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/141048
Team Kawasaki 1973 This year Kawasaki has brought its rac ing personn el together in one big team effort. Road racing , motocross, and a new group - an amateur Internation al Six Day Trials Team - are under the direction of Sid Saito. Mr. Saito makes sure new ideas tested in racing bikes show up in the produ ct ion line. Team Kawasaki Motocross Thre e top riders will form Kawasa ki's 1973 motocross team - Brad Lackey , Jim Weinert , and John DeSoto . Supporting them are Kawasaki moto cross coo rdi nator AI Baker and racing technicians Steve John son (for Lackey), Paul Nyland (Weinert), and Jim Felt (DeSoto). Lackey Wears ;; 1 Brad Lackey enters his second year of racing for Kawasaki wea ring # 1 in the 500c c class. A 19-year-old native Californi an, Brad started racing in scrambles be fore turn ing to motocro ss. After test rid ing the new Kawasak i 450cc in late 1971, he sig ned as Kawasaki' s first factory motocross rider. One short year later he had captured the nation al motocross championship. TEAM KAWASAKI MOTOCROSS. Kawasaki's 1973 motocross line-up includes John DeSoto, Jim Weinert , and Brad Lackey, the 1972 A.M.A, U.S, Motocross Champion. Their competition motorcycles are: The Kawasaki 450cc F12 MX. (In keeping with Kawasaki's policy of producing bikes for This year, he'll be out to retain that title in all major U.S. Motocross events and a variety of intern ational grand prixs. Weinert Is Lackey 's Greatest Threat Jim Weinert - a 21-year-o ld New Yorker - finished righ t behind Brad Lackey last year, and is credited by Brad as being his rough est com petitio n. Besid es being a supe r rider, Jim is an excellen t w rench . He'll be giv ing Kawasaki R &D plenty of help in making the racing 450 into a produ ction machine . Jim will be pursuing two championships-250cc and 500cc. DeSoto-Motocross Veteran John DeSoto calls Makaha, Hawaii home, but he's been allover the wor ld in recent years riding just about every top motoc ross mach ine made. He helped in Kawasaki's sweep of Talledega in the '72 season and was a First American rider in the 250cc class back when Kawasaki was just getting started in rac ing. He also captured the Top American title in 1970 in both the 250 and 500 class. This year he'll be ch allenging Lackey and Wein ert for the championship. Kawasaki's Motocross Machines Kawasaki 's motocross motorcycle s are the 450cc F12 MX-the first Kawasak i cyc le designed specifically for the spo rt-and the 250cc F1 1 M, a modif ied version of Kawasaki's new production enduro machine. Bot h are two - st rok e, sing le-c y linde r pi ston po rt motorcycles stripped to bare necessities. the public, not for racing , the F12 will soon be introduced in a production rnodel.) For 250cc class riding, Team Kawasaki uses a racing version of Kawasaki's F11 250.