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/126614
. . (Left) John ny O'Mara and Honda's trainer Jeff Spencer were more than satisfied after O'Mara's 1-1. (Right) Kenny Keylon blasted the 250s. By Tom Mueller ST . PETERSB URG, FL, MAY 2 Honda teammates Johnny O 'Mara and Kenny Keylon ran to 1-1 scores and topped the 125 and 250cc classes, respectively, in the Mr. PiBB National rounds at Sunshine Speedwa y. It was O 'Mara's seco nd National win his first with a P erfect score ' 'an d the first for . . . Flonda nat~ve Keylon. The parr .1.0 rode aggressively a nd left no doubt th at th ey and th eir RC works bikes were untouchable under th e stre ngth sa p p in g Florida sun. O 'Mar~ 's win puts him 15 poin.ts shy of points le~der Mar~ Bar~ell In th e l2~cc s tan~lngs , which wlll.set up an mreresnng battle for th e title when the l25cc class resumes racing t~e end of Jun~. Keylon's win boo.sted hun. to thud m th e 250cc standlJ?gs beh ind leader Broc Glover a nd Rick Johnson. Second overall in the l25cc class fell to Suzuki's Barnell, the current champ. Barnell put in a 3-2 performmance but lacked the r u na way pace he displayed at Sl,Inshi}!,e in previous years. Second overall in th e 250cc class went to Honda 's Da vid Ba il ey, who tallied ~ pair of sec,onds. Bai ley turned mediocre sta rts Into runnerup finishes ea ch Lime o u t. Third in th e 125cc class went LO Honda's Jim G ibson, a nd Yamaha's Broc Glover secured third in th e 250cc ranks. .Flo rida o nce again tested th e sta rnina of all riders, especially th ose who liv eon th e West Coast. T emperatures in th e 80s, mixed wit h sun, humidity an d a LOugh sa n dy co urse posed a problem for many. " T here 's no real way to beat it," said Gibson. " I' ve tr ied coming LO Florida early, but a few days isn't en o ug h . I'd need about three weeks here to become accustomed LO th e climate." The track remained similar to pre, ,vj Ol,ls Y.~ ;lI;S , with the ~1'~ePt,i9n .of, a new double j u m p on th e back straight. The so h sa nd course quickl y turned to a whoop satura ted circuit after qual ifier rnoto s were run. The Super Sports promoted even t drew th e best turnout Sunshine Speedway has see n in recent years. An estimated 5,000 persons attended th e race. 125cc National Suzuki pilot Rusty Wageman put Gibson and Holland in LOW through turn one of moto one. G ibson soon powered his RCI25 in to the lead before the completion of lap one. O 'Mara pulled in to a tight third behind Californian Wageman on his Jim Fell tuned RC works bike with Kawasaki's J eff Ward next, By lap three it was Gibson, O 'M ara, Ward, Holland a n d Barnell with Wageman in six th, fading from th e p ace. Within the next lap Gibson , O 'Mara and Ward pulled away and began a baule th at lasted most of the moto, Barnell moved to fourth , displ acing Holland who was dropping back. Karl Jordan on a Yamaha and Mike Beier, also a Yamaha rider, came up into the 6-7 spots, G ibson started pulling away from O'Mara evem u a ll y purring eight seconds on him. Then Ward used a sweeper to get by Johnny 0 ', and B .aroell sLarted tc} ,sh o w his .s l,T~\lg\h by closing the gap on the fro n t ru n ners. T he ' from fo u rso me was moving through traffic by the midway p oi n t in the 40 minu te plus two la ps moto , a nd they we re fo rced LO ri de o n tough er lines. Holland was still fifth, but 25 seco nds beh i nd Barnet t. T hen Ward was o ut of th e hum, and ca me around to wards th e back of the pack, finishi ng an even tua l ten th, O 'M ara recomposed af ter fighting through a grou p of lappe d riders an d reeled Gibson in , styling his way over th e high speed straig h ta way j u mps. By th e white flag it wa s O'Mara 's race. H e h eld the lead to th e checkered flag with Gibson a nd Barnell stabil ized in ' secon d a n d th ird. Hoiland held fourth , and Suzu ki pro support rider Chris H ei sser worked hard throughout th e ra ce LO claim fifth . Yamaha 's Eric Keh oe was sixth followed by Jordan and Yamaha supported Troy Blak e. " I wasn't sure how much steam (O' Ma ra) hadandl was tr ying to co n serv e," sa id Gibson. " R id ing this is like running a marathon. Two 45s (m in u te motos) is all yo u can giv e." " I fell and co u ldn't get the bike started ," said Ward concerning his mish ap. " I kicked until I got di zzy. Once yo u SLOp late in a moto like that yo u overheat. Holland, Gibson, Suzuki supported G ary Demon, O'Mara and Barnell went out from in rnoto two. By lap three Holland found himself only feet ahead of O 'Mara, Gibson and Barnett. Once again, the from four left th e pack behind. Roost Factory's Gary Dircks, Demon and Jordan went into.·T je"5-6-7 oositions. I • ! ... l' Id '4 • th . ~ a I ~ b ~ i .J ... ...