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/126641
(Above) Mike Bell put in his best outdoor ride in awhile to finish second. (A bove right) David Bailey was third and retained third in the final standings. (Rig ht ) Kent Howerton continues to lead the 500cc stan~ings and was second 500cc. (Below) Johnny O'Mara .was second 125cc. away with both 250cc motos and recap tu ring the points lead in the Wrangler Super Series. Kawasaki factory ' p ilo t Jeff Ward clocked in as the fastest 125cc rider, a lso topping both mOlOS. Team Yamaha 's Broc Glover edged Kent Howerton 's works Kawasakttoclaim the win in the 500cc class . " I was j ust too fast for those guys tod ay," Hannah sa id while cooling down after win ning th e second moto, T here have o n ly been eight 250cc rnotos run in 1983, but Hannah has wo n six of th em . That record might h ave been more impressive, but Hannah was fighting a virus in th e o n ly two rnotos h e lost. Team Suzuki's Mark Barnell wa s leading the Wrangler Series going into the event, with 20 points over Hannah. Barnell was knocked down 10 the runner-up position after suffering a broken cha in in the seco nd 125cc moto. Hannah is in front once aga in , garnering 50 poi nts to Barnell's 16. The race for th e title of Wr angler Grand National Champion shows Hannah with 495, Barnell a t 481 and T eam Honda's David Bailey in third, ta lly ing 460. Ward holds fourth with 433. The tra ck was the object o fcr iticism for severa l weeks prior to th e event, since it was m erely a ser ies of hi ghspeed . straightawa ys. Semi-retired MXer J ohn Savitsk y ca me to th e si te five da ys before the event and climbed a board th e ea rt h -moving equipment. By th e time practice sessions were underwa y, Savitsky had transformed th e track into a cha lle ng ing a rray of Su percross-type obstacles. "Hey, they did what th ey cou ld , but the track just is not Nationa l ca libe r," sa id Kent Howerton. Torrentia l rains during the night before the event p ut much of th e tra ck under a la yer o f water, but after exten sive exca vati on and draining th e tra ck was in a mostl y rideabl e co nd ition. 500cc National T eam Honda's Goat Breker was back in acti on a fter recovering from a broken co lla rbo ne, a nd started off th e day by grabbi n g th e holeshot in th e fir st rnoto. Teammat e Dann y Chandler , H owerton, a n d Gl over made it . through ' th e mud-laden fir st co rn er a head of the rest of th e pa ck . Within two turns, Chandler a nd Howerton slid by Brek er. Chandl er beg an 10 open up a good lea d over H ow ert on on th e next lap, followed by Gl over a n d Breker. On la p four , Howert on wa s beginning to gain on Chandler. Team Suzuki 's Alan King wa s moving up , a n d was closing in on Breker. G lover was n ow tight to th e rear o f H ow ert on , a n d snatched seco n d momentaril y. Howerton hung o n and went back ou t front. " G lo ver ca ugh t me in a bad si tua ,lion ," said H owerton. " I was follow- 7 1