Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

It Was Marty's Day re-race hype for the 1980 Bel Ray United States Grand Prix of Motocross at Carlsbad Raceway had motocross fans pumped that this would be the year an American claimed the overall victory in a 500cc Grand Prix on home soil. Yet the P thousands in attendance never saw Marty Moates coming. The 23-year-old San Diego native had ridden a few GPs before, even finished third in the 125cc round at Mid-Ohio in I 97B, but at Carlsbad he and his LOP Yamaha VZ46S were simply an unknown quantity, the darkest of the dark-horse picks for victory. "Laurens [Offner, of LOP] was really talented, and he knew how to make the bike fast," Moates, now 47, remembers. "White Brothers did the shock, and it handled really well. It was a good bike." Confident in his machine, Moates also had his years of Carlsbad experience on his side. As his 39 competitors cleared the dirt from under their rear tires on the concrete starting pad, Moates added dirt to his. "I had about a 12-inch pad of dirt that was about three inches thick, so I was starting on the dirt, which I thought was better than starting on the concrete," Moates says. It was a surprise to everyone but Moates, then, when he rocketed into the lead at the start of moto one . Focused like he had never been before, he soon began to build a cushion on the world's best riders . It was up to seven seconds when Swedish ace Hakan Carlqvist and America 's Danny laPorte got rhythm and began to run Moates down . Then disaster struck for Moates, as he suffered a silly fall over one of the ledges on the course's lower section . "The nerves got to me," Moates says. "They were catching me, and I was more worried about them catching me than I was about trying to race . I just hit a bump wrong , and it threw me into the fence ." Some eight seconds down on laPorte and Carlqvist when he returned to action, Moates could have easily thanked his lucky stars that he had led the U.S.GP for a while, fallen into line and just rode it out to the finish. He didn't . "I didn't think that Icould catch them, but I had ridden that track more than anybody," Moates says. "It was my home track, and I had started my first races there . Everything just clicked, and I just reeled them back in. When Icame back up the uphill the next lap, I was closer to them than I was before, and it was like, 'Maybe I can catch them .' Everything worked perfectly that day. I just reeled them back in and passed them both ." Moates crossed the line first, becoming the third rider in history to win a 500cc U.S. GP rnoto, The big prize still seemed so far away, but it got a lot closer when Moates repeated his first-moto start and jetted into the lead again. He would enjoy clear sailing for the first 12 laps before the American whom most had picked to win that day, Brad Lackey on the factory Kawasaki, caught and passed Moates for the lead. "I was more nervous with Brad behind me, because he was running for the World Championship," Moates recalls. "Kawasaki had brought out 7000 American flags for peop le to wave, and the nerves just got to me. I didn't want to get in Brad's way, because I knew that I wo uld be the black sheep of the world if I hurt him in the championship ." Lackey passed Moates , but half a lap later, Moates was still hanging in there, and he knew that he could combine some of his lines with Lackey's to retake the lead. " It didn't look like Brad was going that fast, so I got back by him," Moates says. "Unfortutnately, then he fell down . He was under the fence, so he just pulled in. 122 JULY 7, 2004 • CYCLE NEWS But he gave me the thumbs up when I went by, which I was excited about." Moates went on to make history as the first American ever to win a 500cc U.S. Grand Prix. It was important for several reasons, as it marked the final kick to the door through which America emerged as the dominant force in the motocross world . "We won the 12Scc U.S. GP with Johnny O'Mara after that, and we won the Motocross des Nations:' Moates says. "We won five of the next six [500cc] U.S. GPs, and Brad was over there winning all along." For Moates , however, the Carlsbad U.S. GP win is even more special for per sonal reasons. "The one thing that really stands out to me is, my father was hurt in World War II, and he was dying at the time of that GP," Moates says. "He never got to see me race that often . I remember going to the hospital the day after that race, and I was on the front page of the San Diego UnionTribune. I walked in there, and my dad was reading the newspaper with all the nurses . He never got to see the ABC "Wide World of Sports" [telecast of the GP] because he passed away before it came out, but the joy of watching him tell the nurses, 'That's my son,' made everything worthwhile." Scott Rousseau 3D YEAR5 AliD•.• July 9, '974 The Suzuki Tria ls 250 showed up on the cover • this year. For the money it was a good bike; however, it still didn't match up to the dominant European bikes of the time... Harley-Davidson racer Jim Rice won the first CMC Mile National of the year in Stockton, California. Finishing second was Rex Beauchamp after a race long battle with Rice... Roger DeCoster won his first Grand Prix of the year in Prevov, Czechoslovakia. That day DeCoster beat Adolf Weil for the overall... Pierre Karsmakers easily dominated the InterAm race that took place in Salt Lake City, Utah . Karsmakers swept both motos ahead of Rex Staten. i!D YEAR5 AliD... July II, '984 ISDE specialist Geoff Ballard showed up on the cover of issue 26. Inside is an interview with him where he talked about his ISDE experiences and plans for the United States ... There was a World Championship Road Race in Yugoslavia, where Champ ion Freddie Spencer ran away with the win aboard his factory NSRSOO Honda. His win allowed him to inch up on points leader Eddie Lawson... There was a feature on a plastic motorcycle made by Dupont. The motorcycle looked futuristic; however, it was made only for show, not to be ridden ... An off-road Montesa bike showed up in this issue. The bike was found to be better suited for a weekend trail rider rather than for some one who is a serious racer. 10 YEAR5 AliD... July e. '994 Motocross hero Doug Henry appeared on the cover. That year Henry won his second I25cc National in a row at his home trackSouthwick... Steve Hislop won the Isle of Man TT that year. There was a damper that was put on the event with the death of 30-year-old Mark Farmer... In an inte rview Randy Hawkins ta lked about his accomplishments with enduro racing and his plans for the future ... At a round of the World Championship Motocross series, Greg Albertyn traded moto wins with Yves Demaria. Demaria ended up taking the overall victory over Albertyn that day. 40th Anniversary

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