Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

tw o. Ward maintained hi s advantage over Barnett until th e seco nd turn of the fourth lap. Ward bobbled badly a n d was still figh ting to ge t th e Kaw a saki m o vin g w he n Barn ett slush ed by. Meanwh ile. R ya n wa s doing an ad mira ble job o f staying close to O' Mara. La p seven sa w Lech ien coast to the ed ge of th e tra ck wi th a fried clutch . and Chris H eisser move hi s Suz u ki n ear the fro n t-runners. Eighth wa s as c1ose · as he got. R yan a nd Myersco ugh battled several la p s la ter with Myerscough claimi n g fo u rt h a t th e fla g. Barn ett too k the mota o ver Ward. O 'Mara, Myersco ugh , Rodney Smith. R yan , Whiting, H eisser , Stan ford and H all . Ba rn ett wa s th e o nly clean rider to ex it turn o ne in th e seco nd moto, A Ba rn ett holes hot is no t n orma ll y a n omen of close racing, bu t Wa rd tu cked in behind a n d kept th e pressure o n. H eisser was th ro ug h in third , th en Fl orida Series win ner Karl J o rdan a nd O'Mar a, Stro ng fir st mota privat eers Smith, Ryan an d Myerscough all went down o n th e sta rt a nd ca me around in last. Ward closed th e gap on Barnett o n th e th ird lap and both rid ers pulled ou t the sto ps. By lap four th ey had a third of a lap a dva ntage over O 'Mara in th ird. H eisser was fou rt h, Lechien fifth, Steve Bu rd ette (Ya m) six th and Whiting seven th . Ward went by Barnett on a long uphill on th e next revolut ion. a nd Lech ien took H eisser on th e sa me lap . H eisser , in fift h , had a h a lf-lap lead on sixt h- p laced Burdette. Then . rough ly two laps af ter tak in g the lead. Ward lost the lead : Barnett we nt back into th e lead over ride rs th at had sta blized so mewh a t. T he or der read: Barnett. Ward . O 'M a ra , Lechi en , H e isser , R yan . Whiti ng. Myer scough and Sm ith . By lap 12, Barnett a n d Ward had lapped up to fifth. an d third-placed O 'M ar a was a h al f a lap beh ind. Ward charged at Barn ett o n la p 13; th ey were side by side on th e h il l. Ward sli p pe d into th e lead on the downhill . bu t bobbled two tu rn s lat er. Ward still had th e lead , but wh ile h is bike was reg aining its h ead of stea m. Barn ett went o u tside a nd p assed with a crossed-u p jump in a turn . Ward staye d close, but went off o f a tu rn o n th e hill o n th e last lap. a n d Ba rn ett cr u ised in for th e win a nd o vera ll. " I just h it a bump wrong," said Ward after th e race, " Barn ett ha d passed me there earlier and 1 heard h im on th e inside, so 1 gave it a li ttl e more. 1hit the bum p a nd went straigh t o ff o f th e track. T here was noth i ng 1 cou ld do . Barn ett kn ow s I'm th ere." Barnett too k h is 2 1st 125 National v icto ry; \\'a rd to o k se cond ov er O 'M ara, Myerscough, Heisser , Rya n a na Sm ith. 250cc National The now -familiar H an nah/Ba iley ba tt le, with Rick J o hnson as an added protag on ist, made the 250cc Na tional th e ra ce of the day . Ba iley wa s o u t front and smooth from th e drop o f th e ga te in mo ro o ne : H anna h , J o h n so n. Honda's Ken n y Keylon. Ya ma ha 's Mike Bell . Suzu ki's lon e 250cc factory rider Sco tt Bu rn wo rt h and Team Green T exa n Darren Rhot en led Su zu ki Su pport rid er Cli n t H ar dick an d Yamaha Su p port rider Jim H oll ey. H ann ah got o u t in so me slo p i n o ne of th e hill turn s an d J ohnson snaked by. lead ing the next lap as Bailey dro p ped to third. Bell dropped from th e front-runner s on th e sa me ·la p . H annah went in to the lead o n th e h ill o n th e follo win g lap a nd wa s i nto lapped traffi c an d sa fe on th e nex t. A rapidl y-m oving Bill y Liles • to pped 9 l;' t a t fourt h pl ace. j o h nson fell and handed seco n d to Bailey. but got up in thi rd . By lap six the top four were set for th e mota. Hardick. was fifth foll ow ed by Burnworth. H olley. Rhot en a nd Bell. Bell m oved up one a nd th en fell agai n. KTM 's Da ve Hollis was m ov in g up for th e seco n d time afte r a fall. p icking off riders at nearly one a lap. On lap nine Ba iley closed on H an nah a nd th e two of them were far fro m th e pack. H olley was beh ind Bu rn worth a n d a head o f H o ll is, H ard ick a nd Keylon . Ba il ey went down but p icked it up with o u t losin g a pl ace while H o ll is _ pUI o n a real drive to move up to fift h. Ba iley ca ugh t Han na h again befo re th e end. but co u ldn' t pass. J oh nson was th ird a nd Li lesfourth. followed by Holl is, Ho lley. Keylon . Bu rn worth , H a rd ick. J eff H ick s and Bel l. Ba iley gr abbed th e star t again in th e seco nd motoo ver J o h nson , Burnworth , Ha n na h. Rh o ten, Keylon a nd Bell. Liles was last. Han na h lea ped to seco nd by th e end of th e fir st lap wi th Bai ley th ird and J ohnson in the . lead. Lap fo ur saw the first cha nge in the to p 10. Keylon passed Burnworth . a nd Bell moved into si xth over H ardi ck and Rho ten . In th e mdi dl e o f th e hill section , H annah g ra bbed th e lead on lap six . . H e go t beside J ohnson a nd we n t ove r th e h ill on th e i nsi de o f th e turn fo r th e lead . H annah a nd Johnson had a ' good lea d on Bailey a nd Bail ey had a half a lap on fo urth. J ohnson took th e lead agai n . bUI H a nnah was pushi ng hard. As th ev ca me down the h ill. H annah went to th e o utside of lapped ' ride rs i n the ' mud th at had cos t Ward th e lea d earlier, wh ile J ohn son went inside. H a nnah was a ll over in the mud , bUI stayed on th e gas a nd ca me o u t of th e turn in th e lead for good, a lt hough J ohnson kept trying. Th ey lapped u p to fourth p lace during thei r charge. " I don 't min d racing h ard ," sai d H annah after th e mot a , "T h a t's wh a t I'm here for. 1 think 1 look everybod y too lightl y in th e seco nd m ot o . 1 sta rted a little slo w a nd everybo dy sta rte d to run away. a nd 1 had to ge t goi n'. The track was lik e ice in so me pl aces: yo u 'd be in a sweep er in fourth gear an d bo th wheels would sta rt dr ift ing till they h it somethi ng . It was a har d track to ride with out fall in g . Johnso n was casua l but co nf ident: " Ha n nah waved hi s fis t at me in th e firs t moto: he di d n ' t do it in the second moto . T h e g u y has no respect for me. bu t it was a good race. H e won. so I'm no t gonn a ' make excuses. 1 had tro u bl e wi th lap pers, but what th e hell . If 1had won 1 wou ldn't have sa id, ' I won because Hannah got ca ugh t behind a lapper .' It was a race. My h at 's o ff to H an n a h ; he ro de a good ride." Ba iley was pleased with hi s firs t m ot o, but not th e seco n d, "T he o n lv time my long legs ca me in hand}' tod ay was wh en 1was runnin g besid e m y bike in th ird ge ar up th e hi ll." All o f th e riders with lo ng legs had troubl e with th e track. excep t J oh n son in the second mo to. Bell . exp lai ned wh y, sayi ng. " Lo ng legs were no t an adva nt age today . It's ha rd to ge t th em o ut of th e way in th ese ruts. T he mud is so tacky th at yo u can' t padd le past. " H oll is had h is exce lle nt first mota co me to nau ght wh en his chai n derailed six times in 'the seco nd. H e retired for th e day. The yea r p romises a bunch o f grea t raci ng. Chan d ler, King , Gl over and H ow ert on shou ld battle in th e 500cc class. as sho u ld Ba il ey. H ann ah , J ohnson a nd Bell , wit h Burnworth a possibility, in th e 250cc class. Barn ett an d Ward shou ld keep th e act io n c lose for th e small-bores. It look s li ke - ..... .... 0.. < (Top) Howerton used this method of rut avoidance. (Above) Mike Bell having a spot of trouble. (Below right) 500cc class winner Chandler. (Below left) Bailey i n the ruts. (Bottom left) Johnson leads Hannah. a good year for th e fan. • Results 125 NATIONAL: 1. Mark Barnett (Suz ) 1· 1; 2. J eff W ard (Kaw) 2 · 2; 3. Johnny O'Mara (Han ) 3 ·3 ; 4 . Br ian Myerscough (Hon) 4 · 6; 5. Chr is Hei sser (Su z) B·5 ; 6 . Rick Ryan (Suz ) 6 ·7 ; 7 . Rodney Sm it h (Yam ) 5-9 ; 8 . A .J. Whiting (Yam) 7-8 ; 9 . Ron Lechi en (Yam) ' ·4 ; 10 . Gen e Gentsch (Yam ) 11 ·15; 11 . Ma rk Flesia (Yam ) 13 · 14 ; 12 . Troy Blak e (Yam) 18 · , 1; 13 . M ike Preston (Kaw) 16-13; 14 . Jeffrey Stan ford (Hon l 9 ·24; 15 . Roger Hen sle y (Yam l28· 10; 16 . Eric Hall (Hon) 10 -21 ; 17 . M ik e Beier (Yam) ' . 12: 18 . Kar l J ordan (Yam ) 12 ·28: 19 . Ted Holt (Yam l 14 ·25; 20. Steve Pate (Yam) 15·22 . 250 NAT IONAL: 1. Bob Han na h (Han) 1· 1: 2 . RIck Jo hn son (Yam ) 3·2; 3 , David Baile y (Han) 2-3; 4 . Scan Burnwon h (Suz) 8 ·5 ; 5 . M ike Be ll (Yam) 11 -4 ; 6 . Cli nt Hardick ISu zl 9 ·6 ; 7 . Kenny Key lon (Han ) 7 · 8 : 8 . ~ i!IY Liles (KawI 1 4;?: 9;. ti~; H.o~l e: .(~a ml 6 - 1 1; 10. J im Tarant ino (HonI 12 · 7; 11. Dav e Ho ll is (KTM I5· ' ; 12 . Eric M cKenna (Hon l ' ·9 ; 13 . Br ett Cro ss (M ai ) 17 · 13; 14 . Kev in Dav is (KTM I ' · 10; 15 . J eff Hicks (Han ) 10·- ; 16 . M ickey Kessler (Ma i) 16 16 ; 17 . Tom Carson (Han) 18 ·15; 18 . Darren Rhoten (Kaw) 13 ·21 ; 19 . Jeff Schumacher (Yam) 25 · 14: 20 . Larry Hooper (Han) 14 ·26. 500 NATIONAL: 1. Danny Chandler (Han) 1·2 ; 2. Kent Howerton (Kaw) 3 -3 ; 3 . Goat Breker (Hon) 2· 5; 4. A lan King(Suz)4·4; 5. Broc Glov er (YamI1 2 · 1; 6 . Steve M artin (Hon ) 6 -6 ; 7 . W arr en Reid (Yam) 8-7; 8 . John Finkeldey (KTM ) 9 ·8 ; 9 . Jerom e Heiberg er (Han) 11· 9: 10 . Joey Schlag (Han ) 10 -1 0: 1 1. Pate Snorteland (Yam I 13 · 13 ; 12. Ch uck Sun (M ai) 5 · ' ; 13 . Andy Stacy (Hus) 17 · 11; 14 . Gar y Oircks (Han) 7 ·-; 15 . M ikeTripes lHus) 19 ·12; 16 . Scott Johnson (Yam) 15 -19: 17 . Don Gr iewe (Han) 28 ·14; 18 . Warren Hickman (Yam) 18 ·17; 19 . Tim Locey (Yam l 14 ·24; 20. Phi llip Ov eland (HusI24 . 1 5. , - DNF : ~ ~J., ~ ~ .. -;;1,; .; . ~: . ; 7

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