Race Watch
RACE WATCH
Bad Brad wins in England, Eklund leads Camel Pro, Aksland wins Loudon, Schreiber takes U.S. and Italian rounds
BAD BRAD WINS IN ENGLAND
Bad Brad Lackey won the ninth round of the World Championship 500cc Motocross series at Farleigh Castle, England. Lackey (Honda) placed second to reigning champion Heikki Mikkola (Yamaha) in the first moto, but won the second moto after Mikkola crashed hard on a downhill. Mikkola’s bike took four kicks to restart, and by that time he was in last place. Mikkola’s incredible charge brought him from last up to third, challenging Graham Noyce (Honda) for second. Gerrit Wolsink was fourth in both motos. With three rounds to go. Mikkola led 222 points to Lackey’s 190.
THE CHAMPION, THE CHAMPION, THE.. .
Bob Hannah tied up the Supercross Series Championship with his second place at the Superbowl, just six days after clinching the 250cc National Championship at St. Peters, MO. Hannah’s next shot at a title is the Trans-AMA. Hannah finished last year’s Trans-AMA in second, behind five-time World Champion Roger DeCoster.
BELL TAKES SUPERBOWL
Soft-spoken Team Yamaha rider Mike Bell won the Coca-Cola Superbowl of Motocross VII at the Los Angeles Coliseum, beating teammate Bob “Hurricane” Hannah. Both Bell and Hannah were hindered by bad starts in the final, and Hannah’s charge up to second place was delayed twice, once when Hannah got out of shape and ran off the track, and again when Hannah crashed in a four-rider pileup. Team Honda’s Marty Tripes, who was running neck-and-neck with Hannah for the Supercross Series Championship prior to the Superbowl, did not finish due to transmission problems in a qualifying heat. Behind Bell and Hannah in the final came Jim Ellis (Honda), Gary Semics (Can-Am) and Kent Howerton (Suzuki).
IT’S SPRINGSTEEN, NO, EKLUND, NO, SPRINGSTEEN, NO . . .
Steve Eklund may become the first privateer to win the AMA Grand National Championship/Camel Pro Series. Sponsored by Stanford mathematical theoretician Mario Zanotti, Eklund roared into the Camel Pro Series points lead with three straight wins: Santa Fe TT, Columbus half mile and San Jose half mile. At Santa Fe, contender Skip Aksland crashed and broke his collarbone, losing three weeks to recovery. Defending champion and Harley-Davidson team rider Jay Springsteen held off Eklund at the Castle Rock TT to regain first in the standings by just three points. But when Springsteen’s bike’s ignition failed at the Ascot TT and Eklund finished fourth (behind Alex Jorgensen, Ted Boody and Hank Scott, Eklund once again led the standings. If all had gone according to plan, Eklund would have picked up more points road racing at Sears Point while Springsteen—who entered an XR750 at Loudon but was sidelined with an oil pump failure—lay on the beach in Southern California. But Eklund collided with Wes Cooley in a heat race and crashed with no time for repairs before the final. Aksland, armed with a doctor’s release, started the Sears Point final, but crashed while leading and suffered a separated shoulder, while privateer Mike Baldwin won. Through it all, Springsteen remains confident. “Looks like we’re getting back to my territory of racing now,” he said after Sears Point. “The mile. To hell
with road racing.” In spite of the words, Springsteen plans to enter the fall Loudon road race because he needs every point he can get.
SCHREIBER WINS IN U.S., ITALY
Young Californian Bernie Schreiber continued his dazzling performances in World Championship Observed Trials by winning the American round at Roaring Branch, Penn, and the Italian round as well. The victories were 19-year-old Schreiber’s third and fourth in eight rounds of the 12-round championship series. Schreiber’s Pennsylvania win marked the first time an American has won the U.S. round. After eight rounds, Schreiber was second in the standings with 77 points, behind only Martin Lampkin’s 94 points. Schreiber’s scorecard so far: ninth in North Ireland; eighth in England; wins in France and Spain; second in West Germany; wins in the U.S. and Italy.
AKSLAND WINS LOUDON PENTAX LACONIA CLASSIC
Skip Aksland won the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) Camel Pro Series National road race at Loudon, New Hampshire, setting a new average speed record and lapping up to fourth place. At the finish, Aksland had a 10second margin over second-place Mike Baldwin. Richard Schlacter was third, Steve McLaughlin fourth and Dale Singleton—who started last after crashing while leading his qualifying heat racefinished fifth in spite of a loose right clipon which kept moving back and forth.
Aksland grabbed the lead off the starting line for the final race, ahead of Jim Allen, Harry Klinzmann and Schlacter. Schlacter passed Klinzmann and Allen to take second place on the fifth lap, with Aksland five seconds in front. The next lap, Klinzmann’s bike stopped dead with an ailment later diagnosed as a shorted killbutton wire, rubbed raw by improper routing between the gas tank and frame.
Allen had his own mechanical problems, and started losing positions. Meanwhile, Singleton had moved up into the top 10. Baldwin and McLaughlin battled for third and gained ground on Schlacter, who in turn was gaining on Aksland. Gary Scott moved up into fifth and started after Baldwin and McLaughlin. McLaughlin was riding a bike composed of his own engine and a frame borrowed from Scott. (McLaughlin’s TZ750 had been destroyed in a club-race collision with Randy Mamola two weeks earlier in California.)
The order on lap 10 was Aksland, Schlacter, Baldwin, McLaughlin, Scott, David Aldana, Gary Nixon, Allen, Singleton and Steve Eklund. Gene Romero’s bike had seized on lap before.
Schlacter caught Aksland on the 13th of 47 laps and took the lead on the 17th lap, starting a fierce duel which wouldn’t end until the 30th lap, when tire problems would force Schlacter to slow his pace. By that time, McLaughlin had gotten tired and Baldwin had set his sights on Schlacter. Baldwin took away second place for good on the 35th lap. Scott caught and went back and forth with McLaughlin, finally opening up a few seconds by the 43rd lap. With fourth place in the bag, Scott crashed at the same spot as Singleton had, from the same cause—front wheel washout. That left McLaughlin fourth for the finish, the last man not lapped by Aksland. In fifth, and lapped, was Singleton, loose clip-on and all.
NIXON VICTORIOUS IN 250CC
Gary Nixon rode his Erv Kanemoto TZ250 Yamaha to first place in the Lightweight Expert race after leader Jay Springsteen (Harley-Davidson) crashed on the 18th of 32 laps. Nixon had closed up to within two seconds of holeshot-winner Springsteen when Springsteen “hit a bump or something” and fell down in front of the grandstands.
BETTENCOURT TOPS LOUDON SUPERBIKES
John Bettencourt rode his Yoshimura East 944cc Suzuki GS750 to victory in the Superbike Production class, outlasting the Yoshimura R&D GS1000 Suzukis of Wes Cooley and Ron Pierce.
Yoshimura Suzukis ran one-two-three into the first turn, with Cooley, local-rider j Bettencourt and Ron Pierce aboard. Bet: tencourt outbraked Cooley after five laps j to take the lead, and at about the same ¡ time, a fitting on Cooley’s bike’s oil cooler cracked and started spewing out Castrol R. Oil ran back across the gas tank, onto Cooley’s helmet and down his chest, and through his racing suit zipper, eventually filling his boots and coating the bike’s rear tire. Pierce had already retired with clutch problems. As Cooley started getting side¡ ways in every turn from the oiled rear tire, Mike Baldwin—who had already moved his Moto Guzzi past Harry Klinzmann’s San Jose BMW—passed Cooley and promptly crashed in a cartwheel spectacuj lar. Cooley finally pitted. That left Bettencourt out in front and Klinzmann a safe second, with John Long (Udo Geitl/Todd Schuster BMW) third and Superbike Production champion Reg Pridmore (Vetter/ Yoshimura Kawasaki) fourth. On the white flag lap, Klinzmann’s BMW’s engine crankcases broke in half. With Klinzmann out, it was Bettencourt, Long and Pridmore.
COOLEY AND BALDWIN WIN AT SUZUKA
Wes Cooley and Mike Baldwin won the July 30 eight-hour endurance race at Suzuka Circuit in Japan, riding a Yoshimura Suzuki GS1000. David Emde and Isyo Sugimoto were second on a private TZ750; Graeme Crosby and Tony Hatton third on an Australian Yoshimura Zl-R. The two Honda RCB 941s entered DNF—one crashed and one broke. Reg Pridmore crashed the American Honda CBX in qualifying; partner Ron Pierce raced with a Japanese rider substituting for the injured Pridmore. Ignition problems bumped the CBX from first in class (fourth overall) to third in class, behind a Yoshimura KZ650 and a Honda RSC 750.
MOCKETT FIRED BY AMA
Racing Czar Doug Mockett was fired by the AMA Board of Directors, which named former professional motocross manager Mike Diprete to the post. The effect on proposals to change Camel Pro race formats is unknown. Diprete says he will investigate all options before making any decisions.
