Cycle News

Cycle News 2023 Issue 14 April 11

Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles

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VOLUME ISSUE APRIL , P119 Yeah, there's a lot of stuff that goes on over there that you never hear about! The thing about racing in Eu - rope is that they can cheat and then make up some stupid rule to cover themselves." INTO THE FINAL "When we rolled into Luxembourg my points lead had been reduced to about a five-point gap [over Vro- mans]. All season long I had main- tained a chart of the lap times of the guys I was racing against at each race and when they would fade. Af- ter practice I knew I was faster, but again, I just had to figure out a way not to get killed by the locals. Our only shot was to let Vromans lead the race by up to 25 seconds and I would stay back so no one would feel the need to screw with me. "The key to the strategy was to wait until there were five laps to go, and then I would put the ham - N ot long after stepping off the plane in San Francisco, having just won the 500cc MX World Championship, Cycle News Editor Dale Brown chat- ted with Lackey about winning the title while it was still fresh. Here are a few excerpts from that interview. How do you feel? I don't know. It hasn't sunk in yet. We left the race and flew home, not getting any sleep. We had a little party when we got here, so we're a little zombied out. It feels like I did what I set out to do. I just feel satisfied. That's the best word. Luxembourg, if we remem- ber correctly, was the site of your first GP moto win? Did that give you any extra confi- dence going in? For me, Luxembourg has been a very emotional place. It was where I won my first GP moto in '75. But then in 1978, I was still in the hunt with Heikki Mikkola when I got knocked off at the start there and had to go to the hospital; the only time in my life that I had to do that. Then in 1980 I had the championship stolen from me there in a first-turn incident. Now, in '82, I win it all there. I've had the good and the bad there, so it's a funny place for me. I like the track and I'm very comfortable there, but I never know what to expect. From what we've heard the reaction in Europe was not a particularly pleasant one. It was reported that you had to stay behind Vromans in the race to avoid being hit by flying bottles and rocks from the crowd. Is that true? Right After Hundreds of Lackey fans greeted the new World Champion at San Francisco Airport when he returned home from Luxembourg. PHOTO: BILL SPENCER Lackey had small points lead going into the final round. Everything was on the line that day—it was now or never.

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