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/126515
00 ~ .... $.0 l:l.. < Jot.ony O'~ . . . . Jim Olbeon here. Olbeon finished HCOnd OYe..... while O'Mere ran out of gee on the flne'lep of moto two end ended up ninth overall. AMA 125/250cc National Championship MX Series: Round 1 Suzuki storms on! By Mark Kariya SACRAMENTO. CA, MAR, 29 It could be a long year for the competition. After seven straight Supercross wins, Suzuki made the transition to the outdoor scene quite comfortably as factory riders Mark Barnett and Kent HowenOD decimated their opponents at the Coors-sponsored Hangtown MotOCI'O!l5 Clas&ic both ., b h of t h e~ wmDmg ot respectIVe motos. 0 f' th . eu Honda's Jim Gibson went 5·2 for seamd behind Barnett while Jdf Ward returned from injuries suffered in a practice crash earlier this year to finish third on his works Kawasaki. On the 2501, Yamaha's Bob Hannah worked up to second in both motos, but ~u1d. not cat.ch H~on. Gary Sania finished third. golOg 6·4 on his Yamaha. Over 27,000 spectators flocked to the long and hilly Prairie City Off· Hilhway Vehicle Park to watch their favorites. Rain threatened early in the day. but only a brief shower prior to the fint 12Scc qualifier got anyone' wet. A cold wind kept most of the people bundled up the whole day any. way . Prellmln8ri.. SuzuIti-mounted DavidJoDel got out of the fim corner shuflle with a clear track ahead of him in the fint four-lap uSec qualifier. Before the fim long lap ended (lap times in practice were running around three and a half minutes). Suzuki's Denny Bentley slipped underneath Gibson for the lead in a short uphill straight. Yamaha support rider Rick Johnson also made it past Jones on lap ODe. GibMm outran Bentley in the poction of the track that is hidden from view from most of the track. Moving up to fourth was Kawasaki's Tom BenoUtin with Gary Dircks putting his K • M Racing KTM behind Jones for sixth. johIIIon ~ and pa.ed Bentley on the last lap to come up with sec. ond behind Gibson and Dircks dis· placed Jones for fifth. , , Honda.s John~y 0 Mara, Ya~ suppon nder Phil ,~arson ~nd Suzuki· mounted DaI!ny Magoo Cha~ler led the pack 10 the second qualifie~. ~agoo m~ by Larson and set hIS S1Jhts on 0 Mara ~ they reached the high-speed top' straIght. Chandler took his shot at 0 Mara on the fint jump, but it baclr.ftred as he tumbled to the ground. His bike was tangled in the tracbide baJtDerS. and by the time he got restarted everyone else was long gone. O'Mara pulled out a large lead and won easily ahead of Larson. Getting third was Kyle Landrum on a Howard Racing Suzuki while Yamaha's Erilr. Kehoe moved steadily up through the pack to finish fourth ahead of Gene's Automotive Suzuki rider Ken McKenzie. Magoo put on a hard ride in an attempt to break into the top 15 and earn a direct transfer to the National. However, he missed it by a few spots and wou1d have to earn his way through the consolation race. Ricky Palmer on a Yamaha was the fint to his tum one in the consolation, but Magoo was right behind him and took over in the hidden fint section of the traclr.. He stayed upright the whole race and wallr.ed away with the win. 9Ycle West Suzuki rider Pete Langley and Rick Maki on a DG Yamaha dis· placed Palmer also. In the fint 2S0cc qualifier, "Radical Ron" Turner took the holeshot on a four-day-old Suzuki Floater. Hannah was soon up to second, though, and rode past a few turns before the end of lap two. In third the whole race was Hannah's teammate Rick Burgett. both riding water-cooled, linkage-type monoshock machines. American Honda Spans rid· er "Dynamite Dan" Conway pluaed himself into third on lap two and kept it there ahead of Sanics. Hondamounted Mae Loeffler and LOP Suzuki rider Steve Maron. Honda's Donnie Hansen led the second qualifier stan to flDish despite clipping a P.'* on lap one and stopping momentanly. Ron Sun held second on a Honda for a couple laps before yield· ing to SuzuIti-mounted Clint Hardick. Yamaha riders Spencer Morrison and Kris Bigelow chased them in ~th Maico's Eric Eaton sixth. DMG Maico rider Pete Murray scooted through tum one in front of the pack in the consy. Can-Am's Jim Holley got by in the hidden section, though, with Juan Benavidez on an· other Can-Am (though not water-cooled like Holley's works bilr.e) and Doug ~ll on a Span Dynamia Yamaha puttlDg Murray back to founh. Benavidez went by Holley on lap two but couldn't pull away and went down in the Coon ditch a lap later, losing much time. Murray ftIled in for the rutlDer-up slot with McKenzie Trucking Husky rider Eugene McKenzie, II third. Positions appeared to be set, but on the fourth and final lap, the leader went down in the Coon ditch. Positions were jumbled around and a surprised Timbo Richardson took the win on his Honda. Four-stroke race An exhibition four·stroke race was run with one 20-minute mota before and another one after the National motos. Marty Moates took a Hone· power Factory Honda took the initial lead in the first moto. Joey Schlag on a Honda, BP Racing/Pro Tec Yamaha rider Eric McKenna and Franlr.s Racing Honda rider Jeff Jennings kept him company. Moates went down on lap three and was fifth by the time he restarted. Jen. nings rode away with it after that while Moates staned dueling with Schlag. Their battle eventually became one for second place and on the last lap, the high school senior outmaneuvered Moates for the spot. McKenna got founh after stalling when he clipped a haybale and Australian motocross champ Steve Gall got fifth. Moates lr.new what to expect from both the bike and the track 10 the sec0nd moto and he rode to victory ahead of Schlag. Gall came up with third overall followed by Lance Moorewood whose 6-4 earned him fourth ~a11. ROD Combs on a Kawasaki KLX put together 7-6 finishes for fifth. 121icc National Jeff Ward got the holeshot in the fmt moto. but Barnett was just at his rear Oanlr. and zipped by on the fmt lap. Mter that, Barnett seemed intent on putting as much ground as possible on his rivals. On lap two. he had the entire length of the top straight on O'Mara in second. . Ward staned ha~ shoclr. problems which slowed him a httle, and Gibson got him at the IS·minute point. Yamaha's Donnie Cantaloupi staned around fifth and at near the 50 minute mark, went by Ward who held a slight lead ~ another Yamaha teamster. Scott Burnworth. Burnworth also got around Ward and on the fina1lap. so did Rick John- son. 7