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Ward, O'Mara
batfle In 125cc
acflon at SSM
By Laura Richard
By Terry Whytal
VALENCIA, CA, OCT. 16
ORANGE, CA, OCT. 24
With Team Kawasaki's Jeff Ward,
Honda's Johnny O'Mara and DGI
Suzuki rider Rick Maki all signed
to contest this week's Saturday
Saddleback Motocross 125cc Pro race,
expectations were for an exciting
event. The spectators weren't disappointed as O'Mara and Ward displayed
their awesome National talents en
route to each posting one moto win.
Unfonunately for Maki, who coming
into today's race had four consecutive
125cc Pro wins at SSM, mechanical
problems would stop his string of
victories.
O'Mara put the power to the ground
at the stan of the first race and roosted
into the lead position as the pack
strung out through the first two turns.
Ward was close behind and soon the
two factory stars had opened a commanding lead over the field.
.
O'Mara's Honda seemed to have
superior power over Ward's Uni-Trak
but the handling edge appeared to be
in Ward's favor. O'Mara would open
four bikelengths on Ward as they
blasted up Webco Hill but the "Flying
Freckle" would soon close in on the
Honda's rear wheel as they traversed
the trickier sections of the course.
Ward was unable to slip past
O'Mara and had to settle for second at
the checkers. Yamaha rider Doug
Dubach placed his Orange County
Cycle-sponsored machine into third
while Yatnaha riders Ron Lechien and
Vince McMahon rounded out the top
five.
Ward nailed the second moto start
and had the top spot to himself the
entire moto. O'Mara suffered from the
squeeze in tum one and completed the
fint lap several positions down on
Ward. O'Mara put on a tremendous
late. moto push to pull within striking
distance of Ward but the many laps it
had taken him to work past
determined local riders like McMahon
and Dubach, who led Johnny 0' for
several laps, had taken too much time
and Ward was fint to the flag.
Ward's 2-1 score topped the class
while O'Mara had to settle for second
overall. Dubach went home with a well
earned third place share of the purse
money followed by Lechien, Yamaha
rider Randy Yetto and McMahon.
Results
OPEN PRO: ,. Pete ~ fYoml; 2. Jeff Hic:kIl
fYomI; 3. Mic:I
