Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Kent Howerton leads Billy Liles . David Bailey (above) rode hard. attacked the whoops harder than anyone and won by 30 seconds. AM A/Wrangler Super Series: Round 1 Bailey blitzes Anaheim Supercross By Karel Kramer Photos by Lori Tyson. Kit Palmer and Kramer ANAHEIM, CA, JAN. 29 . T ea m Honda 's second year sensation David Bailey made h is first rendezvo us with maj or victory to n igh t a t the Miller High L ife Anaheim Supercross Kickoff. Seventy thousand fans packing th e sold out stadium witnessed Bailey's destruction of the field via a 30 second lead in the fina l of th e first o f th e new -form at Wr an gl er 'S u per Ser ies Super cr osses. Ba il ey viewed th e wi n as in evitable, commenting af ter his fin al no hands lea p, " Yo u kn ow me, I'm a lways here, a lways tryin g. It had to happen : I'm j ust glad it happen ed her e a t th e first race o f th e season. It feels good; tha t's all I can say." Bailey's teammate Johnny O 'M ar a had reason to be exci ted al so. His last turn pass of Broc Gl over gave him seco nd a fter pa ying for a fall that put him near th e rear of th e pack. Gl over, riding an all -new Yamaha wo rks bike, held on to finish third a fter leadin g earl y and looking li ke a good bet for the overall in th e heat races. New H onda star Bob H ann ah pl eased th e fan s so much in red as in yellow. He also looked like a good overall winner wager aft er he reeled in Gl over in their heat, bu t a fall early in th e main nixed chances o f th at . H e rallied to fourth a t the finish . The sold out stadium had empty seats : despite ;the sell-our ; aL Sl$me J 6- stayed aw a y in fear o f th e wea ther th at had left Cal ifornia brutal ized a nd a was h. Despite the forecast th e racing was good on an exce lle nt track wi th cold clear weather. Promoter Mike Goodwin took the tro ubl e to cover th e track durin g th e to rrentia l ra in. Infield wo rkers wa ded , buttraction was a t a pr em ium. The new Supercross format a llo wed packi ng 10 races and 92 laps into th e even in g. Four heats were run wi th riders fini shing fir st thro ug h sevent h going directl y to a semi-fina l a nd th e res t going to a q uarter -fin al. Only two riders from eac h q ua rterfin al made a sem i-fina l. T he sem i transferr ed eig h t rid ers to th e main a nd th e rest went to th e consolation race. Only the riders pl acing fir st and seco nd in the consi made th e final, and tha t wit h eight more laps notched into th eir handlebars th an the o the r riders in the final. Heats . Heat one loo ked like a harbinger of th in gs to corneas Gl over j umped o u t a head of Hannah, KTM 's Dave Hollis, Kent Howerton on a ne w works Kawasaki and Canadian multi • , I cha mp Ross Pederson on a .Su zuki, I Glover stre tched hi s lead a littl e after Hannah tried a fir st lap pass in th e " Dodge Ram Tough Sandpit " a n d lo oked safe from " H u rri ca ne " damage. By lap three the fir st four were sp rea d, a nd Hollis fell and lost a place. Alan Kin g wa s givin g one o f the new. radical Su zuki stadi u m bik es its firs t outing in mid-pack, None of th e new bik es fared particularl y well , despite ha ving th e fu el ta n k under the seat and th e ai rbo x wh ere th e gas ta n k usually resides. Hannah started riding hard on the sho rt, clean lin es. taking th e tightest lines around the comers. So tight he repea tedl y ba n ged hi s hand int o banners. The drive pa id ou t as H annah pulled beside Gl over over the " Mill er Mountain, " follow ed G lover to th e berm an d passed o n th e sta rt straight. Hannah punch ed th e air with one hand over the final j ump wh il e yellin g h is approval. Gl over kept second a head of Howert on and Yam aha support rider Denn y Bentley. Ph il La rson got hi s su p port team H onda product ion bike to ch u rn through th e sa nd to holesh ot th e seco nd heat, where he stayed till Mark Barnett took over on th e third lap. Bailey started in third, but fin ished second aft er tu sseling with Larso n for most of th e race. Bail ey closed on Barnett a t th e flag. but beh ind those two there were big gaps between Larson, Yamaha privateer Donnie Ca ntalo u pi - quit e possibl y the fastest privateer in the co u n try righi now - and yo un g Kawasaki factory rider Bill y Liles. 1 1 , \V. qdd- "Ii~ e, .se nsa r io n Dann y I Ch andl er pounded th e first turn berm first in h eat three, trailing a banner of stars that included Yam aha 's you ng lion Rick Johnson , Honda 's Johnny 0 ' Mara and KennyKeylon, andMaico West /Wheelsmith's Micky Dymond. Johnson began working hard on Magoo and, when Chandler bobbled in the sandpit, Johnson grabbed the lead. The sa nd pit would a lso prove p ivotal for th e pair later. O ' Mara slipped into third on the last turn when Chandler fell. Warren Reid worked h is private Yamaha into fourth from a barely top 10 start and Dymo nd was fifth at the finish. J eff Ward' s dim inutive green Hermes imitation - complete with sil ver wings on h is a rm s - looked authent ic eno u g h as he missiled through th e fir st turn in heat three a nd wa s gone a lmos t im med ia tely! H is lead was large on th e fir st round tr ip , but W.P. Ra cing 's Eric Hall and G o a t Br eker put ' th eir Hond as through th e first turn closest. Breker was a nearl y un challen ged second for th e duration. Euro-Yam aha rid er Jim Gibson had third, but lost it to Yamaha support team rider Tim Locey. Pete Snorteland was fifth. Ex-Mini sensa tion Erik Keh oe was a Honda runaw a y in' the firt quarterfinal. 'Moo re &: Sons/Maico USA's Bill y Grossi kept hi s Maico in the final transfer spot till a bobble in the " KMET Rockers" on th e fin al circuit. Ri ck Rya n berserked hi s Suzuki by to take it. Honda Support T eam riders Kenny Keylon a nd Brian Myerscough had their own show in th e second quarterfinal. Myer scough worked on Keylon and took th e top spo t late in the race . Semis Ba iley served fin al not ice in th e first sem i, tren ching to th e firs t turn ahead of teammate Hannah , Barnett. Larson, Cantal oupi and Howerton. The two Honda teammat es sta yed close for a few laps a nd became a Honda sweep a s Larson passed Barnett and joined them on la p two . Bailey sta rted to pull a way , aro u nd mid-race, from Hannah - who wa s suffering from . but not co mp lain in g of , th e effects of th e flu . Howert on traded places with Ca nta lo u pi and the top five was set. Glover had been mired in mid-pack , bu t he a nd Liles took th e fin al transfers. Chandler ex tended h is perfect start sco re to two and led teammat e 0 ' Mara, Reid , Johnson , Keylon and Ward. The eight riders in tra nsfer .position rem ained in transfer position , but sh uffled a bit. Johnson took Reid early , but O 'Mara's drive at Chandler kept them out of.reaoh.,Chandler is lead was in

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