwe en the regula r European "conti nental circus " riders and the top Americ an AMA 500cc Nation al class dynamo s. As of this writing , 20 Europe ans will face 20 Americ ans in what is shaping up to be one of the IJlOIt exciting confrontations rofessional ••l1li11. . athletes ~t Carlsba d. For rune ~ong ye~rs (counun~ the first non-po mts paymg Interna tional races in 1971 and 1972 which qualified the Carlsba d facility fo~ full GP status). partisian Americ an spectators watched a Europe an racer take the top position on the podium . Last year. 25year-ol d souther n Califor nia rider Marty Moates was virtuall y invincible. Moates not only won both motos hands down on his LOP-sp onsored Yamah a but also led the Americ an rider domination of the confron tationl Eight of the top 10 spots were filled by American racers. Belgian Andre Vrorna ns placed third overall. and lanky Jaak Van Velthoven of Luxem bourg notched seventh. This year's U.S. round of the 500cc title chase is brough t to you directly from France enroute to Farleigh Castle, Englan d. Will one of the top European .aces wrest the overall win back from the Americ an riders? Could Moates repeat his domina tion? Can fast rising 500cc Nation al class star Broc Glover wow them aU? Or maybe "Bad Brad" Lackey (whose bad luck. at Carlsba d almost equals that of Roger DeCoster) will finally pull off the one victory he has worked so hard for since 1975 when he posted an unprece dented (for those early days of Americ an involvem ent in motocroes) fourth place overall in the first points paying Carlsbad GP. Danny LaPort e. Chuck Sun and Mike Bell are also capable of winning with a little bit of luck. Carlsba d has always been an exciting race for spectat ors and riders alike. How about the 1974 last moto finish betwee n five time USGP winner, the Dutch tooth doctor. Gerrit Wolsin k and then yet-to-b e 500cc titlist Heilli Mikkola of Finland ? Wolsin k hit the high bank at the finish line and literally crashed acrOll the line taking the moto and overall victory (his first in four strajgh t years of domina tion at Carlsbad) by just a few feet from the hardchargin g Mikkola. Wolsin k's fifth win at Carlsba d came in 1979 during a 104 degree heat wave which decima ted most of the riders includi ng Mike Bell, who led most of the fmt moto before falling victim to heatstro ke and retir· ing for thC day. Shav Glick.,_respect ed motonp orts editor of the Los Angeles T;fM!$, rates the Bel-Ra y U.S. Grand Prix as his favorite motorc ycle race of the year and one of the top spectat or events he covers in the world of motonp orts rac. ing. One of the reasons this year's Grand Prix is shaping up to be such an exciting confron tation is the takeove r (beginning a year ago) of the World Champ ionship series by the "young lions" of the motocr Oll world. Top Americ an motocroes stars. almost withou t excepti on. have always been very young by World Champ ionship standar ds. Experie nce, one of the key factors in determ ining the top Grand Prix riders, used to be the private preserve of riders in their late 20's and early 50's. With the advent of Schoolboy and Junior Motocross overseas