Rase Watch
RASE WATCH
Lackey Leads World Championship; Superbowl Gets Charitable; Suzuki Finishes Cannonball Baker Run
FIRST BIKE FINISHES CANNONBALL BAKER
For the first time in the history of the “event,” a motorcycle finished the Cannonball Baker Sea to Shining Sea Memorial Trophy Dash. George Egloff, Wendy Epstein, Ken Ward, Steve Ward and Dirk James teamed up to ride a Suzuki GS850 in the 3000-mile race from Darien, Connecticut (home of Mike Baldwin) to Redondo Beach, California in 43 hours, 32 minutes. That finish time was worth 30th position overall. The team picked up a combined total of four tickets and the bike was escorted across most of Arkansas and all of Oklahoma by state police, at 55 mph. On the last leg, James averaged 90 mph in spite of two tickets (one for 96 mph, another for 115 mph) and losing 40 minutes while posting $195 bond for the second ticket. In last place was another motorcycle, a 1974 BMW R90/6 ridden two-up the entire way by Loyal Truesdale and Keith Patchett.
CHARITABLE SUPERBOWL OF MX
that donations to the Phantom Duck of the Desert Legal Defense Fund could be credited towards Superbowl tickets. According to Goodwin, anybody who donates $3 to the Duck can then buy a $15 Superbowl ticket for only $12. There is a cut-off date on the scheme in advance of the July 14 race. It’s a commendable move—the Duck is perhaps the most ardent defender of the motorcyclist’s right to ride on public land.
HANSFORD'S KAWASAKI SHAKES TOO MUCH
Gregg Hansford elected to ride his tried-and-true KR750 Kawasaki Triple at the opening round of the Formula 750 World Championship. Hansford had practiced on the new Kawasaki Four, but the machine vibrated so badly that Hansford decided not to ride it. Tuner Neville Doyle is confident that alterations to crankshaft balancing can eliminate the problem in the near future. Hansford reported no faults with the new Kawasaki frame, which uses the engine as a stressed member.
PADDLE TIRES OUTLAWED
The dust had hardly settled from Jammin’ Jimmy Weinert’s Oakland Coliseum stadium win when the American Motorcylist Assn. (AMA) banned the use of sand-flinging paddle tires like the one ridden to victory by Weinert. The way the AMA sees it, any tire that flings more roost than a current state-of-the-art knobby is a threat to navigation and the eyesight of trailing riders. Apparently the suggestion
that any rider objecting to being roosted by a paddle tire simply take the lead was not viewed with good humor on the part of AMA officials.
FATE AIDS SHEENE
Barry Sheene, the man who lost his 500cc road racing world championship to King Kenny Roberts in 1978, has gained more help from fate in his quest to regain the championship for Suzuki. First. Roberts was injured in a practice crash in Japan and missed the first 500cc round. Then contender Wil Hartog crashed and broke his arm at a Dutch national race. Sheene’s chances look better than ever, but he—and the world—should not discount the incredible Mr. Roberts and his chance for a mind-boggling recovery.
SCHREIBER WINS IN SPAIN
he battle for the 1979 World Trial Championship promises to be the fiercest ever. Five rounds have now been held and each has produced a different winner. Rob Shepherd rode his Honda to victory in Ireland, and Malcolm Rathmell (Montesa) took the British round. Yrjo Vesterinen (Bultaco) dominated in Belgium and Ulf Karlson (Montesa) was best rider in Holland. American Bernie Schreiber (Bultaco) won in Spain. Reigning World Champion Vesterinen is the series leader but even the man in second place, British rider Martin Lampkin, has yet to win a round. He holds his position thanks mainly to consistent rather than brilliant riding.
Schreiber, the 20-year-old American star, joined the list of winners with his victory in the Spanish round but having failed to obtain any points in the opening event in Ireland and with modest scores in the next three trials he does not rate highly his chances of taking the title this year. There are seven rounds still to be held but the stars in this closely-fought championship know that even one bad ride can ruin their hopes for another year. Vesterinen. the ice cool Finnish rider, has demonstrated throughout his three years of supremacy that he has the ability to ride consistently even when he does not win. In three years he has failed to score points on only one occasion. t
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Spain’s contribution to this year’s series was held over the usual course at Tarrassä north of Barcelona, and this trial has now become the most important. With the factories of Ossa. Montesa and Bultaco located only a few kilometres from the Trial course, every rider wants to do well in. order to impress the Spanish.
The main group of six sections was ai the picturesque mountain village of Relimas, on a hillside covered with loos& stones. Shepherd demonstrated that the Honda four-stroke was a match for the two strokes of Lampkin and Mick Andrews; who were the first to reach the summit. Down in the valley below, the boulders a( the edge of a fast flowing stream took single marks from Lampkin and Shepherd but Nigel Birkett crashed to a halt and so did Spanish favorite Manuel Soler.
Vesterinen, in true champion style, found the correct path and remained unpenalized but at the end of the lap was only in the lead with 26 marks to the 28 lost b\ J • Subira . who was riding a brand new Montesa which had been completed only two days before the Trial and on which Subira had practiced for just two hours, before putting it to its first big test.
Vesterinen returned to the paddock at the end of the lap and tried to trace the cause of vibration, which was upsetting hi* concentration. He tightened a loose exhaust connection but failed to detect tha^t the cylinder head stay (under the petrol tank) had broken. The vibration got worse4 during the second lap and Vesterinen’s performance suffered as a result.
Americans Schreiber and Marlan*i Whaley held third and fourth places after the first lap with 31 and 35 marks respect tively. Rathmell was sixth while Lampkin and Shepherd shared seventh place each on 4L
RESULTS: TARRASSA, SPAIN
1) B. Schreiber .......................... 50.5 pts.
2) J. Subira ........................................54.7
3) M. Whaley ....................................61.9
4) Y. Vesterinen..................................67.3
5) M. Lampkin..................................71.6
6) U. Karlson.......
7) R. Shephard ...
8) R. Jo ...............
9) M. Soler...........
10) F. Krahnstover
72.6 76.8 83.9^ 87.5. 88.2
There was still a long way to go but Schreiber suddenly hit top form and went round those tough 20 sections with the incredibly low loss of just 17 marks. It was4 a performance which staggered all his rivals and was by far the best single lap of the whole day. Subira lost only 24 on the second lap and although it was the second best score of the day it was not good enough to stop Schreiber from coming out on top. Whaley gave his best performance of the year which until now had brought him only one Championship point. He moved up into third place but a tired Vesterinen dropped to fourth ahead of Lampkin. who had improved on his second lap.
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POINTS AFTER FIVE ROUNDS 1) Vesterinen 53 2) Lampkin 43 3) Rathmell . 37 4) Schreiber . 32 5) Karlson ... 24 6) Shepherd . 6) Birkett ..... 22 7) Lejeune ... 17 8) Coutard ... 16 9) Subira ..... 15
LACKEY TAKES WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS LEAD
Bad Brad Lackey and his Kawasaki Uni-Trak took the lead in 500cc motocross world championship point standings after winning the second round overall, in France, with a 3-1 score. Lackey was second overall in the first round in Austria, where Honda’s Graham Noyce won. After two rounds. Lackey led Noyce 46 points to 40. Yamaha’s reigning World Champion. Heikki Mikkola, retired in Austria after a first-moto crash, but was third overall in France. Considering that doctors had predicted that Mikkola would miss two grands prix after breaking his leg in a pre-season crash, the fact that Mikkola was racing at
