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/126610
Long Beach Grand'Prix 250cc 'G fnvitafional P Busby blast the field ..... . l-< 0- -< By Dale Brown Photos by Skip Johnson. Charles Morey and Brown LONG BEACH, CA, APR. 4 David Busby led nearly 50 ra cer s on a merry ro m p through the streets of Long Beach, running in front all the way in the 12-1ap, 25.56-mile 250cc GP motorcycle race run as part of th e Long Beach G ra nd Prix weeke nd. Finish ing second was Canadian Alan Labrosse. while Okla- (Top) Dave Busby led it all the way to the checkered f lag . (Above) Alan Labrosse turned in a consistent ride for second. (Below) Mark Hornchick (32) came from a bad start to sixth. 14 homa 's Sam McDonald worked his way up through the pack to p lace third under the checkered flag. This race was sanctioned by the American Federation of Motorcyclists and put together by Jim Moore and Rudy Galindo of AFM Pro. It featured a $5000 purse and was open to Formula Two machinery. Most bikes were TZ250 Yarnahas, but there were a scattering of 500cc four-stroke singles. ''I'm really happy," said Busby, addi ng, "It really meant a lot to win here in front of all my friends." Busby also won a Fo rmu la O ne car race support event last year in Canada, taking his victory in the 250cc class there too. His lea thers, however, read "Space Avai la ble" on the fro nt and "Sponsor Needed" o n the back. The n orthern Californ ia rider di d th ank Matsu at Escargot Racin g for making a set o f exha ust pipes. Practice consisted of two 30-minute sessions, wit h the final o ne timed to set grid positions. British Co lumbia's Rh ys Howard earned the pole with a 2:0I.l68 la p that calculated out to 63.284 mph. La brosse was second fastest with a 2:01.278, and he was fol lowed by Busby (2:01.412) and Mark Homchick (2:01.458). Mc Donald missed the Friday practice session and could only qualify in the 16th slot while learn ing the course. (The polesitter for the F-I car race turned a 1:27.316.) The green flag dropped before the board went sideways, and Bu sby quickly took the lead. Po lesitt er Howard had troubles, crashing unh u rt in a new chicane in the back straigh taway. At the end of the first la p, Busby was out front and trailed by Texan H ugh H u mbl e, Fre d Merkel and Harr y Klin zman n . T he next la p saw Merk el's ride come to a n end wi th a crash in turn eight; H u mbl e's ride ended on the follo win g lap w hen his righ t throttle cable, fraye d afte r he, bumped Kei th Kiyota on the start, snapped. ' 'I'm so bu mmed," said H um ble, " I had power down the back chute so I di dn't Iorsee any problems. I sure wou ld have liked to repeat my Talladega win." By the th ird lap Busby had a sevensecond lead on Labrosse, with Klinzmann , Kiyota , McDonald, John Williams a n d Don Green e making up the front running order. On lap five Busby turned in th e best two-wheel lap of the weeke nd with a 1:59.598. At the halfway point the order was roughly the same, but Busby had extended his lead to 12 seconds. That all but vanished less than three laps later. " I made an error going into turn one. I got a litt le sideways, then I hit a bump while I was braking. That lifted the rear end, and I went straight (going into the corner's escape route). I made a quick loop and got back on course," said Busby later. That cut his lead to five seconds at the three-quarters point over Labrosse. McDonald had passed Kiyota and Klinzmann to run in third. Homchick was also making h is way up through the ranks after a bad start. Two riders crashed during the middle of the race. Bo th Michael Davidson and Karen White were take n to St . Mary's Medica l Center, along with Merke l. White was hospitalized wi th a fractured femur, Davidson ha d a frac tu red ankle but was expected to be re leased, a nd Mer kel refu sed treatment; Busby legged it out to fin ish 7.887 secon ds a head o f La brosse. McDona ld was 10 seco nds back of Labro sse as he he ld off a tight pack co nsis ting of Klinzmann, Kiyota and Ho mch ick. Seventh went to Greene, and he was fo llowed by Williams and Fred Wi nters. Second placer Labro sse said, "I wasn 't riding all that smoothly, but everything went pretty good. I had a few problems, but I think everybody had a few pro blems. It's a nice circuit, not as bumpy as I thought; I don' t th in k anybody out there liked th e (bare concrete) wa lls. There should have been some haybales out there to ma ke it safer." Labrosse is sponsored by Nautilus exercise equi pment a nd Montreal radio station CKOE. "I'm n ot used to raci n g over manh o le covers or goi ng th ro ugh intersections," grin ned McDonald, "but every thi ng worked ou t OK _I started on the third ro w so th ere were a whole lot of people to pass a n d not a lot of time to do it in ." K8c N, Lectron an d Bell are the O klahoma rider's s u p por ters, a long wi th , we presu me, the race-invol ved McDonald family. • Results 250cc GP FINA L: 1. Dav id Busb y (VarnI; 2. A lan Labrosse (VarnI: 3 . Sam McDonald (Vam): 4. Harry Kli nzmann (Yam); 5. Keith Kiyota (Yam); 6. Mar k Homchick (Yaml ; 7 . Don Green e (Yaml ; 8. Joh n Williams (Yam); 9 . Fred Winters (Yam); 10 . R. Orlando; 11 . Bruce Ha mmer (Vam) ; 12 . B. Ru nyon ; 13. Kevin Peltz (Yaml; 14. Dwayne Chu ng (Yam); 15 . Ben ny De lMonico (Yaml; 16 . Tracy Grieger; 17 . G. Hedmark; 1B. D. Old; 19. M . Flemi ng: 20 . W . Boyd . TIME: 24 minutes. 24 .330 seconds. AVERAGE SPEED; 62 .8 mph .