M
otocross historians don't
need to be reminded of
the lopsided score of
the MX game in the early '70s.
America was zero and Europe
everything, with the masters
schooling the wannabes on
most Sundays—with one glar-
ing exception on June 25, 1972.
In the Fourth of July issue that
year, Cycle News reported that
on day in June in Boise, Idaho,
Americans (briefly) won their
independence from the fast
foreigners, thanks to a dominat-
ing performance by a youngster
named Gary Jones.
"It's somewhat difficult to
write a race report when there is
no contest for the number one
spot," wrote CN in its coverage of
the race. "There were dices and
personal duels, certainly, but they
weren't for first place. Jones had
an absolute lock on that, so any-
thing else could have only been
for second place; essentially, this
whole report could have been
written with two names, Gary
Jones and Yamaha."
Not that there weren't lots of
other names, both American and
European. Four-time World Cham-
pion Torsten Hallman was there
on a Yamaha, along with Dave
Bickers, Arne Kring and Arne Lind-
fors. Jones' fellow Americans,
like Brad Lackey, Jim Pomeroy,
Jim Weinert, Bob Grossi and Gary
Semics, were also in the field.
Even a couple of half-and-half rac-
ers, Finland's Peter Lamppu and
Sweden's Gunnar Lindstrom, were
transplanted Europeans living and
racing in America.
Jones rode a factory-spon-
sored Yamaha, a bike he and his
CNII ARCHIVES
P144
BY KENT TAYLOR
BOISE BREAKTHROUGH
Gary Jones (88) leads the pack
of international motocrossers in
Boise, Idaho, in 1972.
