Brad Lackey
Brad Lackey | |
---|---|
Nationality | |
Championships | 500cc - 1982 |
Wins | 7 |
Brad Lackey (born July 8, 1953) is an American former professional motocross racer. He competed in the AMA Motocross Championships from 1970 to 1972 and, in the Motocross World Championships from 1973 to 1982. Lackey was notable for becoming the first and only American to win the 500cc motocross world championship in 1982.[1][2] Nicknamed "Bad Brad", Lackey was inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1999 and, in 2013 he was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America.[1][3]
Early career
Born in Berkeley, California, Lackey grew up in Pinole, California as the son of an avid motorcyclist.[1][4] He grew up riding off-road motorcycles in the mountains around the San Francisco Bay area.[1] He began racing motocross at the age of 13 and progressed to become an expert-ranked rider.[1] By the age of 16, his racing success earned him sponsorship from Sprite Motorcycles, sold in America under the American Eagle brand.[4][5] Early in his racing career, Lackey made a political statement during the Vietnam War by mounting a white plastic peace dove onto his motorcycle's handlebar.[6]
Lackey's first racing success came when he rode a Sachs motorcycle to win the support class at a 1969 Inter-Am event near his home in northern California.[7] The 1969 Inter-Am series featured visiting European professional racers such as Joël Robert and Torsten Hallman, who made an impression on Lackey with how much faster they were than their American counterparts.[7][8] At that time, the sport of motocross was beginning to grow in popularity in the United States and, American motocross racers were not as advanced as the racers from Europe where the sport had originated.[9] Despite his hippie style, Lackey was one of the first American motocross racers to learn about the importance of intense physical training necessary to compete at a world championship level.[9][10]
In 1970, Lackey received sponsorship from a local
He returned to the United States and competed for ČZ in the 1971
Lackey began the
Lackey also finished as the highest ranked American rider in the 1972 Trans-AMA motocross series.[1] When the AMA showed no interest in sending an American team to the 1972 Motocross des Nations in Belgium, Lackey stepped in and persuaded Jim Pomeroy, Jimmy Weinert and Gary Jones to join him in the first-ever team to represent the United States at the event, where the team posted a seventh place result.[7][14]
World championship career
Kawasaki wanted Lackey to stay in America and defend his national championship however, after winning the national championship, he was determined to go to Europe to race against the best riders in the world in the world championship Grand Prix events.[1] He became the first American competitor to make a long-term commitment by moving to Europe in pursuit of a motocross world championship.[7] Few other American motocross racers were willing to negotiate the foreign languages and border crossings in Europe when they could make a comfortable living at home.[7]
In the
Before the 1974 season, Lackey accepted an offer to race for the
Lackey's experience continued to grow and in
As motocross surged in popularity in the 1970s, the
Lackey had his best world championship season to date
Kawasaki returned to the world championships in 1979 and rehired Lackey with the promise of a new motorcycle.[7] Despite winning six motos, the season was marred by numerous mechanical issues as Kawasaki worked to develop the new motorcycle.[7] Lackey dropped to fourth in the final championship points standing as, his former teammate, Graham Noyce claimed the world championship for the Honda team.[23] Lackey later admitted that leaving the Honda team was the biggest mistake of his career, probably costing him the world championship in 1979.[7]
Lackey returned with an improved Kawasaki motorcycle for the 1980 season and fought with Honda's André Malherbe in a season-long battle that went down to the final race in Luxembourg where, Lackey suffered two crashes allowing Malherbe to win the world championship with Lackey finishing in second place.[24]
In 1981, Suzuki returned to Grand Prix motocross after a three year hiatus and offered Lackey a contract to race for them however, this meant he would have to develop a new motorcycle.[1][7] He struggled through injuries and mechanical problems and dropped to sixth in the 1981 world championship.[25]
In 1982 world championship season would be a three-way competition between Lackey, his Suzuki teammate André Vromans and Honda's André Malherbe.
At the start of the second race, Vromans took the lead but he forgot a first-lap detour right off the start and began climbing a hill that was used on every lap but the first.[27][28] By the time he realized his mistake and turned around, he was in 17th place.[27][28] Lackey finished the race in 3rd place to secure his first 500cc world championship.[10][27][28][29][30][31]
After his world championship victory, Suzuki made the decision to scale back their racing efforts due to a worldwide economic recession and Lackey was left without a sponsor.[11] Unable to secure sponsorship for the following season, he decided to retire after making one final appearance at the 1983 United States Motocross Grand Prix wearing the traditional number one number plate on his motorcycle signifying that he was the defending world champion.[1][7][6]
Lackey was inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1999 and, in 2013 he was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America.[1][3] Today, Lackey continues his involvement in the sport of motocross taking part in vintage motocross racing.[1][11]
Motocross Grand Prix Results
Points system from 1969 to 1980:
Position | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Points | 15 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Year | Class | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Pos | Pts | ||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | |||||||||||
1971 | 500cc | ČZ | ITA - |
ITA - |
AUT - |
AUT - |
SWE - |
SWE - |
FIN - |
FIN - |
CZE 21 |
CZE 15 |
USR - |
USR - |
GDR - |
GDR - |
UK - |
UK - |
GER - |
GER - |
BEL - |
BEL - |
LUX - |
LUX - |
NED - |
NED - |
- | 0 | ||||||
1973 | 500cc | Kawasaki
|
FRA - |
FRA 8 |
AUT - |
AUT - |
FIN 9 |
FIN - |
ITA 8 |
ITA 8 |
CZE - |
CZE 7 |
USA 10 |
USA 6 |
GER - |
GER - |
BEL - |
BEL - |
LUX 6 |
LUX - |
NED - |
NED - |
13th | 26 | ||||||||||
1974 | 500cc | Husqvarna | AUT - |
AUT - |
FRA 10 |
FRA 9 |
ITA - |
ITA 3 |
DEN - |
DEN 4 |
CZE - |
CZE 8 |
GER 8 |
GER 7 |
UK 7 |
UK 7 |
USA 5 |
USA - |
NED - |
NED 5 |
BEL - |
BEL 7 |
LUX 8 |
LUX 9 |
10th | 57 | ||||||||
1975 | 500cc | Husqvarna | CH 5 |
CH 4 |
ITA - |
ITA - |
FIN 4 |
FIN 6 |
USR 4 |
USR 7 |
FRA 7 |
FRA 5 |
USA 2 |
USA - |
CAN 5 |
CAN - |
UK 9 |
UK - |
GER 7 |
GER - |
NED 5 |
NED - |
BEL - |
BEL 4 |
LUX - |
LUX 1 |
6th | 96 | ||||||
1976 | 500cc | Husqvarna | CH - |
CH - |
FRA - |
FRA - |
ITA 4 |
ITA 5 |
AUT - |
AUT - |
SWE - |
SWE - |
FIN 1 |
FIN - |
GER 4 |
GER 8 |
USA 7 |
USA 3 |
CAN 3 |
CAN 2 |
UK 6 |
UK - |
BEL 3 |
BEL 4 |
LUX - |
LUX - |
5th | 99 | ||||||
1977 | 500cc | Honda | AUT - |
AUT 7 |
NED 2 |
NED 4 |
SWE 1 |
SWE - |
FIN 3 |
FIN 2 |
GER 4 |
GER 7 |
ITA - |
ITA - |
USA 7 |
USA 4 |
CAN 3 |
CAN 2 |
UK 4 |
UK 1 |
BEL 3 |
BEL 3 |
LUX 4 |
LUX 5 |
CH 7 |
CH - |
4th | 168 | ||||||
1978 | 500cc | Honda | CH 5 |
CH 3 |
AUT 1 |
AUT 2 |
FRA 1 |
FRA 2 |
DEN 2 |
DEN 3 |
FIN 2 |
FIN 2 |
SWE - |
SWE 2 |
USA - |
USA 2 |
ITA 1 |
ITA 4 |
UK 2 |
UK 1 |
BEL 2 |
BEL 2 |
LUX - |
LUX - |
NED - |
NED - |
2nd | 214 | ||||||
1979 | 500cc | Kawasaki | AUT 5 |
AUT 1 |
FRA 3 |
FRA 1 |
SWE 1 |
SWE - |
ITA 4 |
ITA - |
USA - |
USA 1 |
CAN 4 |
CAN 2 |
GER - |
GER 9 |
UK 1 |
UK 4 |
CH - |
CH 4 |
NED - |
NED 8 |
BEL 9 |
BEL 7 |
LUX 1 |
LUX 2 |
4th | 173 | ||||||
1980 | 500cc | Kawasaki | CH 2 |
CH 2 |
AUT 1 |
AUT 1 |
FRA 5 |
FRA 2 |
SWE 1 |
SWE 3 |
FIN 3 |
FIN 3 |
ITA 5 |
ITA 6 |
NED - |
NED 2 |
USA 6 |
USA - |
CAN 1 |
CAN 4 |
GER 2 |
GER 2 |
BEL 3 |
BEL 2 |
LUX 5 |
LUX 10 |
2nd | 221 | ||||||
1981 | 500cc | Suzuki | AUT - |
AUT - |
CH 3 |
CH - |
FIN 6 |
FIN - |
SWE 7 |
SWE - |
ITA - |
ITA 5 |
FRA 2 |
FRA 2 |
USA 6 |
USA 3 |
NED 6 |
NED - |
CZE 6 |
CZE 9 |
BEL - |
BEL 4 |
LUX - |
LUX - |
6th | 99 | ||||||||
1982 | 500cc | Suzuki | FRA 2 |
FRA 6 |
NED 7 |
NED 2 |
SWE 3 |
SWE 3 |
FIN 8 |
FIN 6 |
AUT 3 |
AUT 1 |
ITA 5 |
ITA 2 |
GER 3 |
GER 2 |
USA 3 |
USA 3 |
CAN 1 |
CAN - |
UK 3 |
UK 1 |
BEL 2 |
BEL 4 |
LUX 2 |
LUX 3 |
1st | 228 | ||||||
1983 | 500cc | Yamaha | CH - |
CH - |
AUT - |
AUT - |
GER - |
GER - |
SWE - |
SWE - |
FIN - |
FIN - |
ITA - |
ITA - |
USA 5 |
USA 6 |
FRA - |
FRA - |
UK - |
UK - |
BEL - |
BEL - |
SM - |
SM - |
NED - |
NED - |
19th | 11 | ||||||
Sources:[32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43] |
Motocross championships
- 1972 A.M.A. 500cc Motocross National Champion
- 1982 F.I.M. 500cc Motocross World Champion
- 2000 Over 40 AHRMA Champion
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "Motorcycle Hall of Fame". motorcyclemuseum.org. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
- ^ "Brad Lackey career profile". bestsports.com. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
- ^ a b "Brad Lackey at the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America". mshf.com. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
- ^ a b c Remitz, Ed (December 1, 1972). "Profile: Brad Lackey". Cycle World. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
- ^ "Classic Motocross Iron: 1971 American Eagle 405 Talon". motocrossactionmag.com. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
- ^ a b "Brad Lackey Motocross Chronicles". ultimatemotorcycling.com. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-578-29016-4
- ^ a b c "Brad Lackey, American Legend". mxgp.com. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
- ^ a b c "Brad Lackey's World Championship Quest". motocrossactionmag.com. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
- ^ a b c "Cycle News Archives: Bad Brad's Hammer Time". cyclenews.com. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
- ^ a b c d "Hanging Out With The Champ - What's Up With Brad Lackey?". off-road.com. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
- ^ a b "THE HISTORY OF THE AMA 500 NATIONALS". motocrossactionmag.com. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
- ^ "1972 Motocross Season". racerxonline.com. Retrieved 15 February 2016.
- ^ a b "Can You Name Every American MXDN Team Since 1972". motocrossactionmag.com. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
- ^ "Big, Bad Brad". husqvarna-motorcycles.com. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
- ^ "1974 500cc motocross world championship final standings". memotocross.fr. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
- ^ "1974 Motocross des Nations" (PDF). memotocross.fr. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
- ^ "1975 500cc motocross world championship final standings". memotocross.fr. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
- ^ "1976 500cc motocross world championship final standings". memotocross.fr. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
- ^ "Race Watch". Cycle World. January 1977. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
- ^ "1977 500cc motocross world championship final standings". memotocross.fr. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
- ^ a b "1978 500cc motocross world championship final standings". memotocross.fr. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
- ^ "1979 500cc motocross world championship final standings". memotocross.fr. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
- ^ "Race Watch". Cycle World. January 1981. Retrieved 18 December 2015.
- ^ "1981 500cc motocross world championship final standings". memotocross.fr. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
- ^ Assoc, American Motorcyclist (July 1982). "Carlsbad Grand Prix: Lackey's Last Chance?". American Motorcyclist. Retrieved 18 December 2015.
- ^ a b c d "Almost Famous". cybermotorcycle.com. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
- ^ a b c "On This Day In Moto: August 8". racerxonline.com. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
- ^ Amick, Bill (October 1982). "It's Lackey, At Last". American Motorcyclist. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
- ^ Phillipson, Don (October 1982). "Brad Lackey; Victory At Long Last". |magazine=Cycle |ISSN= |accessdate=17 December 2015
- ^ "Brad Lackey, World Champion". cycleworld.com. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
- ^ "1971 500cc motocross world championship race classifications" (PDF). memotocross.fr. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
- ^ "1973 500cc motocross world championship race classifications" (PDF). memotocross.fr. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
- ^ "1974 500cc motocross world championship race classifications" (PDF). memotocross.fr. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
- ^ "1975 500cc motocross world championship race classifications" (PDF). memotocross.fr. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
- ^ "1976 500cc motocross world championship race classifications" (PDF). memotocross.fr. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
- ^ "1977 500cc motocross world championship race classifications" (PDF). memotocross.fr. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
- ^ "1978 500cc motocross world championship race classifications" (PDF). memotocross.fr. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
- ^ "1979 500cc motocross world championship race classifications" (PDF). memotocross.fr. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
- ^ "1980 500cc motocross world championship race classifications" (PDF). memotocross.fr. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
- ^ "1981 500cc motocross world championship race classifications" (PDF). memotocross.fr. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
- ^ "1982 500cc motocross world championship race classifications" (PDF). memotocross.fr. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
- ^ "1983 500cc motocross world championship race classifications" (PDF). memotocross.fr. Retrieved 1 July 2023.