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/141042
Jim Hale Third 125 at Muntz Pro Motocross Jim Weinert's Bike Breaks, Wins Class Anyway Brad. Lackey Fails to Win First Moto by Mark Milford Photos by Wen dy Blanton MOORPARK, CA L. J an . 21, 197 3 T h e Mun tz Cycle Park motocross track , unused o f la te due t o a change o f promoters, re opened to day h osting wh at praye d to be th e largest purse motocross in Sou th ern Califo rn ia this we ekend. Am ongst th ose coaxed t o Mun tz by th e multi tudes of m on ey were Brad Lack ey , J im Wein ert , an d J im Wilson, all on factory m ach in es, as we ll as Larry Watkins , Billy Payn e , Tim L unde and Joe R oot. Unfortunately , Gary and OeWayne J o nes q ual ifie d o n Saturday , were a ttacked by cu rsed flu bug, and did n o t show on Sun day, so mewhat weak ening H on d as' ch allen ge . Heading the . bill w as th e 12 5 Professional cl ass, and although Larry Watkins w as en tered on an E .C. Birt Rickm an, (Birt w as th ere , to o.) , th e favo red rider was J im Weinert ast ride a pro totype Kawasaki 125. The machine 's - J im's - p oten ti al were sh own ear lier . wh en , during p ractice, Billy Payn e fo und hims elf unable t o sha ke th e iii ' Kaw fo r four lap s. T hat speed w as n ever race -proven , th ough . Aft er on e of h is cus to mary me di o cre st ar ts, Weinert d eveloped engi ne tro ub les and d ropped o u t on th e fi rst lap . While Weinert ran, he was pre ssuing Wat ki n s, but he didn't run ve r y lo ng . Larry, then virtually unchallenged, screamed to a fantastic lead fo r th e first mota win. Tim Lunde (Bu l) some 20 (}+ y ar d s behind. Weinert apparen tly co uld not repair the 125 in time fo r th e second of th e two tw enty-minute motos, allowing it to become a replay of the fi rst, Wakins' . fantas tic lead and all. Lunde , again second, garnere d seco nd ove rall. Alth ough th e 250 Expert win was pursued by factory ' riders Jim Weinert (on ye t an other Kawasaki) and Jim Wilson (Hon da Elsin ore), the lead in th e fir st m ota w as sei ze d an d kept b y T erry Clark ( H us) . Jim Wil s on , d isappoin tin gly, cras hed a t th e sta rt and co uld never regain th e lost gro un d th ereby making Honda's last h ope pretty impoten t. Weinert, too , sta rte d po orl y, b ut b y th e end o f th e heat, he h ad w orked u p to second , giving the promise of a last moto duel wi th Clark for th e win . T h e h oped-for clas h, howe ver, never came about. Clark faile d to m ak e th e second ro und. Wilson an d Wein ert r ep e a ted their fir st h eat starting di ffi culties an d both were no where n ear the leader, Luke Messer (Oss) , for th e first several laps. Then Wein ert ยท began pic king o ff ride r after rider, eventu ally passing Messer and assuring hi mself th e win . Wilso n , mean tim e , co uld only m anage a fifth . R ick Salmon ( Yam ), by con siste ncy . garnered seco nd overall jus t ahead of Mes ser. Bu t for m ost o f th e sp ec ta to rs , all o f these bat tl es wer e nothin g m ore than " h alf-time entertainme n t" as they w ai ted for the O pe n Ex pert m oto s. Billy .Pay ne (Ma il. winner at las t wee k 's Baymare $3 0 0 0 MX , was pitted against Brad Lackey (Ka w 4 50), A .M.A . No . I. T here were o ther rid ers in th e line -up, I su p pose, b ut n on e co uld co me near this pair. It was Lackey vs, Payne, sim p le as that . . . In th e fir st round, Lack ey shot off th e lin e, fiont wheel p aw in g the air , a good 2 0 yards ah ead of Payne . As it turned out, th at was the only lead he would have ra ce-long. As th ey rocketed in to th e first co m er, Lackey took th e o uts id e, and Payne th e inside. Wh en th ey exited, Payne w as a good 2 0 yards ah ead of Lackey. Billy , prob abl y as s~ rp rised as everyone else , h ooked It o n , bu t couldn't shake th e green ma ch ine fo r several laps. Th en, very slo wly, Brad ' b e g an droppin g farther beh ind, even tu ally findin g h im self a hundred yards in the wake o f Billy 's Mai co. T he crowd was sh ocked. I was shocked. Could Payne, even th ough he is an excellent rider , so completely m uff Brad Lack ey ? Only t he second moto could tell for su re . When th e scocnd and decidin g Open moto came to th e lin e, every ey e in th e park was wa tching it . T he anno un cers voice even becam e sev eral oc taves high er wi th an tici patio n . When th e flag d ropp ed, La ck e y a g ain held a f' ...J o >(.) . Brad Lackey reclin ing in repose (also in Weinert 's van.). He wo n the big bike class. - John Huetter Photo. m omentary lead then lost it, but this tim e h e refus ed to lo se Payne. For seven minutes th ey circ uited the cours e only 20 yards ap art before La ckey made hi s m ove. Comin g d o wn th e st eep d ownhill, Lacke y inched closer until , sweep ing on to th e st raight, he t o ok th e ex tre me insi de and pulled eve n with Payn e. T he pair bl asted p ast the cro wd o n the st raigh t, o nly a fe w feet ap art, until Billy sh u t th e d oor go ing into th e uphill sw eep er at th e end. Brad aga in d ropped 20 y ards b ehind w ait ing for Billy to make a m ist ak e . .. \Vith five minu tes left, po sitions hadn 't ch anged so Brad agai n start ed sn eaki ng up o n Payne o n the d ownhill. Grabbing th e in sid e once m ore , Brad pulled barely ah ead of th e Maico. Slingsh otting off the straight, Pa yne was relegated to the slower lin e, and the rnanuever was co m p le te . Lackey was ah ead and, j us t as quickly , was gone. In the remain in g five m in u tes, h e pulled a fuJI hundred yards ah ead, and t ook the c h ec k e r e d wi t h a c r o s s e d- u p , o ne -han de d wh ee lie giving the " peace" sign with h is free hand. I gue ss th at 's wh y h e is Number One. ........ .. ~ . -. . The dow nhill suffe ring from the slings and arrows o f the masses. ~ w Z W ? ... ,,, Larry Watkins went away with the 125 . .~