Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Donnie Cantaloupi started both motos with a clean shirt at the Sand Hill Ranch round of the Golden State Series, Vision and traction wera problems, Petty Products/CMC Golden State MX Series: Round 3 Cantaloupi, Bailey, Lechien top Sand Hill mudbath By Terry Whytal BRENTWOOD, CA , JAN. 23 "My goggles were so muddy I couldn't see anything," exclaimed Bob "Hurricane" Hannah after .coming from 25th place to fourth in the first 250cc Pro race, "The only th ing I know about th e race is what m y pit crew to ld me." H annah's Honda teammate David Bailey won both 250cc 6 m o to s to win hi s first Golden Sta te Series race in front of a Sand Hill record crowd of approximately 5000 spec ta tors,' despite the extremely m uddy condi tions caused by a Pacific stor m tha t swep t through th e ar ea on Saturda y. A la rge portion of th e tra ck had to be rerouted to avoid th e wo rst of th e mudholes, but several tricky sections turned int o bike-snagging quagmires as th e da y progressed. "Local hero- Donnie .Can ta lo up i pilo ted h is stock Y amaha, loaned to him by Kenn y Roberts, to the Open Pro win despite strong competition from Honda team sters Goat Breker a nd Phil Larson. Once aga in bad . 1uck struck Danny Chandler and kept h im from pl acing in the top 10 overall, despite being clearly th e fastest rider on the track. Kawasaki factory star J eff Ward "and Yamah a's Ron Lechi en traded ' 125cc Pro moto win s, with Lech ien tak in g th e overall win with h is better second moto performance. Wi th threat ening clouds o n the horizon, th e program was run a t a hectic pace with the spec tato rs vocally a nno unci ng th eir ap p reciation of th e exciting race action despite th e tough riding conditions. KTM , and the top positions were set. Bailey nailed the holeshot in round two action and motored away with th e win. Liles and Keylon once again cir culated in second and th ird, al though th is tim e with the pos itions reversed. Hannah dazzled the crowd while working up from an even worse sta rt than in the first moto. In the final few laps, Hannah closed on th e lead ers a t an awesome rat e, and. wh en Liles fell on the finish lin e turn with one lap remaining, H annah slip ped into third behind Keylon . Liles had to settle for fourth overall behind th e three Honda teammates - Bailey , Keylon and Hannah. KTM rider Da ve " Holl ywood " Hollis claimed fifth overall with a strong fifth place finish in moto two. 125 Pro 250 Pro " My new mechanic Cliff White spe nt a lot of tim e working on th e bik e to get it wh ere I fell at home on it ," noted David Bailey aft er taking hi s '83 fac tory Honda to its first major win. "It feels good winning toda y, goin g into Anaheim, and if th ey have th e big mudhole there, then this was great practicer' Honda rider Kenn y Keylon led the pack through the first turn of moto o ne with Kawasaki teamster Bill y Liles running second and Bailey third. Hannah was m ired back in 25th pl ace on the start. Bailey and Liles dueled for th e runner-up spot for a few laps wi th Bailey finally settling th e argument and charging after Keylon. At th e half-way point, Bail ey took over th e lead as Keylon dropped to second ahead of Liles. Hannah moved up to slip into fourth in from of.4ust,riNJ sta r H einz Kini gadner.on'lh e.h iCltOry . Honda pilot Erik Kehoe timed the flag start, necessary because th e rains had made th e normal start ar ea a sea of mud, perfectly in moto one and sho t to th e lead as th e pa ck knifed through turn one. Kehoe chose th e wrong line th rough . th e mudhole aft er th e downhill and bogged hi s motor as h e tried to miss a 250cc class rider still digging his bike out from the previous race. Lech ien quickly flew past int o th e lead with Ward, Yamaha rider Mike Beier and Suzuki rid er Rick Ryan close behind. Ward took over the lead a few laps later with Lech ien slowl y losing ground to th e more experienced National star. In th e final laps, Ward stretched a safe lead as Johnny O'Mara moved in to tak e th ird a t the checkers ahead of Kehoe and Honda rider Brian Myerscough. Myerscough edged .o u t Bei~fat fifth . ~) ; ~J: . , :f."f[ "; '. ~ t.:

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