European Moto-Cross
EUROPEAN MOTO-CROSS
A REVIEW OF THE 1965 SEASON.
GAVIN TRIPPE
MOTO-CROSS IN EUROPE is a thriving and expanding sport with crowds of up to a quarter of a million people watching the various rounds. This is due mainly to the spectacular nature of the sport, the close racing and not least to the TV coverage, there being a special British Broadcasting Co. (BBC) trophy Championship in England and Sweden during the winter.
Oddly enough, the first big event of the year is a Non-Championship event held annually at St. Anthonis in Holland at the end of March. This is a dress rehearsal for the coming season, after months of winter preparation, and a chance to weigh up the opposition. Main interest lay in wiry Dave Bickers from Suffolk, England, who was out on a works 360cc Czech CZ for the first time, his works Greeves being prepared for the coming 250cc Championships. Joel Robert was also 360cc CZ mounted together with fellow Belgian Marcel Weirtz. World 500cc Champion Jeff Smith arrived with his new 441cc BSA Victor, a production version of last year's mount differing in having grown another 21cc from the original 420cc. Backing him up were teammates Vic Eastwood, signed by BSA from the Matchless factory for this year, and his old traveling companion Arthur Lampkin, who has rejoined the BSA team. The Matchless representative was Chris Horsfield, fresh from victory in the BBC TV Championship on his lightweight works production prototype.
The Swedish Contingent was there in force except ex-champion Sten Lundin, who was away driving a works VW in a car rally. Rolf Tibblin, the dethroned 500cc Champion, arrived with a brand new white 220 SE Mercedes, courtesy of the B.P. Petrol Co. ("Second hand," joked the amiable Swede, "it had 200 miles on the clock"), white trailer and a brand new white Hedlund.
Torsten Hallman, 1962-63 250cc Champion, was riding a much-developed 400cc version of the 250cc Husqvarna. Bill Nilsson had a new Czech Eso. This has a new lightweight motor in Electron similar to their famous speedway engines, but much lighter. Nilsson has discarded his Metisse frame in favor of an Eso frame built specially for him. Per Olaf Persson has bought one of Tibblin's Hedlunds, having forsaken his aging 500cc Husqvarna.
As was expected, it was Joel Robert on one of the super-fast CZs who led in the first of three races. Bickers similarly mounted challenging for the lead ahead of Smith, Hallman and Lampkin. As Dave swept into the lead his CZ protested at the the inadequate running-in period and seized. As he footed it back to the pits an enthusiastic spectator, determined to get his money's worth, prodded the CZ back into life again. A quick sprint, a leap into the saddle and Dave was away in eleventh place, powering his way through the field to finish fourth behind Robert, Smith and Hallman.
Race two saw Lampkin in a short-lived first place in front of Robert, Smith, Bickers and Hallman. Robert soon slotted into the lead and Bickers was steaming through to third place when the CZ's motor cried "enough" for the second time, but not quite enough. Hallman, Lampkin, Eastwood, Nilsson and Dirks all passed before the despairing Bickers got the CZ going again. From then on all eyes were on Bickers. It took him eight laps to see off the four of them to reach third place but the handicap proved too much and he had to concede victory to Robert again from Smith and Hallman. Bickers' persistence paid off in the third race however, when after a brief encounter with Robert he went on to win, but overall victory went to Robert from Smith, Bickers' efforts gaining him third place.
From St. Anthonis the 250cc 500cc contestants split up for their respective Championship rounds, the first being the 250cc round at Barcelona, Spain. Held in glorious weather at Santa Coloma just on the outskirts of the City on a twisty, dusty circuit, some 50,000 people turned out to watch this first clash.
Bickers, after his brief sojourn on the CZ, turned out on his customary works Greeves, supported by teammate John Griffiths. For 1965, Greeves have lost their famous rubber spring front forks in favor of conventional coil spring dampers, in parallel with the swept back stanchions to form a short pivot fork. Frames have been stretched to accommodate a bigger air filter behind the carburetor instead of the two rather vulnerable outboard ones as previously, this stretching operation also increasing the wheelbase by some two inches. Robert's CZs are much the same as last year, with detail improvements, as were the Husqvarnas of Hallman and upand-coming Ake Jonsson. For the first time a serious bid for title honors by a Russian team in the form of a four-man strong team complete with interpreter, team manager and "Nyet" man! Absent from the Russian line-up was their best man and only title contender in the past — Igor Gregoriov. He has apparently blotted his copy book by not toeing the party line and airing his political views in the wrong place thus being considered a bad risk to ride in events outside the Soviet bloc.
The racing was razor-keen, keeping the 50,000 spectators on pins as they watched, 'round the circuit and from nearby rooftops, while the favorites' fortunes fluctuated. It was Torsten Hallman who won the first leg after gradually wearing down the two Russians, Arbekov and Draougs, who had held first and second places respectively for most of the race. The other Swede, Jonsson, gradually dropped back from fourth place with a punctured front tire. This let an ailing Joel Robert through, who, with a slipping clutch and suffering from repercussions of a spill the previous weekend, was not his usual dashing self. Dave Bickers battled his way through the dust to sixth place, having to submit to constant pressure from Don Rickman on the last few laps.
Hallman looked all set to repeat his triumph in the second leg when, on the last lap, his ignition faltered, letting Jonsson through to first place in front of Bickers who was well ahead of third man Deshinov. Arbekov, showing as much sparkle as in race one, flashed 'round too quickly and bit the dust, restarting to finish in mid-field just behind Hallman's sick Husky. After the timekeepers had done their job it was a jubilant Dave Bickers who won overall on time from Johnsson, Hallman's efforts gaining him third place ahead of Arbekov.
This first round certainly set the pace for an interesting series. From Barcelona the circus moved on to Italy the following week, to the equally dusty circuit at Masserano between Turin and Milan. Here it was that the young Russian soldier, Victor Arbekov, scored his first GP win, maintaining the promise he had shown in Spain. His was not to be an easy victory, however, for after a poor showing in Spain the current champion, Belgian Joel Robert, was determined not to lose his crown without a determined fight. From the start of the first race he rocketed away, trying desperately to put as much distance between himself and the Russian as possible, but his efforts were in vain. The choking dust jammed his throttle, losing him eleven seconds while he freed it, enough to let Arbekov through to win.
The Italian win certainly stimulated the young Russian for he made it a double at St. Quentin in France the following weekend. The course, not far from the English Channel, was a real French horror. Very twisty, it included a 50-foot deep Vshaped dip, concrete on the descent and wire mesh on the exit, that caused havoc among even the most experienced riders.
From the word go it was a neck-andneck battle between Robert and Arbekov, Robert deciding the issue on the last bend by power-sliding around the outside of a rather startled Arbekov to snatch first-leg victory by a tire's width. Dave Bickers shadowed this Belgian-Soviet scrap until he clipped a footrest off on a post, leaving the other Greeves teamster, Alan Clough, on one of his rare continental appearances, to keep the marque flag flying in third place ahead of Draougs, Hallman and Jonsson.
In the second race Arbekov led all the way, leaving a frantic Robert to sweat his way into second place 24 seconds in arrears, the meat in the Soviet sandwich. Draougs finished in third place. Greeves suffered just as badly in this leg. Bickers stopping with ignition trouble, Clough with no rear chain and Griffiths a nonstarter, an over-zealous Russian having run over his foot in the first race.
After the initial rounds, Arbekov had a seven-point lead over Dave Bickers and Joel Robert, but it was early yet and trying to forecast a final result from the first three rounds would have been merely an educated guess, as the Russians are not allowed to compete in all countries.
Round four, and England's Dave Bickers flashed back into the championship lead on Belgian Joel Robert's home territory, a sandy course at Hichtel near the Belgian/Dutch border. Notable absentee was "Smiler" Victor Arbekov, who did not turn up to defend his slender lead in the table, much to the disappointment of the large Belgian audience. Apparently the Russians were too busy preparing for their big May Day celebrations, which makes one realize the importance they attach to this annual "show of strength and achievement" if their star rider, out for a firsttime Russian motorcycle world championship, can afford to forego a round! Confidence indeed.
As it was, Dave Bickers rode in his own superb style to win both legs after Robert seized his new CZ three times during the course of the day, falling off twice before he called it quits.
A fortnight later, May 9, saw the boys in Hollice, Czechoslovakia, and in pouring rain the sport-conscious Czechs turned out 50,000 strong to watch, but it turned out to be a day of disqualifications. Joel Robert was ruled out for refueling at mid-distance while in the lead, and Russian Gunnar Draougs for cutting corners, the young Soviet rider obviously of the opinion that the quickest way between two points is a straight line! Then Arbekov retired with a sick motor. All this left local boy, Valek, to steam home first in both legs, much to the delight of the partisan crowd.
The men to watch had now emerged. Bickers led with 24 points, Arbekov and Hallman were tied with 19 each, Valek had 14 and a struggling Robert 12, which was how they stood at the start of the West German round. That meeting, however, proved to be the beginning of the end for Bickers. The first of a series of crushing defeats was administered by Arbekov, to hoist him into first place. He just disappeared out in front, leaving the rest to fight it out between themselves for the place points. Robert came off best with clear second, the battle for the remaining places being fought out fiercely between Jonsson, Draougs and Bickers, the trio eventually finishing in that order. In the second leg, after Arbekov had done the disappearing trick, the pale Swede Ake Jonsson managed to hold Robert off until half distance, but had to give best to the Belgian. Bickers was in a comfortable fourth place until colliding with a slower rider; by the time he tweaked the motor back into life, another Russian, Ageew (CZ), had slipped past. So, overall, it was Arbekov, Robert, Jonsson, Draougs, Bickers and Ageew.
On to Holland with the championship still fairly wide open, though not for long. It was the Russian ace, Arbekov, who stormed home in stylish fashion to win both legs, but Dave Bickers, although retiring with a whiskered plug in the first leg and a split gearbox in the second, hustled him home in no uncertain manner before being sidelined. Although Robert made a showing, he had to retire with stomach pains, letting Arbekov gain himself a good lead in the table.
There then followed a reshuffling in the championship pack. Reigning champion Joel Robert, who enjoys the sweet life, realized it was affecting his riding, and after an atrocious start to the season, he flashed back to form at Luxembourg to win both legs from his tormentor, Arbekov. This had the effect of hoisting Joel from joint fourth with Hallman to third, behind Arbekov and Bickers. Dave came off after clashing with teammate Alan Clough during a sudden cloudburst, but after making sure Alan was okay, he struggled on to finish third overall.
After a respite in June, the contenders trekked off behind the Iron Curtain, the first GP being held in Poland. Once again it was Arbekov who did all the winning, his arch rivals being knocked out by various troubles. Joel Robert, stopped in the first leg by a loose twistgrip, beat Arbekov by 26 seconds in the second, but was never in a position to challenge the Russian on overall performance. Dave Bickers crashed heavily, hurting his back, which put him among the spectators for the rest of the day. So it was the young Russian who is constantly under Arbekov's shadow, Gunnar Draougs, who notched up the six points for second place. This virtually sealed Arbekov's success as world champion with 49 points and five wins, against Bickers' three wins and Robert's two, a rider's best eight performances counting.
This lead was just as well for Arbekov, for in the next round in Russia, he failed to score in front of a home crowd of some 100,000 Muscovites who turned up at the Lininskiye Gorky Park, Moscow, in very wet conditions. He managed to win the first leg from Draougs, with Robert in third place, but in the second his CZ's chain broke, leaving Robert with a clear run home. This lifted the Belgian into second place in the tables with 34 points, ahead of Bickers with 30. Dave, still suffering from his spill in Poland the previous week, was a non-starter.
The last round behind the Iron Curtain was held in East Germany. With the championship won, all but the shouting, an East German fly suddenly appeared in the Anglo-Belgian ointment (and fly he does). Paul Friedrichs, who had sprung to prominence by thrashing the 500 championship field in the Czech GP as an unknown on a 360 CZ, thrashed the 250 field on a 250 CZ. Robert and Friedrichs tied on points but Friedrichs won on total elapsed time. Arbekov came off while chasing Robert, hurting his hand, and Bickers failed to finish. This helped the young Swede, Ake Jonsson; with a fourth and a second, he finished third, adding another four points to his score.
The battle for second and third places was to last until the bitter end. Dave Bickers scored a resounding victory in the British round after Robert was slowed by chain trouble, and the absence of Arbekov also helped to make things easier. Torsten Hallman won the Swedish GP, but Arbekov made an appearance, thus ensuring his championship crown. Second and third places were settled at the final Austrian round in October, where Robert beat Bickers, the final scores being Arbekov 49, Robert 48, and Bickers with 42.
This was very definitely the young Russian's year; though starting out as an unknown, he quickly asserted his World status. Dave Bickers suffered from not having a regular teammate, John Griffiths accumulating more than his share of niggling injuries, but it was Joel Robert who had the biggest surprise. He was virtually unbeatable last year and made it known during the winter i;.at he intended to clean up the 250 class during the first half of the season, then transfer his attentions to the 500 class. As you can see, he did neither, not realizing until too late in the year that he was not riding as he should.
THE 500cc BRIGADE
Leaving the 250cc class we move over to the 500cc brigade; their first meeting, the Austrian G.P., was held on April 4 at Sittendorf near Vienna. All the leading contenders for Championship honours were there, led by England's reigning champion Jeff Smith supported for this year by BSA teammates Arthur Lampkin and Vic Eastwood. Chris Horsfield (factory Matchless) and Jerry Scott on his "old fashioned" ultra-fast twin plug Cheney-modified BSA Gold Star, were to be initiated in their first season of championship riding. Sweden was strongly represented by '62/'63 Champion Rolf Tibblin (Hedlund), '59/'61 Champion Sten Lundin (Matchless Métissé) and '57 Champion Bill Nilsson (Eso), with privateers Gunnar Johansson (Lito) and Per Olaf Persson (Hedlund) completing the team.
As the riders congregated for this first classic, near tragedy struck even before the first exhaust notes had cracked in anger. The Swedes were busy unloading their machinery at the hotel. Rolf Tibblin was chatting to Sten Lundin about his discbraked Métisse and decided to take up Sten's offer of a test ride around the hotel grounds. Bill Nilsson in the meantime was rolling down the driveway on his Eso, looking down at the motor as he adjusted the pilot jet on the carburetor. Suddenly, Rolf came slamming around the corner, full bore in third gear from the opposite direction, and hit Bill broadside. The result was not pretty, both being in casual clothes with no protection. Bill suffered a broken arm, an amputated toe and concussion; Rolf lost the end of his little finger and also received a concussion. This meant two top runners out before racing had even started, upsetting the form book more than a little.
The GP got under way in sunny weather on the fast grassy course, and it proved ideal for newcomer Jerry Scott and his supersonic Gold Star. He literally blasted off the opposition to win the first leg by a handsome margin ... or so he thought. Unfortunately, his dazzling start to championship class racing was quickly dimmed by the organizers, who disqualified the unhappy Briton when he cut out about twenty yards of the course early in the race on restarting after a tumble. This left Arthur Lampkin a surprised winner from Sten Lundin and fellow BSA teamster Vic Eastwood. Jeff Smith's hopes were dashed when his gearbox refused to budge out of third gear, finally burning the clutch out, and leaving him a spectator for the rest of the dav.
Jerry Scott again suffered from "officialdom-itis" in the second leg when he was disqualified for breaking the starting gate (along with thirty others!). It was Sten Lundin who looked all set to win, but the engine oil in his Metisse frame was falling dangerously low, forcing him to slow, and letting burlv Dutchman Broer Dirks (Lito) and Chris Horsfield by before the finish. However, he maintained first place overall from fellow countryman Johansson and Broer Dirks, first leg winner Arthur Lampkin having had to retire with ignition failure while leading the second race.
The next round was held the following week at Wohlen near Zurich, Switzerland and it was Jeff Smith back with a vengeance, earning his first 8 points of the season after his bad start in Austria the previous Sunday. He won the first race easily from Sten Lundin, being content to follow the Swede home in the second race — happy in the knowledge that, providing he kept Lundin in sight, the race was his on overall time. All was not so tranquil further down the field. In the first race, while in second place, Arthur Lampkin's hopes were again dashed by ignition failure, while Vic Eastwood dropped back from third place after losing a footrest. This left the irrepressible Jerry Scott to steam home third ahead of Chris Horsfield. In the second race Vic Eastwood, with the pegs screwed back on his Victor, forced his way into third place behind Smith and Lundin. Per Olaf Persson came home fourth but Anglo-Soviet relations were getting a bit strained down field. Jerry Scott twice fell foul of a wild riding Russian, their 500 class riders bearing little resemblance to the polished style displayed by their fellow countryman in the 250cc class. Not one to give in too easily, however, Scott remounted and gunned his big BSA past his red tormentors, leaving behind a veritable trail of destruction and the name Scott firmly imprinted on the felled Russians' subconscious.
Moving over to the French GP, held toward the end of April at Tarare, a small village outside Lyons in the Rhone valley, we again had a French-manufactured course on the side of a hill. It featured sheer concrete slopes, tunnels and bridges where the course crossed itself, the whole thing being viewed in panorama by the 30,000 crowd from an adjacent slope serving as a natural grandstand.
It was here we had the unprecedented predicament of a rider (Sten Lundin) losing a race because he was too fast. The GP was run as two 45-minute races exactly. When Sten came around in the lead for what everyone presumed was his last lap, the flag failed to appear as expected. Sten went on for another lap, his gearbox split, and with daylight filtering through the internals, he was forced to retire. His time up to the moment he last crossed the line was 44 minutes, 59.6 seconds. Yes, .4 second slower on that last lap and he would have won, but enough of this supposition. It was that master of the start, Jerry Scott, who led the field for some 8 laps ahead of Lundin and Lampkin, Smith bustling his way through the field after a very mediocre start. Lampkin started to slow through lack of brakes after having held a brief lead, letting Lundin through into first place from Scott and Smith. After the last lap demise of Lundin it was Smithy who just edged ahead of Scott to win.
Jeff was now determined to put himself in a stronger position in the Championship tables by leading the second race all the way, comfortably taking first place overall and bringing his points up to 16. This put him ahead in the Championship chase for the first time all year. Jerry Scott looked set for a repeat second place behind Smith, but again he fell foul of one of the Russian riders a lap from the end, dropping him down to third behind Persson, but happily he still held second place overall.
A week's rest after the French enabled contenders to travel up to Finland, the journey proving well worth the effort for Jeff Smith, for he won, completing a hat trick of maximum points. It was here, however, that a future ace appeared out of the blue. His name — Paul Friedrichs. This wiry, crew-cut, unheard-of East German caused a sensation by coming home second to maestro Jeff Smith. The venue was near the Olympic city of Helsinki and marked out on a dusty sand quarry.
First man away from the traps was an up-and-coming Swede, Jan Johansson on a 360cc Lindstrom, which is basically a bored-out Husqvarna. He disappeared into the dust to lead for several laps before over-exuberance brought him down to earth. This left Smith in the lead, with new boy Friedrichs sticking to him like a shadow. Jeff wanted to let the East German by and then wear him down, but Friedrichs was having none of it. This was his first GP and he intended to learn all he could by following the champion. Smith finally escaped on lap fifteen, losing his pursuer among some also-rans they were lapping. Johansson finished third ahead of BSA's Vic Eastwood. Sten Lundin just wasn't with it and retired, as did Chris Horsfield with a flat tire. After a breather, Johansson once again shot into the lead but Smith and shadow soon passed him. Then Friedrichs slipped past his tutor, but the experience of Smith gradually wore his man down, and the champ passed him to win by twelve seconds. Eastwood turned the tables on Johansson by finishing third overall.
Next in line was the Swedish round, held on the grounds of the Knutstorp road racing circuit. Smith once again put it over the Swedes on their home ground, to make it four wins in a row. Heading rapidly for his second championship crown, Jeff won both legs after initial battles with Hanson (360 Lindstrom) in the first race, and pipping Sten Lundin by four-tenths of a second in the latter. Vic Eastwood again showed his promise by finishing second over all ahead of Pelly Persson. Rolf Tibblin made a brief appearance on a 360 CZ instead of his Hedlund, but did not really figure.
The next two rounds in Czechoslovakia and Russia were full of surprises, first of which was the Czech. After his training in Finland, young East German Paul Freidrichs stormed off to thrash the field, which hoisted him from sixth to third in the Championship, in only three rides out of the six events.
The GP was held at Sedicany, forty miles from Prague, and, Friedrichs apart, was dominated by Czechs on locally-made 360 CZs. Jeff Smith fought a running battle with Joel Robert, who had decided to try a 500 round during a lapse in the 250 series. Unfortunately, the young Belgian hit a rock and retired. Two laps to go and Smith's Victor shed its chain, leaving a surprised Friedrichs to chase home first. Robert, having straightened his CZ, decided to race in the second leg. Although he had no chance of overall victory, he showed the crowd of 100,000 what could have happened by leading from start to finish, ahead of Friedrichs and Karel Pilar (360 CZ), who is another regular 250 contender.
The next surprise came at Kiev, Russia, the following weekend, when Russian bad boy Igor Gregoriev (whom I mentioned earlier as not being allowed to race outside the Iron Curtain) showed he had lost none of the old fire so evident in last year's 250 championship, by winning from Jeff Smith. Each of the two legs around the dustbowl course was 18 miles long. After a false start in the first leg, Andriov Klavinch (360 CZ) led from Rolf Tibblin (CZ), Smith and Gregoriev. First to go was Tibblin on lap eight; two laps later, Klavinch slid broadside in front of Smith, who had to take to the long grass to avoid him. Gregoriev, seeing his chance, slipped past and raced home to the flag before Smith had time to recover. This seemed to inspire the Russian; he dashed off from everyone in the second leg, with Smith seemingly content to follow him home in a secure second place.
It was home rule for the British GP at Hawkstone Park on July 7, when Jeff Smith headed the clean sweep by English riders, proving once again that he is complete master of this dangerous, bumpy, rocky, dust-laden course on the Welsh border. Paul Friedrichs made the news twice at this event. First of all, he landed at London airport with his CZ and found nobody to greet him and take him to the circuit. A Cockney taxi driver, sizing up the young East German's predicament, bundled him and his CZ into the cab and, without another word, drove off towards Hawkstone. The poor young German watched the meter spinning around at a prodigious rate, wondering how on earth he was going to pay the man. On arrival at Hawkstone, instead of the £.40 ($120) fare he expected, the cabby refused to accept more than £18 ($54) and with no more ado, turned his taxi around and headed back to London.
The second incident occurred during the presentation of the riders to the crowd before the start. A near-political incident was averted by the organizers when it was realized that the British Government did not recognize East Germany as a state, in common with many other western countries. Since this meant they were not allowed to play the East German national anthem along with the others, it was decided that if Friedrichs could not have an anthem, then nobody would; consequently, each nation was heralded by a fanfare of trumpets instead. You cannot get away from politics these days.
Eventually the field streamed off in a cloud of dust, headed by Vic Eastwood, and Jerry Scott on his potent Cheneytuned Gold Star, though both soon unloaded. This left Arthur Lampkin in the lead, but Eastwood got mobile again and was ahead of Lampkin in no time, though by now Smith was on his tail, and behind Smith came Swede Rolf Tibblin, who had incredibly managed to blast his little CZ through the field from seventeenth. Smith, however, managed to slip past Eastwood into the lead at the end, leaving Tibblin to be content with third place, ahead of Eastwood.
The bell went for round two and it was Don Rickman, riding one of his own manufactured Matchless-engined Métissés, who took the lead from Lampkin, Smith and Tibblin, but a slip dropped him back to fourth place while Tibblin got by Smith for the lead. The flying Swede pressed on to finish 15 seconds up on Smith, but Smith knew that if he maintained second place he would gain overall victory. His teammate, Vic Eastwood, nearly upset the plan, however. Towards the end, the young BSA rider was slowly gaining on Smith and every time Smith looked over his shoulder to see who was behind, he seemed to look over the wrong shoulder; not until it was nearly too late did he spot his pursuer and accelerate out of danger.
With six more rounds to go, this win meant that Smith was almost certain to win the title for the second time running, but he failed to clinch it at the next round in Imola, Italy the following week. It was here that the Swedes came storming back to form, in particular Rolf Tibblin, who won. Sten Lundin led initially, with Smith, Tibblin, ex-champ Bill Nilsson on his Eso and Persson following. Smith came off and Tibblin, unable to miss him ran over his Victor, putting him out of the running for the rest of the day, Lundin, all-out to repeat his first race victory, stormed into the lead, but Tibblin was not having any of it and went by to finish first.
From the heat of Italy to the rainsodden course at Bielstein, Western Germany, where Rolf Tibblin scored his second successive win. Tibblin, now complete master of the 360 CZ and provided with the luxury of a works mechanic, splashed his way around the rain-soaked course near Cologne to win both legs and completely demoralize the opposition. This second win meant that the Swede would have to win the next four rounds in succession to take his third world championship, whereas Smith only needed one more win to clinch the crown. But Jeff, despite a third place behind Ove Lundell (Hedlund), did not make it, retiring in the second race with water in the works. Lundell again came second to Tibblin in the second leg, ahead of Belgian Hermann de Soete (Metisse). The rest of the English contingent fared no better, Scott and Horsfield retiring with bent machinery and Vic Eastwood with a broken rear chain.
The end finally came with a battle royal in the deep sands of the Dutch G.P. at Bergharen on July 25. Once again we had the fiasco of the national anthems, as Paul Friedrichs was entered. The Dutch government, not recognizing East Germany, did not put his name in the program or play his anthem, nor was he presented at the pre-race ceremony, so he became the man who never was.
With light aircraft (belonging to a well known gasoline company) circling overhead, towing banners proclaiming, "Mettez un tigre dans votre tank," the meeting got underway. Smith, realizing this could be the one to clinch it, stormed off into an early lead but came unstuck on one of the steep, rutted, sandy downhill sections. Quickly remounting, he managed to get going again seven seconds ahead of his now seemingly permanent shadow, Friedrichs. Tibblin was also making ground on these two after a bad start, but Jeff rose to the occasion to blast home 23 seconds ahead of the German, and fortythree seconds up on Tibblin. Rather overshadowed by this trio, was the fourth place finish of young Jo Teuwissen, on a Triumph Metisse, whose rapid progress through the deep sand, had to be seen to be believed, the Belgian seemingly winding the motor on full song and leaving it there. His tactics paid off in the second leg; the young "desert rat" just turned it on in a flurry of dust and sand, leaving all but Tibblin wondering which way he went. This pair drew steadily away from Smith and Friedrichs, but on the tenth lap Smith made his bid slowly catching the leaders, his pursuer close behind. With three laps to go he had nearly caught Tibblin and on the last lap just failed to make it, Tibblin not quite catching Teuwissen and Friedrichs shadowing Smith home. Quick calculations showed Smith had made it with forty seconds in hand over Tibblin on total elapsed time; Friedrichs took third place and Teuwissen's efforts gained him a fourth.
So it was all over for another year and an interesting season it had been. Although Jeff Smith had won the championship convincingly, there were one or two surprises and quite a few technical advances. We all expected to see a terrific battle between Tibblin and Smith, but it never materialized. Rolf's accident with Bill Nilsson at the beginning of the year had a severe mental effect on the Swede, as he felt responsible for ruining his friend Bill's chances for the coming season. He admitted to me that his confidence had not returned until half-way through the season when he swapped to 360 CZ. As you can see, his form came back, but not soon enough to be any serious threat to Jeff Smith.
Another interesting factor was Paul Friedrichs. This young East German, unknown and unwanted, crashed the big time half-way through the season to finish second in his first-ever GP, and win next time out. Despite having missed about six rounds he managed to come second in the Championship by winning the last round in East Germany, finishing with 36 points to Smith's 54. This young lad must surely have a golden future, provided that world politics don't interfere! Another bright prospect is 23-year-old Vic Eastwood, an engineer from Bexleyheath, London who, in his second year in championship racing, tied for third with veteran ex-charhp, Sten Lundin at 32 points. Jerry Scott did well, being easily the best privateer on his Eric Cheney-prepared BSA Gold Star, which must be the quickest thing in motocross today. His spectacular style of riding is a great crowd-puller and netted him some useful scores at the start of the season, but the handicap of not being factory supported, robbed him of several rides and the chance to figure in the tables.
We also saw the first concerted challenge by the 360s. It is a pity to see the hairy 500s challenged by smaller capacity machinery, which are not so spectacular and could kill the 500 class, but salvation is nigh. Many continental organizers are refusing to accept non-500 entries, on the grounds that the paying public will pay to see the big ones, but not to see a hoard of overgrown two-strokes buzzing around. The FIM motorcycle government, at the autumn congress in Paris, ruled that 360s could again enter the 500 championships next year, but they also instituted an experimental class for machines of 501-750cc capacity. It appears that there will be six international races on the continent next year, qualifying for an FIM trophy. Judging by the favorable reactions of leading riders prepared to enter, it could well prove a success. If this happens, and organizers want the big bikes back, the new contingent could well prove to be the future big championship class.
