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/141064
" .., " e en ~ w Z w ...J U »; >U ---- - .- -_ .. ... ~ K el did win th e lightweight Combined, leading all but a few laps when Gary t he Flying Fish got by . If he hadn't start ed in t he last row o f t he second wave, howe ver, Yvon DuH amel might have given Kawasaki th at lonq-awa ited lightwe ight win. It's gett ing inte rest ing. Carruthers : so damn close but bitten b'i th e Suzuki Blues. K by Gary V an V oorhis FLOWE RY BRAN CH . GA., June 3 Au cklan d , New Zealand's Geoff Perry , Aboard a 75 0 Suz u ki, won the Road A tlan ta Kawasaki Dixie N ati onal Road Race by a mere foot over Yamah a veteran Kel Ca rruthe rs. Kenny Ro ber ts (Yam) finished in thi rd whil e pre-race favorite Yvo n DuHamel wheeled h is Kawasaki in to fourth . It was a race of uaImosts. It was H 'alm o st ce rtai n that the weather was supposed to he ba d : it wasn't. Carru th er s almost caugh t Perry o ut of the last tu m: he d id n 't. G ary Nixon almost mad e th e Main: two b lown engines stopped tha t rid e. Yvon almost mad e the Winner 's circle the hard wa y playing catc h- up , but the re we ren't eno ugh laps. G ary Nixon set o ut to pro ve th at h is lim e Greenie was th e faste st th in g around in the first heat , and for five laps was wen on his way to ·es ta blishing him self as a favo rite . Paul Smart (Suz) wasn ' t h avin g any of that. He s tuck to Nix on's ta il after d isposin g of Kenny Roberts o n th e secon d lap . While Ni xon and Sm art were pl aying riose -to-tail tag, new Suz uki team . rider Perry was cru ising in fourth and waiting. Nixon failed to co me around on lap six as an engine rod failed an d Smart. inh eri ted the lead with Ken Roberts, Perry, Cliff Carr and Gary Fish er stru ng out behind. Ron Gr an t fen victim to th e one lap penalty for cree pin g on e th e line; Jeff Mar ch starte d from th e bac k o f th e grid and clai med th e las t transfer p osition ; Calvin R ayborn ran consiste n t in ninth before Nix on's failure pushed him up a spot and Romero made the Main. If Nixon was fas t the n Yvon DuHamel was faster. The second heat made the sp onsors h appy as it was a top three cle an swee p for Kawasaki wi th Yvon, A rt Baumann , and Hurley Wil ve rt Ie a vin g every one behind. DuHamel was so fast, in fac t, that his margin o ver sec o nd place mad e the race look like it wa s a one man practi ce. Don Castro found hi s eng ine seized and parked it in th e pits: Dick Mann went to the Semi as did Frank Gillespie, Don Castro, D on Em de, and a few more. A furio us engine rebuild of Gary Nix on's Kawasaki proved almost good eno ugh as Ni xon on ce again fir mly es ta b lishe d himsel f in th e le ad on lap th ree, disp osin g o f ini tial lea de r Ron Gran t in th e process. T he le ad last ed o nly three lap s, h owever, as ano the r rod expired, creating a very frus trated Gary Nixon . Grant mo tored to th e win with Frank Gillesp ie pu tting in a spirited ride in seco nd, holding off a last ' lap ch alleng e from Ho ward Lyn ggard. Mann picked up fou rth . Tuner Irv Kan em o to summe d up Nixon's horrendous luck by offe ring, " I gue ss it jus t wasn't o ur d ay," It was un de rs tateme nt. " You know yo u can get it goi ng just so fast, " said Carru thers af te r th e champagne an d victory lan e kisses we re over. He was a me re thirteen inch es of ho rsep ower shy of a second Road Atlanta victory over the superbi ke 750's. Perry ride was terri fic and th e race was o ne of the closest in the pas t th ree years. It see ms that Carruther s is always so damn cl ose. If six teen seasons of co mp e ti t io n h as d ull ed th e edge it isn ' t apparen t: " I f yo u' can ride a motorcycl e then h ave a bi t of a chance. " Yvon DuHamel gave eve ryone th eir m on e y 's worth with a bli stering slingshot start that put him almo st five secon ds up o n Paul Smart b y th e sec on d lap , and it looked as if the craf ty Canadian was about to show everyone jus t how fast f a s t r eall y is. Urifortunately there is a tum at the end of the front stragitht and Yvon did some riding through th e fields that co uld have won money in Saturday 's motocross , losing twenty -odd pla ces in th e process and fro m th er e o n it wa s a matter o f ca tc h-up. Smart, never one to overlook gifts, to ok th e inia.y ve an.d led Ken Roberts, Carruthers, Perry, FISher, Baumann and th e rest around the 2.5 mile course with visions of scoring ano the r N atio na win. T w o laps later the slow, almost hairpin, t um seven en de d that dream b y bendin g th e b ars, bashing the fairin g, and making th e Suzuki completely unrideabl e. The Roberts /Carruthers express to o k over on lap six , slicing beautifully through traffic but unable t o shake th at blue feelin g - Suzuki Blue. Perry was closing rapidly, pic kin g up large hunks of sp ace on the power st raigh ts where •