Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

ama'80 "The "Earthquake" - Erik Kehoe - rumbled at the World Mini GP. Ron True pops over the Mattherhorn the winner of the CoorslSHA hillclimb. Kehoe, Healey haul at Tri-Cross World Mini Gran Prix By Nanette Marie ORANGE, CA, APR. 13 It took three whole days of racing before two riders could be crowned champions at this year's World Mini Gran Prix, with action getting underway Friday at Saddleback Park, and winding up Sunday afternoon. And the riders celebrating their victories in the Yamaha Race of Ch~mpions Sunday night were factory Yamaha rider Erik Kehoe, of Granada Hills, CA, for his sweep pf the 80cc Race of Champions, and Costa Mesa's Mike Healey, who brought home the 50cc main event race. Action began Friday morning, with practice for all of the classes, then in the afternoon, the first motos of each division were run. Saturday found all of the riders back out at Saddleback for their second, and for many, their fmal moto of the 1980 World Mini, then Sunday the racing all began at around 9:00 a.m. High winds, in the neighborhood of over 60 miles per hour, caused delays in the second day's program. and there were still nine classes tha t hadn't finished out by Saturday evening. Those races were run promptly Sunday morning. and the class victor· ies decided. At 11 a.m., the Pee Wee Stock and Modified classes were run in their final race, as a prelude to the two Races of Champions. Those two events finished up before noon, but there was a two-hour wait before another motorcycle hit the International course at Saddleback. That was practice for the Race of Champions riders, then it was back for some more adjustments to the bikes, and another wait before the first Race of Champions got underway. The brand new Yamaha 80s were to be the first on the course. that class running three motos before the overall winn.er was decided. then the 50s hit the track in between while the riders in the 80cc race switched bikes. 20 The whole story of the Yamaha SOcc Race of Champions could have been told in one moto, the fLrSt, as Earth- quake Erik Kehoe grabbed the holeshot and began a romp that pictured him totally out-classing the rest of the 18-rider field. As the pack rounded the Webco turn, Kehoe was out front with Jack McGill right at his rear fender, but that was only momentary, as Kehoe soon built an incredible lead that no one could come close to chewing down. This left McGill comfortably in second for a few laps, but soon after that Mark Meredith pulled within striking distance and put in a bid for the runner-up position. McGill held him back for a while, but Meredith slipped around later in the moto, and motored off for second. At the finish it was Kehoe, Meredith and McGill, with Sam Storer and Bryan Taylor running across 4-5. Moto two shot up the start hill after the bike switches had been made, and again Kehoe came down into the Webco Tower tum in front. Behind at his heels again were McGill, Todd Bray, Snell Johnson, and Ron Lechien, but as in the first round Kehoe made no match out of the race, and roosted off into the breeze. On the second lap, Bray had taken command of second position after McGill dropped way back, and John Simpson, who rode to an eighth in the first round, was pressing in third' ahead of Johnson and Meredith. One more circuit found Simpson still in third, but Bray dropped from second to fourth and Meredith moved into the place slot. From there the pack trained through the rest of the moto, and positions held to the finish. Brian Stanley moved into the fifth spot late in the race, and moved McGill back to sixth. The final round put the icing on the Kehoe Race of Champions cake, but for once, somebody got ahead of him. At the start, Sam Storer picked up the holeshot and led Kehoe for a total of four turns, but then the Earthquake struck again, and he roosted off to yet another comfortable lead. Storer gave chase early on in the moto, but his efforts were to no avail, as Kehoe was too much to catch. Meredith started out in third, was still in third at the halfway mark, and finished third behind Storer at the checkered flag, while Ron Lechien and Mark Knowles did tile same number for fourth and fifth. Overall, Kehoe was the winner, and took home the YZ 80 of his choice, along with the new Bell Moto Ill, Griffs Leathers, Premier Yamaha jerseys and Scon goggles given to each rider before the start of the Race of Champions. Mark Meredith picked up second, Sam Storer took third, fourth went to Todd Bray and Jack McGill, with an 11 th in the final moto, went home with fifth. Next up were the YZ 50 riders in their Race of Champions. In their first moto, Mike Healey grabbed the holeshot, with Mouse McCoy, Larry Ward, Ronnie Tichenor, Keith Turpin and Brad Johnson in tow. Healey stayed in CQIllmand early in the race, but Mouse McCoy went down early, and had to charge back into the hunt. In his charge, he slipped by Brant McCoy, David Flowers, Johnson, Turpin and Ward. which put him right behind Healey. From there the duo put on the best race of the day as they traded positions a number of times in the remaining laps. McCoy would charge right by Healey, who would then mount his own head of steam and run past McCoy, and their battle was ended only by the checkered flag. There, Healey took control only turns before . the finish line, and held on for the win. Turpin. Ward and Brant McCoy rounded out the top five. The 50cc second moto saw Healey again out front early, but this time McCoy found the din a little bit harder, and fell way off the pace. Turpin and Ward were there in second and third, continuing their bat- tie which had gone on behind the leading pair in the first round. Meanwhile, McCoy was picking off riders steadily as the race wore on, and at the finish the boards read Healey, Turpin. Ward, Brant McCoy, Brad Johnson and finally Mouse. Overall Healey took home the YZ 50 he wanted. as Turpin picked up second, Ward took third, Mouse took fourth with Brant McCoy fifth, and Brad Johnson sixth out of the II-rider field. After the two Race of Champions classes were finished, four run-offs were left, the 83cc Stock and Modified Experts 12 and over, and the 83cc Stock and Modified Intermediates 12 and over. In the Intermediates' Stock run-off, Russ Winkler came out on top ahead of Bobby Moore, Kurt Hendricksen, Danny Storbeck and Todd Campbell, but with the scoring system. which also included the division moto scores as well to determine the overall winner, Danny Storbeck was the vietor. Todd Campbell had enough points for second overall, with Paul Denis and Rudy Dickinson tied in points for futh, and by virute of the run-off low score, Denis took the better placing' while Dickinson took home sixth. placing. while Dickinson took home sixth. Intermediate run-off scores in the Modfied race found Todd Campbell with that win. ahead of Rudy Dickinson, Todd Hewatt, Paul Denis and Bobby Moore, while in the overall scoring the order went Campbell, Dickinson, Hewatt. Donnie Sigrist and Denis. Erick Kehoe was back for both of the Expert run-offs, as he won both motos in his division of each category, but up against him in both of the runoffs was George Holland, who also had four moto victories going into the pair of runoffs. The first up to the line was the Stock race, but the Kehoe/ Holland matchup never materialized as Kehoe took the win and Ron Lechien the runnerup slot, leaving Holland to third. In the -overall scoring, however, Holland came up second behind Kehoe, with Lechien third, Troy Blake fourth and a three-way tie

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