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/126638
Sem i-finals Ward proved once again that he - had one of the fastest bikes on the rlin e, as he pulled the holeshot over Barnett and Hannah in the first semifinal. Ward held a sizable lead for five laps, as Barnett followed, unable to pass. Ron Lech ien came up to battle with Hannah and got by near the end. Barnett caught Ward on a banked corner with less than a quarter lap to go, and held on to win. Lechien and Hannah £iIled out the top four. O 'Mara repeated his heat performance by jumping to a quick lead in th e second semi-final, on his factory Honda. Bailey and Larson were fol lowed by Johnson and Bell , with Johnson moving into second behind O'Mara by the second lap. O 'Mara continued to lengthen his lead, winning by a four-second margin over J ohnson and Bailey. Howerton and Scott Burnworth reserved a space in the final by placing 1-2 in the last chance qualifier. . Final Kawasaki's Ward took his third holeshot of the evening ahead of Hannah, Bailey, Glover and Bell. Bailey was out front after Ward crashed o n ' th e first lap, with Hannah closing. Ba iley and Hannah then engaged in a survival battle which saw them trade the lead several times throughout th e final. By lap four, Barnett was beginning to recover from a poor start, and had worked his way around Glover and Bell to resume a position behind the Bailey-H an nah duo. At one point, Hannah appeared to pull over, letting Bailey pass. Similarly, Bailey allowed Hannah to regain the lead later, in the same manner. Ba rn ett was unable to pull within ,strikin g distance of the leaders, and was eight seconds down at the halfway point. Hannah was given the lead by Bailey with five la ps to go, a nd the would-be battle with Bai ley, in the end, never ma teria lized. Hannah cruised to the win ahead of Bailey, Barnett and Bell. Howerton moved up to finish fifth. " I was extremely tired, and wa nted to avoid giving it all at one time, " said Hannah. "1 let Bai ley go by, feeling tha t 1 could better control the sit uation. 1 watched his lines, and when th e time came I went around for the last time. I think that he pulled over for me, since he was also not feeling 100%." "I wasn't about to do anything foolish to catch Hannah," said Bailey. "He had let me by once, and 1 knew he was cutting faster laps. Under the circumstances, 1 was happy just to get second." Bailey was still recovering from an ankle in jury suffered two weeks ago. Sunday Heats Barnett was turning practice lap times that wer e two seconds faster than he had on Saturday. " We' ve made some gearing changes," said Barnett. As the first heat started, Barnett charged into the lead ahead of Ward and Burn wort h . Ward held close but could not make up the difference on the works Suzuki of Barnett. Reid moved by Bu rnwort h on lap three for third, as Barnett and Ward continued to stretch the gap fro m the rest of the pack. Barnett stayed out front for a clea n win. Hanna h was st ill very much under the weather, but he cornered to a slim lead over Glover and Den n y Bentley in the second heat race. Glover snatched the front position a few corners later, but Hannah continued to pressure him and was back in the lead before the end of lap o ne . Johnso n moved by Bentley to hold third behind Glover. Ha n na h began to build a slight lead over Glover which mounted to four seconds as Hannah took the checkered flag. Johnson, Ben tley and Bigelow rounded out the top five. . Bailey careened off of the banked wall in first place as the next eightlap heat began, with Bell, Team Yamaha's Tim Locey, a n d Ron Lechien chasing. Bailey remained in the top position for two laps, when Bell passed as they traversed the tunnel hill. Lechien had moved up into third with Myersrough closing. Myerscough went by within a lap, with the top four contained in a two second spread. Lechien crashed on the last (T op) Bob Hannah (1 2 ) and Broc Glover (6) holeshot. (Above) The series ' hot young star, Ron Lechien (224) , leads hottest semi -p rivateer Brian Myerscough. (Below) Johnny O'Mara grabs a start. (Below left ) Hannah and Bailey's pivotal battle.