The Carlsbad Chronicles
The Carlsbad Chronicles
Dawn to Dusk at the USGP: Winner Wolsink, Hard-Luck Heikki and the Happiest Crowd in Racing
Sunday, June 19, 6:30 a.m. Heading inland from the beach at Carlsbad, California. The morning clouds are low and gray. the air cool and clean. About six miles or so inland, nestled into a valley surrounded by gently rolling chapparal covered hills is Carlsbad Raceway. Today will be that one magic day of the year when the World Championship Motocross circuit comes to the U.S. for the United States 500-cc Grand Prix.
7:00 a.m. The pits are deserted. The concessionaries are setting up, the track has been thoroughly soaked, the race fans are already starting to arrive. The early birds hurry to stake out choice viewing spots. The mood is subdued, sleepy, expectant.
8:00 a.m. The fields surrounding the raceway are filling with cars, trucks, campers. The rituals have already started. The odor of beer and food mingles with the fresh earthy smell of the track, permeated here and there with a whiff of cannabis.
8:30 a.m. The pits are set up, the bikes unloaded, the crowd is straining at the pit fences for a glimpse of the best motocross riders in the world. Heikki Mikkola. 1976 250-cc World Champion and 1974 500-cc World Champion, riding now for Yamaha and leading in the points standings, sits on the tailgate of his van, talking with various people who stop by.
Immediately adjacent sits the Suzuki truck, and in the back are the two riders who are most closely battling Mikkola for the world title, Roger DeCoster and Gerrit Wolsink. This year Roger is in an unaccustomed position in the title chase—2nd. Mikkola has been the only man to dethrone DeCoster in six years, and he is
threatening to do it a second time. Gerrit has been second to Roger two years in a row, and is close behind him now in the standings.
Gerrit has an added distinction in that he has won this event for three years running. Everyone is wondering if he will do it again.
On the other side of Mikkola’s van is the rest of the Yamaha team, headed by Pierre Karsmakers. Pierre is currently 8th in the world standings, having returned to Yamaha after two years with Honda.
Nestled into a corner of the pits next to the Yamaha team, buried behind a wall of trucks and vans, is Team Honda, which has created strong, competitive motorcycles and assembled a strong American racing team. Brad Lackey is Honda’s sole entrant in the 500-cc world title race, and Brad is running a solid 4th in the standings. Jim Pomeroy, who can be classified as one of the younger veterans, and upcoming Marty Smith and Tommy Croft are riding gleaming new factory-only RC500s as sort of a strength-in-numbers approach.
Eight of the top 10 men in the world 500 standings are present. Almost all of America top names are here. This is the strongest field of riders ever assembled for the USGP.
9:30 a.m. The sun has broken through. It is going to be sunny and hot all day. From the announcer’s tower the track is sharply defined as it winds up, down, and around the valley and adjacent hills, a dark ribbon meandering through a rapidly growing sea of humanity.
The energy level of the crowd rises as the track opens for practice. The younger fans crowd the fence, and are promptly covered with mud as the first bikes out begin to churn the track up and establish lines. The excitement grows as the 500-cc machines take to the course, and the crowd gets their first glimpse of Mikkola, DeCoster, and company.
The scene is a kaleidoscope of different worlds in preparation. Race fans are still parking, setting up, settling in. The racers and crews are checking out the course, the machines, finding the lines, honing in. The press people are orienting themselves, compiling information. Photographers are finding their choice locations, getting their shots of the pits, the machines, the ladies. The television crews are swarming over everything. The TV helicopter starts churning up the sky.
Noon Ah, it is really beautiful today! The sun is high and hot, the fans are ready, the riders and mechanics have everything dialed in. It’s time.
The opening act is the 250-cc support class, and as the gate drops, the roar of engines melts with the roar of the crowd.
The reaction of the crowd is interesting. They are standing, excited . . . but just watching. It is apparent that this is not the main event.
12:30 p.m. In contrast to the noise of the 250 race and the restrained excitement of the fans, the pit area is silent, tense. There is no bustle of activity, most everything is prepared. Mechanics are making occasional final adjustments, keeping themselves busy. The riders sit quietly, not talking to anyone, unhurriedly putting on their leathers, chest protectors, boots. Mikkola and DeCoster dress not 20 feet from each other, each pointedly ignoring the
other. The air is charged with tension.
1:00 p.m. The 500-cc bikes line up at the gate. DeCoster, with fastest qualifying time, takes the inside starting spot, Lackey next, Mikkola and Wolsink toward the middle. DeCoster is definitely psyching for this race, as he sits on the starting gate,
head in hands, his mind far away. Mikkola sits quietly leaning on the handlebars, staring down the track. The area is cleared, the two-minute sign is up, mechanics start their stopwatches, the engines fire up. It is a sea of color—red. white, and blue Honda leathers and red bikes. Yellow and black Suzukis, yellow Yamahas, green Kawasakis and more. Poised. Waiting.
The adrenalin rushes as the gate drops, e bikes hit the first turn and the crowd . Pomeroy has the lead. They love it. An American is in front! As the moto goes on Pomeroy stretches his lead, followed by DeCoster, Wolsink, Mikkola, then a host of Americans. Forty-five minutes later the crowd is berserk as Pomeroy holds off DeCoster to become the first American ever to win a moto at the USGP Ecstasy! This is what the fans had hoped to see. But the first moto is only half the battle. The question is: can Pomeroy do it again?
2:00 p.m. As far as World Championship points are concerned, the first moto has had little effect. Mikkola finished two spots behind DeCoster, which cut his points lead from 33 to 29, still formidable. Wolsink finished 3rd, almost unnoticed in the excitement of Pomeroy’s victory. This kept him 3rd in the standings. Lackey was 7th and Herbert Schmitz 9th, so they maintained their positions as numbers four and five in the points standings.
This all adds up to a 45-minute exercise-very little has changed regarding the world title, so the second moto gains greatly in importance.
3:00 p.m. The second 250-cc support moto is underway, and the crowd is watch-
ing, but waiting, waiting for the second 500-cc moto to see if Pomeroy can repeat his performance.
3:20 p.m. In the pits the tension is again high, but of a different quality than it had been earlier. As far as the world title, DeCoster needs to gain much more ground on Mikkola, and the same holds true for Wolsink and Lackey.
Tension shows in different ways. Mikkola looks tired, muttering one-word sentences as his lady unstraps his boots. DeCoster is nowhere to be seen.
The Honda camp has that air of deliberate calm that comes when victory is too important to think about. Pomeroy is the leader. He’s locked in a motorhome. His father brings word to Larry Huffman, please, no interviews now. Jim says everytime he does a mid-moto interview something goes wrong and we hope you’ll understand. Huffman does.
Tommy Croft was 5th in the first moto. He’s a lanky kid with the aw kward air of a teenager doing a man’s job, which is close to the facts. He sits on the back of the parts truck, shoulders draped in a wet towel, all smiles as the girls say it was a great ride. It was. Maybe next year he’ll know about resting in a motorhome.
Maybe today is graduation day. All the talented youngsters are racing against the world’s best and against each other the way they did before they outgrew the 125s and moved into full sponsorships and factory machines. Now DeCoster is a world figure. the casual fans know Lackey and Pomeroy. Croft is cheered only by the few who also know Marty Smith. 8th for Honda; Gaylon Mosier. 10th on a Maico; Rex Staten. 13th for Harley Davidson; Gary Semics. 18th for Kawasaki; Marty Trippes, 19th on the other Harley; Kent Howerton. 20th on a Husky, and Billy Grossi, 21st for Suzuki. They’re all fast kids. Some will make it into the big time and more won’t. Talent? A better bike? Signing with the best team at the right time? We may never know.
3:30 p.m. The riders seem anxious to get back to racing. The crowd is mellow' with the sun, beer, smoke and hopes of an American victory.
On the line, DeCoster is again sitting, staring at nothing, psyching. Pomeroy seems relaxed. He has changed into a fresh jersey and leathers for this moto. Mikkola and Wolsink are serious, waiting. The wait seems endless as the TV people do a commentary spot and film the riders and the starting area.
3:45 p.m. The gate drops, and moto two is underway. Pomeroy and Gary Semics crash before the first turn, and Jim gets going next to last. An American victory appears to be out of reach now. But the fans are still stoked as Brad Lackey takes the lead, hotly pursued by Roger DeCoster.
4:30 p.m. The checkered flag falls . . . For Heikki Mikkola!
It was a strange race. Pomeroy worked up to llth and got into a genuine tank slapper. He was slapped so hard he had to retire.
Roger and Brad tangled and went down. People in the pits say Roger came in and chewed out the mechanics. He can’t win by himself, people w ho were there say he said, and he can’t win with a bike that gets its forks twisted in a fall.
Not too much later the mechanics report the bike is ready for duty. Roger will have none of it.
Wolsink got off. over the high side at full speed down the long hill. Must have been doing 60 mph. landed on his head, picked up himself and the bike and soldiered on. He raced his way into 3rd, behind Gaylon Mosier who was riding the race of his career, in 2nd until the last lap. Mosier hobbled, went down just long enough for Wolsink to finish 2nd. Mosier scooped up 3rd.
continued on page 88
FIRST MOTO 500-cc FINISH
SECOND MOTO 500-cc FINISH
continued from page 69
5:00 p.m. The overall winner has finally been determined. Riding along relatively unnoticed in spite of his 3-2 moto finishes, Gerrit Wolsink has just been declared the winner for the incredible fourth time in a row! Heikki Mikkola’s 4-l finishes tied with Gerrit on points, and the new FIM ruling breaks ties on the basis of total elapsed time. Wolsink surprisingly was 15 seconds faster than Mikkola.
5:30 p.m. The pits are opened and the remaining crowd surges in for closeup looks at the riders and machines. The winners are cheerful. Wolsink seems surprised. They had to tell him he won.
New rules. Last year if one rider finished 2-3 and another finished l-4. they’d be tied on points but the tie would be decided by the better finish, that is. the man who’d won a moto would beat the man who hadn’t. This year it’s elapsed times.
Mikkola is madder than hell.
In the press box a reporter for a daily newspaper sits down and begins tapping out a story about “Roger DeCoster. the Belgian prima donna.” The man doesn’t cover racing much. The racing reporters consider tearing the paper out of the typewriter. This is Roger D. after all. The racing reporters saw a champion lose a race. The sportswriter saw a big name retire because he couldn't w in. Free press, fair comment and the paper stays in the typewriter.
The final overall results have Heikki Mikkola with a substantial lead in points in the title chase. DeCoster and Wolsink are now tied for 2nd. and Lackey is still 4th. but solidly ahead of Herbert Schmitz and Pierre Karsmakers.
It has been a great day of racing, with the Americans showing more and more that they are becoming a real motocross power.
6:15 p.m. The pits are nearly deserted, the air is cool, the evening clouds are coming in from the ocean, covering the sun. The magical aura of Grand Prix motocross has come and gone from Carls-
bad—until next year. 151
