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/126455
Goat Braker want '-2 to win the 250cc Pro class. CMC/Can-Am Golden State MX Series: round four Ron Turner, Dann y Turner, Goa By Jim Gianatsis LAKE MADERA, CA, JAN. 27 The Can-Am sponsored Continental Motosports Club Golden State Series returned to Lake Madera, greeting riders with a somewhat drier, but bitterly cold and just-as-challenging conditions as the previous mud . race held here earlier. Despite the cold, racing was hot in the Pro classes where Suzuki test rid- 6 er Ron Turner nailed up the win in the 125cc class, Goat Breker gave Kawasaki/ Norstar the overall 250cc class victory and for the first time il was Danny Turner on the Bill Harrison Construction Maico cleaning up the Open class. In a correction over lhe previous weekend's Golden State race at Fremont Raceway. it was "Radical Ron" Turner who posted the win lhere as well in the 125cc class with his Luft Shocks-sponsored RM -125T Suzuki production bike. Muddy conditions and a mix-up in scorin~. sheets had Yamaha rider Jim Holley listed the overall winner, when in fact Holley was runner-up behind Turner in the corrected finishing results. This week's race saw a stron~r lurnout of factory riders, but a couple never even made il into the feature motos. First to be put out of action was Team Honda's Donnie Hansen, twisling his foot on the openin~ lap of his qualifying molO and reliring for lhe day with a sprain. Hansen was riding a non-watercooled RC 250-80 Pro-Link works bike in lesting preparation for the upcoming Supercross races. Team Suzuki's Darrell Shultz was running away with the lead of his qualifier aboard an RH·250-79 works bike when he gOI Spil off it twice on tht, firsl lap. lhe second lime injurin~ his wrist with a possible sprain. 125cc Pro Johnny O'Mara couldn't believe his luck. The Team Mugen rider holeshot both 125cc feature motos with his ME 125R waterpumper and blasled away into the distance.wilh huge leads in the opening laps. only to go no further as broken shift levers sidelined him both times. When O'Mara went out in the first moto the lead was lurned over to Suzuki support rider Scott Burnworth. lailed by Honda support/Luft Shocks rider Gary Denton, Suzuki's Ron Turner. Moto·X Fox's Jeff Watts and Jim Holley. Rick Johnson on Yamaha's product evaluation squad, and Mike Preston. For two laps Burnworth held off the advances of Denton and Turner amid his best performance of the series thus far. only to grind 10 a halt on lap four with a broken engine crank rod. With Burnworth gone. the Denton versus Turner battle inherited the lead. followed by a Holley/Johnson fight for third. Behind them. Dave Coupe moved up to tangle his way through Preston and Watts. Around the halfway point in the race, Johnson dropped his Yamaha to put him way back behind Holley. Then suddenly up front, Denton who was still trying to fight off Turner, slowed drastically for a few corners and then pulled off the track. His Honda had blown a head gasket. Turner now had the lead all to himself after thaI war of attrition which had wiped out the three previous leaders. but he wasn'l oul fro~1t for long, Holley charged up on Turner and banged his way past to claim the lead on lap eight. Turner next found himself trying to hold off Johnson and Coupe for second position. but after a twO lap battle they got past as well and Turner found himself finishin~ OUI the mOIO in fourth spot as Holley claimed the moto win over Johnson and Coupe, with Turner trailed by Rick Maki, "High Voltage" Watts, Preston and Brian Wargo. When O'Mara went out in the second moto the lead was again turned over to Burnworth (having replaced the broken motor from round one) and chased by Denton, Turner. Dave Manhir~. Coupe and Watts. Lap three saw Turner find some spark as he shovf;d his way past Burnworth and into the lead, while Coupe moved into third. The top three posilions would stay that way for the remainder of the 10-lap molO. The real race was between Watts, Denton and Holley for fourth spot which lasled for the rest of the race and finally settled itself with Holley finishing ahead of Watts and Denton. Turner had the day's overall win bagged. Gary Denton's first moto break· down cost him the series 125cc class points lead and vaulted Turner and Holley into the lead for the CM'C number one plate. 250cc Pro Maico's Danny "Magoo" Chandltlr made his return to racing in the 250cc class after bending a couple of ribs 100 far during practice at the Saddleback series opener four weeks earlier. Winning lhe start of the first moto, though, was none other than 125cc winner Ron Turner, this time on an RM 250T model Suzuki. Turner was being pushed by Kawasaki's Goat Breker. Euro Cycle's Eric McKenna, LOP rider and Yamaha evaluation team rider Mike Brown. LOP rider Mark Lawrence and then Yamaha's Rex Staten in his usual poor 250cc class start. Turner seemed 10 be putting good distance on Breker for the lead, but on the second lap Radical Ron pulled off the track and into the pits. His back