Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

(Above) Second placer Johnny O 'Mara (4) and eventual fourth placer David Bailey (11 behind O'Mara) lead in a heat. (Right) Bob Hannah (12) got stuffed at the start, but recove red to eighth. King (17) finished sixth . (M iddle right) Warren Reid was fifth in the final. first production bike. (Bottom right) Mike Bell (18) challenged for the lead, but fell whi le in . second. Here he cuts through traffic. Lech ien was still holding in Cifth. Bell managed to withstand Barnett's co nsta n t attack for the remainder o f the event. winning with a threeseco nd cus h io n . Hannah and Ward co n tin ued to di ce until th e finish , but finished a distant third an d fourth . Lech ien was n ot a ble to better h is . fift h pl ace sta nd ing. O 'M ara an d Gl over were in th e lea d as th e seco n d sem i-fina l began. Wi th in a quarter of a lap, Gl ov er had made h is wa y into th e front p osit ion a h ead o f O 'Mara but O'M ara decided to p lay second fiddle on ly C a si ngle or la p , the n o nce aga in made hi s way arou nd Gl ov er in the jumps. Ba iley ha d made a successfu l pa ss a ro u nd Reid a nd wa s rapidl y gaining on se cond-place Gl o ver. O 'M ara was stretchin g ou t hi s lea d as Bailey made _a flight arou nd Gl ov er i n th e triple j u mps . O 'M ara wa s slo wed as he bega n to pa ss lapped riders, and Bailey used th e opportunity to make up ground. Bai ley fell only a few bikelengths short of taking th e win away fro m O ' Mara , wi th Glover, Myerscough and Reid rounding out the top five. Gary Denton put his Tamm Racing Honda out front as the last ch a nce qualifier started, with Martin and R yan hanging tight. Ryan and Martin easily went by within a lap and remained out front C th e remainder or of the co n test, n etting th e only two transfer spots into the ma in event . Final Before th e sta rt o f the fin al , Barnett C ans had hun g o u t a banner saying " Ba rn ett rules Kansas C it y." That proved to be tr u e. as Barnett rocketed into th e lead with Gl ov er, O 'Mara a nd Bailey tight to th e rear. H annah went wide and got sla m m ed into th e wall in the fight for the first section of jumps, leav ing him nearly last. Hannah a p pea red to have ca u gh t the rear wheel of Barn ett . " 1 felt so m eth in g in back of me," said Barnett. "1 wasn' t sure a t the time who it was." Barnett moved o ut to a slight lead over Glover on the first lap. O ' Mara had a better flight over the doubl e j umps at th e start of the second lap, moving ahead of Glover, Withi n a ha lf lap, O ' Mara was si de by side with Barn ett as the duo made their way through a whoo p sectio n . As th ey ca me over the second set o f do ubl e jurnps, O'Mara flew by a nd began 10 pull away, but went down as he landed in the sa nd pit, " I p ushed down on the rear brake and there was noth ing," said O 'Mara. " We think tha t air got into the line." Honda has been running hydraulic disc brakes on the rear of the works machinery. " As Barnell ca me by, he bumped m y left leg and I just fell over. I was sti ll trying 10 start th e bike," continued O'Mara. G lover m oved into second after th e mishap a9d wa s gaining on Barnet t. G lover th en bai led off , kn ocking him ba ck severa l p ositions. Bell wa s th en i n a charge for th e front sp o t. pas sin g Bail ey, Ward a nd O 'M ara after a med iocre sta rt . Barnett was still flawlessly rid ing o u t fro nt, bu t Bell ca ugh t and n earl y passed him among th e do uble j umps, Soon a fter, Bell a lso crashed h is wa y o u t o f co ntention . "Trn reall y feeling bad about th is," sai d Bell afterwa rd . " I don 't reall v kn ow w ha t hap p en ed , but I d o rem ember doing a bo u t three flip s in th e a ir." Barnett was still unaff ected by a ll o f th e cras h ing going on aro und him , a nd mechanic Jeff Clark was givin g him th e signal that he had a five seco nd lead over seco nd pl ace Bailey. Ward h ad also moved up during th e crashing session and was third , but O 'Mara was coming back strong a nd made a quick move around Wa rd for th ird . Bai ley , O'Mara and Ward were g lued together Cor another lap, unti l O'Mara cornered around Ba il ey. Bailey was nearly taken out as they tangled, and Ward se cured third behind O 'Mara during th e incident. " 1 thought I was going to get by both O 'Mara and Bailey, " said Ward , " O' Mara came back stro ng right away. so I wasn 't a ble 10 get second." Barnett held his five second m argin at th e en d o f th e race over O 'M ara , Ward a nd Bailey. Reid finished a co m me n da ble fifth . "1 didn't want to tak e a ny unnecessa ry changes," sa id Reid, Reid has been doing well and Yamaha has been giving him in.creased support, " It might have been a little tougher if O 'Mara hadn 't stalled out," said Barnett. "It looked as if it was going to be a tough ba tt le," . "1 j us t felt like I had it," said O'Mara , " T h e problems wi th the rear brake were just 100 m u ch 10 overcome." • Results FINA L: 1. Mark Barnatt (Suz); 2. Johnny O·Mar. (Han); 3 . J aff Ward (Kaw); 4 . David Bailay (Han); 5. Warra n Raid (Yam); 6. Alan King (Suz); 7. M ike Bell (Yam); 8. Bob Hannah (Han); 9. Ron Lechien (Yam); 10 . Rick Ryan(Suz); 11. Brae Glover (Yam); 12. Rick Johnson (Yam); 13. Steve Martin (Han); 14. Billy Lil es (Kaw); 15. Jell Hicks (Han); 16. Scott Burn· wonh (Suz); 17 . Brian M yerscough (Hon); 18 . Kent Howe rton (Kaw ). AMAlWRANGLERSUPERSERIES POINTSTAND· ; INGS; 1. Mark 8a rne tt (437); 2. Bob Hanna h (4 12 1 3. David Baila y 1 386); 4 . Jeff Ward (358); 5. Jo hnny O'Mar. (348); 6. 8 rae Glover (334 ); 7. Mike 8ail (304); 8. Rick J ohnson (244); 9. Ala n King (240); 10. Warr en Reid (238); 11. Brian Mye rscoug h (224); 12 . Ron Lechie n (217); 13. Bill y Ul es (189); 14. Scon Burnworth (I 87); 15. (TIE)Goat Breker/ Kent How erton (185); 17. Steve M.rtin (17 9); 1B. Don nie Cant aloupi (143); 19. Phil Larson (123); 20 . Ken ny Keylon (lI B). ..' , . . • 11

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