A
t this last weekend's
78th running of the Trail
Blazers Motorcycle Club
annual banquet, 1982 500cc
World Motocross Champion
Brad Lackey was awarded the
coveted Dick Hammer Award in
acknowledgement of the North-
ern Californian's decade-long
quest to become America's first
World Champion. Just before
the show began, we sat down
with "Bad Brad" to get some
background on the race-day his
-
tory that cemented his name in
the record books.
BRAD LOOKS BACK
"Actually, I never really gave
much thought about who would
be the first [Motocross World
Champion]. I knew [Danny
LaPorte] was doing well, but at
the same time I was never aware
of where he was in the points.
I was really in tune with get
-
ting my job done, and it wasn't
until after I'd won the title that I
thought about what he was ac-
complishing; I can't emphasize
enough how focused I was on
my racing and doing it myself. I
was 29 years old, and this was
my second year of a two-year
contract with Suzuki. Basically, I
knew this was probably going to
be my last chance at it!
"Going into the third-to-last
round in Canada I had decent
points lead over my teammate
Andre Vromans [of Belgium]. I'd
won the first moto but broke a
shock in the second moto, and
he won so I lost 15 points, and
he gained 15 points. Going into
the final two rounds in Belgium
and Luxembourg, my main
goal was to ride well, but more
importantly, not get killed by the
spectators!
"And it wasn't like that was
just some baseless fear. In the
first moto in Belgium, Graham
Noyce [of Great Britain] was
leading, and someone hit him
with a stick and broke his hand.
CNIIARCHIVES
P118
BAD
BRAD'S
HAMMER
TIME
THE DAY LACKEY BECAME
WORLD CHAMPION
BY ZAPATA ESPINOZA
Brad Lackey
celebrates winning
the 500cc MX World
Championship
in Luxembourg.
PHOTOS: HENNY RAY
ABRAMS
"ALL SEASON LONG
I HAD MAINTAINED A
CHART OF THE LAP
TIMES OF THE GUYS I
WAS RACING AGAINST AT
EACH RACE AND WHEN
THEY WOULD FADE."
