Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Merk Bernett (1) leads Jeff Ward (9). Ron Lechien (224). Eric Hall (5 9 4 1. Rodney Smith (69) and Chris Heisser during the 125cc class start, AMA /Wrangler Super Series: Round 18 Binghamton rock/est to Glover By Tom Kolnowski Photos by Richard DeLibertis and Kolnowski BINGHAMTON . NY, JUNE 5 Team Yamaha's Broc G lover stopped singing the blues after the P epsi Cola National Motocross at Broom e-T ioga Sp orts Center. Bo u ncing back after a series of inconsistent finish es, Glover notched wins in both 500cc motos and moved to within six points of cla s lead er Kent Howerton in th e p o ints c h a se. " I felt reall y good tod a y," sai d Gl over. " We feel tha t I st ill h ave a good cha nce fo r th e 500cc title." T he " H u rricane II " express, p iloted by T eam H onda 's Bob Hannah , made a no the r clean sweep of th e250ccclass o ver team m at e David Bail e" . Mark Barnell talli ed a nother win in th e 125cc cl ass,turning a2 -1 sco re o n hi s Jeff Clark-tuned works Suzuki. Th e hill sid es of th e natural terrain tra ck wer e littered with loose rocks, causing problems for many, in cluding T eam Kawasak i' s Bill y Liles. Liles cam e in a fter p racti ce with severa l dents in th e exhaust pipe. Brian Lunn is, H annah 's tun er, has seen hi s sha re o f ro cks. " At th e Trop hee des Nat ions last year, th ey were kickin g u p ro cks twi ce th is size (fist-sized). T he y ,~ill certain ly be in th e air todav, 14 H annah rem ains in the lead of th e Wrang ler Super Seri es, picki ng u p a few more po ints on runner-up Barnett. H annah ha s a to ta l of 595 , Ba rn ett has 578 a n d Davi d Ba il ev h o ld s o nto thi rd with 527. . 500cc Natio nal Gl over wi red th e sta rt, a n d headed for th e first jump a head o f T ea m Honda 's Dann y C handler a nd Yama ha Support rider Wa rren Reid . T eam Honda 's Goat Breker started in fifth, but worked into second behi nd Gl over aft er a la p a nd beg an to close, Ch andler , now th ird , began to m ove up on Breker a nd cu t to th e in sid e on a hillto p co rner two laps lat er to mak e th e pa ss. Gl over had m anaged 10 put Ch andler five seconds behind a t th e en d o f seven laps, an d Breker wa s h olding third , o n ly a bikelen gth behind. Breker made hi s way arou nd Chandler on th e next lap. Reid wa s h aving a baule with Team Suzuki's Ala n King over fourth. Breker came up th e hill o n th e back o f th e co urs e in se co n d, a ft e r Cha nd ler had trouble in th e rocks. Breker bega n to m ove ba ck in on Gl over a nd wa s fou r seco nds behi nd with two laps left. Reid had gotte n by Cha nd ler, wi th King co nti nui ng to close. Lat er in th e lap Chandler ran int o a falle n rid er a nd Kin g ca me a ro u nd for fourth. G lover won his first moto with five seconds over Breker , whi le Reid p laced third. T eam Honda 's Phil Larson m oved into fourth on th e last la p and Kin g wa s fifth. Stagi nga repeat of moto o ne. Gl over aga in led th e pa ck through th e o pe n in g corner.Maico-mountedEric Eaton ca me o u t stro ng in seco nd , follow ed by Brek er a n d Kin g. Kin g fell o n th e firs t lap. Gl over, Ea to n a nd Breker co nt in ued 1-2-3 for th e next six laps. J o h n Finkeld ey wa s ra pid ly closing o n Eaton a nd Breker a nd brought hi s Iact orv KTM a ro un d a corne r 10 na b both rid ers a t o nce. Tea m Kawasa ki 's Ken t H owerton joined th e cha se o n th e n ext lap a n d pa ssed Eaton , Breker a nd th en Finkel da y, 10 nail seco nd behi nd Gl over. How ert on began 10 close on Gl over wh o wa s now seven seco nds a h ead. As th e wh ite flag ca me o u t, Howerton crash ed a nd Finkeld cy went back into second. Breker a nd King a lso ca m e by before H ow erton wa s back up. Glover held on for a not h er win , besting Finkeld ey, Brek er , King a nd H ow erton . " I broke a shock pi st on halfwa y through th e first m oto," sa id Gl over. "It slo wed me a bit. I wa s g lad 10 ge t th e good sta rts , a nd I would lik e 10 th ank m y mech ani c, J ohn Rosenst iel , for selli n g u p th e bik e so per fectly toda y." 125cc National J o h nn y O 'M ara 's works Ho nda ca m e o ut o f th e starti ng ga te a head o f Brian Mverscoughs Su pport Honda , T eam Kaw a saki 's J eff Ward a nd Barnell'S Suzuki. After a lap of the rock throw ing contest, Barnell had moved by Ward and was closing on Myerscough. Barnell cu t 10 th e inside after two laps and knocked Myerscough ba ck to third. O 'Mara was enjoying a nine second lead over Barnell by this time, a nd Ward had gotten by Myerscough . T eam Yamaha's Ro n Lechien was now in fifth. Barnell was unable to make up any siz eable amount of ground on O'Mara, but Ward pulled behind Barnell and nearly went around with two la ps left. O'Mara ca rr ied a 10- second lead through th e chec kered flag, with Barnett , Ward, Myerscough and Lechien hold ing their respective p la ces. Barnell g ra bbed th e start of th e seco nd moto, as Lechien and Ward followed aro u nd the first few bends. Lechien was th e lead rid er a half lap lat er, heading downhill a hea d o f Ward a nd Barnett. O 'Ma ra was a distant fourth . Lechien, Wa rd a nd Barnell held th eir positions for th e next seven la p s. Lechien wa s keeping three to four seco nds a head o f Wa rd . with Barnell a seco nd o r two o ff th e pace. Barnett ca m e o u t o f th e back sectio n a h ead of Ward a la p lat er, a fter Ward ha d low- sid ed a t the crest o f a hill. Lechien ca me into traffic on th e next lap, th en crash ed wh en a slower rider ra n in to him. Barnell a n d Ward . both ska ted a ro u nd during th e mish ap, but Lcchien remounted and chased Wa rd . O 'M ara and T eam Tarnm 's Chris Hei sser were a far-off 4-5. Ward cra s he d o nce more and Lech ien took up th e chase behind Barn ell , now six seconds a h ea d . O 'M ara m oved by Ward for third, Suzuki Support rid er Ri ck R yan h ad climbed into six th behind Hei sser, Barnell cro ssed the finish lin e wit h 12 seconds over Lechien, foll ow ed by O 'M ara. Ward . H ei sser a nd Ryan , " It wa s p rett y 'clo se for a wh ile," Barn ell sa id. " I kn ew so m eth ing wa s going to happen soon , since Lech ien a n d I were moving int o lapped tra ffic. Mo re exp er ien ce wo u ld ha ve . h elped Lech ien in th e si tua tio n wh en he fell. Wh at I have to do now is make

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