Cycle News

Inu-rnatioual datel ine went down. He quickly remounted, and without losing a place. started after Marty again. Marty had stretched his lead, but by the tenth lap he ran into traffic that he wras lapping and that started slowing him down as he had to yell to the slower riders to move over. There were no blue flags and Marty's hollering had to do the job of " asking" them to make way, Twenty minutes into the race Marty's rear shocks went away and the Honda's rear end was kicking up like a young colt . With the tire off the ground Marty was losing speed when he needed it most to keep ahead of th e hard charge that Gaston was pu tting on. Gaston kept coming and Marty couldn ' t do much to keep ahead of him for by now the jarring from the hard rear end was causing a pain in his right side. Gaston finally pulled up on Marty and passed him but Marty wouldn't quit and pressed on to take second place only ten seconds behind the reigning world. champion and leader in this year's series. To get ready for the second race Marty's Honda was fitted with Hulco rear shocks from Holland that Gaston had brought down with him for Team Honda to try. Marty had used them in practice but had decided to stay with his stock units for th e first race. When I asked Gaston how his bike had performed he said he was happy. After trying the bike set for maximum top end and low end ou t of the corner power set ups he had chosen the out of the com er tuning and was naturally glad about his decision after winning the first race. But there was still on e more race to go before they could hang it up for the day and it was quite a while before we got to see who had it all together for the second contest . In a carbon copy of th e first start Marty shot into the lead of the second race with Gaston right behind him knowing that he could not lose contact with Marty if he was to win for the day. In the first race that Marty contested over here, the Austrian GP in April, Gaston was the winner by seconds as each racked up a first and second for a 27 point tie. On the second lap, Gaston pulled up on Marty as th ey en tered a turn and wlien Marty braked Gaston's Suzuki bumped Marty's rear tire and Gaston came off. Marty kept pouring it on as Gaston qu ickly got going after Marty. Rabier put the Suzuki to the stops in an effort to catch Marty and in doing so he went down for the second time to catch the Honda pilot. Marty was now pulling a comfortable By David and Margery Maltais! Ashai Pentax NAESTVED, DENMARK,JUNE 7 19 year-old Marty Smith, Honda's 125cc works rider from San Diego, California topped the works teams of Suzuki and CZ to win the Grand Prix of Denmark on the super fast Nissebjerget Circuit near the town of Naestved, 100 kilometers 18 south Copenhagen. Marty, with a 2- I score, bested the 3-2 placing of CZ's Jiri Churavy and the 4-4 finishes of Gilera mounted Dario Nani to take the overall victory and 27 GP points which went with it. The course had been widened sligh t1y in some areas that were a little slim and of . the course was watered for"the race. The start area was wide sloping gradually downward. It then was flat and all the way up to sixth gear for the 350 meter drag race to the first sharp right bander. The GP class was the first race on the day's program and after the rider's presentation the racers went to their machines to bring them to the start for the first 40 minute plus two round moto, When the gate dropped it was ,Mar ty Smith who was first off the line, both wheels on the ground and hitting each of the six gears perfectly to get his Honda out in front of the pack. It, seemed forever before they reached the first turn with Gaston tucking in behind Marty and then the billowing cloud of dust which the rest of the 22 riders were in. Marty and Gaston pulled out ahead of the rest of the pack as Marty led the way along the fast straights which were combinations of grass, rocks, bumpy hard-pack with ramp-type jumps, drop-offs and high-banked berms at the end of the high speed, hauling every minute straights. On the second lap Gaston pulled up a little on Marty as they shot up a hill that had a tight right hand turn before a gnarly downhill. As the Honda braked sharply to set up for the right path down the slope Gaston and the Suzuki lead. but it's never really a relaxing experience when Gaston is hunting to catch and pass you. So Marty kept up a steady pace until mid-way through the race when Gaston dumped it for the third and final time. He was racing up and down an M-shaped part of the course and as he gassed it going up the last hill which would take him to the upper part of the course he dropped it in a steep-banked berm. When he got up it was easy to feel that he wasn't getting back on his bike to race. He rode around the circuit until he was at the start area where his team mechanic had been giving him signals. In the last crash he had got his right leg pinned by the bars and had made a healthy dent in the gas tank wi th his leg. His mechanic climbed on the back of the bike and they rode back to the Suzuki pits. Marty kept flying with no one in sight pushing him. He finally slacked off a little in the last few laps, Churavy was again behind him in this race and again not much of a serious threat. Velky finished third after a first race mechanical DNF and the rest of the riders were all lapped by the top three with Nani again in fourth and Harvey moving up to fifth. • Results Churavy tczr, 3. Darlo Nani (Gil). 4. Gaston Rahier (Suz). 5. Zdenek Velky (CZ). 6. Roger Harvey (Hus). 7. Andy Ainsworth (Suz). 8. Gate Liljegren tKTM). 9. Jury Semko (eZ). 10. Jury KhUdiakoy (CZ). OVERALL: 1. Marty Smith (Hon). 2. Jlrl

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