MOTOR RACING / SHAV GLICK : Hannah, Johnson Considered Best in U.S.

Bob Hannah of Lancaster and Rick Johnson of El Cajon are the two finest motocross riders the United States has produced.

So says Roger DeCoster of Belgium, winner of five world championships and universally considered the greatest rider in the sport’s history. It was DeCoster, along with other European riders such as Torsten Hallman, Joel Robert and Sylvain Geboers, who came to the United States in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s and created the motocross craze among teen-age riders. DeCoster won world championships in 1971-73, 1975 and 1976 and the American Trans-Am championship from 1974 through 1977. When his career as a rider ended, he remained in this country to manage the Honda motocross team and also help the U.S. win nine consecutive Motocross des Nations titles--the world team championship.

With such a background, DeCoster is uniquely qualified to rate American riders he has ridden against or observed during the past 20 years. DeCoster’s top 15:

The best--Hannah, Johnson, David Bailey, Jeff Ward.

The next best--Brad Lackey, Broc Glover, Mark Barnett, Johnny O’Mara, Marty Smith, Jeff Stanton.

The very good--Kent Howerton, Mike Bell, Jim Pomeroy, Ron Lechien, Danny LaPorte.

“I can’t choose between Hannah and Johnson,” DeCoster said. “If they met, each one at their peak, it would have been like rolling dice. You would never know which one would win. Both carried an aura about them that they couldn’t be beaten.

“If I were grading riders like in school, they would both be A-plus. Two others, David Bailey and Jeff Ward, would be A. The difference may be in the personality of Hannah and Johnson as much as in their riding. They both got the most from everything they did, both on and off their bikes.

“Bailey had more talent than either of them, but his career was cut short before we knew how much he might accomplish. Technically, Bailey is the best Supercross rider ever. He rode by the book, but he did things better than anyone else. Ward must be considered on his record over the years. He is so durable and so sure to give his best every time he goes to the line. I think if he had the charisma of Hannah and Johnson, he would be just as big a name.”

Hannah, who retired this year, won 27 Supercross events and 35 other national races, more than any other rider, and dominated the stadium series from 1977 through 1979 before he was seriously injured in a water-skiing accident. Johnson won 28 Supercross races and the championship in 1986 and 1988 and also won five other outdoor national championships.

Johnson has been sidelined most of the last two seasons with injuries, but hopes to return in time to ride in the 500cc U.S. Grand Prix of Motocross Aug. 26 at Glen Helen Park in San Bernardino. The event is being promoted by DeCoster and will feature defending world champion David Thorpe of Great Britain, three-time world champion Eric Geboers of Belgium, the current points leader, and Jean-Michel Bayle of France, the world 250cc champion who has been riding on the Supercross circuit.

“Hannah revolutionized riding styles for Supercross,” DeCoster said. “He had a total commitment to get the lead, or keep the lead, and he would do whatever it took. He was very adaptable and never afraid to take a chance. He got himself into some situations that I doubt any other rider could escape, but Hannah always seemed to figure a way out.

“Johnson was so smooth, so completely in command, that he never appeared to be working as hard as Hannah, or anyone else. From the time I first saw him, when he was barely 18, riding some big bumps at Lake Whitney, Tex., I could see right away that he was going to be a great rider.

“Lackey might have been in that top group, but I don’t know if he could handle Supercross. He never seemed to care for stadium racing. Today a rider must be able to ride the stadiums if he expects to succeed. It takes a different technique from outdoors, where riding is faster and less technical. Supercross has helped U.S. riders become dominant because they race so often at the highest level of competition, and the courses are so tight that they learn to fight for position.”

Lackey is the only American to win the world 500cc championship, the one once dominated by DeCoster. Lackey won in 1982 after 11 years pursuing the world title and then abruptly retired.

“Lackey was his own worst enemy,” DeCoster said. “He was always in great condition, always tough, much like Jeff Ward, but no one in motocross will ever understand why he didn’t ride the year after he won the world championship.”

Stanton, who won his second consecutive Supercross championship and its $50,000 bonus this year, also won the U.S. 250cc Grand Prix last month at Unadilla, N. Y.

“Stanton benefited from training with Johnson last year, and then when Johnson got hurt he realized he could do it,” DeCoster said. “I don’t know how good he would have been if Johnson had not been injured. He is riding very well, now, however.”

DeCoster believes the riders of his era were as good as today’s riders, but that there is a vast difference in equipment.

“When I was riding, it was always a concern if the bike would last. A bike would have broken in one lap if it was ridden as hard as they ride today. My main concern was always to save the equipment and finish the race. Today, the only way a bike breaks is when a rider crashes.

“Champion riders from the 1960s would win today, though, and today’s champions could have won under those conditions. Champions will always be winners because to be a champion a rider must know how to adapt to situations and circumstances. The materials and design have improved every year, thanks to Japanese engineers and designers.

Most of the 15 riders selected by DeCoster will appear at the Glen Helen festival. Ones not entered in the 500cc world championship race will compete in a Vintage Iron Invitational for former champions.

SPRINT CARS--The four leading California Racing Assn. drivers--Brad Noffsinger of Huntington Beach, John Redican of Chatsworth, Rip Williams of Garden Grove and Ron Shuman of Tempe, Ariz.--will participate in the Sander Engineering match races Saturday night in addition to the regular CRA program and 30-lap main event at Ascot Park. The format calls for four five-lap races, with each driver getting the pole position for one race. The winner will receive $1,000.

Former champion Noffsinger leads the standings, but only 121 points separate the top four drivers. Williams moved to within 22 points of Redican, in second place, when he broke a 35-race winless streak last Saturday night.

SPEEDWAY BIKES--Billy Hamill has returned from the British Speedway League to ride two weeks on the Southern California circuit. Hamill, who has been slowed with a knee injury the past month, will race tonight at Ascot Park’s South Bay Stadium against Mike Faria and Bobby Schwartz and will also ride Friday night at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa and next Wednesday night at San Bernardino’s Glen Helen track.

STOCK CARS--Only 12 points separate Dennis Wooldridge of Riverside, Larry Lyon of El Cajon and veteran Ed Hale of El Cajon with only eight points races remaining at Cajon Speedway on the Winston Racing Series. Lyon, who has five second-place finishes, will be looking for his first win Saturday night. . . . NASCAR’s True Value Hardware Night at Ascot Park will feature Winston Racing Series competition Sunday. Jerry Johnson, who has been driving for four decades at Ascot Park, won his second main event last week. . . . Street stocks and Figure 8s will share top billing Saturday night at Saugus Speedway. . . . Ron Meyer and Dave Scheidecker will continue their battle for track supremacy Saturday night at San Bernardino’s Orange Show Speedway in a Winston Racing Series sportsman program. . . . Street stocks will also race Friday night at Ventura Raceway.

MISCELLANY--The fourth race of the five-race Miller High Life Off-Road Challenge will be held Sunday at Glen Helen Park. Featured will be Eric Arras, Marty Coyne and Rory Holladay. . . . Champion Bracket Racing Assn. will hold the California Classic Saturday and Sunday at L.A. County Raceway in Palmdale.

NECROLOGY--Veteran racing announcer Roxy Rockwood died Sunday in Mission Viejo of a heart attack. Rockwood, 61, had announced every American Motorcyclist Assn. national championship race held at Ascot Park and had planned to retire after the Sept. 29 national event, which would be the last at Ascot. Services will be 2 p.m. Saturday at Rice Mortuary, 5310 Torrance Blvd., Torrance. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the American Motorcycle Heritage Foundation, Box 6114, Westerville, Ohio, 43081.