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RACE WATCH
On top of the world
Team Marlboro/Yamaha and Californian Eddie Lawson wrapped up their third 500 GP championship a little earlier than even they expected, and without so much as starting a motorcycle. That’s because the GP scheduled in Argentina was canceled, making it impossible for Honda’s Australian star, Wayne Gardner, to catch up in the point standings, even after Gardner won the second-to-last round in Czechoslovakia.
But just so there was no doubt about who was champ, Lawson positively flew in the final round in Brazil, winning by 13 seconds over Gardner. When the smoked cleared, Lawson had won 7 of the 15 GPs in ’88, bringing his career total to 26.
French frenzy
11 might not surprise anyone in this country that the Lrench Trophy Team won the 1988 International Six-Day Enduro, especially considering that the event was held in Prance. But it quite possibly surprised the Lrench. Even though Prenchman Gilles Lalay had been top individual twice, the Lrench had never won the big trophy in the SixDay. But this year, Stephane Peterhansel rode a liquid-cooled Yamaha 500 to win the Open class, finishing as top individual rider in process. The French team took the win by a narrow margin over Italy. The
Americans? For us, it was the worst overall effort in recent years. Our trophy team was knocked out of the running when Drew Smith’s KTM broke a chain in a special test, and our junior world team bit the dust when Kurt Hough wrenched his knee on day three and dropped out. The only somewhat dubious highlight was Smith’s quick thinking on the spot. When he realized his chain couldn’t be repaired, he simply walked into a crowd of spectators and stole a chain off a parked KTM. Ascot
Ascot showdown
get bumped by some 600, I’m going to be awful mad,” Steve Morehead said. He, Scotty Parker, Bubba Shobert and a crowd of other 750 dirt-trackers were mad as hell, and collectively, they weren’t going to take it any more. In fact, they were threatening to boycott the race. The
scene was the Ascot Camel Pro half-mile, and the problem was an insufficient number of 750 preentries. The American Motorcyclist Association decided to allow 600s in the race to fill the field, but that didn’t sit well with the 750 riders. They pointed out that if a 600 were able to qualify in the top six, it would push one of the Camel Pro regulars out of the Camel Dash, a five-lap sprint race for cash that is one of the few ways for the expensive 750s to actually earn money in the series. The
solution was to guarantee that six 750s would be in the Dash, plus any 600s that could match the pace. As it turned out, none of the 600s could get into the top six anyway. And in the race itself, Scott Parker won, locking up the national dirt-track championship. S 78/CYCLE
