Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Darrell Shultz takes the inside at t he first 500Cc moto start. Chuck Sun 11 O} hides Danny Chandler with Mike Bell 15}. Goat Breker 116} and others behind. AMAZSO/SGOee National Championship HI Series: Roun4l8/4 Glover, Shultz get Roe.~ Mtn. wins; Hansen bursts Johnson's bubble By Mark Kariya CASTLE RO C K. CO. JUNE 13 Donnie Hansen needed a small m iracle, just a little break, in order to wrest the 250cc series point lead and cham p ionship from Rick Johnson,' who'd held it much of th e 8 season . T wenty poin ts down going into the final race of the win both rnotos with Johnson I series, Hansen had finishing to no higher than sixth to pull off his first nationa l championship. The factory Honda rider got what he was lookin g for early in the first rnoto when Johnson new his Yamaha too far and hard off a jump and col lapsed the front wheel upon landing, sending him LO the ground and sidelin in g him for a lap before he could get it replaced. Hansen won the moto with a last turn pass over Yamaha 's Broc G lover, then rode conservatively to third in the next race behind Glover and johnson to clinch the title with 300 points LO johnson's 297. Darrell Shultz also gave Honda something to celebrate th a t night as he continued to roll in the big-bore class; his 1-2 first overall besting teammate Chuck Sun and Yamaha 's Mike Bell at the Coors 250/500cc National Championship Motocross at CD R Tech Track. Preliminaries Two qualifiers and a consolation race were necessary in each class LO whittle the 64 250cc and 60 500cc entries down to 40. Team Green member Bill "Kawboy" Liles put his works Kawasaki into the lead of the first 250cc qualifier early on the first lap and never lost it. Village Cycle / WP Racing Suzuki rider Davel Hollis garnered runner-up honors over Yamaha of Covina's juan " One Bu rrito" Benavidez, Suzuki-mou nted jim Mitchell ansi Husqvarna's Kris Bigelow. . Roost Factory Suzuki rider Carlos Serrano got the holeshot in the second qualifier wi th DG Yama ha pilot Mark Murphy tucked in behind, a nd that's how they remained to the finish. Rod ney Smith on a Suzuki, Honda support rider Larry Wosick and David McClain on a Chum Suzuki followed them in . Cedar Rap ids H onda ri der j ohn n y Spaw grabbed the lead in the consy on the second lap to win over Paul's M/C Sales Yamaha ace Don Wipf, Bill "Coyote" Stork on a Black Hills Yamaha, Kawasaki -mounted john james and Robert Kyle on a Honda . Mike Bell ra n away with the first 500cc qualifier follo wed by KTM 's Donnie Cantalo upi. After early th irdplace runner Steve Rhyan dropped out with a fried clutch o n his Honda, Maico's Mickey Kessler filled in with KTM's joey Sc h la g fourth and Yamaha-mounted Tim Locey fifth . O ' Nea l/ Mo LO Meis ter Maico rider "Mr. Bill" jewell got the ho leshot in the second qualifier. but Honda support rider jo jo Keller quickly assumed command to win over Wheelsmith Maico ace Kevin Da vis, jim Holley on a Yamaha, Maico's Andy Stacy and Yamaha Pro Support rider Eric McKenna. Rh ya n came back with a vengeance in the consy, running away from Keystone MX Works Maico rider Tom Carson, Honda-mounted Chris Sundstrom, Lebanon Valley H o n damounted Ri ck Sidle a nd Emery Woolsey on an Anaconda Cycl e Honda. 250cc National Don nie Hansen j umped to the from of the first rnoto right away with Honda Pro support rider Kenny Keylon, Rick johnson and Yamaha's , Scott Burnworth trailing. H a nsen had begun to establis h a buffer over second by the second lap. Keylon had the runner-up position, but johnson was determined to make a race of it, unafraid of pitting his YZ against Keylon's works bi ke. However, j oh nson's exuberance undo u btedly wa s his downfa ll. He absolutely flew off the second lar ge dropaway jump near the end of the second la p in an attempt to pass Keylon. johnson la nded beyond the normal landing a rea with th e fro nt end of the bike smashing into a hole, collapsing the front wheel and sending

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