Cycle News

Most of the Olympic Champions proudly d isplay their w innings a t the 18th Annual AMA Winter National Olympics at Gatorback Park. J ay Mann , Bob Bean , J oel Albrecht, J a son Edwa rds , Todd Gardner an d Josh Steel. Th e WoridSports-promotedl AMA-sanctioned event was presented by Honda an d Yamaha with additional spons orsh ip a n d m er chandise awards provided by Scott USA , Barrs Compet iti on, An swer Products, G ea r Racewear , PJ 1 Lubr i cants , Wi seco , Dunl op Tires, Boyesen , Pow erm isi Fu els, T suhaki Chain , Chariot T ra ilers a nd Moto World. A to tal o f $100,000 in co n tingen cy aw ards, trophi es a n d a $5000 Pro l Am purse added to th e a lready estab lis hed prestige o f th e event. The parking field a nd pit a rea at, G atorba ck th is year resembled a bustling co u nty fair with numerous su p port trucks and colo rfu l tents from Yamaha , Honda, Kaw a saki a nd Suzuki. T h e kn owledg e , p art s, enth usiasm a nd ene rgy o f th e factory tech n icia ns grea tly ben efitted all of th e yo u ng racer s wh o seeked th eir assis ta nce . Suzu ki's Mark Margold said, " Mos t o f th e co m petitors co me here very well prepar ed for-this event . We usu all y on ly have to h elp th em wi th th e little stu ff." Yam ah a 's Greg Qu ador, wh o would lat er be awa rded th e Alan Barker Top Mechanic Award, said, "Yamaha beli eves in th e importance of this event. In add itio n to our te chni cal su p po rt effort we are a war d i ng YZ buck s in a ll four di sciplines, $300 to win down to 10th pl ace." While ra cing occu p ied activities dawn to dusk, J erry West and th e sta ff o f WorldSports provid ed eac h even in g's entert a i n me n t as well. Featured were th e Scott USA volleyball to urname nt a nd softba ll league, a n d videos by Mot a Video, Missing Link Produ ctions a nd H onda. The highli ght o f th e week, h owever , was th e traditional tra ckside T ha n ksg iving feast. Dinner coordi na tor Mary Hatch er said, " Ya ma ha provided 25 turkeys an d eigh t hams. T ip Tipton roasted them and 150 families added di sh es to m ake this th e biggest Thanksgiv in g meal any w here." Former thr ee-time 250 cc MX Nationa l Champion Tony DiStefano was on ha nd this yea r to chec k out his students' progress, having hosted a nearby ridi ng school with a n ot her multi-time MX a n d Supercross Champion, Bob Hannah. TT Scrambles Warm , su n ny Fl orida weather reigned o n the o peni ng TT event. The co urse wa s a modified oval with sweep i n f? turn s at b ot h en ds, a tableto p Jump at th e finish line and Mike Kann (3), Alea Shinn (68) and Dusty Weygandt (27) mix it up for the number one position in the Pee Wee supercross division , Bronze Bike winner Kevin W ind ham (511 ) was the only undefeated rider at the Winter Oylmpics. a seco nd j u m p in a switc h back that rej oined th e west swee per. Windham sta rte d hi s cam pa ig n wi th a 85cc (7- 11) swee p. The qu iiet II -year-old said, " R icky Carmichael will be th e guy to beat ; he' s fast. " T h e ' 85 cc ( 12- 13) shoo t-o u t between 1988 85cc (7-11) ch amp Greg Rand and Reynard began inten sel y, wit h each rider winning a class. Ka w asa ki I G E R /B e 11-s po nso re d Rand said, " Robbie hit a down ed ride r. I was a few len gths back a n d passed him for th e win." The 85cc (14- 15) class sh aped up to be a three-way shoo t-ou t between Lusk, Dem ent and T immy Ferry , wi th Dement and Ferry sco ri ng TT wins. Kaw a sak i/P r o Ci rcu it G o od Times Cycl e-sponsored Dement said, " I hav e on ly been riding for two weeks, aft er h ealing a broken wrist." The 125cc Expert fina l featured a fla g-to-flag win by 1989 B Ch ampion Butch Smith. Mann stormed back from a m edi ocre start to take on Rob Hanson and th en Mik e Bro wn to claim seco nd p lace. Bro wn avenged himself in th e 250cc fin al, ou t-due ling Mann for th e lead and th en rid in g fla wlessly for th e win. Scott USA's Bevo Forti (left) presents the Scott Golden Goggle Award and a mountain bike to top Amateur rider Josh Steel (second from right) . 11

• Cover