1977 Ama Motocross Schedule, Weinert Is A Superstar, And A Couple of Tidbits To Nibble On
1977 AMA Motocross Schedule, Weinert is a Superstar, and a Couple of Tidbits to Nibble On
RACE WATCH
D. Randy Riggs
LAGUNA SECA SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT
Monterey, California's Laguna Seca National Road Race attracts thousands of people every year to watch one of the best events on the calendar. But this July the race is absent from the national schedule. Instead, the event has been given a For mula 750 World Championship sanction and will be held on September 11 rather than the usual late-July date. The race will be called the Champion Spark Plug 200 and will feature two 100-kilometer seg ments, a $50,000 purse and an interna tional field of riders. The event is not part of the Camel Pro Series and will not pay national points. SCRAM P and Trippe Cox are co-sponsors of the event, which will be a critical one for riders going after the title in that division. It is one of the two U.S. events Steve Baker will ride in this year, the other one being at Daytona.
MORE ON HENNEN
Californian road racer Pat Hennen, the first American to ever win a World Cham pionship event in his field, has taken yet another Marlborough Road Race Series title in New Zealand. It's his third straight and this time he rode a Suzuki RG500 Square Four. Hennen will team with Barry Sheene and Steve Parrish through 1977, riding for Suzuki of Great Britain.
YAMAHA SUPPORTS MAMOLA
Randy Mamola, the 17-year-old teen ager who has attracted the attention of many in road racing circles, has graduated to Lightweight Expert status. Along with
his new ranking, Mamola will receive sup port and assistance from Yamaha Motor Corporation and will continue his associa tion with Jim Doyle. Doyle helped Kenny Roberts in his early career and is doing the same with Randy. Mamola journeyed to New Zealand during the winter and put in a couple of impressive rides.
JACK PENTON A MOTOCROSS STAR?
ISDT and National Enduro rider Jack Penton has applied for an AMA profes sional motocross license for the 1977 sea son. His decision no doubt has something to do with the fact that some of the top ISDT riders were or are world-caliber motocrossers. And this plays a great part in registering high scores during the special test segments of the long runs, where speed and endurance go hand in hand. It should be interesting to see how it works out for the talented rider from Ohio.
MOTOCROSS CONTRACT UPDATE
Last month I reported on several moto crossers who were switching brands and playing the usual off-season game of contract negotiation. And there's more this month. Jim Pomeroy, who will be flying Honda colors this year, won’t get in the traveling he did with Bultaco as Honda intends to keep him stateside for the season.
Bultaco. on the other hand, has picked up Rich Eierstedt who came from, you guessed it . . . Honda. Joining Rich will be Wayne Boyer and possibly one other rider to be announced at a later date.
Husky was the factory with the most picking up to do. Left w ithout Brad Lackey or Heikki Mikkola, the Swedish concern had some searching ahead. They came up with Englishman Vic Allen and Dutchman Frans Sigmans for the 500-cc class, Rob Hooper and Hakan Carlquist for the 250cc division, and Roger Harvey and Tony Kalberer on the 125s.
Factory Maicos will be piloted by Steve Stackable who departed Suzuki, and Gaylon Mosier, a long-time Maico rider, for the 1977 AMA professional motocross season. The riders will concentrate on 250cc and 500-cc Nationals, the Supercross Series and the Trans-AMA.
On the European side of things for Bultaco, Serge Bacou of France will ride the 500-cc GP circuit, replacing Bengt Aberg, who has gone to Yamaha and will ride a four-stroke 500.
DAYTONA TIRE TESTING
Ken Roberts and Steve Baker spent time at Daytona in late January testing tire combinations, but were hampered by extremely cold weather which didn't allow tire temperatures to rise sufficiently. Roberts’ new 250 ran tremendously quick lap times, about two seconds faster than his fastest lap times last year which were taken during the race. If that's the case, expect the quickest 250s in this year’s Lightweight event to be running times that would’ve put a rider on the pole just a couple of years back on the 750 machines. Roberts was also trying out his latest factory 750. The bike sports a new and unusually styled fairing and seat, with holes cut out for the riders feet. There were the usual teething problems as handling through the infield was not up to par with last year’s OW-31. but the bugs will be worked out in time for the Daytona 200. Baker expects to receive his new 750 shortly but will be concentrating mostly on the 500 he’ll ride in Europe.
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WEINERT QUALIFIES FOR SUPERSTARS
AMA pro motocrosser Jim Weinert, who rides for the Kawasaki factory team, qualified for the final round of the ABC Sports Superstars Series. He’ll be one of 13
finalists who come from various sports backgrounds, and is getting help in his training for the final competition from Bruce Jenner, the Olympic gold medalist in the decathlon. You can bet the “Jammer” will do his best to represent our sport. We’re proud he’s in the elite group of some of the best athletes in the world.
KESSLER AND MONTESA
Nineteen-year-old Mickey Kessler has signed with Montesa and will run under Cosmopolitan Motors, Inc. sponsorship in the east and Viva Distributing Co. in the west. Kessler will ride many classes during the season, campaigning the new Montesa VB models, known as the “Hakaan Anerson” replicas. ^
