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/126620
c-r 00 O"l ...... (Above left) Bred Leckey come. to the USGP with the point. Ind. (Top right) American Gery Semic. i. in the top 10. (Above right) Leckey'. chief rlvel , Andre Melherbe. Preview: Datsun USGP 01 Motoeross Can Bad Brad and the GP circus stave 011 the hometown boys? By Dale Brown Photos by Henny Ray Abrams It starts a t the end of April, and five 'm o n th s a n d 12 races later, there is a 500cc World Motocross Champion. An American h as never h eld that title, but that may change this year. " Bad Brad" Lackey, who has pursued the title for over 10 years and has come close several 32 times, is leading the 500cc Wor ld Motocross Championship point standings by 10 points at the halfway mark. one round before the series makes its annual stop at southern Ca lifornia's Carlsbad International Raceway. The june 20 Datsun USGP of Motocross is different from any other race in the series. For one thing. Lackey has never had 100 much luck at the circuit, although he's won rnotos and finished second or third overall several times. For another, it's the only event on the schedule where the visiting GP regulars can have their doors blown off by American riders who have never competed outside the United States. This year the race promises 10 be interesting for a number of reasons. One is Lackey's consistency and sue- cess so far this year. In his second season with Suzuki, Lackey has one GP win 10 his credit this year, and has scored points in every moto run. Meanwhile. no other GP cornpetitor has matched that kind of consistency, and only one. defending World Champion Andre Malherbe, has more than one G P win. The season opened in France, where Malherbe began his title defense with a win, topping both rnotos on his works Honda. Lackey was second, followed by Kawasaki's sole rider on the G P circuit, British teenager Da ve Thorpe. Neil Hudson, the 1981 250cc World Champion, finished fourth on a Yamaha, followed by Suzuki's Andre Vromans. One week later it was off 10 the sands of Holland. Sand specialists Vromans and Eddy Sterckx (Mai) finished 1-2, with KTM-mounted veteran jaak Van Velthoven finishing third overall. Lackey finished seventh in the first moto, and then charged back for a ru n ner-up finis h in the second rnoto and fou rth overall. O f not e was the performance of American Gary Sernics, spending h is first season in Europe and riding a production Honda C R480 R for the West German Honda importer. Sernics had an early lead in the first moto, and ended up with a 6-9 score for his first G P points. The third round of the series was in Sweden, and it was there that Lackey copped the points lead for the first time. Graham Noyce, the 1979 champion, won both rnotos for the overall with Hudson combining a 2-4 tally for second overall. Lackey turned in a pair of third place finishes for third, coming in in front of Malherbe's 5-2. It was jean jacques Bruno's turn 10 win in Finland, and the French Suzuki rider bested Hudson, 1-2 10 5-1. Finland's jukka Sintonen fin ished third. Lackey slipped to seventh overall with an 8-6, but still held , the points lead . Austria, the scene of the fourth race in as many weeks, found Lackey in the driver's seat. Brad rode to a 3-1, which bested Thorpe's 1-3 by 15 seconds of elapsed time. Noyce was third overall, followed by Vromans. Semics posted a ninth overall finish . Then the re came a week's break before the Ita lian GP. Malherbe came back on form there with a I- I win. Vromans (2-4) and Lackey (5-2) followed, \11 the .ove~alI, with Hudson Jl -Ii posti ng a fo urt h and Semics turning in his best -ever G P performance for I fifth . b 50 with six rounds ru n , Lackey has ) the points lead wi th 104, followed by Malherbe (94), Vromans (88), Hudson (79) and Noyce (78). With his strong performances of late, Semics finds h imself eighth in the standings " with 40 points. 0 By the time this is written and published, the seventh round of the series, West Germany, wi ll have run. Check out The Latest Poop on p. 6 for the preliminary results on that ( race and the point standings going into Carlsbad. ~ Barring any unforseen catastrophe in Germany, Lackey should still be in the points lead come june 20. With the tit le he 's sought these past 10 r years that much closer, he'll have J more drive than ever to win the ' USGP. ' "All I need is a little luck," was how Lackey summed up his chances I for the world title before the season ' beg a n . The same holds true for Carlsbad. Brad's run fast there, only to suffer one sort of misfortune or ' another. But still, Brad has the skill, ' the machinery and most importantly, the superb physical condition 10 win 1 out over a full field and two 45minute motos u nder a hot California i sun. Du rin g the GP circuit, Lackey's ~ main competition tends to come.from . .