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/141049
r-.,. ~ co '" '" e, M r- ;!! 0 '" ::;: '" en '!: w Z w ..J U >- U ". : ,,~ .~, ' ." . ..it Di sappointed Gary Jones fi nished first but failed to qualify. He was penalized a lap and almost, but not qu ite , overcame the handicac . / M ike Ru nyard (e ZI produ ced his finest eff ort to date and a second overall. Georgian J ohnny Border s ga. sed h is s Bul taco in to th e lead . J ohnny was really go ing , bu t he slo we d up o n th e secon d lap an d le t th e Honda go by. J ohn lat er said that he was ab le to maintain his pa ce ahead of Gary, but by th e second lap h e had tim e to turn around an d see wh o wa s behind hi m . " I go t to t hin kin g when I was ou t front the re th at , gee , I really sho uldn' t be o u t fro n t her e , so I slo wed up to let Gary by and then Tom Rapp." J ones to ok over th e lead and really be gan to stre tc h it out ove r Rapp. By th e en d o f th e race , he h ad almost a half a lap lead over everyone else, bu t Rapp took first . R app go t lit tle appla use wh en he crossed th e lin e, b ut when J on es came acro ss aft er co mpleteing his ex tra lap he received a stan ding o vation from th e cheeri ng fans . SECOND QUALIFIER The second qualifier was won b y Ga ry Bailey . Bul taco -mount ed Bailey had a race-long battl e with Rick Jordan o n " Clint C avin -sponsored CZ . Ric k a had go tten aw ay fir st at th e start but Gary caugh t and " p assed him o n th e third lap . • Bai ley be gan to pull awa y when he mi sjudged th e bi g in field he h ad de sign ed and went off th e side. J ordan regained th e lead momentarily, but Bailey was back in front at th e flag. While th e sec o nd qualifier wa s underway, Gary J on es and Pet er Lamppu wer e in the infield talking to J oh n Lan cione, the AMA 's National Motocross referee. They were both protesting "th eir penalty on the start of the first q ualifier. Lancione and all the o the r AMA honchos held a quick policy-making con ferenc e. T hey c o uld n ' t ch ange a rul e th at was in the book, but they de cided th at they could work around the rul e. Th e result was a de cision to run a Conso lation moto to qualify Gary and Peter. THEN A CONSOLATION In typical Lancione style , rules and de cision s wer e altered durin g a me et . Last ye ar , it was th e famo us Hans M aisch di squalifi cation /B rad Lackey non-disqualification for loss of silencers in the TransAMA ; this year, th e spe cial Jones/L amppu benefit qualifier . Every one w anted a consolation race . from Gary and "Peter to the thousands of spe ctators, but th e AMA had decided earlier tha t d ay, o ver the objec tio ns of Bill Fr an ce and th e series pr omo ter s, th at the re would defini tely no t be a Con sy due to th e lack of tim e . In st ead th ey would run two 40-minute lon g, boring m ot o s that w ould run until a fte r dark . O f co urse , Ga ry J o nes won th e qualifier. FOR THE MONEY Gary Baile y quickly wo rk ed his way through a bike-strewn first turn to tak e th e lead in the first 25 0 moto, followed b y Grossi, Ga ry J ones, Weinert, Steve S tac ka ble, Rapp and Lamppu. On lap three, Wein ert made a bid to pass J ones an d G ary fell in a slo w turn. When he go t b ack up, h e was fifteenth whil e Weinert wa s in third wi th an eye on Gro ssi. What took pl ace in th e ne xt te n laps h ad t o b e t he mo s t e x ci tin g wh eel-to -wh eel racing seen all week at Day to na. Baile y , Grossi and Wein ert were banging h andleb ars an d swa pping the lea d th ree an d fo ur ti mes a lap. Bailey h ad th e ad van tage on th e straigh ts with the Bultaco 's power, bu t Gr ossi could dive th e Hu sky under him to take th e lead in the turns. On th e jumps and ditches , Wein ert would b ers er k th e Kaw asaki to bounce by both of th em an d gain the lead . As it tu rn ed o ut, Wein ert happen ed to be in front at th e flag as they bumped and bounced in a ti gh t bunch all th e wa y . Grossi was second; Bailey, third followed b y Stackabl e, Stockman, Lamppu, Rapp , Frank lin and Gary and DeWayne Jones. Jim Weinert (Ka wl tied Grossi on points in t he 250 class bu t was relegated to second . Gary see med to get p sy ch ed agai n an d crashed hard . JIMMY GO-FAST STEADY AND BOB Weinert kept th e drive on an d stead ily w o rked his way through th e field. Rai ley se emed to fin d a second wind and put on a banzai cha rge th at kep t Wein ert in sight, n o w in third behind T ho rwa ldson . When Wein ert saw th e white flag he cra n ke d it o n , attempting to j u mp th e b igger ditch es rathe r th an riding thro ugh like every one else. At th e big hill he p assed T ho rwa ld son to ta ke over sec o nd . At the chec ke red fla g he was onl y 2 0 feet behind Bob Grossi and th e w in th at he wanted at Dayt ona. Decision: Gro ssi, on the: basis of his las t m oto win. .. THE DECIDER The final moto was cu t to 30 minutes because of darkness. Many spectato rs had already departed. Bill France was he ard to say that this would be th e last time th e AMA told h im h ow to run his race s. /\. b ig pile-up occu rr ed in th e narrow first tum and about tw enty riders went down. T here were no serio us inj uries an d every one was able to get goin g again. Bob Gr ossi was in fron t this tim e followed b y John Franklin , Rich Thorwaldson, DeWayne J ones, Bailey and G ary In gh am. Thorwaldson (Suz) had star te d dead las t in the firs t mota, but was really charging in thi s on e. Gary J ones (H o n ) was eleventh as Bailey moved up to pass DeWavne and tak e o ver fourth . Weinert had a bad sta rt but got b y Gary Jones on lap five. -' Gary Bailey (93-Bull laid out the Daytona MX course, raced on it and took third in the 250 class.