Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Central Pipeline (Above) Blair Commons flies his XR Honda at Twin Cities' motocross. (Below) Dave Molder won the 500cc Expert class and took money in the 125 and 250c class in a Gillette. Wyo.• motocross. < Carothers, Farmer tops at Austin MX By Joe Milian AUSTIN. TX. MAY I The continuing saga of Austin Motocross Park added another chapter to its 12-year history today as the popular Austin 26 facility held its first race under new management. Due to an illness in his immediate family and increased responsiblity in his job with the Texas Water Rights Commission, veteran promoter Lee Biggar! has relinquished operation of the track to Tim McCaskill. McCaskill's initial event was a successful one as over 125 riders signed in to vie for ca sh and trophies in 14 classes. Nowhere was the action more heated than in the 250cc Expert class . Hard-riding Jerry Farmer jammed his YZ250 inside Hunter Carothers and took the early lead in mota one. Chris Loftin rode around a stalled Bill Kelly and immediately began dogging the two leaders. Bill Kasson, turning the clock back several years , kept the pack in sight until the third lap when ability got the best of ambition a n d he crashed heavily in the back secti on a n d limped slowly into the pits. Meanwhile, on the fifth lap, Loftin shocked the crowd by swooping past Carothers and Farmer and then pulling aw ay from th e surprised duo. Carothers and Farmer con tin ued th eir fur ious dice, stuffing one another in to the big banked berms at ever y op port un ity. Loftin, doing his best riding in months, took the win with Farmer a bikelength ahead of Carothers. Loftin 's participation in the second moto was unfortunately brief as he tried an outside line through the first turn and found gri ef in a front-wheelgr abbing hole. First lap leader Jeff Ellis was quickly overtaken by Carothers and Farmer as they continued their personal duel, using every available inch of track. With two laps remaining, Farmer made one of the longest jumps of the day off the mountainous front straightaway obstacle, but it proved to be a tactical error as it put him out of shape for the following rockertype jump. Theresultant tank slapper slowed Farmer enough to allow Carothers to cruise home with the overall victory. "That's some of the roughest riding I've been involved with in a long time. I got knocked around quite a . bit. Loftin clipped my leg- when he went by and Farmer was all over me. I won though , that's what counts, " Carothers explained after the bump and run session was co mp leted. Mik e Farmer took home money in two classes today as he rod e to wins in both the Open Expert class a nd the Over 30 Expert aggregation as well. Farm er won the battle of the heav yweights over Paul Zabor a s the two tractored their YZ490s around the sandy circu it in the large-bikes-formoney division. Farmer, spotting another opportunity to cash in on another 150% payback, showered Bill Kasson and Smokey Joe Milian with sandy loam on his way to two uncontested wins in the Over 30 Expert joust. Kasson had his hands full with Smokey stating, " H e crossed over in front of me on the big jump, he brake-checked me, and then he tried to push me up over the big bowl berm. The man is insane." Kasson was forced to suffer this rude treatment in both outings as bad starts forced him to play catch-up. San Antonio's Steve Hester showed style and skill in the 250cc Intermediate class a s he won both go-rounds in what seemed to be an effortless performance. Bryan Briggs was equally at ease in the Open Intermediates as he outdistanced James Mitchell and David Burgess. In other Intermediate competition, Lloyd Longmire celebrated his 51st birthday two days early by besting Bob Goldade and Jack Shafer in the other Over 30 contest. Andy " O ger T " Thompson won the first heat ofthe 250cc Novice class and suffered mechanical woes in the second, finishing an eventual third overall. Jim Collins capitalized on Thompson's problems and turned two second placings into overall gold ahead of Tommy McDow. Mike Bell, emulating" his famous namesake, held off a determined Sane Tabassi to score highest honors in the I25cc Novices. Gary Grose, after a serious second moro battle with T abassi finished third for the da y. Marvin McKim, who has recently embarked on a rigorous new training program, saw his labors rewarded today with a solid first place finish in the Open Novice class . Results MINI MINI: 1. Willy Kasson (Yaml: 2. Jason Shafar (Suz); 3 . Cody Atkins (Yam). MINI JR : 1. Chad Bailey (Yam): 2. Jason Krempin (Yam); 3. Jaffray Barnard (Kaw) . MINI SR: 1. Joey Stone (Yam); 2. Chris Deas (Yam); 3 . Pat Clamants (Yam). BEG : 1. John Primeau (Yam) ; 2 . Shawn Clevenger (Yam); 3. Everett Lee (Yam) . 125 NOV : 1. Mika Bell (Yam); 2. Sana Tabassi (KTM); 3 . Gary Grose (Suz). . 250 NOV : 1. Jim Collins (Han) ; 2. Tom McDow (Suz); 3 . Andy Thompson (Yaml. OPEN NOV ; 1. Marvin McK im (Yam); 2. Dale Shank (Suz); 3 . Ricky Petry (Yam). 125 INT: 1. Tim Gatlin ISuz); 2 . Stewart Simpson (Kaw); 3 . Aonnie Prado (Yam). 250 INT: 1. Steve Hester (Han); 2 . Joe Kirklin (Suz); 3 . Phil Schertz (Yam). OPEN INT: 1. Bryan Briggs (Yam); 2. James Mitchall (Han); 3 . David Burgess (KTM). 250 EX: 1. Hunter Carothers (Yam); 2 . Jerry Farmer (Yam); 3. Chris Lohin (Yam). OPEN EX: 1. Mika Farmer (Yaml; 2. Paul Zabor (Yam); 3 . Tommy Pavelka (KTM) . OVER 30 EX: 1. Mike Farmer(Yam); 2. Bill Kasson (Yam); 3 . Smokey Joe (Yam). OVER 30 INT: 1. Lloyd Longmire (Yam); 2. Bob Goldade (Yam); 3. Jack Shafer (Suz). Binkley blasts Trinidad GP By Ernie Ferguson TRINIDAD, CO, APR. 30-MA Y I The Sports Riders Association of Colorado and Cycle Ridge Motocross Park presented a two-day Gran Prix in Trinidad with all classes of riders present in gusty winds and blowing dirt; The co urse was in great shape, but the wind continually dr ied the tra ck out and crea ted clouds of dust, but the co~d i t i o ns didn 't stop some great racing. On Saturday, the Minis and Nov ice riders attacked th e winding cour se. Kawasaki was the standard of the da y in both th e Mini A and B classes. ~ Brian Binkley from Kawasaki of Denver took the Mini A class. He wa s ch allen ged by Derek Brown and Kip' Sandell both on Kawasakis. '" 1 The Green Machine also cap ture d the Mini B class when Brian Grubel; nik took first overall in Ironr ' of Randy Dedrick and Scott Sutherland, respectively. The Pee Wee B class was also swept by Kawasaki. Andy Atk ins rode to a perfect day with first place finishes in both motos. On Sunday, the Amateur and Expert riders took to Cycle Ridge in two 30minute motos each. The I25cc Expert class was something to see as Mark Flesia, Matt Lindsey and Albert Firestine battled in some of the best motocross racing anywhere. Flesia came out on top with two first place rides aboard his Yamaha. Lindsey rode hard all day, but just couldn't catch Flesia and settled for second over Firestine. Mike Knupp ran away in the Open Expert class; he ate up the track and left the field behind. Knupp doesn 't make mistakes and catching him could become a lifetime ambition. If anyone can catch Mike it will probably be the second and third place riders of the day. Jim Mitchell rode to a 2-2 afternoon for a second overall in front of Randy Warren , who took third with a 3-4 effort. . The 250cc Expert class saw high flying Boo Stichter sweep the class in some gr eat riding on his Fay Meyers Honda. Stichter seems to get better with each race, and he likes to be out front . Stacy Cook, also on a Honda, took second overall with his typical controlled style. Results '25 EX: 1. Mark Flesia (Yam): 2. Matt Lindsey (Yam) ; 3 . Albert Firestine (Yam) . 250 EX: 1. Boo Stichter (Han); 2. Stacy Cook (Han); 3 . Terry Kyle (Yam). OPEN EX: 1. Mike Knupp (Yam I: 2. Jim Mitchell (Suzl; 3 . Randy Warren (Han). 125 B: 1. Mike Sckenk (Yam); 2 . Randy Hocker (Yam); 3 . Brian Jones (Yam) . 250 B: 1. Blair Book(Yam); 2. Brent Haynes (Suz); 3. Ron Sutharland (Suz). OPEN B: 1. Mike Morrison; 2. Howard Dunn; 3. Bob Martin. VET EX: 1. Dwight Catalano; 2. Bill Vickery; 3. Vic Barlish. VET B; 1. Jim Smith; 2. Dave Weatharford; 3 . Bob Kimbel. 125 NOV: 1. Scott Anderson (Hon); 2. Jeff Scherf (Suz); 3 . Brian Liska (Suz) . 250 NOV: 1. David Streever (Yam I; 2. Leighton Title (Hon); 3 . Kevin Alspaugh (Yam). MINI EX: 1. Brian Binkley (Kaw); 2. Derek Brown (Kaw); 3 . Kip Sandell (Kaw) . OPEN NOV: 1. M itch Rein (Suz); 2. Zig Post (Han); 3 . Wayne Chase (Kaw). VET NOV : 1. Bobby Hancock (Yam): 2 . David Oapp (Yam); 3. Larry Cox (Han). MINI NOV : 1. Troy Olson (Han); 2. Pat Gleeson (Kawl; 3. Justin Wessek (Yam) . MINI B: 1. Brian Grubalnik (Kaw); 2. Randy Oed· rick (Kawl: 3 . Scott Sutherland. PEE WEE NOV: 1. Ryan Echer (Kaw) : 2. Ryan Gleeson (Kaw); 3 . Robbie Mason (Kaw). PEE WEE B: 1. Andy Atkins (Kaw); 2. Danton Campbell (Kaw); 3 . Shannon Ashmore (Kawl. Molder fashions BRA Gillette MXwin By Brian George GILLETTE, WY, APR. 24 Round four of the Borderline Racing Association 's 2l-race motocross series traveled to Gillette, where nearly 100 riders competed for trophies and payback offered on the non-paints-pa ying event. Greeting the competitors was an extremely rough , hilly, natural-

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