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/126299
waste their time and money and my time, I told them how I felt and we dissolved our contract. I'm riding my practice bike (Suzuki) today and hope tv have a pair of new RM's in a week or two ." 125ccclass 00 r-.. 0") ....... Cloc kwise from top: Don Kudalski. M ickey Kessler. Monte McCoy. TIm Welker. M ickey Boone and Brian Layton. John Leak exploded from Gatorba ck's rubberband start to lead the opening moto of th e 125cc action on an up and down, twisting and turning first go around 'of the over one mile long course. Pa t Maroney and Kip py Pierce, who played a role in last week's battle, were slow to get into ac tion. Maroney fouled a plug on the line while Pierce's engine wouldn't run smooth for the first two laps. Leak held onto his lead , but Barnett was moving through th e pack with clock -work precision picking off the competition one by one. Barnett closed on Leak's rear wheel at the end of lap four and then swooped into the lead a short distance later. By the end of that la p , Ba rn ett had a five second lead and the battle fell to the rest of the field . J ohn Reinhold t, Rob ert Handy and John Grant a hd a tussle for the next three spots with Grant's ride coming to an end on the next to last lap with a broken chain. (Look for Grant to be aboard a Can-Am next week . He signed a contract with the factory for bikes , parts, etc. , but his oikes did not arrive in time for him to use them this week .) Barnett finished out the first mota with nearly 30 seconds on Leak. The opening laps of rnoto two provided some good handlebar bashing with Leak, Barn ett , Reinholt, a nd John Borders in a fou r way run for the lead . By lap th ree Barnett had sliced his way into the lead , but was not able to pull away from the rest of the field as easily this time. Borders crashed about halfway into the moto leaving Pierce and Maroney to run out the laps in second and third. 250cc class By Gary Van Voorhis GAINESVILLE, FLA. , FEB . 12 The MXL sponsored Florida Winter-AMA MX Series moved to the challenging Gatorback facility in Gainesville and the second round unlike the first was greeted with some real Florida weather. High tempe ratures and a very rough and demanding track played havoc with many riders who weren' t in top con dition . Promoter Bill West had plenty of ice cold cham pagne on hand for the winners with Do n Kudalski and Mark Barn ett marking their second consecutive claiming of the bubbly for Ope n and 125cc class wins , respec· tively. Mickey Kessler got his first taste as th e 250cc class victor. I 12 For th e second week in a row Don Kudalski proved tha t he is virtually un beatable in the Open class as he swept to convincing wins in both motos on his Jo hn Rain bow tuned Yamaha. Last week he handicapped himself with a one lap penalty for jumping the start; this week he gave the rest of the field a chance by running the last half of the second rna to with a flat front tire. " Hey, th is has got to be my year," said a tired, b ut happy I\ud alski as he receive d his cham pagne. "I'm doing what I wa nt and everything is working beautifully." Mark Ba rn ett also made it two weeks in a row th at he has come out on top of the standings. Barnett let the rest of the I25cc competitors have their moment of glory at the start of each mota and then methodically sliced through the pack to the lead on his Mark Johnson tuned factory spon· sored Suzuki. "T here's only one way to ride and that's out front and gassin' it. Hey, I had a ball today ," said Ba rn ett. The 250cc class had a new face in the winner's circle with Mickey Kessler taking the honors in the hardes t fought battles of the day. Kessler had to earn his victory by coming from behind and out riding the competition. In the first mota Kessler pushed his JR Cycle Service/John Weiss tuned Yamaha through th e pack and held off all challenges while the second rnot o went to last week's winn er John Calathes by ' three bike lengths. "Things are starting to fall into place and everything worked perfectly today. I'm fo:eling really good ," said an elated Kessler. The Gatorback facility runs around and through an abandoned rock quarry has always had a reputation as a bike an d body basher. Today was no exception. 270 riders showed up to do battle and were slimmed down to a manageable 40 riders per class through two qual ifying motos a nd a consolation moto. Crashes were the order of the day throughout the p reliminary events and on int o the main events. Among those taking a hosp ita l trip were J ohn Bord ers who possibly sustained a broken left leg and Tony DiStefano who received facial cuts , bruises and was badly shaken. Both accidents happened in almost the same spot with Borders crashing in 125cc action and DiStefano in a 250cc class m oto. T here was one less fact ory rider· in a very slim factory supported field this week. Mickey Boone, The Carolina H illbilly, ret u rned to privateer status after just one race as Harley-Davidson's only supported rider. "It's too bad really," said Boone as he relaxed in the pits prior to the start of the practice session . " H a rleyDavidson had hopes that I could do some good with the bike. But the bike wasn't competitive. So. rather th an Yamaha mounted Monte McCoy led the first mota wave of the 250cc class until Tony DiStefano came flying by. Mickey Kessler then came up to challenge and pass McCoy and set his sights on Tony D. Kessler moved u p on DiStefa no on lap five a nd too k over in th e roug h twisties in th e back pa rt of the cou rse. A tangle involving some lapped riders took DiStefano out of contention for the lead as he lost six positions getting past the traffic jam. In the final laps , McCoy began to cut Kessler's lead , but it was too late. Marty Moates displaced Frank Stacy for fourth with John Ca la thes, last week's double mota winner, havi ng his hand's full infifth. Monte McCoy was going for it aga in in the second moto and made his fro nt running position stick for fou r laps this time before Ken Za h rt came u p to take the lead . Meanwhile , Kessler was having his hands full with John Ca lat hes, DiStehno and Tim Welker. On la p three th at came to an end as DiStefa no went do wn and out in a tangle of ha ndle bars and Welker dropped off the pace. The positions flopped midway through the rnoro with Zahrt leading Kessler , Calathes and McCo y. First Kessler and then Calathes zapped Zahrt and it looked like that would be the final tally as the riders spread themselves out. Ca la thes then picked up the pace and was on Kessler's rear wheel two laps fro m th e end a nd the n , in a dow n hill burs t, zoom ed pas t for the lead. Kessler ca me righ t back. The fina l lap provided the best racing of the day. Kessler held four bike lengths over Calathes as the pair started the last lap with Calathes getting by quickly. The pair traded the lead in the downhill /uphill and then traded again. Calathes opened up b reathing space and Kessler closed it.