Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/125848
.... -hole shot in the Open. H uffman an d at t he beginning of la p t hree pulled a trick y block p ass o n To ny as t hey we nt in to a high b ermed t urn , t ak ing o ver t he lead . Mart y worked his wa y up to second by th e mid-point of the moto , o nl y to have his eng in e sei ze. Gary took the win eas ily wi th T ony a wa ys back in second , t he n H uffman, Lamppu and T horwaldson. J err y Williams from Jacksonville was the Florid a rid er hero fo r th e d ay as h e p ut his Bul taco into t he lead of th e seco nd m o t o . Eve n though Gary Jo nes a nd so m e o f t he other fact o ry rid ers finally w ere ab le to get around J erry a fte r th re e l ap s. Jerry rode well thro ugh out the m o to t o t ak e a six th . The Na t io na l c ha m p ha rd ly had t im e to enjoy his lea d wh en th e rea r axle o n t he Ca n-Am b ro ke, ca usi ng G a ry to be left sitting wit h a t hrow n chai n. Fast pit wo rk ha d t he ax le quickly chan ged . b ut the sco re board had him a lap a nd a half down whe n he got run ning again. Gary put on the mo st exciting ga me of catch up for the remainder of the rn oto , c o m p le t e with full throttle banzais through the wo rst sections of the track and m id air t u rn s off of jumps, but by the end o f the mo to he was st ill 19 th . Peter Lamp pu had t he lead fo r a while after Ga ry . but then his Mori tesa cam e down with the ail ment all the V R s were seemi ng to ha ve . sudden sei zure. R o n P o m e r o y loun d h im self in the le a d wi th P e t er gone . b ut a de ter m ined and very q uick Ric h Thorwa ldson was m oving up th ro ug h the field. passi ng H uffm an . Wy n n . Da llaire, and q uick ly ta k ing over a tig ht po sitio n on Ron's rear fender . If the m o to had been longer th a n 2 5 m inutes Rich m igh t have had first p lace . but, as it was , th e yo u nge r brother o f A me rica 's first GP w inner was d o in g h is ow n win ning. Open Professional T he Open class wa s unbelievab le. Mik e Runyard had h is 3 70 prototype Suzu k i. S t eve Stack ab le had th e trick Uni te d Sp o rts 4 00 Mai co , Gar y Sern ics was o n th e 36 0 GP H usky . All Tony DiStefa no had was his usual heavy du ty CZ , but talen t must have m ad e up fo r a ny defi cien ci es as T on y m o ved up from his six th place sta rt in t he first Open m o t o . T hey sho uld ha ve expected it though w hen T ony Rave Mike such a hard ti me in t he fir st q ualif ier a nd beat the Su zu ki fac to ry rid er. Gary Semics wo n th e othe r qual ifier afte r being out of act ion last week w ith a case o f red a nt b it es. No k idding! After R un yard had the lead for a few laps fo llo wing the sta rt. Stack able t o ok o ver, then DiStefano. It was hard to tell who wa s in co ntro l o f fi rst place. especially if yo u we re trying to ke ep a n eye o n Barry Higgi ns. who had brought his Maico into the foray as well a nd was giving Gary Se m ics m o re tro ubl e the n he wa nted. Ma rk Black well had been crashe d at t he start , gotten back up and cra shed o n h is own, b ut wo rked all th rough th e moto to m o ve up a nd pass T o m R a pp an d Wy m an Pri d d y near th e last la ps for 7t h behind Son ny De Fe o, b oth on Maicos . T he lead, t ho ugh . j ust kept cha nging between Ru nyard , and t hen o n the last few lap s, numer ous times be t ween DiStefano a nd Stack able. Tony DiS tefa n o was in front whe n they came past the checkered flag , everybody else wa s rubb ing his rear tire . T he fi nal m o t o was just as fe nce gripp ing for the crowd as t hey leaned out and cheered o n S tacka b le, Blackwell a nd DiStefano to try and catc h Mik e Ru nyard who had gotten another o ne of his good hole shots and was leading aga in. No one was against Mike. th e y just wanted mo re of the sa me ac t io n t hat o cc ured in the first m oto. T hey Rot it wh en o n lap th ree Mark Blackwell blasted past Steve and Mike t o t ake th e lead. power wheeling the 400 Maico down t he straights and fli ngi ng it t h ro ug h th e turns like Ad We il. Im pressive. Mar k's lead lasted for three laps. th e n To ny to ok o ver, Mark passed h im back . then To ny an d Mik e p assed Mark. If t h at wa sn' t goo d enough, Rap p , Stack abl e , Sern ics and Higgins were p laying t he same game over fourth p lace . T he cro wd lo ved it. O n th e last lap Blackwell was hit b y a lap p ed ride r . the sa me o ne th at got h im the first m o to - he t ho ught. It dro pped him to f o u r th pla ce. T ony DiSt efano wo n again. Mik e R u n yard finis hed second for seco nd o vera ll , St ack ab lc was t h ird . It was quite a race. • Bar ry Higgin s plays blast o ff . T o ny Wynn, the Arkansas Flash, too k second 250. Thor got by Peter when the Montesa got t ight. Results Ope n : 1. Tony D Ist e fan o ( C Z); 2 . M i k e R un y a r d (S UZ); 3 . Stev e S t ec katne (Mai) ; 4 . M a rk B lac k well (M al); 5 . Ga r y Serruc s (Hus): 6 . Ba rry H lggm s (Ma i) ; 7 . Wy m an n Prid d y ( Kaw ) : 8 . Son ny D e F e o ( M ai ); 9 . Jeff H e a sto n ( M al) ; 1 0 . Bob H ar r i s (M al) . 25 0cc : 1. R l ctl 'r norwa rcscn ( SU Z) ; 2 . Tony Wy n n (Hon); 3 . J o tln D a ll a ir e ( Han); 4 R o n Huff ma n ( Pe n); 5 . Ron P om er o y I B ul) 6 . Ted Foltz (Ho n ); 7 . John Sav.ts k i ( B ul ) : 8 Joh n F ra n k lin ( Pen): 9 . G ary J o n e s (Can · Am ) 10. R i c h ard Fra nklin (Yam) . 13