Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126632
(Above) Jeff Ward and Johnny C 'Mara are making first contact in the first turn crash in Sunday's final. Bailey (1 1) and Bob Hannah (1 2 ), Mike Belland Brian Myerscough all ended up in the outside haybales. (Below left) Ron Lechien was a threat. Broc Glover leads Goat Breker and Rick Joh.nson . AMA/Wrangler Super Series: Rounds 6-7 o Hurricane storms Houston Super-X opener, Barnett bombs day two By Karel Kramer Photos by Patrick McClure HOUSTON, TX, MAR. 19-20 Track condi tions p layed a major role as two previous win ners racked up victories in the Wran g ler Super Series Miller High L ife Supercross in the Hou ston Astrod ome. The hard, black, one -line track .seerned to n ueter the awesome . horsepower of the factory Hondas somewha t. Not an entire- 10 ly unfortunate result as it made most of th e works bikes about equal. Nevertheless, Bob Hannah utilized his Honda weapon to its best advantage and turned th e best possible sta rt into th e best possible fin ish in the opening night's final. Yamaha 's Broc Gl over and H onda 's Da vid Bai ley gave chase, but could on ly reverse their positions as Hannah stretched out a su bsta ntia l lead. Suzuki's Mark Barnett won a far more exciting fin al on Sunda y as he and Gl over battled ear ly in th e final. H annah , Bailey and Kawasaki 's Jeff Ward were chagrined to su pp ly most of the entertainmen t. They ended up in a heap in th e fir st turn of th e fin al and spe nt the race pl ayin g catch -u p. All three worked th eir way into th e top 10 by race 's en d , another spe ctac- ul ar achievem ent for Hannah a s he ran th e entire race in second gear! Houston's track wa s a series o f sh arp turns an d short straights that ended , seemingl y, before they sta rted. Only one of th e straights allowed th e Hondas to unlimber their high-revvin g horsepower. While the track was loaded with double jumps that were fairly easily cleared in graceful arcs, the cream of the rider cro p rose or settled at a sharp wa ll-like whoop in the sa nd area. All of the Yamahas, and particularly the ' works machines, were able to clear it well. Riders from the Honda camp wer e troubled the most. By the time th e second day's fina l rolled to the line, virtually all of the fast riders were lofting the front wheel a n d treating the obstacl e as a gi ant whoop. Front-wheel and out-of-sha pe landings were th e order of th e da y. Competitive lap times required gr eat o u tp u ts o f rider energy a nd flirti ng I I with di sast er through th e sectio n. Saturday After Yamaha's Ron Lechien d ispensed of the a lterna te rnoto, diminutive Kawasaki speedster Jeff Ward stuffed through th e first qualifi er's first turn ahead of Hannah, Kawasaki's Billy Liles, Yamaha Support rider J im Holley and Trinity Motors Yamaha rider James Knupp. Ward's riding showed no signs of the two sprained wr ists , one with a chipped bone, that were hindering him as he held off Hannah 's determined charge. Only two position shuffles occurred in the top six . Hannah put on a hard drive that Ward matched wheel for wheel for three tu rn s and straights, but Hannah went by clean ly for the win. Ward stay ed clos e and ahead of teammate Billy Liles by a good margin. Yamaha Support rider Denny Bentley di spl aced Knu p p for -Iifth , an d