Cycle News

VOL. 54 ISSUE 45 NOVEMBER 14, 2017 P121 tocross, would make him a contender on the rough and dusty track in Carlsbad that day. A cloud of dust kicked up as the riders blasted out of the gate at the start of the first 40-minute moto. As it settled, it revealed Glover picking him- self up after getting caught in a first-turn, multi-rider crash. Conditions were chalky dry, making the track extremely slick. It was the cause of the first- turn crash and would be a factor the rest of the day. Belgian Eric Geboers took the early lead over Thorpe and George Jobe. Lechien was quickly on the charge and passed the three Europeans to take over the lead. It was short-lived, however. Lechien went down hard and injured his left shoulder, put- ting him out for the day. Thorpe and Jobe battled up front with Geboers not far behind in third. But Bailey was on the charge, as was Glover. At the halfway point of the moto it was Jobe taking over from Thorpe, with Bai- ley also soon to get by for second. A few laps later and it was Bailey taking over the lead for the first time, much to the delight of the Carlsbad crowd. Amazingly, Glover had recovered from nearly dead last at the start and had moved all the way up to fourth and was closing on the leaders. In the remaining few laps Glover got by both Thorpe and Jobe and found only Bailey about 10 seconds in front. He gave it his all, but with only a couple of laps left, couldn't get close enough to challenge Bailey and that's how they finished, with Jobe rounding out the top three. Bailey was pumped by his moto win, while Glov- er's outstanding charge put him in a great position to win the overall, should he manage to take victory in the second moto. Both Bailey and Glover passed holeshot winner Thorpe early in the second moto, setting up a great battle for the overall. Bailey led early, but didn't put up much fight on the second lap when Glover took over. It was a calculated move on Bailey's part. "I tried to stay within four or five seconds of him," Bailey explained. "I knew that if I was there at the end I'd be close enough to put on a charge. Hope- fully I would have more in reserve than Broc since he put out a lot of energy to make the incredible [first moto] comeback." Glover looked to have things under control until six laps in when the dry-slick conditions caught Glover out. He got on the gas hard coming out of a turn and the rear end slipped and came around in a 180. Glover never hit the ground, but did the splits. He was able to quickly get back underway, but he'd lost the lead to Bailey. A couple of laps later Glover was hard on the gas trying to catch Bailey and he had a big crash on an uphill section. Glover looked stunned and was slow to get back on his machine. His bike was pointing back- wards on the track and was facing downhill. He got to the far edge of the track, bumped-started his Yamaha back to life in just a couple of yards on the slope and turned around and got back in the fight. In the end, Bailey took the victory by a big mar- gin to score a 1-1 and the overall victory with the crowd cheering him on in the last couple of laps. Thorpe and Jobe came home second and third, with Glover limping home to fourth. Honda of Europe's Steve Whitlock, looking for a way to maximize the points of Malherbe, who'd originally finished seventh in the second moto, filed a protest against Glover for riding back- wards on the track after his crash. It was a bit of a ticky-tacky protest, since Glover's restart of his bike was on the far edge of the track and prob- ably safer than standing in the middle of the track trying to kick start his bike, but it was upheld and Glover was DQ'd from the moto, dropping him to a seventh overall. Bailey's smart ride allowed Honda to accom- plish the goal of winning the motocross event with the greatest exposure to the American public in the mid-1980s. CN Subscribe to nearly 50 years of Cycle News Archive issues: www.CycleNews.com/Archives

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