Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

the second Sigi Lerner (10) grabs.the lead at the start of the first moto ahead of Hakan Anderson (5) and Roger DeCoster (1). Lemer was passed on the second lap by DeCoster. Some of the World Champions who competed at Gaildorf; (from left to right) Roger DeCoster (500cc). Heikki Mikkola (250 and 500cc). Haken Anderson (25Occ). Jaromir Cizek (25Occ). the mayor of Gaildorf. Guenady Moiseev (25Occ). Dave Bickers (25Occ). Jeff Smith (500cc) and Vietor Arbekov (25Occ). Third Annual.World Veteran-cross Motocross DeCoster beats Mikkola at Veteran MX By Alex Hodgkinson GAlLDORF, WEST GERMANY, SEPT. 5-6 Former five-time 500cc Motocross World Champion R'oger DeCoster won his second consecutive Veteran-cross title at the third running of the event this weekend in West 12 Germany. DeCoster battled with arch rival Heikki Mik- I titles and ahas twoworld crown kola, who 500cc world 250cc himself, in both motos. The event, held at Gaildorf for the first time, drew 15,000 spectators and 70 motocross stars from previous eras. Among those competing were Jeff Smith, two-time 500cc World Champion (1964--65) from England now living in the United States; Swede Hakan Anderson, 1973 250cc world champ; and 1974, '77 and '78 250cc World Champion Guenady Moiseev of Russia. There were also several notable no-shows. Six-time 250cc World Champion Joel Robert was absent from the event and Paul Friedrichs, who won the 500cc World Championship three years in a row (1966-1968), was unable to get a travel permit from East German .authorities. There were two classes; one for riders over 35 years old, who rode modern machines, and another for competitors 45 and older, the more adventurous of whom brought along pre-long travel and vintage bikes, some of which were former works machines. The first two Veteran-cross races were held in the deep Belgian sand of Lommel, but the torturous terrain was too unforgiving on the aging bones and, in most cases, extending waistlines of the former stars. Pierre Karsmakers won the inaugural contest and DeCoster took the next meeting there. The "mountain grasstrack" circuit at Gaildorf was much more suited to the veterans, although the slippery Saturday practice session proved almost too much for some of the older riders. DeCoster and Mikkola, obviously the fastest of the veterans on hand, were racing at speeds very close to those being set by the German championship riders who completed the weekend program. DeCoster, now a Honda race team advisor, still rides regularly. "Exactly how often is determined by the demands of my job," he said. "There are times when I don't have the opportunity to ride for a couple of months, but at other times I am riding three times a week if we are doing a lot of testin~." "Flying Finn" Mikkola, who was DeCoster's great rival in the '70s, is now a farmer near Hyvinkka in Finland. After bein~ defeated a year ago in this race, Mikkola had been out training for several weeks prior to this year's event. And Yamaha, the factory for whom he won his world titles, sent along a mechanic along with a YZ250 sporting a works pipe, cylinder and the like. DeCoster, aboard a Honda CR250, hit the fron t in race one on the second lap after displacing Austrian Sigi Lerner, the original KTM works rider. Anderson came up on his YZ490, which he races a few times a year in Sweden where he is now a self-employed truck driver, to challenge DeCoster for the lead until his rear tire went flat. On the final two laps Mikkola put on a massive effort to close the 40yard deficit on DeCoster. Exiting the second-to-Iast tum, the Finn, who always sported an aggressive style which contrasted sharply with DeCoster's classical grace, wound open the Yamaha and was alongside his rival over the jump, approaching the final tum. But Mikkola had the wrong line and had to shut off despite having the inside line to lose the moto by the length of a bike. A

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