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/126479
o 00 0") ~ (Clockwise from top) Glover slides through the first turn in Sunday's main followed by Chuck Sun (63). Wise. Jim Gibson (29). Mark Barnett (10). Howerton. Pete Wenket (138). Mike Bell (hidden by Glover) and Merty Moates (25). Howerton placed second Saturday. sixth on Sunday. Gibson shot by Sun early in Sunday's mein but couldn't shaka him. Maico-rnounted Steve Stackable and Mike "Downt own" Brown on an LOP Yama ha fought over second posit ion for the first half of the race. Sun, in the meantime, was busy with a magnificent comeback ride that saw him pick off Stackable for third on lap seven. Brown was able to hold him off only a little while longer, finally suc cum bing to Sun's charge as they went up the Tornado on lap nine. So, the Honda teammates started and finally finished one-two followed by Brown, LOP's Steve Martin and Stackable. Defending Superbowl Champion Mark Barnett and his Suzuki teammate Marty Smith shared the holeshot in the fourth qualifier. Barnett, who chose to ride the older, proven twin shock works bike rather than the singleshock Floaters like his teamma tes, be gan opening a lead by the end of a lap , leaving Smi th to contend with Kawa saki's Wa rr en Reid . Though he stalled momentarily at the T ornado on lap th ree , Reid ca ught bac k up to and passed Sm ith on lap seven , and when Barne tt lost his chai n a lap later, Warren went int o the lead. Carlsbad USGP winner Marty Moates was third on his LOP Yamaha followed closely by Suzuk i's Danny LaPorte and Barnett. Arlo Englund on a Vickery Yamaha took th e first semi after disposing of early lead er Jennings who stayed with him the entire 10 laps . In the second semi , Suzuk i's Darrell Shultz took over on the second lap and cruised to the checkered ahead of LOP's Kippy Pierc e. The consolation race belonged to Kawasaki's Jeff Ward who handily de feated teammate Gaylon Mosier, Yamaha -mounted Mickey Kessler and Billy Grossi on a Husky . The stage was set for the ma in which looked to be a showdown among Bell, Howerton, Sun and Barnett. When the gate dropped, though, Glover scooted out front with Hansen, Hower ton an d Wise. "About three of us went in side by side, and I came out of the last one (jump) a little bit ahea d," said Glover later. " I jum ped a lit tle farther off the last jump." After that initial sorting out, it was just a matter of riding around and holding on to the finish , though he was bothered with front suspension problems in the later stages of the race. "T he fro nt end started com ing loose. I couldn't even believe it, and I thought, 'Oh my God!' I had the worst feeling I was gonna break, I don't know why, you know , it's kind of a psychological thing. Right here in front of everybody I was gonna break." He kept it together long enough to go the distance untouched, though, for his second Supercross win . Much more happened in back of Glover. While holding . third behind Glover and Hansen , Wise was forced out when his front spokes broke on lap three and he left th e track bitt erl y dis appointed. Goin g at it for fourth were Sun , Tripes and Canta lou pi. Tripes and Cantaloupi hit each other off a j ump after the Persiryle, Cantaloupi dro pped back and Barnett came up for his spot. followed by Bell a short distance behind. Barnett and Bell were ready to push the pace. Barnett passed T ripes on lap 13 with Bell following suit a lap later. Both went by Sun who later admitted that on this night, he wasn't going to stay with them. Howerton, in the meantime, had been steadily moving up on Hansen and finally got him at the Tornado on the white flag lap. "At the Tornado, I came out of the groov e, and when I started staying in the groove, staying high, I screwed up and went outside," Hansen related afterward, a trace of disappointment in his voice. After Sun in sixth. . it was Marty Smith, Tripes, Ward and Shultz rounding out the top 10. Sunday The track was prepared to run clockwise for Sunday aft ernoon's race. Still , grum bling cou ld be heard in the pits regarding the track, centered mostly around the smoothness and high speeds or the many bike-breaking jumps. 7