Motocross 500cc Championship

Torsten Hallman Winning His Second Consecutive 250cc World Title.

Motocross 500cc Championship

GAVIN TRIPPE

THIS YEAR'S 500-CC motocross series of 12 rounds for the world championship crown has proved to be a walkover for last year's champion from East Germany, Paul Friedrichs. With a rider's best seven performances counting, the CZ works rider has topped the bill with a maximum of eight wins — an incredible performance considering the varied tracks, venues, and conditions.

But it's not so incredible when one considers Friedrichs' outlook on the sport. Like most Eastern sportsmen, he holds a gratis high rank in the East German police force. But little law keeping is involved in this camp. East Germany is fighting for recognition, and one of the ways it can sound the bugles is through sporting achievements. Friedrichs trains in a camp with other East German motocross men and undergoes a rigorous program. All day he trains by running and doing gym work. He also rides a scrambler three hours each day, and it has been said that sometimes he rides without a saddle to make it really difficult! Friedrichs is a superfit, very pleasant champion, and no superlatives can describe his fantastic riding ability.

The Czechoslovakian CZ factory, having started the 360 tidal wave, did not dominate the championship quite as much as they expected; the British BSA factory was the fly in the ointment with ex-champion Jeff Smith storming through, at the grand old age of 33, to beat Friedrichs' teammate, Dave Bickers, to second spot. But it was a close fight between these two, not entirely devoid of alleged skulduggery.

CZ modded their bikes this year for more power. The unit grew from 360 cc to 380 cc, and at the beginning of the season it suffered from too fierce a power band. The frames remained much the same as last year's, but the weight was up to about 225 pounds. BSA, on the other hand, stuck to the old four-stroke configuration, and, despite looking heavy, each weighed in at about the same weight as a 380 CZ. BSA found a real fat power band this year, and it was generally accepted that they were as fast, if not faster than the CZs.

The only other serious contenders were Jawa and Husqvarna. Czech rider Vlastimil Valek was not in top form at the start of the season, but came on later to put the 400 Jawa into the points. This year, the five-speed two-stroke lost its banana frame in favor of a more conventional tubular chassis. The power from this single exhaust

port, split expansion chamber engine was slightly under that of the 380 CZs, and the handling was not quite as good.

As far as Husqvarna was concerned, theirs was not a good year. The 360 proved reliable, but too slow for this school. Also, their number one rider Bengt Aberg suffered too many crashes. He is a fantastic rider and very young. His feet-up broadslides have to be seen to be believed. Even Friedrichs and Bickers asked him to do a special demonstration in Belgium, so they could feast their eyes. He obliged with a 50-yard, full lock slide with his feet on the rests on a bike that does not lend itself to this type of riding!

The series this year consisted of 12 rounds spaced throughout the summer and ranging from England to the depths of the Soviet Union. Crowds varied from one country to another, but never dropped below 20,000. In the Iron Curtain countries, the events drew as many as 200,000 fans, paying the equivalent of $1 to $2 a time!

The riders travel great distances and average about 40,000 miles in the season. The pay varies, but start money in a GP is usually about $260 for a top runner. On top of this, they get bonus and prize money, but some of the hard-put privateers get considerably less. To give an extreme example of the life of a GP rider in the 250 class, the Belgian rider, Joel Robert, rode in the Polish GP, which he won, on a Sunday. He traveled overnight back to Belgium to ride in a meeting on Monday, and won the 500 class. He left straight away and traveled all night to the south of France, where he rode in another international event. Altogether, he drove 2000 miles in three days, rode in three internationals, and probably picked up $1500 in prize and start money.

Travel broadens the mind, but also deepens the eye sockets!

AUSTRIA

Before the first Grand Prix, it is rare that anyone can make any predictions, even taking into account last year's performances. The first round this year was on April 16 in Austria, and, as usual, the unpredictable happened, mainly because all the riders were on edge and had not had the chance to weigh the opposition.

In this case, the big surprise came from Russia, in the form of Gunnar Draugs,

who was making his debut in the big class after having been a teammate to Victor Arbekov in the 250 class without much success. He completely dominated both of the 45-minute races on a production twinport CZ belonging to his Russian club. The second surprise came from veteran exchampion Bill Nilsson who, at the tender age of 35, was an easy second on a 360 Husqvarna. The third surprise was young Keith Hickman from Britain, who was fourth overall in his first-ever GP, on his Eric Cheney-prepared 440 BSAengined machine.

What of the much fancied works men? CZ had problems with too much power for the tight, grassy circuit. Paifl Friedrichs came off when he gave the 380 CZ too much throttle. Dave Bickers was having trouble getting used to the fierce narrow power band of his new mount, but managed to finish 6th.

The BSA boys had bad luck. Jeff Smith retired when his chain broke after netting third in the first race. Vic Eastwood fell, when in the lead, after his front tire went flat, and the new boy, John Banks, fell when going very fast, but a little on the hairy side.

ITALY

Three weeks later, Draugs kept his hold on the championship lead with a third place at Esantaoglia in Italy. But Paul Friedrichs showed his title holder's mastery for the first time, after battling his way to take the eight points for first place. At this stage of the series, the East German was making some bad mistakes, caused mainly by a bout of nerves before he actually knew he was in command of the title.

BSA's number two, Vic Eastwood, showed that he has a remarkable turn of speed by trailing Friedrichs in 3rd place in the first race, and winning the second one easily. He and Friedrichs tied on points at the finish, but the first place went to the CZ man on overall time. Dave Bickers seemed to move a little faster this time with a 4th place, while the Czech rider Vlastimil Valek put his 400 Jawa into 5th spot. Jeff Smith lacked his usual sparkle. The 33-year-old ex-champ was finding it difficult to make his comeback in big time racing after his series of accidents the previous year.

year. (Continued on page 72)

SWEDEN

At the Swedish round held at Hedemora, Dave Bickers really showed his familiar style in winning his first 500 Grand Prix. He came from mid-field in the first race to finish 2nd to young Swedish Husqvarna rider Christer Hammargren. In the second race, knowing he would win the race overall, he was happy to let Jeff Smith past to win. Bickers was obviously getting to know the peculiarities of the high-powered CZ, and with this win became joint leader in the title chase with Gunnar Drangs. Paul Friedrichs did not shine, and Vic Eastwood had trouble with the rear chain of the BSA, at that time a pressing problem for the British concern.

EAST GERMANY

The first of the iron curtain rounds was in East Germany at the town of Gumpelstadt. Paul Friedrichs had to show his home fans and officials just how good he is. As it turned out, the meeting was a mudbath, and the only man who came out of the resulting chaos with a clean sheet was Friedrichs. He just disappeared, but as far as the rest were concerned, the end result was far from satisfactory. Heavy rain made the Alten Warth circuit so muddy that officials could not identify the mudsplattered riders.

The results were finally announced late Sunday night amid protest from the British contingent. Jeff Smith was not credited with a place, despite unofficial placing around the 3rd spot. The dictatorial organizers did not want to listen, and the final result is still in doubt and will have to be discussed at the next FIM congress.

CZECHOSLOVAKIA

At this stage, Friedrichs led the table with 19 points to Bickers' 18 and Draugs' 14. In Czechoslovakia, Friedrichs pulled off another maximum. But while Paul was going from strength to strength, Bickers was having troubles. He dropped out with carburetor trouble. Jeff Smith, after a very mediocre start to the season, was really finding his old form. He pushed his BSA into 2nd spot, which pulled him up to 4th place in the championship table. Another man who was expected to show well this year, but up to that point had not figured, was the young Belgian CZ team member Roger DeCoster. In this round, he netted his first four points for 3rd place overall, which showed he was slowly finding form again after a serious crash at the end of last year.

RUSSIA

The next round, in Russia, saw Jeff Smith's fighting comeback reach its peak when he won his first GP of the season. Held at Kishinev near the Turkish border, the race was run in a 90 F heat wave, and riders dropped out like flies from heat exhaustion. The young Russian Vladimir Pogrebnyak won the first race, but Smith won the second through sheer guts and determination, practically falling off his BSA at the end in a state of collapse. Friedrichs struck machine trouble, as did Bickers. Third was Valek who was begin-

ning to show his usual consistency. The previous year, this Czech rider finished in the first six of each GP, with the exception of two. One he did not ride, and in the other he retired with a puncture.

FRANCE

As Friedrichs realized his unassailable position, his confidence grew, but at the French Grand Prix he got a nasty shock that nearly threw him off guard. The young Swedish Husqvarna rider Bengt Aberg. having run 3rd to Friedrichs and Valek in the first race, really put on the pressure and headed the champion in the second. Friedrichs fell twice in his efforts to catch the Swede, and he was relieved when Aberg landed awkwardly at a jump and broke a small bone in his foot, leaving Valek in front. A 4th place for Jeff Smith pushed him into 2nd place in the table, 14 points behind Friedrichs.

WEST GERMANY

It was the same old story in West Germany, where Friedrichs did his usual disappearing trick. But while Jeff Smith was gaining momentum and picked up another second place at this meeting, Dave Bickers was way off form. Having had a succession of bad rides, he went through the ropes on the first lap, which shattered his confidence even more.

One surprise of this meeting was the appearance of the works 360 Maicos for the first time. Both German riders, Adolf Wiel and Wolfgang Muller, seemed to like this twisty circuit, mapped out round an orchard, and gave a good display in front of their home audience. Knocking the rumor that the big Maicos are unreliable, Muller was placed 4th overall. Another interesting aspect of this race was the way Eastwood stormed after Friedrichs in the second race. According to many, when this 26-year-old works BSA man has a troublefree ride, he is one of the world's best, but so far he has had morale shattering luck throughout his career.

ENGLAND

The end of the road came for Friedrichs with his sixth win of the series at the British round in July — a round full of interest and argument. Don Rickman rode in his only GP of the season and led Friedrichs for half the time in both races, but his lack of fitness told, and he dropped back to finish 3rd in the first race and retired in the second when the gearbox of his BSA 440 engined Metisse failed. It was a gallant effort from a man who could have been a world champion had he really made the effort.

The argument of the day came through team tactics by the CZ team. In the first race, Jeff Smith finished 4th with Friedrichs' teammate Dave Bickers 6th. In the second race, Bickers was 2nd to Friedrichs, and Jeff Smith was content to sit behind Bickers, knowing that the 2nd place overall was his. But as the flag went out on the last lap, Friedrichs waited for Bickers to cross the line first, making it a CZ one-two overall. Jeff Smith did not appreciate this move at all, and the question of gamesmanship or sportsmanship raged for some weeks afterwards. (Continued on page 74)

BELGIUM

The British round was the start of the needle match between Smith and Bickers for second place in the championship. In Belgium, Smith gained the upper hand with a 3rd place overall. Bickers crashed in the first race, but finished 2nd to Friedrichs in the second half. The East German easily won this event held 'round the Citadel fort of Namur. Second was Roger DeCoster, who decided to ride the old twin port 360 CZ instead of his faster works 380, and showed that he had been backing the wrong horse all season. Bengt Aberg made another fleeting appearance before being hospitalized again with a broken collarbone, injured in practice. When he stays on, Friedrichs will have to worry!

LUXEMBOURG

When the excitement seemed all over in the series, the Luxembourg GP injected new life into the placings.

Dave Bickers won overall without winning either leg. Friedrichs chances went when his clutch gave up in the first race, and Jeff Smith was eliminated in a first-lap crash. Vic Eastwood won the first race convincingly from Bickers, but again Vic's Bogey struck when the BSA's pushrods jumped out while he was leading the second race. It seemed he was all set for his first GP win, and this was the final straw. He left the circuit muttering dark threats.

Friedrichs won the second race from Roger DeCoster, who was once again on the twin-port 360 CZ. Bickers was third, giving him overall victory, and, with one more round to go he came within three points of Jeff Smith who was in 2nd place in the championship.

Two youngsters figured well, too. Christer Hammargren, who was 2nd to Bickers in Sweden, did the same again, and BSA's 22-year-old hope for the future, John Banks, rode fast and well to 3rd place.

On the opposite plain, though, was exchampion Rolf Tibblin. He announced that he was retiring from the sport to take up a hotel on an island in Sweden. A 5th place farewell from a great rider, champion and personality.

SWITZERLAND

The end of the trail came in Switzerland on a note of argument, the two involved being Dave Bickers and Jeff Smith. Friedrichs won again, but the big decision was between Smith and Bickers for 2nd place. And in a last desperate bid to get that 2nd spot from Jeff Smith, Dave Bickers had to quit without trying. As he rode his 380 CZ to the start line for the first race, the big end broke up. Frantically he hauled his spare, well worn 360 off his trailer in time to make the start, and finished 3rd behind Friedrichs and DeCoster. Jeff Smith was way back, having been involved in a pile up. Realizing that a change of machine is not allowed after the official weigh in, he told the organizers what had happened.

Bickers was informed that if he finished in the first six overall, he would be disqualified, so he pulled out of the second race, while lying fifth, and watched his 2nd place go to Jeff Smith. This again brought forth the arguments and revived the British GP row, too.

Friedrichs won overall from DeCoster and Vlastimil Valek, on the fat 400 Jawa.

Summing up, this year proved what a vast gap exists between Friedrichs and the rest. This is not running down the placemen, but emphasizing the supreme skill of the East German. Jeff Smith, who finished 2nd overall, did so on his vast knowledge and skill and supreme fitness. He admits, "I cannot rely on youthful exuberance any longer, but have to stave them off with consistency and fitness."

Dave Bickers is an awkward subject. Torsten Hallman says of Bickers, "Always I wait for David to win the title, but he does not." Bickers is fast enough, but sometimes does not get the drive to exploit his supreme capabilities. He scored four "0s" on the run, partly due to a shoulder injury, but also due to lack of fire. His performances later in the year, when he realized second place was his if he tried, show this. Vlastimil Valek, after a slow beginning caused by kidney trouble, again showed his remarkable consistency with six scores out of six rides at the end.

Young Belgian Roger DeCoster had a disastrous start, but after he left the 380 CZ in favor of the production 360, he never looked back.

Gunnar Draugs of Russia failed to back up his win in the first round, but four youngsters showed well; Bengt Aberg and Christer Hammargren of Sweden, and Vic Eastwood and John Banks of Great Britain should provide the placemen of the future, and in Eastwood's case, maybe the champion.

After the series finished, Friedrichs announced that having won the 500 class so easily, he would like to have a go at the 250 next year. With that, he disappeared into East Germany until next year, unless his American trip comes off and it is not strangled by the politicians. ■

FINAL CHAMPIONSHIP TABLE - 500cc

Other scorers: Y. Matveev (USSR) 6, J. Banks (GB) 6, K. Hickman (GB) 5, R. Tibblin (Sweden) 5, W. Muller (W. Germany) 3, J. Schmalz (Czech.) 2, A. Jonsson (Sweden) 2, E. Osterero (Italy) 1, G. Johansson (Sweden) 1, A. Lampkin (Britain) 1, P. Karsmakers (Holland) 1, H. Hoppe (E. Germany) 1.