1970 American Motocross The European Invasion -2-Page Vintage Motorcycle Article

Description

1970 American Motocross The European Invasion -2-Page Vintage Motorcycle Article
Original, vintage magazine article
Page Size: Approx. 8" x 11" (21 cm x 28 cm) each page
Condition: Good
NEWS FROM EUROPE
American Motocross: The Great European Invasion
Aberg aboard his 400 Husky.
BENGT ABERG. Swedish world moto-
cross champions are expected to be
polite, self-effacing, reserved but friend-
ly. Nice guys. Bengt Aberg comes
straight from that mold. This 25-year-
old rider from Bolinas, in northern
Sweden, became the 1969 500cc world
champion when he beat Roger DeCoster
in Switzerland during the next-to-last
round of the season. From being an easy
mark for the top six riders last year,
Aberg has blossomed this year into a
superbly fast, tactically brilliant moto-
cross man.
Aberg offhis400 Husky.
DeCoster and fans go wild in Belgium.
ISDT. The East German ISDT experts
took the 1969 trophy. The Czechs fin-
ished second, losing their clean score
sheet on the final day’s speed test when
a Jawa’s electrics went out. Third place
finisher was Britain, struggling along
without manufacturers’ support, and
riding a variety of home-prepared
machines, including Cheney-Triumphs.
The Britons, ignominiously, enjoyed less
trade support than did the 24 American
enthusiasts who made the long trip to
Garmish-Partenkirchen in West Ger-
many. The two USA Vase teams both
finished: the all-Penton "B” team in
eighth place, and the “A” quartet in
ninth. The Stars and Stripes brigade
went home with two Gold Medals, nine
Silvers, and six Bronzes.
It’s going to be a long, long trail be-
fore the transatlantic invaders catch up
with the East Germans or the Czechs,
both of whom have the immense advan-
tage of government backing. Yet, you
can’t help being impressed by the fault-
less performances of the Germans in the
special tests, and the near 100% reliabili-
ty of Czech men and machines.
If you want to know whether you
own the best enduro machine, the class
winners are: 50cc, Zundapp; 75cc,
Zundapp;lOOcc, Puch; 125cc, Zundapp;
175cc, MZ; 250cc, MZ; 350cc, Jawa;
500cc, MZ. The best 750cc machine was
an R75/5 BMW, but we bet you don’t
have one of those equipped for the
rough stuff.
BELGIAN MOTOCROSSING. It is a
pity that AMA race promoters and offi-
cials were not in Belgium recently to see
what bigtime motocross is really all
about, and what it could possibly mean
in the USA. They would have seen over
30,000 Belgians shouting their men to a
250cc victory, to match their 500cc win
the week before.
Inter-Am devotees would have dis-
covered some unlikely individuals be-
come strictly team members. Joel
Robert, for instance, was seriously ab-
sorbing team instructions before tucking
himself away unobtrusively in a corner
of the Farleigh Castle paddock. Roger
DeCoster kept his wheel aimed dead
ahead all afternoon, with nary a one of
Everybody flew high at the Belgium event.
his famous midair twitches. Team moto-
cross is a serious business.
In Belgium, the customers are not
shy about showing their appreciation
when local heroes go winning; nor are
they slow to register disgust if their
favorite isn’t trying. They have been
known to throw rocks. Every time a
Belgian came around, they surged across
the track to cheer, cajole, and threaten
the rider into greater efforts.
SEELEY/HAILWOOD. Mike Hailwood
was paid a princely sum to lose a race.
Not that there was any question of his
throwing it. He just couldn’t conceiva-
bly win, because he was racing a Seeley
against Agostini’s 500cc MV in the
Mallory Park “Race of the Year”. The
star names (which also included Phil
Read and Rod Gould on their 350cc
Yamahas) pulled in a crowd of
50,000.
ROBERT/SUZUKI. Joel Robert won
the 250cc world championship, said
goodbye to those clever motorcycle-
engineering people at CZ, and shoved
off to join Suzuki. Sylvain Geboers, fel-
low Belgian CZ rider and championship
runner-up, went with Robert. They will
be joining Olle Pettersson, third in the
1969 standings. You could say that
Suzuki will field quite a strong team in
1970.
Reportedly, the Belgian aces signed
three-year contracts to the tune of
,000 apiece. That’s a lot of money
in any motocross language.
NEW KNOBBIES. Many think that one
knobby tire is very much like another,
but the tire manufacturers don’t. During
last winter’s British TV scrambles series,
Dunlop came out with (for want of a
better name) a mud tire. It was extra-
wide in section and had a contoured
self-cleaning tread pattern. Now the
Swedish Trelleborg firm has introduced
a new “all weather” knobby with a
4!6-inch section, and huge gaps between
the knobs in the center of the tire.
Ssssh, now Dunlop is working on some-
thing new.
average speed of 72 mph for the 1,742
miles. These machines were real racers,
fitted with lights, so they will be barred
from production races like the
Thruxton 500.
-Jim Greening
Kring, Hallman, Aberg. and the new Trelleborg knob.
START MONEY? There is a plan to ask
six top American roadracers to compete
(for money!) against six British scratch-
es at Brands Hatch and Mallory Park.
The idea comes from the British Motor
Cycle Racing Club and the financial
backing from Castrol, and invitations
have gone out to Harley Davidson and
Triumph USA. Money talk is 00 for
the winning team, and an individual
purse of 00, with an all-expense-paid
bait for the Americans. The series is
planned as six comparatively short
races, three at Brands and three at
Mallory, to be added attractions at
scheduled meetings. To even the odds a
bit, clutch starts will be used. (Editor's
note: word here has it that something
got mixed up along the way, because
the Americans got the offer, but noth-
ing was said to the riders about money.)
CB750 winning the 24 Hour at Montlhery.
CB750/RACING. The 750cc Honda’s
front disc brake became dual discs when
factory-sponsored CB750s were raced in
the 24-hour event at Montlhery. The
four-cylinder Hondas also carried fair-
ings, racing exhausts, and a full range of
competition goodies which gave them a
15% power increase. A Honda won the
24-hour race quite comfortably, at an...
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