Turn On the "Domelight" And Watch Astro-Cross
TURN ON THE "DOMELIGHT" AND WATCH ASTRO-CROSS
Michael A. Brown
CAN YOU imagine sitting in a plushly-cushioned chair, in air-conditioned comfort, protected from the elements, with a sandwich and a cold beer, watching a motocross race? Sure, you say, if it’s at home watching Wide World of Sports. Guess again! Friday and Saturday nights, March 15 and 16, may have been the start of a new era in motocross racing. The Astrodome in Houston and Yamaha International hosted the firstever totally-indoor motocross event-the first annual Yamaha
International Invitational Motocross.
THIS WAS the second event in a two part “Super Series” that began ^vith a motocross held a week previ™ously in conjunction with the Daytona 200 Road Race. Both events were AMA sanctioned and used a low points scoring system in which the rider’s points were his finishing position in each moto. The Astrodome event had two classes, 250cc and Open, with 30 riders in each. The top 20 finishers in each class at Daytona, plus 10 more riders by invitation for each class filled out the program. The total purse was $40,000: $15,000 for the Daytona event, $15,000 for the Astrodome event and $10,000 for the overall series results based on total points from both meets.
THE GENERAL atmosphere inside the Astrodome was that of a baseball or football game, replete with program and souvenir hawkers, hot dog and beer stands, and Astrodome usherettes in gold hotpants outfits. The first visual impression was of the awesome size of the Dome, and the realization that you were indoors, not just in a stadium.
As quickly as this shock passed, a
As quickly as passed, a second shock set in—this was not a baseball or football field before you; it was a complete motocross track—INDOORS!
THE COURSE itself was really astounding. Gary Bailey (the motocross professor), designed the layout and utilized nearly every square foot of available space to produce a super course-challenging for the riders and exciting for the fans. Packed into an area that is primarily either a baseball or football field was a half-mile of action. ONE LAP around the course went like this: The flag drops, you blast down a 130-yard straightaway with a nasty twofoot-high jump at the halfway point that also serves as the finish line (sometimes literally). At the end of the straight, take a hairpin left (no berm here-it’s easy to lose it), now wire it down the second 130-yard straight, which has a series of bike-and-body-jarring whoop-de-doos. AT THE END of this straight take a sharp left into a footdeep sand wash for about 40 yards, slam it off a left-hand berm and wire it straight up the middle of the Astrodome, over a 10-foot-high tunnel (did he say tunnel? Yep, 10 tons of
precast 75-foot-long, 25-foot-wide, 10-foot-high over-under tunnel), slam it left off a five-foot-high, hairpin berm, down a short straight, over a bone-rattling four-foot jump into a set of switchback turns conveniently starting just after your bike touches ground, back up the middle of the Astrodome, but this time take a slight left, throw it off a sharp right berm and go under the tunnel, take a quick right and grit your teeth over two “roller coaster” jumps, about five-feet high and 20 feet
apart.
THESE “ROLLER COASTER” jumps could really be nasty; a few riders would go over the first jump fast that they would come down on the upslope of the second. Two 180degree switchbacks (one with small jumps entering and leaving the corner), a sweeping left-hander finishing with a three-foot ramp jump and you are back on the starting straight.
THE DIRT used for the track was treated to make it completely dustfree, and provided perfect gum ball traction. No one had any difficulty identifying the leaders, since the huge Astrodome scoreboard flashed continual update of the first half dozen riders, along with a countdown clock for the time remaining. Now that was unreal!
THE LARGE purse attracted most of the nation’s best riders. The only foreign entry was World Open champ Roger DeCoster. He rode in the Daytona portion of the “Super Series”, taking 1st overall, but did not complete a single moto at the Astrodome, dropping out due to a knee injury sustained in practice.
Roger had to be back home in Belgium on Sunday anyway for the first World Grand Prix event of the year, and wisely did not want to risk any further injury. However, his withdrawal from the Astrodome event ruined any chance of his gaining the overall “Super Series” Championship.
RIDER TALENT was evenly split between the 250cc and Open classes. Factory representation saw team Yamaha with Pierre Karsmakers in the 250cc class (Pierre had taken first overall at Daytona) and Tim Hart and Mike Hartwig riding the Open class. The Bultaco factory had Jim Pomeroy, Gary Bailey, and Ron Pomeroy in the 250cc class, and Bryar Holcomb and Ken Zahrt in the Open class.
THE CAN-AM factory was present with Gary and DeWayne Jones campaigning their new 250cc bike, and, based on the machine’s performance in this series, it appears that Can-Am is more than serious.
HUSQVARNA WAS represented by Gary Semics in the Open class and Bob Grossi in the 250cc class. Both Gary and Bob were sporting new G.P. bikes with impressive-looking new > Torward-mounted shocks. These shocks are the most radically forward-mounted seen yet, transferring the load directly to the primary frame member. The shocks sport large cooling fins at the base, to keep the shock oil temperature low enough for some semblance of viscosity. Also noticeable is a beefed-up bushing at the frame attachment point of the swinging arm, to allow for the increased loads on this point. Gary Semics said that the shocks have been thoroughly tested, and that they result in improved handling and better rear-end tracking. This “Super Series” is the first actual competition for this new
set-up.
EACH NIGHT of the Astro-Cross saw two motos in each class. The motos were 20 minutes plus two laps long. An attestment to the challenge of the course was the fact that, de-
spite only 20-plus minute motos, by the end of the second moto each night the riders showed considerable fatigue, as their lines and control began to get somewhat sloppy.
SEVENTEEN-THOUSANDfive-hundred fans turned out Friday night (amid intermittent showers that obviously would not affect an indoor motocross), and when the smoke cleared, the stage was set for a real “anybody’s ballgame” finish Saturday. In the 250cc class, Pierre Karsmakers and Jim Pomeroy were deadlocked for first with four points each—Pomeroy had finished 3-1 Friday, and Pierre 2-2. They were closely pressed by Rich Thorwaldson, who pushed his Suzuki for back-to-back 4th finishes, and by Bob Grossi, Buck Murphy, and Gary Bailey right behind.
MURPHY, FROM Washington State and riding for Penton West, looked like a real threat with a 1stplace finish in the first moto, edging Karsmakers and Pomeroy. With the exception of Jim Pomeroy, who had his rear wheel break in two out of
ree motos at Daytona, none of the first six 250cc riders had finished outside the top 10 for five motos.
OVER IN THE Open class, it was even closer. Tony DiStefano, of Pennsylvania, riding a self-sponsored CZ, came to the forefront with some spectacular riding for finishes of 1-2, with Holcomb, Hart, Mike Runyard, Barry Higgens, Hartwig, and Semics less than 10 points behind. That’s one hell of
a lot of consistent riding. THE FINALE got under way Saturday night before nearly 25,000 fans. Much was at stake, including the Astrodome prize money, plus the “Super Series” overall money on top of that.
IN THE FIRST moto of the 250cc class, Jim Pomeroy showed the same beautifully-smooth style that won the Spanish World G.P. last year. He stuck his Bultaco out in front and was never headed. Back in the pack, Pierre Karsmakers pulled his usual “I guess I’ll give everybody a chance by having a lousy start” routine, but quickly moved up for a real battle with Gary Jones for second. Pierre finally got by Gary, as Gary tried unsuccessfully to go over the underpass when he was supposed to be going under it. Then Pierre promptly laid it down on the last lap, but quickly recovered to take second. IN THE SECOND moto, Gary got tired of not being first, and flat ran away with it. Jim Pomeroy really pushed to pull 2nd over Buck Murphy. Karsmakers again started as usual— 16th the first lap-but he soon began picking off one after another. Yet he still only managed a 5th-place finish. Pierre showed his unique, smashing, crashing style, however, as in every moto he would just thrash his Yamaha around the course. He was most spectacular on the jumps, easily flying twice as far as anyone else.
THE FINAL results had Jim Pomeroy first overall at the Astrodome with finishes of 3-1-1-2. Pierre Karsmakers was 2nd. Pierre got most of the green, though, as he convincingly won the “Super Series” overall with finishes of 2-1-1 at Daytona and 2-2-2-5 at the Astrodome.
MEANWHILE, OVER in the Open class, the first moto had Mike Hartwig running off at the beginning on his Yamaha. But Tony DiStefano and Bryar Holcomb both caught him about
13 minutes into the moto. Then Hartwig and Holcomb got tangled up, leaving the finish to DiStefano, Hart, Semics. Hartwig still managed 8th place though he rode the last four laps on a flat tire.
THE REAL DRAMA was now set for the last moto of the night, as DiStefano had only four points in the Dome, and looked like the probable Astrodome winner. But Tim Hart and Gary Semics were within six points of each other for the “Super Series”. The overall and Astrodome championships were both up for grabs on this last moto.
DISTEFANO’S VICTORY hopes went down at the start, since that sharp little jump on the first straight dropped a rider in front of Tony, who went down. And, when he finally got going, he found himself dead last. Tony really poured it on, though, and managed a 10th place in the moto that gave him 2nd overall for the Astrodome^ and 3rd for the “Super Series”.
“Super Series”.
MEANWHILE, WYMAN Priddy on his Kawasaki jumped to an early
on lead, but pushed too hard, climbed over a berm, and Hart and Holcomb slipped by, as Semics moved up fast. Bryar Holcomb pulled out to win the moto, and Semics finally slipped by Hart as Tim seemed to tire. Semics finished 2nd and Hart 3rd.
HART’S 3RD-PLACE finish gave him the Astrodome championship, but Gary Semics was the overall “Super Series”
Open Class champion. He and Tim Hart both tied on points for the series but Gary took the victory nod by virtue of his higher finish in the last moto.
COMMENTS BY the riders indicated a general positive attitude toward indoor motocross. Obviously, the course could not match a true outdoor, natural-terrain motocross course, but the riders enjoyed it, the fans loved it. Many, many people who might never have gone to a true dust and mud outdoor motocross race had a ball at this one; and they might be converts yet.
THE PROMOTERS of this event hope to expand next year to the new New Orleans Super Dome, and eventually to create an indoor series like the Trans-AMA outdoor series.
AS WE LEFT the confines of the Astrodome, the hay bales were down, the bulldozers had half the course demolished, and the Astrodome would again be a baseball field for the Astros by morning. But the impact of seeing the world’s first indoor motocross was still with us. |5
RESULTS
