Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

.-M Cl.. « (Topl The MCOnd 2IOcc mota geta undeI WIly with Donnie Han.... 1211. Kent Howerton In_nd Rick Burgett 1181 IMdlng.(Abovel Scott'Bumworth 1321. Jim GIMon m. Johnny O'~I'III401~ ErIk KHoe 11121 .... tM 12&L AMA National Championship 125/250cc MX Series: Round 3 Suzuki steamroller squashes Lake Whitney By Mark Kariya WHITNEY, TX, APR. 12 Team Suzuki steamrolled the competition at the Lake Whitney Cycle Ranch as both Mark Barnett a'nd Kent Howerton romped to easy 1-1 finishes in their respective cl~ before an' estimated 9,!WO specta tors. Though short, .relatively smooth and definitely fast, the traCK provided a good racing surface throughout the warm day. 10 A surprising second in the 125cc c:l.- was privateer JT Racing/Yamaha IUpport rider Rick "Too Hip" JolmMm. He emerged from tbe lead pack to finiah secoDd in the first mota and lOt ath in the secoDd when be was ham'- pered by bent forks. Honda's Johnny O'Mara went 5-5 for third. Last weekend's 250cc winner, Bob Hannah, was plagued with bad staru, and by the tis:ne he could work hia fac· tory Yamaha m~o the dea.z:, the leaders were gone. HIS 5-2 finishes bested Donnie Hansen's 2-5 on a works Honda. That Howerton would even start was in doubt earIieI' in the week. After last weekend's run-in with Hannah, Howerton diacovered he had a serious bacterial infection. He became so sick one night that his wife Jill had to drive him to the hQSpital. There, he got strong antibiotics intravenously as well as oral antibiotics and a heat pad over the swollen lymph glands. "The next day, all redness was going down, my temperature went away; it was a really dramatic improvement. If I hadn't done it that way, I wouldn't have been able to race, no way," he said. To that Jill added, "Think God, our doctor races motocJ'Ollll. He understands it was necessary for Kent to ride." Both Howerton's and Barnett's rides stretched their points leads, and Barnett climbed a couple more rungs in his quest for a totally winning 125cc season aboard his Jeff Clark-tuned RA125. Preliminaries Yam~ha's Erik Kehoe ran away with the first 125cc qualifier. Frank Lamp held, down the second spot until the white flag lap when Mark Garrison took over. Both rode Yamahas. RPM Yamaha rider Doug Jackson passed John Savitski on another Yamaha just before th.e white flag for fourth. Suzuki-mounted Gary Denton grabbed the holeshot in the second qualifier followed by La Habra Yamaha rider Mike Beier and Kreg Bigelow on a Dynamic Cyde Yamaha. Beier took the lead before a lap was completed and rode the rest of the 10-minute race in front. Local favorite Bryan Taylor put his new Suzuki fourth while Todd Hempstead paaed fellow Yamaha rid- er Robert Sanford on the ... lap for fifth. In the COIII01ation rao:, Hondamounted Randy Sullivan and Yamaha pilot Phil Larson IIWWJg out of the first tum ahead of the pack. Larson took the lead on lap two and kept it easily to the finish. ~r Rapids Honda rider Johnny Spaw .P~ into third early and held pantion followed by David Weak on a Yamaha, John Bench on a Brownsville Sports Center Honda and Holtan Honda, Inc. IpODIOred Tom Holtan. Yamaha rider Spencer MorriIOn led most of the first 250cc qualifier. LOP Suzuki rider Steve Martin moved into second as they took the white flag and dOlled in on Morrison on the final circuit. Martin tried to jUmp by as they flew out of a gully, but MorriIOn shut the door in the b'ermed right-baDder that followed immediately. Martin ducked underneath in the sweeping ,next tum and came out with the lead. They were followed by Yamaha· mounted Kria Bigelow, Carter's Yamaha rider Kirk Spencer and Husqvarna's Derek Wedding. The second qualifier gave the home crowd.good reason to cheer as Texas riders swept the first three places. Honda-mounted "Dynamite Dan" Conway from Houston led easily from start to finiah with Carter's Yamaha rider Sean O'B~ from Irving following him from the first lap. Hi-Point Yamaha rider Rick Blackwell of Austin moYed through the pack to take third OYer Mike Twigg on a Twigg Cycles Yamaha and Ricky GIuer OIl a Howard Racing Yamaha from LaPorte, TX. Trey Jorslti on a Kawaaalti, Maim's CariOll Serrano and Yamaha-mounted Dave Hollis led off the c:omoIatioo race. Serrano took the point by the end of the first lap and sped away for the win. Hollia got by JOrslti halfway through for second while Jo Jo Keller kept his Honda a sure fourth. ADdy Stacy put his Keystone MX Worlr.a KTM in fifth, the final transfer to the 250cc National. 126cc Netlone' Yamaha's Scott Bumworth pulled one of his special holeshots in the first moto with Johnny O'Mara and Bumwonh's teammate Erik Kehoe keeping t~eir bikes buzzing right behind. As they completed one lap, Mark Barnett found himself up to fourth with Kehoe within strikina: diatance while Rick Johnson held fifth. Barnett slipped into third on the next go 'round when Kehoe bobbled out of a tum. Barnett moved toward the front and dOlled on Burnworth on lap three before falling. As Barnett explained later~ "I P kind of squirrelly the first couple laps - I was fourth or something and my throttle stuck on the first lap then it got unstuck. Then I was about third and I just kind of followed those guys. "Bumwonh got sideways in a berm, and I rammed him and higbsided. I got up and O'Mara and Kehoe palled me then I went around and went down that ravine and came back up. I AW O'Mara laying down and Kehoe went to the outside of him, so I went to the inside of both of those guys. " Though temporarily second, seeing Barnett on the grouDd apparently caused O'Mara to lose concentration for a moment. "It just diatracted me. I go, 'Whoa, Barnett fell. If I get Bumwonh quick, maybe I can jet out there.' 'Just on the very next thing, it goes up on this hill and makes this tum, sorta wide. I just flew a little bit to the outside and landed on top of the tum and I'm going, 'No, I can't go' OYerI' and I sorta went over. ". Barnett recovered quickly and resumed tbe chue. He dOlled up on Bumworth, paaed him in a tight ~ and pulled away a few IeCOIId8

• Cover