Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

and Murph y's Yamaha joined th e £renz y, with Kessl er o wni ng lap n ine before Ben o lkin " blasted " for th e w i n. Murph y's fo u rt h ea rned him th e 250cc tit le an d th e H i-P oin t/Yamaha supported rider a ba ndoned h is ca u tion a n d blitzed th e second mo tu . " I wa nted to get th e series over with so 1 cou ld berze r k it. T hat was my ki n d of race," said M urp hy . T he Yam aha rider's ro m p lasted 12 laps, wh en me chani cal woes slo wed h im and Do ug ]ackson took the moto w in . ] ackson a nd h is Griffs/Sco ll /S impso n / Hi- Point support Yama ha took the o vera ll for the dav, a nd h e commen ted , " I' ve never {elt better o n a 250. This tra ck is fantasti c:' Kessler 's Ma ico edged Beno lk in for th ird overa ll wit h Tea m Tarnrn 's Mike Shoemaker ta king fourth in th e ser ies. M urph y, who h as p ursue d th e elus ive Winter -AMA Cha mpions h i p for yea rs, has earned o ne now. 500cc (Above) Dan Conway (71 ). Mickey Kessler (36) and Keith Oelerich lead the Open Pros, (Below left) Second place finishes decided the tie for O~n champ John Reinholt, (Below right) Winners (I-r) Reinholt. Murphy and Jordan. Honda Florida Winter-AMA MX Series: Round 4 Jordan, Murphy & Reinholt crowned at Gatorback By Mike & Anne Adair G AI NESVILL E, FL, JA N. 23 Ya mah a 's Karl Jorda n and Mark Murp hy cr u ised to the 125cc and 250cc "P ro ch amp ionships' respectivel y, 'bu t Honda 's John R ein holt had a cl iff-han ger fin ish wi th KTM 's J ohn Finkeldey in th e 500cc title ch ase at th e final ro u n d o f th e series, At th e end of mota two, Finkeldey said, 8 " I' II ' d D di h t s a tte up: epe n 10 9 o n ow they b~eak th e n e co u ld mean ~~,OOO fro.m KTl\;I fo.r me or a I.ot less. The pair was lied 10 moto WIO S, a!!d ~ead sco rer Beverl,Y H empstead did tl by th e book;. Reinho lt had more second p lace fi n ishes a nd took the crown. T h e H o n d a su p por ted 0 r Ia n d 0 rider sa id , " Wha t ca n yo u say a fter a ser ies thi s close? 1 bro ke Yamaha 's dominat ion in th e series a nd look forward to a good year for H o nda." Fr eddie Ep hre rn o pe ned th e fin a l ri de r's meetin g for the 13th yea r in a row a nd got a big hand. P romo ter Bill West pra ised h is staff for a great series and a n no u nc ed that hi s Apr. 24 National will be moved from Atl anta to th e Gainesville facil it y. 125cc H onda 's Aa ron P itts ig nored ] o rdan's 48 poi nt spread a nd ch urned rocks on ] ordan , Ken Kitko , C hris Ho ward, James Veu geler, Tom Ben ol ki n a nd Ca rlo Coen in mo to one. By th e end o f th e firs t lap, J o rd a n ha d reeled in P iu s a n d was wa tch in g h is lin es.]ordan 's G en e ] o rd an prepped Ba rnev'a/H i-P o in t/ Nlx / Scou Yama ha m oved a hea d o n lap four but Beno lk 10 was o n t h i . i ' e p row On th e fin a l la p , ] ordan went down a nd Ben olkin took th e lead and th e wi n . " My lo ng leg got in between th e cha m ber a n d a rut ," sai d ] o rdan . " Like R ay (Hem pstead ) says, ' He won th e ba ttl e but we won th e war.' I'll ha ve so me fun in m o to two." Benol kin sa id, " I had a flat ti re. It was a crazy ride." Ben olkin 's win broke J ordan 's p erfect moto stri ng. Pi tts, who fin ished th ir d a n d has rid- den noticeabl y beuer the past tw o week s, sa id , " It's a ll in th e engine. Wo ody Kyle d id a num ber on it, a n d i t's a g uaranteed hol eshot machine no w ." Pi tts' prophecy ca me true as he led Steve Pa te, J eff Surwall, Howard, ] orda n a n d Benolk in off the thirtyfoot d rop-off into th e " Gator P it." " Karl passed me o n la p th ree," sai d Pius, " I got h im back o nce down a hill, then h e was gone." O kla ho ma 's Guy Cooper, Colorado 's Howard , and Massa chusetts' Stev e Bu rdett e made up th e top five. " I h ad fun that time," sai d Jordan. " Hey, that guy took money out of my pocket in th e fir st rnoto." Yamaha Motors of Canada spon sored Jeff Surwa ll edged New York H o nda rider Carlo Coen by a poi nt for fourth in the series. 250cc En gla nd 's Yamaha G P rider, Dav id Watson, led th e first rno to with Do ug j ackson, Mickey Kessler, ]eff Wi mmer, Wemyss SCOll, ]ames Crew s, Kris Bigel ow, Tom Ca rson an d Mark Murphy on th e gas. Wat son a n d Jackson waged a sensa tional duel for eight laps. " We swapped leads a bunch," sai d Kentucky's ] ack son. " I got ner vous o ut front a nd was ri di ng too ca u tiously." Kessler 's Mai co , Beno lk in 's Honda Ma ico's Kessler a nd H onda 's Dan Conwa y esca ped the fir st tu rn blues and led th e openi n g 500cc rno to ahead of Kei th O eler ich, Glen Lofely, Mike T ripes, ] ohn Finkeldey a nd J ohn Reinho lt. Kessler was p u m pe d a n d hounded Conway for six laps, o n ly to su ffer a D N F a t th e hands o f a lapped rid er. " T h is P ro/ Am stu ff is a bunch of cra p ," sa id Kessler. " T ha t a ma teur (E ric kso n) moved over in m y line, a nd broke my shi fter o ff. H e cos t m e a grand. T his is th e th ird tirn e a t Gain esville th at it has cos t m e the series:' Mot o-X Fox/ Bel- Rav's Conway took th e chec kered a head o f Oeleri ch, T ripe s, Rein h olt and Finkeldey. Conway sai d, " I surp rise d myself. I'm wea k with the flu a nd didn 't think I co u ld go 30 minutes. I reall y wanted the wi n today. I lo ve those h ill s." Conway gobbled h is sixth series hol esh ot in mot o two with th e dram a un fol din g between Rein h olt in sixth p lace an d Finkeld ey in eig h th . Kessler bumped O eler ich for seco n d whi le Rei n b o lt h eldFinkeldey off th rough lap four. Finkeldey' s KTM churned by o n lap four and cl osed on th e leaders. In a banzai la st lap , Finkeldey p ick ed off Oel eri ch a nd th en Kessler at th e ch eckered flag. It was good enou g h to tie th e series, but th at wa sn't en o ugh . " I guess th ey are goi ng to h ave a drum ro ll to a nnou nce th e final outco me," sa id Finkeldey wh ile Rei n holt and his mechanic, Monch Fiolia , were a lrea dy cele bra ti ng in th e p it s. "A t thi s momen t," sai d Rein hol t, " I g uess I have the h ighest po ints o f a ny 500cc AMA ride r in the ' co u nt ry," Fin ke lde y's pass edged Kessler for seco nd in th e series wi th O eler ich ahea d of Husky's Andy Stacy fo r fo urth . • Results 125cc PRO: 1. Kar l Jo rdan (Yam) 2·1 ; 2. Aa ron Pin s (Hon) 3-2 ; 3. Chr is How ard (Hon) 4-4; 4. Guy Cooper (Kaw) 8·3; 5. Steve 8urd en e (Yaml 9· 5; 6. James Veugeler (Vam) 5· 1 1; 7. Jeff Surwall (Vam) 11-6; 8 . Doug Hoover (Yam) 1()" 7; 9 . Tom Benolk in (Hon) 1· DNF; 1D. Ricky Palmer (Suz) 16·9 . 250cc PRO: 1. Doug Jack son (Vam) 3-1; 2. M ickey Kes sler IM ai) 2 ·3; 3 . Tom Beno lki n (Hon) 1· 5; 4. Mark Murphy (VarnI 4·2 ; 5. Tom Carso n IHonI6·6 ; 6. Mike Shoemaker (Hon) 10·4 ; 7. Jeff Wimmer (SuzI7·8 : 8. Weymys s Scon (KTM) 13· 7; 9. David Walson (Vam) 5·DNF; 10. Clay Hoenshall (Yam ) 1 1· 10. OPEN PRO: 1. Daniel Conway (Honl 1·1 ; 2. Keit h Cole r ich (Vam) 2·4; 3. Joh n Finke ldey (KTM) 5·2 ; 4 . Joh n Reinho lt (Hon) 4 ·5 ; 5. M ika Tripes (HonI3- 10; 6. A ndr ew Stac y (Husl 8-6 ; 7. Mike Knu pp (Vam) 7-7 ; 8 . Chuck Part r idge (Hon) 8·8 ; 9. Mike Twi gg (Suz) 12·9 ; 1D.'J ohn Thomp son (Hon) 9-12 . FINAL SER IES STANDINGS 12 5cc PRO: 1. Karl Jo rdan (Yam); 2. Aaron Pins (Hon); 3 . Steve Burdett e (Yam) ; 4 . Jeff Surwall (Yam); 5. Carlo Coen (Hon ): 6. James Veuge ler (Vam); 7. Doug Hoover (Vam); 8. Mark Flelia (Vam); 9. Chris Howa rd (Hon ); 10. Guy Cooper (Kaw) . 250cc PRO: 1. Mark Murphy (Vam); 2. Doug Jackson (Yam) ; 3. Tom Benolkin (Hon): 4 . M ike Shoe makar (Honl: 5. Mickay Kessler (Ma i); 6. Tom Cars on (Hon): 7 . Jim M itchell (Suz); 8 . Ch ris Bor rall o IVam); 9. Wemyss Scon IKTM); 10. Jeff Hope (Honl . OPEN PRO; 1. Jo hn Rainholt (Hon); 2. John Fin kaldey (KTM); 3. M ickey Keisler IMai); 4 . Keit h Cole rich (Yam); 5. Andy Stacy (Hul); 6. Danial Conw ay (Hon); 7. Michael Tripes (Hon); 8. Chuck Part ridga (Hon); 9. M ike Tw igg (Suzl; 10. John Thompson (Hon).

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