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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126464
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lAbovel Donnie Hansen went fest until he got sick. IBeiow left) M8I1Y Tripes
won the 250cc moto two. IBelow right! Mark Lawrence heads skyward.
IAbovel Barnett 1101 and Jeff Ward 1191 close on Glover.IBelowl Howerton
leads Scott Gillman 1341. Reid and Mike Bell 131 in their first moto.
move up from sixth on the opening lap
to pass Coon for fourth on lap 10 and
finish about 40 seconds behind Glover.
Filling out the first 10 were Blose,
Moto-X Fox Honda pilot Tommy
Benolkin. Cantaloupi, LOP's David
Taylor and O'Mara.
250cc National
8
The first quarter-liter charge to the
top of Banzai Hill and back down was
led by Honda teammates Donnie Hansen and Steve Wise. LOP's Mark Lawrence. Husky's Mike Guerra and privateer Yamaha rider Scott Gillman filed
in behind the two Pro-Links.
Howerton was well back in the pack.
"The clutch was slipping and it
wouldn't take off until the plates got
hot enough to engage." related the
Rhinestone Cowboy after the race.
Also suffering poor starts were Yamaha
teamsters Mike Bell and Marty Tripes.
By the third lap, Hansen and Wise
had pulled a little breathing room on
Lawrence. Howerton, 12th on the second lap, was up to eighth, and Bell
occupied the 10th slot. Tripes was
further back after his front wheel
caught a rut. which pitched him off to
the side of the bike where he ran with
it until it came to a stop.
Hansen. who rode the Brian Lunnistuned water·cooled machine. found
himself alone out front when Wise
pulled off on the fifth lap, unhappy
with tbe front end of his machine.
On the seventh lap Howerton joined
a skirmish over second that was being
fought by Lawrence, Gillman. LOP's
Kippy Pierce and Kawasaki's Warren
Reid. One lap later, Howerton was in
second but still had a long way to go to
catcb Hansen.
Reid joined Howerton in pursuit of
Hansen as they chipped away a few
seconds a lap. Finally, five laps from
the finish, Howerton took the lead. A
lap later and Reid was pressuring
Hansen, but a lapped rider got out of
control on the back section's double
jump and Reid landed on the bike and
went down himself. Bell, who'd been a
ways behind in fourth, got by and
Reid started just in front of Tripes,
wbo had worked his way back up to
the front.
Howerton cruised in to finish first,
but Hansen's troubles weren't quite
over. He' wasn't aware that Bell had
closed up very hard, and in the last
section of the last lap, Bell got by for
second. Reid and Tripes traded fourth
place a couple of times, with Reid
getting the nod at the end. Gillman
finished sixth, followed by Lawrence,
Guerra, Pierce and Tony Wanket
(Moto-X Fox Yam).
Between motos. and through most
of the second moto. Donnie Hansen
got very sick. slowing his pace to an
eventual 20th place finish in the final
race.
No clutch troubles bothered Howerton in tbe second moto and he took the
lead ahead of a scrapping pack composed of Reid, Tripes and Tony
Wanket.
The second lap found Tripes in second and closing on Howerton. Reid
held third ahead of Suzuki's Darrell
Shultz. whose engine "went kapoo" in
the first moto.
Hansen had been among the early
front-runners, but by tbe third lap was
at the rear of the pack and running
slowly. Also the apparent victim of misfortunr was Scott .Gillman, who came
around slowly, holding a possiblyinjured hand.
Meanwhile on the third lap, Tripes
got past Howerton for the lead and
Bell and Wise moved up to pressure
the fourth.place Shultz.
In seventh. PDQ's Jimmy Ellis, who
suffered from a bad ignition in the
first round. led Lawrence, Tony
Wanket, KTM's Boo Stichter and
Tony's brother Pete Wanket. also
riding a Fox Yamaha.
While the top three continued in
order, opening up about four to five
seconds between themselves, the battle
for fourth continued as Shultz, Bell
and Wise traded positions back and
forth. At the midway point though,
Shultz, bothered by a recent wrist in·
jury. decided to pace himself and let
the others go.
As the race wore down to the final
laps, Tripes was getting tired and Howerton was getting closer. Although
confused about how long there was to
go in tbe race after he missed the twolaps·to·go board (hidden behind the
flagman's blue flag) Howerton got
close enough to Tripes to read tbe fine
print on the Yamaha's rear fender.
The Typhoon kept his guard up.
however, and finished with a two bikelength lead. taking second overall behind Howerton and ahead of Bell.
Reid took the flag in third ahead of
Bell. who had made up a lot of ground
in the final laps. Shultz got back
around Wise. also hampered by injury
and lack of training, to finish fifth.
Euro Cycles Maico rider Eric
McKenna also did some moving up in
the late laps. passing Ellis for seventh.
Guerra finished ninth to claim fifth
overall. while Pete Wanket finished
10th in the moto. Tony Wanket finished
12th, good for seventh in the overall
standings behind Donnie Hansen.
Mark Lawrence had been on his way
to a second moto placing in the top III
that would have given him good overall position, but the transmission in his
Yamaha locked up solid,
Finishing eighth through 10th in the
final standings were Dave Hollis,
McKenna and Shultz.
Results
125cc NATIONAL: 1. Brian Myerscough. 1-1 ISuzl; 2.
Mark 8.-non. 2-2 (Suzl; 3. Iltoc GIo_. 3-3 IYam); 4.
Jeff Ward. ~ IKawI; 5. Chappy Blose. 5-6 (Kawl; 6.
Richard Coon. 8-5 IHen); 7. John O'Mara. 6-10 IMugl:
B. Donnie ~ . ~ (Yaml; 9. Ron Sun. 7·12
(Henl: 10. Tommy
16-7 (Hen); 11. David
Taylor. 13-9 (Yaml: 12. Scott B"-.11-14 (SuzJ:
13. Jim HolIoy. 10-18 IYam); 14. Phillip Larson. 16-15
(Yam); 15. Chris _ . 14-17IHenI: 16. Ron T.....
22-11 (Suzl; 17. Krio Iligolow. 20-13 (Yaml: 18. Mike
Tripes. 17-16 (Yaml: 19. Riel Maki. 12-DNF (Yam): 20.
Jeff W_. l8-ONF (Yaml: 21. Oavid e-o.d. 23-19
ISuzl: 22. _ e Iltown. 19-25 (Yaml: 23. Andy Kirker.
30-20 (Yaml.
250cc NATIONAL: 1. Kent Howerton, 1-2 (Suz); 2.
Marty Tripes. 6-1 (Yaml: 3. Mil