It's Still Decoster Country

It's Still DeCoster Country

TRANS-AMA:

Hannah Wins the Most Motos, Lackey Wins Sears Point, but R.D. Wins Fourth Straight Title

Tony Swan

Okay paradox lovers, here’s your one-question Trans-AMA quiz:

How do you win almost half the races and still lose the series to a guy who's some 12 years your senior? (This is supposed to be a young man's sport, right? washed up when you're 25, right? sure).

When you’ve got it all figured out, mail your answers to Bob Hannah, because he'd really like to know, because even though he did it he still doesn’t understand how.

Of the 16 motos comprising the 1977 edition of the Trans-AMA MX series. Hannah won seven. Yet when the go-fast guys zeroed in on the final meeting of the season, at Sears Point in northern California, Hannah found himself scrambling around trying to fight his way into 2nd place in the final standings.

The championship by that time was already all but out of reach, with this old guy, 32-year-old Roger DeCoster. needing just 21 points to lock it up. A combination of 10th in one moto and 11th in another would accomplish this, and since the redoubtable and everlasting R.D. had finished no lower than 8th in any of the previous 14 motos it would have taken a real sport to bet against him.

Midway through the season it looked as if DeCoster’s three-year lock on the TransAMA might be fading out. R.D. started off by taking the overall in two of the first three events, but when the series hit mid-point Hannah and national 500cc champ Marty Smith were within range, Hannah lurking only eight points back on the strength of his sweep in Buchanan. Michigan, stop number four on the tour. The gap remained the same as R.D. and Hannah finished 2-1. 1-2, respectively, in St. Peters. Missouri, but DeCoster's consistency finally began to tell in round six at Rabbit Run Raceway in Dallas, Texas. Again. Hannah and R.D. each won a moto, but Hannah’s flat tire—and consequent DNF— in the first moto left DeCoster with a commanding lead in the series.

One week later in Puyallup. Washington it was Marty Smith Day, as the Honda ace put up his best showing of the season, winning both motos. But DeCoster tightened his grip on the title by coming home 2nd overall and Hannah, soldiering through a day of indifferent finishes (7th and 5th) found himself trailing Smith by three points for the season’s runner-up honors.

And so they came to Sears Point. Smith and/or Hannah both needing an unusual combination of good fortune for themselves and bad luck to the champion to have any chance of winning the series. It

wasn’t exactly hopeless, but it wasn't Great Expectations, either.

None of which seemed to affect the quality of the Kawasaki-sponsored program one bit. True, w ith his fourth straight title in sight DeCoster wasn’t out to impress anyone (although the afternoon wound up being slightly more than he'd bargained for). But the season had reached its 1978 contract negotiation stages, and a lot of riders were looking for that last good showing that might add a digit in some useful places for next year’s paychecks—or perhaps keep them on the payroll. Judging by his Sears Point performance, Maico ace Gaylon Mosier was somewhere near the front of this group. Ditto Brad Lackey, even though he had little to prove to Honda after his highly successful season in European motocross. (By way of further underscoring the fact that this was the

season of contracts, Jimmy Ellis and Kent Howerton were both absent, the former while trying to put together yet another year of campaigning for Can-Am, the latter having reached a dead end with Husqvarna.)

There was the usual sprinkling of European stars—U.S. Grand Prix winner Dr. Gerrit Wolsink. for w hom the Sears Point Trans-AMA was a stopover en route to Suzuki headquarters in Hamamatsu. Japan; British star Graham Noyce, the newest member of the Honda legion; Hakan Carlqvist, on a factory Husky; West German Maico rider Herbert Schmitz; and Bengt Aberg, another Swede (you probably thought he was Hawaiian, right?) riding the remarkable Hallman and Enqvist Yamaha thumper that won a European GP in 1977.

There was one other four-stroke in the

field, the promising 450cc Knobby Shop International Honda ridden by Marty Moa tes.

In the 250cc support class, the situation was the same as it was in the 500cc show: One rider. Chuck Sun. was all but out of reach after an outstanding campaign on his semi-private Husqvarna, with only Honda's Warren Reid still in mathematical contention.

The course for the 1977 Sears Point Trans-AMA was rated by most riders as being more difficult than last year’s layout. Besides a more or less routine collection of jumps and berms there were some killer downhills and a great deal of difficult sidehill going, liberally laced w ith whoops and holes. Northern California’s two years of drought left the layout a good deal drier than most of the riders liked, but the course was well prepared and the dust was> never overpowering. No one had much in the way of negative comment about the setup, and aside from the gloomy November chill that had the substantial crowd thoroughly bundled up. conditions were excellent.

RESULTS TRANS-AMA MOTOCROSS SEARS POINT, CALIFORNIA International Class Overall 1. Brad Lackey, Honda.................................................................................................... 47 2. Bob Hannah, Yamaha ............................................................................................... 45 3. Gaylon Mosier, Maico.................................................................................................. 42 4. Roger DeCoster. Suzuki.............................................................................................. 32 5. Jim Pomeroy, Honda .................................................................................................. 28 6. Tommy Croft, Honda.................................................................................................... 27 7. Herbert Schmitz, Maico.............................................................................................. 26 8. Marty Smith, Honda................................................................................................... 26 9. Tony DiStefano, Suzuki ............................................................................................. 24 10. Steve Stackable, Maico ............................................................................................. 20 First Moto 1. Lackey; 2. Mosier; 3. Hannah; 4. Smith; 5. Croft; 6. Pomeroy; 7. DeCoster; 8. Danny LaPorte (Suzuki); 9. Graham Noyce (Honda); 10. Schmitz. Second Moto 1. Hannah; 2. Lackey; 3. Mosier; 4. DeCoster; 5. Stackable; 6. Schmitz; 7. DiStefano; 8. Pomeroy; 9. Bill Grossi (Suzuki); 10. Croft.

There was a moment as Larrv Huffman, the Mouth of Motocross, began counting down toward the start of the first 500cc moto when it looked like Smith and Hannah might be about to get the break they needed. DeCoster's Suzuki developed a case of the starting line balks. This little drama was resolved just in time for R.D. to get to the gate, but when it fell he promptly found himself looking at the backs of about a dozen riders as he made an indifferent start.

DeCoster compounded this problem about three laps along when he got out of shape negotiating a steep uphill—you couldn’t really call it a fall—and found

himself running about 16th. Meanwhile, back at the front Lackey was stealing the show from the guys who still had a shot at DeCoster, taking the holeshot to lead a first lap parade of Mosier’s Maico, teammate Jim Pomeroy, Hannah. Smith, Tommy Croft on another factory Honda, Steve Stackable and Schmitz on works Maicos. Noyce and Wolsink.

Hannah was immediately harrying Pomeroy, but in the meanwhile Lackey and Mosier were moving away to stage a battle all their own. Three laps into the race Mosier finally made an opportunity to jam the Maico past Lackey on braking and take the lead. He then immediately began having problems getting clean shifts, which he later blamed on some experimental gearbox shimming installed for the Sears Point race.

For four laps Lackey's Honda looked as though it was attached to Mosier's bike. except for one wild moment when Lackey got a trifle wide out of an off-camber turn and flattened a section of snow fence, scattering spectators like chickens. But with a balky gearbox Mosier simply couldn't keep the Maico wide enough to hold the lead and Lackey eventually wicked past. Once back in front, he quickly pulled away, and that portion of the drama was over. While it was in progress, Hannah and Smith had both managed to pick off Pomeroy, but they were too late to do the same to Mosier. Hannah stormed up to the attack in the last two laps but try as he might, he couldn't quite put the Maico behind him. and Mosier thus turned out to be the determining factor in the race.

Smith trailed Hannah home by about two seconds, with Pomeroy dropping one more position, finishing 6th behind Croft. DeCoster, who spent the entire moto steadily picking his way up through the pack, was 7th ahead of Suzuki’s Danny LaPorte. Noyce and Schmitz rounded out the top 10.

FINAL STANDINGS FOR EIGHT-RACE SEASON 1. Roger DeCoster, U.S. Suzuki.................................................................................... 317 2. Bob Hannah, Yamaha Motors USA.......................................................................... 296 3. Marty Smith, American Honda.................................................................................. 280 4. Brad Lackey, American Honda ................................................................................ 252 5. Tommy Croft. American Honda ................................................................................ 229 6. Jim Pomeroy, American Honda................................................................................ 226 7. Tony DiStefano, U.S. Suzuki .................................................................................... 188 8. Danny LaPorte, U.S. Suzuki...................................................................................... 165 8. Gaylon Mosier, Maico Motors .................................................................................. 165 10. Steve Stackable, Maico Motors................................................................................ 145

This order of finish left Smith exactly one point ahead of Hannah in the season's standings, and it was clear that another 4th probably wasn’t going to be good enough to hold the runner-up spot. Accordingly, when the gate dropped for moto number two Smith was away first, trailed closely by Lackey and Stackable. Hannah hadn’t gotten out quite as cleanly, but still managed to beat Mosier into the first turn, the leading quintet quickly leaving the rest of the field behind.

As Hannah went to work on Stackable, a surprisingly non-fraternal duel was going on between Smith and Lackey, who was beginning to smell his first-ever TransAMA victory. The issue was resolved in the second lap w'hen Lackey made a dive for the lead in a tight spot, spilling Smith in

the process. When Marty got himself rolling again, he was 14th and out of it.

Lackey got a bit of the same medicine about three-quarters of the way through the moto when Hannah finally reeled him in. After the two had swapped turns in the lead, they made contact during a jump and it was Brad’s turn to get off. However, by that time the leaders were well away from Mosier, and Lackey was able to get up and continue without losing another position, thus preserving the overall win.

DeCoster. who rode quite conservatively until the pack got strung out a little, repeated his first moto tactic of cruising up through the field, coming home 4th and thus clinching his fourth-straight series title. Stackable, who will be riding for Yamaha this year, was 5th. Schmitz 6th. Suzuki’s Tony DiStefano 7th, Pomeroy 8th and privateer Bill Grossi (Suzuki) managed to edge Croft. Notable among the

also-rans was Moates, who followed up his 15th placing in the first moto by riding the four-stroke Honda to the 19th (and final) finishing position despite the absence of one footpeg.

For DeCoster, the 1977 Trans-AMA title was sweeter than the three that preceded it by the margin of his lost world championship.

“Yes. losing the world title made this much more important to me,” he said. “Also, this w'as the toughest Trans-AMA yet for me.”

There followed the almost inevitable question concerning his retirement.

“I’d like to try to win one more world championship,” smiled DeCoster. “Then I’ll think about quitting.”

Lackey, wTo’d helped lay out the course for this event, was elated but feeling a trifle sheepish about the incident that took Smith out of the hunt (Marty wound up> 13th in the second moto).

“I really felt bad about that,” he said. “We just bumped handlebars. It was too bad.

“I've been running Trans-AMAs since 1970 and I’ve led lots of times, but always had something go wrong. I was leading at Unadilla (New York, third date in the 1977 series) when I fell off and killed the motor. This feels just great.”

In the 250cc support motos. Chuck Sun started out looking like anything but a rider who needed only a top 10 finish to take the series as he charged off to fight for the lead. But a fall and subsequent tangle with some course markers made him a little more conservative and he went on to record 4th and 2nd place finishes for 2nd overall. Yamaha’s new 125cc national champ Broc Glover, who'd finished 1st overall in the previous two meetings, swept both motos and thus wound up 3rd in the

final support standings even though he hadn't scored in all the events.

Reid, who went 2-9 on the day. was 4th overall behind Kawasaki’s Terry Clark (33). He thus hung on to the runner-up spot for the 1977 series.

It was a remarkable season for Sun. w ho was overall winner in three of the series’ first four meetings, winning six of the first eight motos and finishing 2nd in the other two. With Howerton gone, he’ll be Husqvarna's top man this season.

And even though the 500cc title went to a European rider again—in eight years of Trans-AMA racing, no American has taken the series title—the showing by the home-grown talent was again improved over last year. When Lackey took 2nd overall in 1976. he was the first American rider to do so. Besides DeCoster. only three other European riders were able to break into the top 10 in any of the season's eight

meetings. Wolsink was tops in this category. with a 10th overall at Buehanan and a 6th in Missouri (he was 17th at Sears Point). Belgian privateer Andre Malherbe was 4th at Unadilla, and Schmitz was 7th at Sears Point. However, with the exception of DeCoster none of the Europeans won a moto. Hannah accounted for seven. R.D. took four, Marty Smith took two and Lackey, Pomeroy and Croft each had one.

Although the Sears Point Trans-AMA was well planned and. aside from crowd control problems, generally well run, the organizers apparently never got around to providing for traffic egress. Race fans were treated to about an hour and 15 minutes of sitting in a hopeless traffic jam after the race. The lesson for the next meeting on the Sears Point MX course is this: Leave your car as close to the exit as possible and walk in (it’s about a half-mile or so). You'll save yourself a lot of frustration. IS