Cycle News

eMOTOCROSS GFI California Winter MISeries: Final Round ~ Mik e Cha m berlai n (92) ro unds turn two ahead of the l25c c Pro class. Chamberlain was th e overall winner on bo th days . ;\Iicky Dym ond (819) won all four 250cc Pro class mot os over the weekend. Chamberlain, Dymond prevail at Perris By Tony Alessi PERRIS, CA, FEB. 29 o rm er two -time 125cc Na tio na l Ch ampion Micky Dym ond sai d farewe ll to the U.S. with a fou rmo ta sweep of the 250cc Pro class while Mike Ch amberl a in dom inated t he 125cc Pro events a nd cl inched th e sta te cha m p ions hips in both Pro classes F 46 during th e GFI Ca lifornia Winter MX Series Fina le at Perri s Raceway. For Ch am berl ain , it was a record 10,000 weeke nd , whil e Dym ond said goodbye to good friend a nd race p ro mot er Goat Breker before leavin g fo r Europe a nd th e 250cc G P Circuit. T he two- day event dr ew nearly 1000 en tra n ts a nd ma rked th e end o f th e five, ro u nd seri es. Sa tu rday's race rep laced a northern regi on ro u nd tha t had been ca nceled d ue 10 rai n. whi le Su ndav's race pitted th e northern a nd southe'rn Ca lifornia rid ers toget her in a sh owdo wn to determine Stat e Champion. Yam aha riders occup ied th e top eigh t po siti o ns during th e opening lap of the first 125cc Pro race o n Sarurdav with North Co unty Yamaha's Dan ; Wi ggins out fron't. Yamal ub e/P ro Circuit-bac ked Ch amberla in pu sh ed hard for seco nd followed bv northern Cal ifornian Trevore Mea ghe r a nd Eri ck H ilt o n, So u thern Ca li fo rn ians Wigg ins a nd Cha m ber lai n brawl ed for th e lead unt il Ch amberlain made a daring do uble jump that ca rr ied him inch es fro m th e edg e of th e race co urse bu t propelled him to first. Chamberlain charged o n to tak e a wel l-earned win while Wig gins fini sh ed seco nd followed bv Hilton. Chamhe~l a i n sto le th e show in th e seco nd mo to by ta ki ng a wir e-to-wi re w i n over La Habra Suzuki- back ed Bubba Er ickso n a nd Wigg in s. Su ndav 's l 25cc Pro race turned ou t to be th'e most cont ro versia l o f th e weeke nd. During th e first moto, Ch amberlain too k h im self a nd race leader Chris Neal OUI whi le battl ing for th e lead , wh ich put so u thern Ca liforn ia n Mark Easley u p fro nt for a number o f laps. Eri ckson passed Eas ley a t th e halfwa y po int in th e race to tak e th e lead whi le Ch am berla in had worked back 10 fifth be hind J oel Albrecht and Wiggins. Du ring th e remaining laps, Chamberl a in cha rge d past Albrecht a nd Eas ley to move to third while Wiggins ha d moved in behind lead er Erickson. Wiggins pi cked up th e pa ce on the fina l lap and pressured Erickson , who responded by pu lling away a t the fini sh 10 sco re t he wi n. W iggin s fin ished seco nd and Chamberlai n was third. Eas ley pulled a trem endou s hol esh ot at th e start o f th e second mot a . " I was a few feet behind th e ga te," Easley said. " I took o ff before th ose guys a nd timed th e ga te perfectly. My fro nt tire crossed th e top o f the ga te whe n it was j ust sta rti ng 10 drop. " Easley led th e race with Nea l a very close second while Ch a mberl a in con nected with Albrech t off the start. " My handlebar got stuck in h is rea r whee l," said Chamberlai n, wh o was back under way in a hea rtbea t and was soon running midpack. Up from , Easley a nd Neal q uick ly left th e rest of th e field far behind. "I cou ld see Neal every la p in a turn O UI of th e co rne r o f my eye," Easley said. " I kn ew [ cou ld win. " Eas ley rema ined in the lead a nd late in th e mo to pu lled a wa y from Neal to cro ss th e finish lin e firs t. Neal fought off a las t-lap cha rge fro m Chamberlain for second whi le Erickson finish ed fo urt h in front of H ilton. But o fficia ls determined that Easley had jumped th e sta rt ing gat e and he wa s penal ized o ne lap , wh ich in turn ga ve the rnot o win to Neal, a northern Ca lifornian. Cha mberla in's ru n ner-up fin ish gave hi m eno ug h points for th e overa ll victo ry a nd th e Sta te C ha m pi onship for the' second year in a row . In th e 2.:;Occ Pro class, Dym ond's o nly real cha llenge of th e weekend ca me from Hilton during Saturday's even t. H ilton led Dymond for th e fir st six laps in the first mota, forcing Dym on d 10 co me u p wit h a spectacu lar block pass to tak e a way th e lead. Hilto n raced close but was un a ble 10 m at ch Dym on d ' s pa ce d u ri ng th e remai ni ng laps a nd Dym ond won follow ed hy H ilton a nd Chamberlain. Dvmon d mi s-shi fted twice a t th e start o f th e seco nd mot o a nd seemed left beh ind at th e sta rt . bu t Dymond rehounded q ui ckly with a mi racle line in th e seco nd turn th at sho t him to th ird beh ind Cham berla in a nd leader T erry Fow ler. H ilto n was fou rt h and slam med Dymo nd o n th e opening lap, b ut Dymond just loo ked back, th en left him in th e d ust. Dur in g th e next two laps Dymo nd mad e short work of bo th Chamberlain and Fowler 10 tak e the lead. Dvm on d won th e mota followed at a d istan ce hy Fowler. H ilt on passed Cha mbe rlai n lat e in the mo to for thi rd , while Eri ckson ro u nd ed the top five. Dym on d was ba ck Su nda y a nd tu rn ed in two fla wless rid es 10 sweep both m o tos. C ha m be r la in was th e runn er-up in bo th rnoros a nd cla imed th e Sta te Cha mpions hip. Mik e Met zger po st ed impressi ve wins in th e 250cc In termedi a te cla ss du ring both days o f co mpe titio n a nd al so topped th e 125cc Int ermed ia te class o n Sunda y. Metzger turned laps tim es o ne seco nd a lap faster than th e top l2 5cc Pro rid ers in Sunday's first l 25cc race a nd mat ch ed Dymo nd 's la p time in th e 250cc race. Metzger's on ly maj o r co m pe titio n o f the weekend ca me in th e form o f Craig Decker during Saturday's l25cc Int ermed ia te race. South ern Ca liforni an ' s St ev e Andrich a nd Decker battled ea rly in th e first I25cc Int ermed ia te moto whi le Metzger moved up from a nea rly last place sta rt . Two laps into the race Andri ch cras hed a nd dropped to last whi le Metzger moved up 10 fourth behind north ern California n Bre t Ha m ilton, then crashe d hard. Decker went o n to score th e win followed by run ner -up Shay Fretwell a nd Turtle Wikoff. Metzger finished fifth behind Aaron Ca ntrelle. Deck er pus hed hi s Pro Ci rcu i tl AXO/Kawasaki Tea m Green-backed KXI 25 to th e seco nd rnoto ho leshot b ut Met zger was right beh ind h im in seco nd. T he t wo qui ckl y put 15 seco nds o n third-place Larry Linkogl e by the thi rd lap. Metzger pou red o n th e pressure, wh en Decker mad e a mi stak e, he too k th e le ad . Deck er ca me back a n d bounced Metzger off th e track wh en he passed in a n off-camber tu rn . " We bot h came to the top o f th e turn , and went for the sa me line. Neither one of us shu t o ff," Decker said. " We wen t flyin g o ff th e tra ck." I

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