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/126328
00 t'-0') M8rty Smith (11. Denny Swartz (331. Darrell Shultz (3711. Rex SUIten (181. Tony DiStefano (61 end Gery SemlCli (111errlvellt Metrolina·. first turn In the 600cc c..... AMA/Mr. PiBB 125/500cc National Championship MX Series . - Rounds 9/9 Burgett pulls off another 500ccwin , Mosier scores first National victory By Jim Glanatsls Photos by Jack Wright . .1 .f~' CHARLOTTE, NC, AUG. 20 'T eam Kawasaki's Gaylon Mosier rode his KX125 factory Kawasaki to his (and the bike's) first National win in the next-to-final round of the AMA/Mr. PiBB 125cc National Championship MX Series ' at Metrolina Fairgrounds, just outside of Charlotte. Mosier nailed down back-to- 8 back moto wins for a clean sweep of the class which saw Team Suzuki newcomer Brian Myerscough placing second and Team Honda's Steve Wise third. The win was well-deserved. Mosier , who has been contesting the Nationals for years and who has labeled himself an Open class jockey, was obviously the quickest 125cc class rider throughout the day , Adding to the excitement of the first win by Gaylon and the Kawasaki KX 125 was the fact that the victory also marked the first National win for mechanic Rocky Williams. Williams, who has been deaf all his life, never let that hold him back in his quest over the last five years to become a top factory mechanic. While the 125cc class was a runaway for Mosier , the fans finally got to see some bike-clashing in the Open Nationa l where Yamaha's Rick Burgett once again came out on top with his Bill West-prepared OW39 works bike. And while most of the other factory stars were crying tales of bad luck , semi-privateer Darrell Shultz from Orangevale, CA finished right behind Burgett for second overall on the Sisler Construction 400cc Maico prepared by his father. Darrell beat out Bassett Racing/Team Yamaha rider Rex Staten on the last lap of the final moto to prevent another Yamaha romp this week and to leave Rex with third overall. Most of the riders tried to make the best of the Metrolina course which featured man-made double and triple stadium-seyle jumps, linked by flat .straights and switchback turns. Not helping matters much was a potential dust problem which was handled by over- watering the course before practice, which then dried the track into numerous one-line grooves by race time, "I don't see how they can make us race on this stuff," complained 500cc Champion Marty Smith, " parti cu larly after the course was so bad last year, too . Practice was impossible from the wateri~g_ " 125cc National It looked for a moment like local stars were going to send the factory boys packing as James Walker on a Yamaha snared the boleshot through the 180 degree first tum which would cause pile-ups during every start of the day . Quickly though , Gaylon Mosier was burning his way up from a top-five start to put his semi-production works Kawasaki into the lead on the third lap . Gaylon was flying and pulling away quicltly from Walker, Gary Denton, Gregg Toyama, Dan Turner, Mark Gregson, Jimmy Martin and Brian Myerscough. 125cc National Champion Brae Glover , with his second title just wrapped-up the weekend before in Missouri , was having j ust the beginnings of a bad day as he started worked his way up from a miserable 30th place after tum one which would get the Yamaha pilot an eighth place at the moto's end. The second moto would be even worse for Brae as he would fall on the first lap and find himself left in last place, charge back up more than midway through the field before bike problems would leave him sidelined for the first time all series. Working up from an even worse place in the first moto than Brae were Marty M?~tes and Jeff Ward as they tri ed to recover from crashes as well. By the halfway point in the moto, positions had hardly changed with the exc ep tion that Cross Up's Gregg Toyama had dropped back to eigh th place behind Wise. At the 30-minute mark, Mosier's lead had nearly put him out of sight from the remainder of the pack. Dan Turner found a burr under his saddle and gassed his Moto -X Fox Yamaha within firing range of Walker, still holding on to second. The main race for the remainder of the moto would be between Walker and Turner with Danny finally brushing his way past Walker , who was only riding his third National race ever , to claim second place. . Suzuki 's Myerscough passed LOP's Mark Gregson in the closing laps as well for fourth place and they were followed across the line by Honda's Wise and Reid , Glover who had recovered his way up to eighth, Denton and Toyama. Mosier had looked the fastest , but Gaylon wasn't about to make any predictions considering his past luck on the Nationals. "T he first moto doesn't mean anything yet. I've still got to work hard in the second one ," It was strange to see round two get off the line in nearly reverse order of the opening race with Marty Moates wheeling the other LOP Suzuki into the lead ahead of Jeff Ward on Broc