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1987 Mister Motocross series - Dack wins two in a row
1987 MISTER MOTCROSS SERIES - Oran Park (NSW), Broadford (VIC), Gillman (SA), TIVOLI (QLD), Oran Park (NSW)
Photos: [Left ] The 1987 Mr. MX series was billed as the ‘Honda vs Yamaha’ and ‘Dack vs Bell’ show; [Centre] but it was Craig Dack who was again the victor, winning back-to-back titles; and [Right] the 1987 Mr. MX promotional poster.
The 'Dack vs Bell' and 'Honda vs Yamaha' battle continues
As the Castrol Mister Motocross (Mr. MX) series entered its 14th year, it showed no signs of slowing down. Five rounds over four states were again planned and the race format was the same as in 1986, with the only change being in Queensland with round 4 moving from Toowoomba back to Tivoli.
1987 was billed as the ‘Yamaha vs Honda’ and ‘Bell vs Dack’ series. Team Honda had withdrawn their support from the motocross team, so reigning Mr. MX Craig Dack returned to one of his previous sponsors, Brian Collins Motorcycles, but remained aboard Hondas.
Dack, with his number one plate, would be hard to beat. But his ex-Honda teammate David Armstrong (who made the move to Kawasaki), Yamaha-mounted Jim Ellis, and Marlboro Yamaha teamsters Glen Bell and James Deakin would be vying for their breakthrough wins in the prestigious series.
Other seeded riders with the ability to snare a bagful of points included young expatriate West Aussie Dale Britton, and NSW riders Robert Scott and Phil Sargent. One of the hottest emerging prospects was Victorian Dean Burt – fresh from his sensational Brisbane Entertainment Centre Supercross victory.
But when the 1987 series got under way, Dack found excellent form and convincingly won back-to-back Mr. MX titles.
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Round 1 - Dack takes first blood at Oran Park
Craig Dack was keen to prove the 1986 title was no fluke, and came out all guns blazing on his CR 250 Honda in the first moto of the opening round at Sydney’s Oran Park on 3 May 1987. But it wasn’t the walkover some would have expected.
It was hard work for the riders made worse by the circuit which was drenched the night before and became heavy and cut-up and Glen Bell won moto 2 ahead of Dack, with David Armstrong also lowering Dack’s colours in moto 3.
With Dack winning the fourth moto and finishing the day on 54 points (1-2-2-1), the leaderboard was crowded. Armstrong was second overall (3-3-1-2) on 47 points with Bell (2-1-4-3) in third on 45 points, recovering to finish third after crashing in the final moto. Three Queenslanders James Deakin, Stephen Dinsdale and Pete Melton finished in 4th, 5th and 6th places respectively.
1983 Mr. MX Ray Vandenberg was planning to make a comeback at Oran Park, planning to be fit and healthy once again after missing most of 1986 when he had a major operation to repair his injured knees. But he was unable to make it to the start after injuring his shoulder at the Mildura Supercross two weeks earlier, then hurting his knee again one week before the opening round.
Photo: [Top] Reigning Mr. MX Craig Dack won the opening 1987 Mr. MX round at Oran Park (NSW), but the Honda rider was challenged by Marlboro Yamaha Team rider Glen Bell (Bottom) and four Queenslanders – James Deakin, Stephen Dinsdale, Peter Melton & David Armstrong, who was 2nd (By Mika Manninen)
Round 2 - Armstrong wins Broadford to vie for lead
Photo: After winning Round 2 at Broadford, Queensland Kawasaki rider David Armstrong was now a serious challenger for the series (Trail and Track).
Round 2 at Victoria’s Broadford track showed just how competitive the year was going to be. Glen Bell started brilliantly to win the first moto ahead of the reigning champ and series leader Craig Dack, with rising star James Deakin winning moto 2 and David Armstrong motos 3 and 4.
But after moto 1, things went downhill for Bell. An electrical or fuel problem saw his bike refuse to run once warmed up and he was unable to take any further part in the day’s racing.
Dack was the most consistent rider on the day, finishing Dack (2-4-2-3), but he had to settle for second overall and dropped six points to the hard charging Kawasaki rider David Armstrong on 48 points. Steven Andrew was in third – 7 points further back on 35 points (3-2-4-6).
The series finished the day with Dack holding on to the slimmest of margins on 96 points – just one point over Armstrong (95), with Stephen Dinsdale (5-5-3-4) now in third overall in the series.
Round 3 - Dack escapes the Gillman carnage to win
Round 3 at Gillman in South Australia turned out to be a very tough and decisive round for the 1987 Mr. MX series. Rain turned some parts of the course into massive mud holes, necessitating some reworking of the layout. Injuries too played havoc, with Dack mowed down in the first turn of the first moto, David Armstrong suffering a shoulder injury and James Deakin sidelined with a groin injury.
The chaos threw up a new and popular local first moto winner in Andy Haydon riding the Kawasaki Dealer Team KX250. Craig Dack, even though he was nursing some pretty horrible bruising from his early crash, came back hard to win the next three motos (0-1-1-1) and the day, but more importantly assume control of the series with a healthy 34 point buffer to David Armstrong.
No sooner had Armstrong made a serious threat to Dack defending his title, it was snatched right from under his nose. After finishing second in moto 1 to Hayden, Armstrong crashed and injured his shoulder in moto 2 and was unable to complete any further races – also blowing his chances of a series win.
With Glen Bell unable to contest the round through injury, and Amstrong and Deakin both getting injured at Gillman, the round featured some new faces on the podium with Dack finishing first on 45 points, ahead of Kawasaki riders Troy Doolan (32) and Andy Haydon (29).
But most importantly with two rounds remaining, barring injury himself, Dack was on track for back-to-back Mr. MX titles after opening up a 34 point (141) lead on Armstrong (107) with Stephen Dinsdale way back in third on 73 points.
Photos: [Top] 1987 Mr. Motocross reigning champion Craig Dack with promoter Vince Tesoreiro at Round 3 Gillman (SA); and after crashing heavily in Moto 1 to DNF, Dack recovered to win Motos 2 to 3, claim overall victory on the day and extend his series lead (By Trail and Track)
Round 4 - Dack sets up unassailable lead at Tivoli
The 1987 Mr. MX title was almost decided at the Tivoli, Queensland round on 26 July. With Dack taking the overall win on the day with two wins and two third places, he was just four points short of what would have been an unassailable lead going into the fifth and final round at Oran Park.
Armstrong, still suffering the after effects of the shoulder injury incurred in South Australia, was the big loser on the day after not finishing the first moto. Any chance of him getting over the top of Dack in the series evaporated at that point.
Hometown hero James Deakin recovered from injury to finish second overall to Dack (5-2-4-1), 7 points behind him on 43. Deakin tied on points with Bell (2-1-3-5), who lost on a countback with Deakin winning the fourth moto.
Photo: Round 4 Mr. MX winner and Honda rider Craig Dack at Tivoli, flanked by the Team Marlboro riders Glen Bell (left) and James Deakin (right) on the winner’s podium. Dack extended his series lead to 56 points over Armstrong and only needed to finish in the Top 10 in one moto in the final at Oran Park.
Round 5 - Dack wins round and series at Oran Park
The final round back at Oran Park became something of a formality, with the Mr. Motocross crown effectively decided after the first moto, even with Craig Dack’s lowly eighth place following a lap two crash. In stark contrast to the opening round which was a mud bath, the final round was run in dry and fast conditions. After clinching back-to-back titles and recovering from his first moto fall, Dack mentally regrouped and went on to win the second and fourth races and tie for the overall on the day.
Dack (8-1-3-1) tied on 43 points with the recovered David Armstrong (4-4-1-2), but was awarded the overall win by virtue of his higher placed final moto result. After winning moto 1 and coming second in moto 2, two DNF’s for Glen Bell in the final two races of the year saw Queenslander James Deakin climb over him from 4th into 3rd outright (2-3-6-10) in both the round and series. At last Deakin had finally silenced those critics who were muttering about his inclusion in the Marlboro Yamaha Team, with the Queenslander also winning the big Supercross Masters at Sydney’s Entertainment Centre earlier in the year.
Dack convincingly won his second Mr. MX finishing on 234 points, way ahead of Queenslanders David Armstrong (Honda, 178) and James Deakin (Yamaha, 132). In a year that again posed as the “Dack vs Bell” series, Glen Bell again suffered a disappointing final round and over all year, slipping to fourth (Yamaha, 130) ahead of Stephen Dinsdale (Yamaha, 94) and Peter Melton (Yamaha, 87). Armstrong continued his domination of the 125cc series by winning the overall again, with Victoria’s Steven Maguire taking home the Kid Motocross series.
For Craig Dack, the tally was now looking good – his second Mr. MX title was securely under his belt, and 1988, the year of Australia’s Bicentenary beckoned.
Photo: [Left] Craig Dack won back-to-back Mr. MX titles in the final round at Oran Park NSW on 6 September 1987; [Centre] Team Yamaha Marlborough James Deakin (QLD) finished third in the final round and third in the series; and (right) Kawasaki rider Robert Scott finished sixth overall at Oran Park.
1987 Mister Motocross Final Overall Points
Photo: Craig Dack won back-to-back Mr. Motocross titles in 1987, pictured here in the opening round at Oran Park, New South Wales – By Mika Manninen
1. Craig Dack (NSW, Honda, 234 points)
2. David Armstrong (QLD, Honda, 178)
3. James Deakin (QLD, Yamaha, 132)
4, Glen Bell (NSW, Yamaha, 130)
5. Stephen Dinsdale (QLD, Yamaha, 94)
6. Peter Melton (QLD, Yamaha, 87).
