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/126944
Roger DeCoster wheelies his works Suzuki around Doddington Park, England in the 1974 500cc World Chamipionships. DeCoster won the race. Part 3: The Ristor~ of Motocross By Len Weed This and future installments are excerpted from the book, "Motocross Techniques, Training &- Tactics," by World Champion Brad Lackey and Len Weed. The first Trans-AMA Series, was won by English rider Dave Nicoll on a BSA. Joel Robert, winner of six of the eight events, finished seventh in the points standings. The top American, fourth overall, was Dick Burleson, who soon switched to riding enduros and the International Six Days. During the early years of the series it was common to list the top American along with the winner. NoAmerican won until Jimmy Weinert did the deed in Texas in 1973. During that first year top American honors at individual races went to Bob Thompson, Peter Lampu, Bill Clements, Sonny DeFeo, Gary Bailey, Jimmy Weinert and Brad Lackey. In 1971 Suzuki added another Bel- gian c:z rider, Roger DeCoster. He and Robert gave them both World Championships and both manufa turer awards. By this time the other Japanese factories were looking hard at moLOcross. Kawasaki signed Petterson for development work. Yamaha acquired the services of Torsten Hallman.A new international series, the Inter-AMA, .was slolled during the summer break in Grand Prix ra .ing. This series continued through 1975. Two Americans, Gary Jones in 1972 and Tony DiStefano in 1975, grabbed championships. The summer and fall Inter-Ams saw their final year of life in 1971, running opposite the AMA sanctioned series. After discontinuing the InterAm Series, Dye promoted a few AMA races and then withdrew midst controversy from competition promotions. He continued selling Husvarnas in the U.S. until 1975 when the factory in Sweden reacquired distribution rights. During 1971 American points standings in the 250cc Inter-AMA and the 500cc T rans-AMA Series were used to crown American champions. Those honors went to Gary Jones, 250cc and Mark Blackwell, 50Occ. As an· indicator of where Americans stood in those days, racing against the continentals, Blackwell did not rank in the top 10 of the series. Mark's promising career was abbreviated by a £reak eye injury while racing in Europe. He has since held managerial positions with Husqvarna and U.S. Suzuki. Robert and DeCoster repeated as champs in 1972. At the end of the year Yamaha signed Ake Jonsson, who had .beaten DeCoster in the TransAMA Series by winning the last nine events. Brad Lackey was top Ameri- The USA's Motocross des Nations team at the 1974 round in Switzerland. From left to right; John DeSoto, Mike Hartwig and Jim Pomeroy.