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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/143873
(Top) The champagne popped for LaPorte even before the race was over. LaPorte joined Kenny Roberts as the only Americans ever to win a world championship on their first try . LaPorte leads a group of riders on his way to second overall . Hansen was airborne much of time as he took his first GP win . 22 J e o, ahead of him. There was a big pileup on a downhill which claimed several riders including the Dutchman . He went down hard. remounted and pressed on, only to drop out on the third lap, his third in the standings secure. The clocks were on Hansen as he repeated his first motorunaway, building up a big lead after only a few laps. Martens, who is rumored to be getting a Yamaha factory ride for next year, was in second with LaPorte and another Yamaha rider, Torlief Hansen, in fourth. Honda's Rolf Dieffen bach was fifth. By the fifth lap Jobe had gobbled up 21 spots, going from dead last to 15th. Another few laps and he was in the top 10 and by the halfway mark had moved into seventh place. LaPorte was ta ki n g it easy, but moved into seco n d on th e 12th la p, although he • •••• •• •• * } III " I the leader after the fall," Honda's Roger DeCoster said. "He started dead last an d passed 32 riders to finis h third. There were places to pass out there." . Hansen's cushion was 19 seconds on LaPorte who had only a second on J obe. As LaPorte crossed the finish line his champagne shower began with Yamaha team manager, former World Champion, Heikki Mikkola giving him a blast. The celebration started just after the finish line with J obe the first to congratulate LaPorte for the win. The celebrating would go on until the early hours of the morning. "I started racing the GPs in 1969 and won my first uue in 1974," said Mikkola. "This is the first time that someone has won a title on their first try. That's one reason tha t we picked ' Da nny, because we knew that he was no threat to Hansen. "I broke a wheel in the first rnoto so I wanted to take it easy in the second moto and not fly so high off the jumps. It was rougher riding that way because you're not working the suspension the way.that it's set up for the track. And I saw that Georges had gone down so I just didn't want to make any mistakes." Although Hansen would win the second rnoto easily, the fastest rider on the track was unquestionably Jobe. From dead last he went through the pack and into fourth as the two lap sign was posted. He zapped Martens for third and, had the race been a lap longer, may have gotten LaPorte. As it was, he finished a valiant third behind the two American champions, proving that passing wasn 't as difficult as some people thought. "Georges was 55 seco n ds behind A.' . li t _ II 1.'1 I .. 111 I I could do it. We knew that h e wa s determined and consistent." "I can't believe it. It'll take a couple of days to si nk in," LaPo rt e said, as he was mobbed by fans and friends alike, "I was so nervous going into that second moto thinking of what could happen, but when I saw that Georges was down I relaxed and just . rode conservatively. This is something that I've always wa nted, to be World Champion." And that he is. • Results OVERA LL: 1. Donnie Hansen (Hon) 1-1 ; 2. Danny laPorte (Yam) 4-2; 3 . Geor ges Jobe (Suz) 2 -3; 4. Erkki Sundstrom (Yam) 6-5; 5. Kees van der Ven (KTM) 3· DNF; 6. Je an- Claude Laquaye (Hon) 6- 7; 7. Joha n Mart ens (Yam) DNF-4; 8. Thorleif Hansen (Yam) DNF-5; 9 . 8enn y Wilken (Ma i) 8-9 ; 10. Henk Van M ierl o (Suz) 7-1 2. FINAL POINT STAND INGS: 1. laPort e (238); 2. Jobe (225); 3. van der Ven( 2151; 4. Watso n (1 15); 5. Dieffenbach (90); 6. Laquaye (90 ); 7. Guerra (761;8 . Van M ierlo (6 1); 9. Kin igad ner (57); 10. Tarkkon en (4 21 . . .. .. I " .