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/126481
(; • ~ III t . Ii' • 0 00 0') 1"""'4 ~ ~ .. # ~ rr.J ~ ;:j -e Rich Coon splashes into the first moto lead. Behind him is Broc Glover. Tommy Benolkin (22), Mark Barnett 121 1, winner John Q'Mara 1201, Ron Sun 1241 and Teta 125cc World Championship MX Series: Round 11 Q'Mara prevails in m By Tom Mueller Photos by Raymo nd M. M cCoy and Mueller LEX INGTON ,OH ,JULY 27 Team Mugen's Johnny O'Mara made his privateer's dream come true by holding on when many others couldn't to win the storm burdened fifth running of the Valvoline 125cc United States Grand Prix he ld at MidOhio Mo toc ross Park p romoted . ' this year by Mark Cockley. ,T he Eu rope a ns who attended 6 the event could have stayed home. With the excep tion of Ita lia n Da rio Nani and Japan's Tetsu mi Mitsu yasu . none of the top ra nk ed contenders for th e title changed the ir position on t he po ints ladder. Most found themselves in the DNF col umn o r out of the top 10 - and ou t of the p oi n ts. Three-time 125cc W orld Champion Gaston Ra hier kept the moto one re o su its un offici al at this time d ue to his protest. Rahi~r believed he was eigh th In the moto Inste ad of ou t of th e to p 10 . His initial protest a t th e track was turned down by the FIM jury present there , bu t R ah ier appealed to the AMA . The AMA will review th e p rotest and ei th er accept or reject it as soon as possi~le . If th e AMA rejects i~, the protest will go to the FIM , where It could be held un til October when th e fall congress o~ the body conv en es. . The Canad ia n round of the senes scheduled to run August 3 has been canceled du e to withdrawal of the major sponsor, so it will all co me d own to the fast and hill y course in Spa in on August 17 when the fina l round will be run , when Suzuki's reigriing champ and cu rre nt points leader Harry Everts of Belgium will try to stay t he charges of teammate Eric Geboers, Michele Ricald i, Marc Vel keneers and Tetsumi Mitsu yasu . All five still have a ma t hematical shot at th e titl e . Spectator attendance was down from other years , and American ri de rs seem ed, for the most pa rt, apathetic towards the ra ce. T eam Su zuki's Brian Myerscough didn't show d ue to sore kid neys and was saving himself for the final 125cc N ationa l MX rounds . Myerscough had taken fourt h at last year's USGP . Team Yama ha 's Donnie Cantalo u pi wasn 't there either. "T here's no reason for him to ride ," said current 125cc Na tional Champ ion and last yea r's USGP ru nner -up rider Brae Glover . "T here's rea lly no reason for me to ride , eit her. Yamaha d idn 't really wa nt me to ride here . T her e's only two Nat ion al round s left." Ma rk Ba rn et t , the crowd favorite a nd last yea r's win ner , couldn't p ut it toget her this time. After a second in moto one behi nd O'Ma ra , Barnett found hims elf head ing for the pits only a few laps into the seco nd mot a with a n ai rbox full of water . T he surprise rid es of the d ay came in moto one from rook ie 'e n tra n ts Tom Benolkin a nd Denny Bentley. The pair ran 3-4 in the moto one muck. Benol kin was tak ing his debut ride on a T ea m H onda water- cooled Pro-Link sus pended bik e , and will be taking on the final 125cc Na tional ro unds with me chanic Bill Bu chka. Bentley is the newly signed Suzuk i teamster ou t of Michi gan. Both ri ders inked DNFs on the scor er's sheet the second time ou t. An d then there was T eam Honda 's Ron Sun a nd Rich Coon . Su n was ou t of th e ga te like a bullet both times ou t and showed -that Oregon mud riding experience pays off, bu t wa ter worked