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/126298
the AMA circuit after a long layoff for a knee operation. His training to get back in shape consisted of riding two hours a day, along with winning seven of eight motos in the just completed NML Series in Florida to take the Open class title. "I bought myself four bikes - new Yamahas - and I'm going to run the Nationals this yea r. Look outl" Aft er Don overcame a one lap penalty for jumping the sta rt to take th e overall win, the people who saw him were sayi ng , " Lo ok out Sm ith and Hannahl" 125ccclass Team Suzuki's new 125cc rider Mark Barnett scored a 2·1 victory in the Winter-AMA opener, Orlando's John Calathes picked up a chunk of Maico's contingency money in the Open class. The 8th Annual Florida Winter-AMA Series - Round one Bar nett, Calath es and Kudalski r attle h andlebars at AMA season opener By Jim Gianatsis ORLANDO, FL , FEB . 5 There almost wasn't a 1978 Florida WinterAMA Motocross Series. But despite the seemingly best efforts of the Westerville Mafioso, round one of the four-race 1978 series kicked up sand right on schedule at th e Orlando Sports Stadium opener. For the first time, ever, the Florida Series lacked full pa rtici - 12 pa tion by a ny of the m ajor ma nufactu rers' tea ms bec a use of th e AMA 's sch eduling of th e Seattle Su percross race on the same weeke nd as one of th e traditional dates held by th e Florid a series prom o ters . T he fa c to r ies reason ed t he re was, no use racing a port ion of a seri es they couldn't win , because thei r rid ers would have to miss one of the Florida events to race th e more important Seattle event which takes pla ce the nigh t befo re the th ird series round . Su zuki offered a token effo rt for th e Florid a Seri es consisting of 17-yea r-old Ma rk Ba rn ett and three-tim e 250cc Na tion al Ch a m pion T ony DiStefa no. Both wer e rid ing stock mod els of th e new RM -C bikes. Barnett , though. will be the only Su zuki tea m member to ru n the enti re series . DiStefano could hav e opted to sit out t he series like h is o t he r team m ates, but ch ose to use the series to get in shape for the upcoming season. And boy, did Tony need the workout! Much of the remaining top tal ent on hand consisted of semi -su pported riders . Maico had th e biggest effort with numer ous rid ers on their bike/parts program like NML Series 250cc class win ner Joey Gratton , along wit h vete ra n Barr y H iggin s , Flo r id a hotshoe J ohn "Ca pt ai n" Calathes a nd Ala bama's Furman Grey. Can-Am's Am er ican distribu torsh ip was represented by Kenny "T he Dart" Zah rt . Husqva rna had Ma rt y Moa tes; Moto-X Fox was helping Pat Moron ey on a Su zuki and Frank Stacy was in action with his H i-Point/Penton. The Carolin a Hillbill y, Mick ey Boon e , put in hi s first A M A ap pearance on th e factory H arl eyDavidson , bu t th e bike seized in the op en ing laps of practice. The rid er who dialed in th e most fantast ic perfo rm a nce of th e d a y wasn't sponsored at all . Exce pt , per · haps. by Kudalski a nd Son . Yep , Do n " Killer" Kuda lski m ad e his retu rn to Mark Barnett's first race for Team Suzuki was all they could have asked for. It only took him two laps to take a liking to the Florida sand whoops and his production RM 125C. The first lap of the opening mota Mark spent checking out the sand up close after bailing off in th e front sa nd pit at Orlando Sports Stadium. Florida's Kippy Pierce hd nailed the holeshot with his Yamaha, leaving Barnett to battle over second with Pat Moroney. Moroney won temporarily as Mark picked himself up from midpack and set out again in pursuit of the lead. He would work his way back up to second and within sight of Pierce by the end of th e shortened 25-m inute plus two lap motos. The motos had to be shortened because of the da y's lengthy qu alifiers and early wint er darkness . Pierce, also rid ing under Yamaha's local support p rogram , was hop ing to stage a re peat performance in the second mota to ga rner an AMA victory along with his 125cc N ML Series title picked up th e weekend before. This time , th ough, Barnett wasn 't as obiging" as he led the seco nd mota from gat e to flag for th e day's unoffi cia l ove r a ll win. U noffi ci al , because beginning this yea r the AMA no longer awards overall fin ishes fo r poi n ts or money. Poin ts a nd money now onl y being pa id for individua l m oto performances. T he battle for second in the mota . was unresolved until the final la ps. Brian Ward held second spot behind Barnett for the first half of the mota as Moroney arid Pierce twisted their handlebars together as they moved up through the pack from back near 10th place, along the way passing top cha rgers like Mike Guerra, Jimmy Fitzgerald and St eve Ma rtin . As Moroney and Pierce reeled in behind Ward , Brian felt the hea t and buckled to the pressure , nose d iving over th e front of his Suzuki. Moroney began to pull awa y from Pierce with a secure second spot after that. 250ccclass Kenny Zahrt made his new p roduction Can-Am look mean as he ran awa y with his qu al ifie r ahea d of Tony DiStefano, then dest royed th e starting line for both fea ture mo tos with th e holesho t each time as he roosted ou t huge leads . T he Na tiona l Champ suffered mediocre starts with his production Suzuki, th en th e track seeme d to get the best of him as he bailed a couple of tim es, losing two laps com pletely du rin g the second mota when he had to pit to re place a damaged shift lever. Zahrt's compet ition , instead came from local Orl ando rider John Calathes , who got strong sta rts behind Ken ny in bo th motos and pa ced himself towards the mid-wa y point wh en Kenn y seeme d to tire . It was the n tha t.J ohn dialed on his 250cc Ma ico a nd wheeled his way past ana into th e lead . No t fa r be hind , good fr a ys de veloped bot h motos betwe en the likes of Mickey Kessler . Frank Sta cy. Marty Moates and Monte McC oy, as well as T im Welker , Bob Rutter and Furman Grey. . Stacy looked like a sure bet to give Calathes a race in the first mota, only to pitch a chain as he closed in on John and Zahrt, but Frank charged back to second in the final race. Kessler claimed third with his Yamaha in the opening mota, only to suffer bike problems in the second. John Calathes was more than a little pumped over claiming the overall win . "T hese new Maicos really work well. They've gatta be the best on th e market. And thanks to Randy Myers for helping me." Open class The show , though, was in the Open class where Don Kudalski brought back memories of the "Rokon Don" days in the 1975 Winter ·AMA Series whe re he was unbeatable on the old automatic when it ran. His style has improved to total smooth ness while he has retained or probably even gained , a lot more speed. Only a slight mistake in the first moto kept him from totally dominating both motos on the score sheet, while on the track there wasn't any question . "I knew I jumped the start coming off the line for the first moto. I knew I'd be penalized a lap down and figu red I'd better start hauling ass if I was go ing to do anything. After crashing on the first lap as well and losing five places, I was more determined than ever. " Even though he had jumped the makeshift rubberband gate (No me ta l gatel) Don was fourt h into the first tu rn be hind race leader J ohn J oyner fr om nearby Plan t City a nd NML Seri es ch amp J oey Gra tt on , both on Maicos. Adding to that his firs t la p get off and one lap penalty , Don passed everyo ne to take over the lead anc th en proceeded to u nla p himself from the penal ty all th e way back up tc .second spo t behind J oyner in less th an 30 m inutes. Round two was an all Kudalski show as he dialed his Darrel Hanner wrenched Yamaha off th e line first and d isappeared. No rider would see Kudals ki again until he lapped th em , except for Gratton and Joyner who kept up a little stronger pace th is time . T he Kille r is back! J Co nc lus ion I Evaluating this yea r's Florida Series is difficult . The AMA has certainly degraded it as far as its stature in American motocross when look ing a t the excitement it provided with factory support over tha t past seven yea rs. It still remains a fantastic t r a ining ground for new young talent as well as provid in g the ove r Professiona l m otocrossers somewhe re to rac e be sid es the 10 or fewer Nationals the y'll be abl e to ride this year. But in th e fu tu re fewer " name rid ers" will mean fewer specta to rs. And whether the Flor id a Series will su rvive future years on just ride r turnout alone remains a qu estion to be answere d . • Results 125cc 1151 MOTO): 1. Kippy Pierce (Yaml; 2. Mark Barnen (S uzl: 3. Mike Guerra ISuz); 4. Pat Moroney (Suz); 5. Jim Fitzgerald lSuzl; 6. Steve Martin (Yam); 7. J ohn Grant (Suz); 8. Brian W ard (Suz); 9. Randy Kirschbaum (Yam); 10. Clifton l ett ISuzl. 125cc (2nd MOTOI: 1. Mar k Barren ISuz ); 2. Pat Moroney (Suzl; 3. Kip Pierce (Yam); 4. Brian W ard ISuz); 5. Mike Guerra ISUl ); 6 . St eve Abt ISuzl ; 7. James Fitzgerard ISuz); 8. Tom Benolkin (Suz); 9. Randy Kirschbaum (Yam); 10. Edward Horan ISuz). 250cc 1151 MOTOI: 1. John Calathes (Mai); 2. Ken zahrt IC·A); 3. Michael Kessler (Yam); 4. Robert Rutter ISUlI; 5. Marty Moat es IHus l: 6. Mont e McCoy (Yam} ; 7. Tim W elker (Suz); 8. Mark Rakestraw tMai)' 9. Tony OiStefa no ISUl ); 10. Ste phen Rhya n (KTM). ' 250 cc I2nd MOTOI: 1. John Cala thes IMail; 2. Fra nk Stacy (Penl; 3. Ken zann (e -Al; 4. M arty M oates IHusl; 5. Kirk Bigelow (Yaml; 6. Robert Rutt er (SUl ); 7 . David Boles (M ail; 8. Stephen Rhyan (KT MI; 9. Tim W elker ISuz); , O. Mon te McCov (Yaml. OPEN I'lst MOTOI: 1. J ohn Joyner (Ya ml: 2. Oon Kudalski (Yam); 3. Joe." Gratton (Mail ; 4. Barnev Higg ins (Mai); 5. Gar." Pustelak (Mai); 6. Troy Bradshaw IBul} 7. Ric k Walsworth IKTMI; 8. Wern yss Sca n : IMai); 9. Karl Taylor (Yaml; 10. Paul Dayton (Mail . OP/EN I2nd MOTOI: 1. Don Kudals ki (Yam): 2. J oey Gratton (Ma i); 3. John Joyner (Mail; 4. Paul Dayton (Mail ; 5. Gary Pustelak (Mail ; 6. W emyss Scott (Mai); 7. Karl Taylor IYaml; 8. Barr." Higgins IMail; 9. Kenneth Mott (Hus); 10. Duane Joice (Yaml.