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/126419
IAbove) Mechanic Dave Ostermlln and Teem Yamahe's Mike Sell scored second in the &OOcc rece.lBelow) Kent Howerton 161 beet the Hurricenel1l. _ 8 Howerton, but then dropped his bike in the loose marbles caUlled by plowing the track between motos. By the 10-minute mark Serrano dropped back tc? 10th. Hannah was just tour seconds off Howerton's rear fender, and there was a' four-way battle for fourth going on between Tripes, Stichter. Wosick. and Savitski. Stacy. Gregson and Pomeroy played close. Lap after lap Howerton held off Hannah by no mo~ than %0 feet in the turns and SO feet on the straights. For Hannah. the Rhinestone Cowboy was so near yet impouible to rope in. Thiswent on for %0 minutes and had the crowd going wild. Meanwhile, far behind the two speedsten. the action for top privateer was getting pretty heavy. Savitski was acCUlled of centerpunching Wosick in a tum- and knocking the bike completely out from beneath him. Wosick quiclr.ly ~mounted and caught back up with Savitslr.i in a few laps. Diving into a tight uphillieftbander by the finish line. Wosick had the lead on the inside line, but backed off slightly to let Savitslr.i edge ahead_ Wosick then got back on the gas, oversliding the tum and berming Savitski right into the trackside fencing where "John Boy" lost his chain to DNF the moto. The kid from San Jose wasn't going to let the more experienced riders intimiqate him his first year on the circuit. LOP's Mark Gregson. on Yamaha, would. claim top privateer overall in . the series with fifth overall behind Hannah, Howerton. Weinert anli Tripes. Wosick would ena up' sixth, despite having missed five of the motos in the %O-moto series, due to the spectator who ran out in front of his bike at Hangtown, injuring them both and leaving Larry unable to ride for the following two weeks. No doubt the Moto-X Fox rider will be the hottest new factory prospect for the 1980 season. Wosick proved himself again in the second moto by claiming fifth behind Stichter. another hot new privateer. But the Howerton/Hannah freight .train was still rolling. After SO-minutes Hannah finally closed the few remaining feet to Howerton's rear fender, but that didn't mean he was going to get past. Howerton was still matching him speed-for-speed and line-for-line_, Hannah's only chance was to wait for a mistake - a missed shift or ovenbot comer on Kent's part, but it never cmie. With two lap! to go, Hannah came through the signaling a~ signifying defeat by sbaking his head at his niechanic and backing off the throttle. Kent pulled off into the sunset to a secu~ moto victory which, coupled with his lIeCOnd behind Hannah in the fint moto, assured Kent the day's Oftrall win. &OOcc National "They never let up on me," was the way Gaylon Mosier described the p~re put on him by Yamaha's Mike Bell and Rick Burgett after quiclr.ly tak.ing the lead of the first 500cc moto away from Bell on the fint lap. "It wasn't easy. I'd pull out a slight lead and then Bell would close it back up to just about five seconds. I didn't think my gearbox would stay together. I was using it sonard. " Privateer Greg Theiss ran a strong third for half the moto before being passed by Burgett. then Greg found himself having to battle with LOP teammate Marty Moates, the two of them on 4%6cc kitted YZ Yamabas. When Theiss and Moates bumped into each other on an uphill lIeCtion IAbovel LOP's Marty Moetesl381 took third in the &OOec race.ISelowl Darrell Shultz 171 leeds &OOec seriesleeder Suzuki teammate Denny laPorte· and lost momentum. Tommy Croft was given the opportunity to take over fourth, but only for a short while. His works Uni·Tralr. Kawasaki broke with five minutes left to race. Series leader Danny LaPorte was spit off his Suzuki RN -4%0 and onto his head on the first lap which left "pynamite" Danny having to work. up from last place to an eventual I 5th. Teammate Da~ll Shulu suffered suspension tuning problems and held on to a sixth place' fmish ahead of Honda's Gary Semics, Yamaha's Rex Staten. Rich Eientedt on the production factory Can-Am and Maico's Denny Swartt. Reigning National 500ccChampion Rick Burgett was bumped out as he ~ off with the lead off the second moto start, emly to find out a lap later the race had to he restarted becaUlle of a malfunctioning starting gate. On the restart Burgett fell and was left in last place as Marty Moates gassed his Laurens Offner tuned LOP bike out front ahead of Mosier, LaPorte, Theiss. Shulu and Kessler. Three laps came and went as Moates held his lead, but then coming off an uphill jump he landed off his regular line in a mud bog which nearly stopped the bike and let Mosier back. into the lead again. And, as hefo~, Gaylon would not he caught as he led the rest of the way to the finish. The action behind Mosier remained fairly -dull for most of the moto until near the end when Moates. LaPorte. Bell and Shultz broke up the freight train they had been running and began trading handlebars. As the moto played itself out LaPorte was holding second place, though still feeling sbalr.en from his first moto getoff. Teammate Shulu might have tak~ third. but a flat ti~ with just two lap! to go dropped Da~Il back to seventh behind Bell. Moates, and Steve Staclr.able on the other LOP Yamaha. Gassin' Gaylon was pumped over his victory as he was interviewed by HiPoint's Larry Maien amid the spraying of victory champagne. "It's going to take a lot of bike and a lot of motor to win this lIeris becaUlle it's 10 competitive. I appreciate Danny not doing 10 well this week. especially since I was io clOle to beating him last week in Michigan. But nobody gave me a chance to b~the easy all dayI" • R....1ts 2IiOcc NATIONAL: 1. K.- _ CSud 2-1; 2. Bob . - ev.... 1-21; 3. MIny T'" lHanI 3-3; 4Urry W_ lHanI 46;.5. lao ~ OCTMI 7-4; .. Mork ~ ev.... M; 7. Flank Sllc¥8CTUI1O-7;" lion Sun . . . 12-1; .. lion ~ ev.... 9-14> 10. CIorIl Jao.-lHanIl3-13; 11.'- ~ ev.... 5-'; 12. s-r can-lSuzIl-Z2; 11 T"" _ _ ev.... 14. o..id . . . , . . . 14-1&; 15. . . . Wile CHanI '-8; 11. .... LaoIIIor .... 11-11; 17. Tonr '.'2; DISt*lo~·-lO;lI.Cldaas.n-""·-ll;l" - . Shoup lSuzI17·11; 211..... Twigg 11. ev.... It- ·o.-ONf !iOOcc NATIONAL: I. ~ _ IKM 1-1; 2. _l1oi ev 2-3; 3. MIny _ ev.......;4.... s... ev M; 5. DornII ShuIIz lSuzI 11-7; .. Greg ~ ev 5-1; 7. Donny ........ lSuzIl5-2; I. RIck s- ~ ev I1-1; 10. EnaIund ev 12-12; 12. _ _ ~ ev.... •... 11"&.1_ . . . IIurgoa ev 3-13; .. Gory Sen*:a CHanI7-10; 11. _ 111-14; 14. Donny s-1z lMIII1O-2II; 16. Rich.IC-Al9-23; Ill. Pony~ lMIlI'-I1; 17._Uw CSuzl 17-18; Ill. Tonr Sun1rn8I' 13-'; 19. John Dey lYomIl4-·;20. _ ~ lSuzI24-15. AMA 2IiOcc NAllONAL CHAMPIONSHI' MX SERIES POINT STANDINGS (FINAU: 1. Bob ....... l464l; 2. K.m _ . . . - : 3. Morty T"'l31li1; 4. Jimrnv W _ C2Ii3I; 5. Mork ~ l22lII; I. Urry W_ l2lIlIl; 7. MIke ~ l2OliI; 8. John ~ 1190~ 9. S _ -(188); 10. lion Sun 11.: 11. CI8rIt Joneo 11231: 12. Boo S_11111: 13. Ca100 11091; 14. Mike . . - 11081: 15. (TIE) s-r GiIInw1I Ron Pomeroy 110l11; 17. M.k Robillerd 1981; Ill. Jeff Jenningo 1!I41; 19. 00rTen Rhoten 1901; 211. S_ Rh90n s.nono C88l. AMA !iOOcc NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP MX SERIES POINT STANDINGS: 1. Donny I..oI'arl8 C2441; 2. Mike Bell l222l: 3. G8yIon _ t2131; 4. 00rreI1 Shultz 11981; 5. Rex 5-.11701; 8. Gory Sen*:a 11851; 7. Rid< a..ven 11471; 1I.lT1El_ ~ SmiIII 11131: 10. MIcIrey~II7I: 11. Donny s-1z l1l8I; 12. Gool_ 13. Gng _1741; 14. Tommy CnJIt ml: 15. Pony ~ l87I: 18. Morty_ llIOI: 17. Rich '-1511; Ill. I(., _ _ . .; 19. Mon!t.-...... l44I; 211. S-~l32I. -=