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/126612
(Above) Jeff Ward shows the strain of 45 minutes in high speed sand . He attacked the turns like this to keep pressure on Mark Barnett. (Top) The crash that turned Barnett's bar to half clip-on probably cost him the race . (R ight) Johnny O'Mara rode hard on all day till a crash defused his effort. AMA 125/250cc National Championship Motocross Series: Rounds J-J Ward, Hansen takefirst outdoor • career unns By Karel Kramer Photos by Pat McClure WHITNEY, TX, APR. 18 T eam Kawasaki's "T eenie Meenie" Jeff Ward and Team Honda 's Donnie "H olesho t" Hansen burst into the record books at the Roost Factory-sponsored/Jerry Surber-promoted Lake Whitney 125/250cc National Motocross. 'Bo th riders faced stiff competition and a dam p sand/loam track that 10 tossed high and low National n u mbers al ike LO the turf with predictable reg ula rity, before packing the overall ' trophies into their vans. For both riders it was a first overa ll National outdoor win; for Ward it culmi nates a five-yea r shot at the Nationa ls th a t is finally seeing fruition. Ha nse n took a squeaker over Yamaha teamster Broc G lover that had fa ns migr ating like herds as th e pair spent an hour an d a half p lus racing at less than five second gaps a nd m uch of the seco nd mo to withi n one small second. It was a race that Hansen described with a sha ke of his head and the statement, "You couldn't back err.: G lover descri bed the race LO his tuner J on Rosentiel in more frus trat ed terms: "I tried and tried LO get around him : I woul dn't just ch arge for one lap , but three la ps at a ti m e. He w,~s right there in the last turn, but ... Ward's win came after determined charges tha t kep t last year's "disappeari ng Barnell " from appeari ng. Suzuki's Barn ell felt heat from severa l riders, mostl y Ward and Honda 's Joh nny O ' Mara. Barnett's package LOur, one trip to Texas a nd two over the bars, certainly cost h im the over all win. A rough, grooved sweeper opposite the scoring stand was the site of Barnett's grief and man y others', a lthough much of the passin g in bo th classes occurred there. A tank sla pper-turned-endo in rnoto one did the most damage , leaving the " Bomber's" bars wi rh a ser io us case of downs syndrome. O ' Mara got in on the Ward/Barnett dice in the first moto but cras hed heavily in the back section during the second moto a nd reappeared ri di ng " wo bbly and fell unconscious fro m the bike in the start area. He was ambulatory before the ga te dr op ped for the final 250cc rno to and feeling O K. Crowd p leasing Bo b H ann ah placed third in the fir st 125cc moto bu t ha d to pu t in a phen omen a l ride