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/141037
Cl N " '" " C1. N .... Cl .... N " ::> ..., C ~ w Z W ...J U >- U .... - TAHOE: LACKEY. JONES OfT Ph oto s by John Be thea TA HOE V IST A , CAL., June 18, 1972 Whil e the Yamah as of Gary J ones and J im Wein ert lash ed it o ut fo r the 250 Pr o laurels, Bra d Lackey pl ay ed h is hand against a p air of fo u rs to take th e Open class -r o n ly after a real struggle, so me: smooth finess ing and a broke n DeS o to m ach in e. . T he fo urs in th is case were those fo un d o n the n umber p la tes. John DeSo lo (4 X) started thin gs off in the batt le . With Lack ey tucking in to first, DeS olo stayed on hi s tai l fo r m uch of the initial round. The n. m idway 1 through, Brad shot ahead appearing lo run away with it. Slowly , however, the lead dwindled and the CZ-rid ing pair p ic ked u p the checkered so me 40 yards apart. Th at sp read wasn' t close enough to ca use a con troversy it seems, bu t the lap coun te rs failed lo pick u p Brad in the 18th lap so, as they had done at Carlsbad seve ral weeks ago, the AMA officials asked bo th J oh n and Brad who wo n. Again , Brad go t th e nod. The nex t two rounds against a fo ur plate were with Gary Chaplin, 4Y, (Mail. Du ring th e sandwiche d m o t o , .... - Gary Chapl in t ries the inside on Brad Lackey. Brad held him off. • answer:' began Bob Gill prior to his atte mpted 15.-car leap w ithou t a landing ramp . " H ow many of you n , how many came to see me crash?" (more cheers), "l 't! pretend I d idn't hear that: ' Several quick drives past cars easil y and plopped down o n the graveled surface. S till, it was very impressive being 15 cars. Gary go t a great jump on the fiel d and JUSl ran away fro m everyone wh ile Brad was stuck back in the pack. Gary kep t up th e pace, know ing so me where be hi nd h im was a despe rate CZ ride r seeking him. Hal way th ro ugh th e 30-m in ute ro un d an d Brad moved in t o second place , st ill hu ndreds o f yards behind, h owever . Lap afte r lap , Bra d crept closer . The five-minu te sign flashed an d Gary was holding on t o a n arrow m argin , on ly to los e it befor e th al lap w as co m pleted . In the finale . again it was 4 Y-Chaplin shoo ting t o th e lead wi th Lackey o n hi s ta il, G ar y w as ri ot ab o u t to let Bra d b y if he co uld h elp it , bu t Lack ey had othe r ideas an d sq u irt ed lo the poin t on Lap Fo u r. Sudden ly , Ga ry zip pe d b y agai n, b ut Br ad recap lured it a third -lap late r. A sweep fo r. Lackey , bu t no run aw ay . In th e final rnoto , Gary Chap lin took the whi te flag and was seen looking at his rear tire. I t was flat. 11e kept on m ovin g and held second to th e finish with a flat. DeSoto D?'IFe d m o to two with rne ch ani cals , then h un g it up for the day. The 250 class started out again as the J o nes vs. Wein e rt fight. Both Yamahas fo ught their way to the front of the pack (since Weinert pulled the hole shot, he didn 't h ave to work q uit e as hard to get th ere by the secon d lap of the firs t m o to and started p ullin g away from the pack. T hi s set the scene for m o st of th e d ecisive ac tio n am o ng th e Pro 250 rid ers. J ones started re ally h onki n' about h alf way throu gh the m oto b u t Wein ert j ust wo u ld n' t quit an d kep t u p th e chase. Jones slid o u t on th e b ack sectio n w ith j us t a few lap s to go and Jim Wein e rt d id n' t mi ss hi s cue. He grabbed th e lead and won the moto. Gary was still in for a co mfo rtab le sec ond . Th a pair reverse d the fini sh in g o rd e r in the second leg. Bo th ro de as fa st and cons is te n tly as the first time , b ut J o nes d idn't m a ke any costly m ist ak es. Dick Eie rsted t (Ma i) w as third most o f the moto and fini sh ed th at way. All through th e a fte rnoon , Rex Staten h ad b een moto ring his CZ arou nd th e T ah oe co urse in a di spl ay o f consiste n t, if not speedily spectac ula r riding. He h ad a six th, th en too k a fifth in m o to tw o . Not ba d, but it's not winn ing. S ta ten p layed it righ t th ou gh , be ating J ones an d Weinert to ta ke th e third m o t o an d th ird overall. May be J ones and Wein e rt d id n ' t feel they need ed a first for p oin ts , but whe n Staten gets going, he can stick it to the best an d he did. Jones and -Weine rt didn't see m all that tired and Staten was riding well . It was so meth ing of a nove lty to see th e Yamaha d ice in the 250 class upse t b y a CZ . T h ree motos, th ree d ifferent 25 0 win n ers. T he J on es/ Yam ah a co m b o is being challenged.