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/126441
Winning two motos In front of the TV cam..... brought a grin to the face of Sue Rsh. U .8. Women's Invitational MX Fish fries the competition By Dale Brown Photos by Mark Kariya and Brown CARLSBAD, CA, DEC. 2 Recovered from injuries that kept her out of racing for over a year, Sue Fish stormed her Yamaha/Malcom Smith/Crown Cycle-sponsor10 ed YZ 125 to win both motos of the ExPert class. in the U.S. Women's Invitational MX at Carlsbad Raceway. Finishing second after two 25minutes-plus-one-Iap motos was 15-year-old Suzuki pilot Lisa Akins from Niles, MI. with a 4-2 taUy. Women's National MX Champ Dede Cates looked like she might pull off the overall win after finishing second in the first moto and racing to a strong early lead in the second moto. But a pair of crashes midway through the second moto dropped her to fifth. and she finished third overaIl. The first moto staned with Cates pushing her Suzuki/R&D Racing engines-sponsored RM I25T to the holeshot. Fish was hot on Cates' rear fender as they exited the first turn. Kimi Douglass and Charlene Higgins held third and founh as they set off to complete the flrst lap. At the end of one lap Cates was still in the lead with FISh about 15 feet back. Kawasaki-mounted Barbara Spielman had taken over third, and was followed by Douglass, Dorene Payne. Michigan's Peggy Hall. Cindy Dumo, Texas' Kathy Holman and Higgens. The following lap saw Cates and Fish pull out some distance on Spielman, who in tum had a good margin over Payne. Douglass had slowed noticeably with some son of problem. Working her way up to fifth was Lisa Akins after a fall in the early going. Four laps into the race, Cates and Fish were still fighting hard for the lead. Finally, going through the first half of the course, Sue took the lead. "I just waited for the right time," she said later. ") didn't want to take her out, and) didn't want to crash." Fish led the remainder of the race, pulling out to an ) I-second lead over Cates. Cates, meanwhile, had little to worry about in her second place position, since she was 55 seconds in front of Spielman. Akins, a Team Dynamic rider who also gets help from RPM and HiPoint, had taken fourth from Payne, who was riding a Moto·X Fox Kawasaki. Rhe Helms (Yam) took sixth in front of Kathy Holman (Yam), Cindy Dumo (Kaw) and Mercedes Gonzalez (Suz). April Dunlap rounded out the top 10. Dede Cates again took the lead as the pack hit the first tum. Shadowing her this time was Kathy Holman, with Lisa 'Akins, Barbara Spielman and Sue Fish in her wake. Trying to get to the front, Fish had her troubles on the first lap: ") went down at the bottom of the downhill and kinda got stuck under the bike." Still, Fish recovered and was running sixth at the end of the first lap, behind Cates. Akins, Holman, Spielman and Douglass. At the completion of two laps, the top 10 order read: Cates, Akins, Spielman, Fish, Holman, Dorene Payne, Cindy Dumo, Tracy Evans, and Jan Murray. CoIning by to stan the founh lap, Spielman had slowed drastically and would drop out shortly afterward, in pain. Later, before going to the hospital for a check, she said, ") hun my back. The bike hopped up and hit me just right. " When Spielman slowed, Fish picked up third and staned after Akins, passing her a lap later. Meanwhile, Cates had pulled out to a strong lead. Fish appeared to be gaining on Cates, but whether there was enough time left to catch the leader was unknown. Suddenly, it was a moot question - Cates tangled with a lapped rider and went down in the tum before the fmish line. ") came up to her in the comer," said Cates later, "and she just stopped!" . The fall relegated Dede to third behind Fish and Akins. Half a lap later, though, Cates tumbled at the top of the ledge, dropping three more places while she fought to restart her bike. Fish rode smoothly - though she adtnitted later that she was getting