Glover And Burgett Sweep To Victory
Glover and Burgett Sweep to Victory
Team Yamaha Completes Its Cleanup Act With The AMA 125cc and 500cc National Motocross Championships
Jim Gianatsis
You know, what it all comes down to is luck.” said Marty Smith. “You can try to do everything right, but if luck isn’t on your side there’s nothing you can do.”
It was cool in the shade of the tarp hung up between the two Team Honda transporters. Smith lay back in one lounge chair, his feet propped up on another. Beside him. sprawled out in the grass, was TommyCroft. Together the two factory stars relaxed between motos at the last race of the 500cc Nationals, trying to understand why they weren’t w inning. Luck, or the lack of it. was the only thing they could come up wfith.
Smith knew he had lost his chance at repeating his 1977 500cc National title halfway through the 1978 championship circuit. At the beginning of the series he and Croft were favored to win the title for Honda again. “Tomahawk” Croft did manage to win one event in the 10-race series, at Sears Point, but Smith never came close to winning a race.
In reality every race for Team Honda looked more like a testing session. After the first two rounds Smith appeared wfith a modified frame to correct “handling problems.” Every race Smith and Croft had a different type of shock absorber on their bikes as the mechanics constantly fiddled with suspension.
Meanwhile, in Europe, Honda’s Brad Lackey found no fault with his similar RC450 works bike as he battled wfith Yamaha’s Heikki Mikkola for the 500cc World Championship.
But there is also a certain belief that you make your own luck. And in the case of Team Yamaha this year it’s more than true. By the end of August, Broc Glover had clinched his second consecutive 125cc National Championship and Rick Burgett had taken away Smith’s 500cc crown. Combined with Bob Hannah’s winning of the 250cc class two months earlier. Yamaha had pulled off the first ever clean sweep of all three classes in the AMA National Motocross Championships.
125cc CHAMPIONSHIP TO BROC GLOVER
A full two races before the end of the 10event Mr. PiBB-sponsored 125cc National series. Broc Glover won his second con-
secutive championship riding a Yamaha OW-37 works machine prepared by mechanic Jim Felt. The title fell to “Broccoli” at a track amid the farm hills of St. Joseph. Missouri, in 100 degree heat.
“This championship feels good,” said Glover after winning. “The dust was so bad today I couldn't breathe. The heat really didn't bother me until I stopped, then it almost killed me. This had to be the toughest race of the series because of the heat.”
Glover's competition from the 1977 season was gone. Both Bob Hannah and Suzuki's Danny LaPorte were riding different classes because of a new AMA restriction limiting a rider to just one displacement class in national competition. Last year. Hannah proved to be the quickest rider in the 125cc class, but a breakdown in the first race of the shorter fiverace 1977 series cost Hannah a chance at the title. At the final race of the series Hannah—on Team Yamaha orders — slowed down while leading to turn the win over to Glover. That gave Glover the
championship over LaPorte. who would have won the title if Glover had finished that race in second.
To keep things interesting in 1978. Team Suzuki recruited 17-year-old Mark Barnett. w ho could barelv touch his toes to the ground on the new long-travel Suzuki RA125 works bike. At the first two races Barnett chased Glover every inch of the way to the checkered flag. The third week in Texas. Barnett actually took over the series points lead with a win after Glover
was penalized one lap for jumping the start. The following week in Nebraska Barnett finally beat Glover outright for the overall win, though the riders tied on points for moto finishes.
From there it all went downhill for Barnett. The next weekend in Massachusetts he failed to finish both motos when his Suzuki suffered mechanical problems.
Round six in Atlanta saw Barnett’s luck get even worse. While charging his way through the pack some loose trackside banners tangled in his bike’s rear wheel and jammed the brake. The unexpected quick stop sent Barnett flying over the handlebars. The crash put him out of action for the remainder of the series with a dislocated shoulder.
The National Championship was Glover’s. Nobody left could stay with him. Warren Reid gave Honda its only win, in Rhode Island, when Glover’s bike suffered a flat. In North Carolina Kawasaki’s Gaylon Mosier won when Glover’s Yamaha had engine problems and Glover got miserable last place starts. But by that point Glover had already earned enough points with two races remaining to take his second consecutive championship.
The icing on the cake was when Glover came back strong at the final race in Florida to win.
LITTLE RICKY GETS SERIOUS IN THE 500cc
Nearly everyone seemed to bemoan their evil luck in the 500cc National, but many of the factory stars didn’t seem to want to put out the effort to change it.
Team Honda’s bikes weren’t handling. With the riders jetting home to California between races, Honda mechanics were frustrated and unable to find the problems.
Team Suzuki wasn’t doing much better. When the riders weren’t hurting from injuries, there were a lot of RN400 works bike breakdowns, but never the same thing breaking twice.
Team Yamaha expected to win the championship, but pinned their hopes on tall and lanky Mike Bell. What they didn’t count on was Bell injuring his knee at the fourth race and being put out for the rest of the Series, but not before one win.
The only rider Yamaha had left was Rick Burgett, but the “Lumberjack” from Sandy, Oregon, hadn’t given Yamaha any reason to get excited. In three years with Yamaha, Burgett had always been overshadowed by teammate Bob Hannah. He didn’t seem to be able to win a race, let alone a championship, and as a result was in the final year of his contract with Yamaha.
At the first race, in Texas, Suzuki’s Danny LaPorte won. Everyone seemed pumped up and willing to try for the opening event of the Series, but after that enthusiasm seemed to falter. Except in the case of Rick Burgett, who dropped beside the Team Yamaha van from sheer exhaustion. >
“I almost passed out from the heat!” said Burgett later. “I knew I had the ability to win if I wanted to, but not the endurance. I decided right there it was time to get serious about racing and get myself in shape.
“A couple things helped me reach that decision. The first being the AMA's split up of the classes which meant the competition wasn’t as tough as it has been in past years. And the other reason being this was the last year of my contract with Yamaha. If I wanted to stay with them I had to win.”
Right then Burgett started making his own luck. He hired a trainer to help him work out. Rather than fly home each week he stayed out on the circuit where he could train more seriously, practice with his bike and dial it in properly, as well as get used to conditions in the East, where most of the races were held. Burgett formed a better relationship with mechanic Bill West, and his bike finished every event.
Burgett won nearly every event after the third race of the Series near St. Louis.
Burgett had the desire the other factory riders seemed to have lost. But apathy among the same factory stars gave privateers a chance.
The first to gain notice was “Rocket” Rex Staten. Riding a production YZ400E Yamaha for Bassett Racing, Staten did well to attract the notice of Yamaha National Racing Manager Ken Clark, who put Staten onto Mike Bell’s bike after Bell’s injury. A works bike and factory mechanic was all Rocket Rex needed to become a top contender in the series. Originally hired to act as a buffer in the points battle, Staten was soon chasing Burgett across the line in every race. At St. Joseph. Missouri, Staten catapulted himself into second overall in the standing as he beat his new Yamaha teammate in the final moto for the overall win.
By the end of the series Staten had gained a ride from Yamaha for the Trans-
AMA Series, and possibly a factory contract for 1979 as well.
Darrell Shultz of Northern California was another privateer turning heads in the 500cc class. After spending the first half of the series picking himself up off the ground while learning to control his breakneck speed, he eased up on the throttle of his Sisler Construction/Wheelsmith 450 Maico and stayed up on two wheels. The last half of the series saw Shultz running in the top five among the factory riders each week, with his best finish a second overall behind Burgett—and -ahead of Staten—at Charlotte. Maico gave Schultz a factory ride for the Trans-AMA Series, and he had a 1979 offer from at least one Japanese company. E3
