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/126645
Ron Lechien t ook his first National win and became the first 16-year-old to w in a Supercross since 1972. (File photo) AMA/Wrangler Super Series: Round .9 Lechien breaks through at Orlando By Tom Kolnowski O R LAN DO, FL, J UN E II " I can't believe that 1 did it!" said an ecstatic Ron Lechien, after the Team Yamaha rising star won the Miller High Life Supercross presented by Honda at the Tangerine Bowl. Amazingly, Lechieri's premier National win came a t th e a ge of o n ly 16, and midway through hi s rookie seaso n o n th e Pro 6 fessio nal circu it. T ea m H ond a 's j o h n n y O 'M ara a nd Suzu ki factory pi lot Mark Barneu bauled to a distant 2-3. Lech ien 's tuner, Keith McCa rty, shed a trin e more ligh t on th e victory. " H e's been real close in th e last severa l events, and h is tim e had co me. He not o n ly beat O 'M ara , he d id it by a fu ll 23 seco nds!" T he fir st Supercross in Orlando brought o ut a tot al o f 23,21 1 spec tators, mak ing Bill West of Su perSports Promotions a happy man . Less impressive was th e n umber of rider entries, a paltry 37. Du e to low rider a ttenda nce, the need for quarter-fin als was eli m ina ted, with riders tran sferring dir ectly to sem i-final action afte r the in iti al four heat races. Team Honda 's Bob H annah sustai ned a damaged wr ist during a f riday practice session, a nd was head ed back wes t to see a physician at race time. H a nnah took two practice laps on Sa tu rday afternoon, bu t the in jury for ced h im to scra tch . Hannah 's mishap occ u rred after a night over th e la rge central jump . Barnett o nce again moved to the to p o f the Wrangl er Super seri es po ints race. H e p icked up another 3 1 po ints to tall y 608, lea vin g Hannah back in second with 595. T eam Honda 's David Bai ley ho lds th ird with 552 and Kawasak i 's j eff Ward ha s fourth at 534. Heat s Team Ya maha 's Broc Gl over dug into th e soft sand surface of the starting line a nd was first rider through th e ope n ing whoo p sectio n, a hea d of Ya maha-mou nt ed jim Holley and Honda Support rider j eff H icks . A few seco nds lat er, Gl over was left kicking after his gas valve was knocked to th e o ff position, droppin g him to last. Hi cks took over, but went down two co rners la ter, and Team Suzu ki 's Ala n King came arou nd o ut fro nt . Gl over wasn 't wasti ng a ny time, and moved all th e way up to fo urth a fter four laps behi nd King, Holley, a nd H icks . G lover pulled alon gside H icks goin g th ro ug h th e starting a rea and sli ced inside to pass. Kin g held o n for th e fin al three laps to net th e win, with Glover nabbing Holley at th e base of a j u m p to na il down th e runner-up spot. T eam T arnm 's Chris Heisser fin ished ah ead of Hicks for fourth. Brian Myerscough topped the start of the next heat on a Support Honda, with Barnet t a clos e second after a quarter lap. Myerscough was pitched to th e sand aft er a rough landing, a nd Barnett p iled into th e rear of Myerscough's bik e and became tangled. While they wrestled to free the crashed bikes, most of the p ack motored aro und. Suzuki rider Clint Hardick grabbed the opportunity a nd ran off wi th th e lead, with Myerscough working into third after three laps. Two laps later, Myerscough got out o f sh ape once more a nd Barnett roc keted pa st into third behind Hardick and Hondamounted john Collins. Barn ett a n d Myer scough went around Coll ins a lap later, a n d assumed the ir fin al finishing positions behind winner H ardick, who was 28 seco nds ahead at th e fin ish . Ruts had form ed in many of th e corners. The th ird hea t belonged to T eam Honda's David Bailey, after teammate johnny O 'Mara was knocked over shortly a fter th e sta rt a nd dropped to th e back. T eam Su zuk i's Scott Burnworth an d Honda 's Steve Mar- tin fill ed th e seco nd a nd th ird positions for th e next four laps. Bail ey was rapidly pulling away from Burnworth, but O'Mara had knifed through traffic into fourth behind Martin. O 'Mara picked off Martin on the next lap, and moved within three bikelengths of Burnworth at the beginning of the last la p. O 'Mara cut to the inside along the berm before " Mill er Mountain" and dropped Burnworth to third a quarter lap from the finish . Bailey remained unchallenged at the front. "The track has shaped up well," winner Bailey said. "A few of the corners ar e a little dark. The key to this track is to get a good start." With T eam Yamaha's Mike Bell and Rick johnson sidelined with injuries, su p po rt riders Warren Reid and Donn ie Cantaloupi were aboard works machiner y for the first time in '83. Lechien passed Team Honda's Goat Breker onl y three corners into his heat, th en set a bo u t his business of stretching th e lead on each succeeding lap. Team Kawasaki 's jeff Ward started fourth beh ind Cantaloupi and moved close to Breker on lap three. Ward hung close to the ha y bales and left Breker ba ck in third while exiting a sweeper. Lechien had a five second cu shion, wh ich Ward cut down to three after another two laps. Lechien was able to hold off Ward in the final laps, as Reid made his wa y into third on th e last lap. Breker was fourth ahead of Cantaloupi, " I was concentrating on keeping my lines toward the end of the moto," Lechien sa id. " I have had a couple of good finishes, but I am going to work real hard for a win." Semis G lover was quick to grab the lead of th e opening semi, but a crash in a ru tted corner sent him to the rear of the pack after half a lap. Barnett and Myerscough quickly shot around, wi th King a tight third. Hardick was close, bu t thrashed through the ha y bales with a derailed chain and DNF.