Carlsbad Usgp 1980
Carlsbad USGP 1980
American Marty Moates Wins
Ron Griewe
Waving small American flags and cheering, 30,000 fans watched as LOP rider Marty Moates became the first American to capture the overall win at Carlsbad's torturous USGP. And a convincing win it was. Marty tallied a perfect score by winning both motos, a feat seldom accomplished on the notoriously rough Carlsbad course. Marty's wins really surprised most of the fans: How could a privateer on a nearly stock production YZ465G stomp the world's best factory riders two motos in a row?
Forty-two world 500cc grand prix
riders lined up on the cement starting grid for moto one. All but one were busy sweeping the starting pad clear of dirt— Marty Moates was adding dirt to the starting pad. Past experience at Carlsbad told Marty that quicker starts from the slippery pad were probable if dirt was added. It worked. Marty had a good lead as he exited the tight left hander after the start straight. The crowd could see the American flag on the rider’s chest but who was he? Marty who? What factory does he ride for? Oh, he’s a privateer. Where’s Lackey? Moates had a substantial lead by
the time he started up the Carlsbad Free way. Americans Rex Staten on a factory YZ and Goat Breker on a factory KX were running second and third to the de light of the crowd. Roger DeCoster was fourth half way down the killer downhill, then .. . his front wheel got bumped by a competitor's bike and he took a terrible high-speed endo. He was in the middle of a pack of racers at the time, and the crash looked like a bad one. He managed to get to his feet after a few minutes but a badly bruised leg kept him from restarting the second moto. Moates seemed to gain a little distance on the pack at every corner. He was riding smoothly and precisely and by the end of Lap Three had stretched his lead to nearly 10 sec. Breker had moved to second and world 250 champ Hakan Carlqvist had moved his big bore works YZ into third. Danny LaPorte put his factory Suzuki with the new Floating Rear Suspension into fourth and Andre Vromans held fifth on another works YZ. Lackey was run ning sixth. Americans have led the Carls bad GP for brief periods before but always faded before the end of the moto, so it wasn't too big a surprise when Breker be gan to fall back with rear shock problems and Carlqvist started closing on Moates. Moates dropped the bike in a slippery cor ner and both Carlqvist and LaPorte passed before he got going again. LaPorte pressured Carlqvist for the next five laps and finally bermed past him for the lead on Lap 15. Half a lap later, Moates also passed Carlqvist and set his sights on LaPorte's Floater. Great. Two Americans fighting for the lead so late in the moto
crazed the spectators. LaPorte started experiencing shifting problems the next lap and Moates passed with victory in his eye. Carlqvist also got around LaPorte but couldn’t pass Moates. Moates was elated as he came over the drop off, waving to the race fans with his left hand while the bike dropped to earth. He was jumping in the saddle as he took the checkered flag and the win.
Just to prove the first moto was no fluke, Moates hole shot the second moto. And he started putting distance between his backside and the rest of the pack right away. Rex Staten was in second again but only held the position for a few laps before blowing the transmission. Bruno then
Results 500cc USGP Carlsbad
forced his way into second with Rond, Lackey and Sun fighting lap after lap for third. The three were setting a scorching pace and all of them passed Bruno by the eighth lap. Lackey could see his chance to catch point leader Andre Malherbe who finished poorly in the first moto and blew the transmission on his works Honda on the starting line of the second. Lackey moved into striking distance of Moates and passed on the big downhill. Lackey was using a different line down the hill, preferring the smooth left side rather than the whooped right that sets the rider up better for the single line left turn at the bottom. Moates followed Lackey for the next lap, closely watching Lackey’s choice of lines, some of them much better than his. Moates knew he could combine his lines and Lackey’s to regain the lead but almost decided against it. He knew a win for Lackey would move Lackey into the point lead for the World Championship . . . but a second might also put him over the top . . . and Lackey makes a lot more money ... he decided to go for the win.
Lackey went too deep into a corner about then and Moates motored by. Lackey’s bike slid under a chain link fence and he lost two laps trying to extract it. The mistake cost Lackey a possible second or third overall finishing position but didn’t change his second position in the world standings. After Lackey threw it away, Rond moved his double shock works Suzuki into second, where he finished the moto. LaPorte finished third after being involved in a second turn pile up. He rode a great race, coming from near last, passing one to two competitors a lap. His two third place moto finishes earned him second overall. Andre Vromans nabbed third overall with fourth/sixth finishes, Chuck Sun ended up fourth with seventh/fifth showings, Jim Gibson was fifth with 10th/ seventh placings and Gaylon Mosier, making a comeback from a broken leg last year, finished sixth, first Kawasaki, with ninth/11th finishes. Jaak VanVeltoven, finished seventh with 14th/ninth motos, Marty Smith was eighth with 22nd/ fourth motos, Lackey ninth with sixth/ 21st showings and Mickey Kessler rounded out the top 10 overall.
An incredible showing by American riders on one of the toughest courses in the
world. But just wait until next year. ES
250cc Support, USGP Carlsbad
