Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

(Above) Buck Murphy four-strokes to the Open A lead. (Above right) Open A winner John Christian Jr. (Below right) Cory Klaudt. 250cc A winner. 125cc A runner-up. (Below) Nathan Pippert (748) and 125cc A winner Jeff Chapman. Amateur Supercross Series: Round 1 ... War~, Chapman, Klaudt, Christian -survive Seattle Amateurs By Brian Barnes SEATTL E, WA, FEB . 13 T he 1983 Amateur Supercross Series kicked off this weekend in Sea ttle's Kin gdom e spo nso red by H i-Poin t with 417 riders rep resen ting Washington, O rego n , Canada, Idah o , 16 M nt n Californ ia a nd even o a a, Al a sk a, N ort h Dak ota a n d T exas. In th e hotly co ntested Expert class , Larry Ward (T ea m Kaw / DG / J o nes), J e ff Chapman (P a u lso n 's Lacey/Suz), Cory Kla ud t (Sea . H o n ) and Jo h n Ch ris tian, J r. (Husky sup/ Ma rysville Suz) takin g th e 80, 125, 250cc and O pen Expert classes resp ectively. Bo th Ch ristian and Wa rd were winners in la st year's even t. The series ' first race, which wa s prom ot ed a n d directed by Super Sports wizard Bill West, went off like cloc kwork, and even though the event lasted from directly after th e Pro's regular Sunday final until nearly two a.m. Monday morning, everyone in attendance seemed 10 be enj oying th e program immensely. The first races of the night fea tured th e radica l Mini Experts, and two qualifiers were needed to slim down th e field. In th e fir st heat, T eam Yamaha's Lowell Thomson a nd Mini Ol ympic champio n Larry Ward rounded turn one in the lead followed by Canadian H onda-mounted Vin ce Mathews a nd Oren Bray, from Oregon on a Kawa saki. Thomson reall y turned on th e wick for a fairl y easy win followed by Ward , who was Thomsons only serio us competition'. Bray wa s third , Mathews was fourth a n d Kawasak imounted Darren Poulsen, fro m Cana da , was fifth. . T he seco nd heat found Idaho 's Sco tt Myers (Yam), Joel Sitts (Suz ) an d Yamaha -rider Brian Thomson ro und th e fir st turn in th e lead. Myers looked stro ng, taking th e win wi th room to spa re over Brian T homso n , T ommy Judge (Ya m) a nd hard cha rging Jamie Munson (Yam). Th e start in th e final proved 10 be th e m ost impo rtan t factor for Kaw asa ki 's Ward as he and Ma th ew 's hol eshot. T homson got a terr ible start, but hi s move throug h th e pack was a mazing. T homson p icked o ff rider a fter rider. fin ally movin g int o second a head o f Math ews, Myers a nd Brian T homson with j ust two laps to go. . - Lapped -riders - slowed- Wa Fd -wme, but th e Kawa saki-mounted ace kept just enough room for th e win. Thomso n's fin e ride netted him seco nd. Myers was third, Mathews fourth, Munson fifth and Idaho Kawasaki rider Corey Bart on sixth. J The 125cc Expert class was wi ld and wooley and two h eats decided th e final entrant s. T exas' lone entry R usty Do vell (S uz) holeshot th e moto over Allan Dyck (Hon ): J amie Nickle (Lynnwood Yam /Yam su p ) and Nathan Pippert (Hon ), Dove ll looked good until a sp ill cost him lots of time an d left h im ba ck aways. Dyck took the win, Nickle was second, Yamaha supports Jay Mintyala was third. Gary Dawso n (Hon) was fourth and Pippert took fifth , Canadian Suzuki rider Rob Van Dieman and Seattle Honda's Cory Klaudt rounded th e second heat in th e lead, and, after Klaudt got by, hi s CR too k a n easy win . Van Dieman was second, Ra lp h Dun lap (Suz) fin ished third and Lance Richotte (H o n) was fourth . J eff Chapman (Pa u lso n 's Suz) had maj or probl em s in h is h eat , but he won th e semi over Darrin Criss (Suz) a nd Todd Anderson (Suz). Ch apman had to be considered a darkhorse in th e fin al. Th e sta rt agai n proved most im portant for th e fin al. Th e Texan , Dovell, a nd Chapman on RM's took the lead, P ip p ert a nd Mark Hall (Yam ) foll owed with Klaudt bezerk ing through th e pack a nd taking over secon d behind Chapman. The two dueled for th e next two laps in a n ip and tuck battle, but Chapman somehow h eld off Kla udt, who took a very close secon d , Pippert wound up a well-deserved third. Derrick Perso neue (Kaw) was fourth , Van Dieman was fifth and Mintyala sixth. The 250cc B's saw Roger Sh errell , Todd Morris (Kaw) a nd Washington Maico rider Mike Kard ash take their respectiv e heats. Kelly Corwin (Yam ) a nd Kyle Hall (Hon) flew aro u nd tum one leading, but, wh en the smoke a n d dust had cleared, it wa s Canadian Ro bert Giroux (Ya m) who got th e win. Second wa s Morris, third was Scott Wi lli ams (Yam): Hall was fourth a nd Sh errel took fifth. John Christ ian Jr. dominated th e Open Expert class , taking hi s heat and th e final. Th e other h eat winner, Chris Moritz (H ins ha w's Hon) fin ished second to Christian in the fin al, and th ird wa s th e ultra loud fourstroke Honda o f Wa shington 's Buck Murphy, • Results MI NI A : 1. Larry Ward (Kawl: 2. Lowell Thomson (Vam); 3. Scott Myers (Yaml . MINI B: 1. Jeff Oaily (Kaw); 2. Paul Rowland (Vam t 3. Butch Smith (Kaw ). 100: 1. Mike Crowell (Yam ); 2. M ichae l Gustin e (Vam); 3 . Tom Sowards (Varni . 125 A : 1. Jeff Chapman (Suz ); 2 . Cory Klaudt (Han) ; 3. Nathan Pippen (Han). 12 5 B: 1. Rich ie Lee (Han) ; 2. Roge r Sherr ell (Vam); 3 . Ross Whitehead (Vam). 250 A : 1. Cory Klaudt (Han); 2. Allan Oyck (Han); 3 . John Chr ist ian Jr . IH us). 250 B: 1. Roland Giroux (Yam ); 2. Todd M orr is (Kaw) ; 3 . Scan W Il liams (Vam ). OPEN A: 1. John Ch rist ian J r. (Hus); 2. Chr is Morit z (Han ); 3. Buc k Murph y' (Han ). OPEN B; 1. Tony Bracy (Vam); 2 . Ted Paley (Va", I; 3. Jim Brockme ier (Han ). OTHG SR: 1. Tom Lansford (Hon l; 2. Gar ry a cestel (Hus) ; 3 . Larry W escon (Ma i). OT SUPER SR: 1. Bob Kram (Han ); 2. Gor do n Oehs (Han); 3 . Bob W liite (Mai).. ' "

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