U.S. G.P. Carlsbad
U.S. G.P. CARLSBAD
Mr. Wolsink leads on the yellow brick road
Fernando Belair
WE FELT pretty confident that there were only four riders to watch out for at Carlsbad this year. Naturally, Roger DeCoster would be there giving his all in quest of his fourth consecutive World Championship, a feat that no one has ever accomplished. Roger and his Suzuki would probably be the crowd favorite, since, as World Champion, his name and face are well-known, as are his modesty and his blazing two-wheel attack.
Husqvarna was countering with the current G.P. points leader, Heikki Mikkola. Heikki is a transplanted 250cc rider who had to wait until 500cc Husky riders Bengt Aberg and Arne Kring either went to another factory to ride or were just plain over the hill, before he could get into the big-bore class. Mikkola’s intense blue eyes could be clearly seen through his goggles as he raced, concentrating each millisecond on the next foot of track surface. His Jofa covered a short goatee which, along with the Finn’s glistening blond hair, makes him look like the last of the mad Nordsmen.
When Jim Pomeroy stepped off the plane in L.A., he told Bultaco rep Mike Hannon, “I’ve come to win Carlsbad.” Jim, bothered by everything from ignition failures to busted gearboxes, has been having a disappointing season in Europe. But when he has had a weekend off, he has been racing in some 500cc non-point events to stay in shape. Just before coming back from Europe, Pomeroy had won a big 500cc race, defeating none other than Mikkola himself. His head was right, but was his bike right? If so, he could walk away with the event as easily as anyone.
Husky’s second hope rode on the shoulders of Brad Lackey. Bad Brad, returning from his second season on the G.P. scene—where his Kawasaki ride last year netted him 13th place overall—has really changed. No longer is he easy to spot on the track because of his wild antics and scary techniques. He looks much slower than before, but his smoothness makes his true speed deceptive. Never an unnecessary lofting of the front end, never a wasted roostertail, and never a cross-up. In the pits he’s still the same old Brad, but behind his race face, he’s become another person.
These were the riders we felt confident in. And we had good reason to feel confident. A few weeks before we had chosen Jaroslav Falta and Roger DeCoster to finish 1-2 at the Superbowl. For Carlsbad we figured on less than winning performances from Adolf Weil (Mai), who does not like the track and has never done well on it; Willi Bauer (Mai), who is said to be out of top physical shape; and Gerrit Wolsink, who did poorly at the Superbowl. But what we forgot to figure in is that the Superbowl is a 250cc event, and Wolsink is a big dude, the kind of guy who thrives on horsepower, the kind of horsepower that his 370cc Suzuki delivers.
If betting were legal in this state, we’d have lost at Carlsbad all the money we’d have won at the L.A. event, because the bespectacled, moptop Dutchman went out and did a job on the troops.
Gerrit looks awkward aboard a motorcycle. Jaak Van Velthoven has been called the biggest of the G.P. riders, but that title really belongs to Wolsink. Jaak is taller, but Gerrit is much larger. And when he sets his carcass on that Suzuki, it looks like Smokey the Bear going for a ride. Because of this awkward appearance, and the fact that Wolsink is very unspectacular when he rides, you’d swear that the neighborhood hotshoe could run him over, given half a chance. He fooled us, the crowd and many racers, but he did not fool the top riders.
“Watch Gerrit today. He is fast,” said Heikki Mikkola. Then the Suzuki mechanic mentioned that “Wolsink is really looking forward to the race today because he did so poorly at the Coliseum. He was riding an unfamiliar 250 and what he told us about the way it handled, it was pretty bad. He is really psyched.”
The event, run under the eye of the AMA, really got off to a bum start. While the first 250cc Support moto warmed up on the starting line, a group of local racers paraded around the track, each carrying the flag of one of the countries that had riders competing. But before all of these youngsters could get completely around the track, someone dumped the starting gate and a crazed group of “The hell if I’m gonna shut off for you” motocrossers came flying around the first turn only to be confronted by the flag parade piddling along at plug-fouling speed. After a lot of brakes locking up, machine-gun downshifts, slideouts and four-letter words, the moto was halted and the riders lined up again.
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This time they got it started just fine, except for another first-turn pile-up, and the race was on. Jim West put his Husky in front of Honda’s Rich Eierstedt, and no matter what Rich did to get in front of Jim, he couldn’t. They were never more than 15 feet apart. Rolf Tibblin (Jim’s coach and director of the Husqvarna International Training Center), jumped up and down and yelled and prayed and swore—all in Swedish.
Jim won this moto, but didn’t do well in the second one, as a dead last start forced him to battle his way up to 7th while Eierstedt worked into the lead. The flag fell while they were in those positions, so the Honda took the overall win.
The Internationals had much less difficulty getting their show on the road. Gary Semics squirted his Husky into a lead that only lasted two laps. Wolsink got his Suzuki by Semics, and Gary started fading. DeCoster had gotten off to a very untypical start. Fifteenth out of the first turn, he held 7th position after the first lap. One by one he picked off the riders while Wolsink increased his lead over 2nd-place John Banks (CCM). When Roger finally came up on Banks, the battle was on.
The crowd was for Roger, but sensing that sooner or later the four-stroke Thumper of Banks was doomed to be passed, they cheered John on, wildly waving banners and shaking fists every time he shut the door on the World Champ. Roger finally got by him on the big uphill where the ground, due to the overcast weather conditions, was still moist. The Suzuki could find traction on the hill this year, whereas last year, the fastest bike up the dried-out hill was Banks’ Cheney BSA.
With 2nd firmly in grasp, DeCoster set out after his teammate, who by now had a comfortable 1 1-second lead. Little by little he whittled away at the Dutchman’s margin, until he caught him with only 10 minutes to go. Wolsink had been having trouble shifting gears on his bike, and that finally allowed Roger to overtake him.
Mikkola had been working hard all the time, too. and was now in 3rd, a good distance behind the leaders. But as he came around by the pits, where his mechanics were giving him the universal “gas it” sign, Heikki pointed to the rear of the bike and shook his head. At first the crowd thought that he might be having shock absorber trouble, but as soon as he passed by again, everyone could see that he had a flat rear tire. Jaak Van Velthoven (Yam), whö had been hounding Heikki, slipped by on the last lap, dropping the Husky to fourth.
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The first two Americans followed. First was Brad Lackey, who had never been out of the top ten. Brad had worked slowly and steadily up to 5th from a first-turn 9th. Pierre Karsmakers (Yam), had been involved in a first-turn congestion along with teammates Tim Hart and Mike Hartwig. Pierre rode an inspired race, recovering from such a deficit to finish 6th.
In the final 500 International, Wolsink grabbed the lead right off the bat and never looked back. Roger was 2nd, but was quickly zapped by Pierre, who this time had avoided the congestion. Mikkola was back in the pack. Right behind DeCoster was Jim Weinert, who was really looking good after a 10th in the first moto. Following Jim was Marty Tripes. Surprise of Surprises. Not only was Marty in 6th, but during the entire 45-minute moto, he only lost two places, finishing 8th ahead of Willi Bauer and Bengt Aberg (Bui).
DeCoster finally decided to make his move on Karsmakers when he got word from his pit that Mikkola was in 4th and closing. But Roger couldn’t get by Pierre. In fact, while trying a much rougher outside line around the number 11 Yamaha, the hub on Rog’s Suzuki cracked, leaving him with a useless front brake. He pressed on regardless. Finally, Karsmakers just pulled over and let both the Suzuki and Mikkola by. It was not too difficult for the Flying Finn to get past DeCoster now that the Suzuki couldn’t brake as hard going into corners.
But Heikki wasn’t content with 2nd place, and Wolsink’s times were not as fast as the number two man’s. It was on tl^^ery last lap that Mikkola caught Wolsink. The crowd was going bananas. It was almost difficult to hear the pseudo-muffled sting of two-stroke exhausts above the cheering and screaming.
As they came around the final turn, only 30 feet from the checkered flag, they were side by side, Mikkola on the low berm, Wolsink on the high one. Gerrit, because he chose the longer way through the corner, had the momentum. He kept the throttle dialed on, not wishing to lose out in the last few feet. He crossed the finish line just inches ahead of the Husky and proceeded to centerpunch the berm/wall at the base of the timing tower. He endoed spectacularly, smashing his chin and generally shaking himself up.
For his efforts, he took home the ovAJl G.P. win, his second of the se^ron. DeCoster came home 3rd ahead of Karsmakers, and 2nd overall. Jim Pomeroy was 5th, but his finish was not of consequence, since, being an FIM 250 rider, he was not eligible for 500 Class points. Jim had carburetor problems in the first moto and DNFed.
Brad Lackey was in 6th when the front wheel on his factory Husky came apart on him. This gave Top American honors to Pierre Karsmakers. Jim Weinert finally ended up in 7th after his exhaust pipe cracked. When the pipe went, Jim could no longer hold off the charge of Weil, who got by in the last laps.
The event had a surprise winner. But the real story lies in what this G.P. did to the points table. Mikkola came into the event with 129 points. Both DeCoster and Weil had 114. That night, Mj^^ola still had a lead, 149 to DeCoste^^ 139. Weil has 123. Wolsink, at 107, is closing in on 3rd place.
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DeCoster really wants his fourth World title in a bad way. But Mikkola has never been this close to being World Champion. And you know those Nor dics are fighters, especially when the smell of victory is in the air.
RESULTS
