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/126752
Johnny "O'Show" went home with top points in the 250cc cia.. breaking a tie with Mark Bernett. Bernett _ a no-show and dropped to third. CMC Golden State/Skoal Bandit Series: Round 4 Ward, O'Mara, Larson round 'em up at Sand Hill Ranch By Kit Palmer BRENTWOOD, CA, FEB. 5 At the fourth round of Continental Motorsport Club's Golden State/Skoal Bandit Series at Sand Hill Ranch, factory Kawasaki and Honda pilots Jeff Ward and Johnny O'Mara kept their winning wheels turning in the 125 and 250cc classes while Phil Larson, on a 1983 YZ490, broke works-Kawasaki 10 rider Goat Breker's four-race winning streak in the 500cc class. Even though Ward has dominated the I25cc class throughout the series, he had to work for his win this time over pesky Suzuki pilOl George Hoiland. Holland and Ward traded firsts and seconds scores, but Ward won the tie-breaking second molO that snatched the overall away from HoIland. O'Mara's win was relatively easy after dicing with teammate Bob "Hurricane" Hannah and Yamaha's Rick Johnson and Keith Bowen. Pretty much all that Breker could say at the end of the day was, "Today was just plain bad!" However, it was a great day for Larson who took the Open overall with a I·2 tall Y. eocc Expert Shawn Kalos put his Honda lO the front of the pack at the start of the first 80cc moto whiJe Suzuki's Mike Healey and Yamaha's Eddie Hicks pursued closely. Gene Baldwin and Kyle Lewis rounded out the lOp five. However, Kalos lost his lead by the end of the first lap after both Healey and Hicks slipped by. The nex.t lap saw HeaJey and.Hicks battle for the lead, which soon became Hicks'. Out in front, Hicks held the throttle lO his Yamaha wide open and produced lap times only five seconds slower than the 125cc Pros on a track that took more than two minutes lO cover. At that pace, nobody could catch the leader. Hicks took the win with a Rick Johnson (801 spent most of the second moto looking for a W8Y around Hanneh. Johnson finally got around him but O'Mara was already long gone. large distance over Healey, Honda's Scott Brown, Kalos and Mike Kiedrowski. At the start of the second molO, Healey jumped to an early lead but lost the lOp spOtlO Brown and Hicks during the first lap. This time, Brown tried to fend off Hicks but crashed coming out of a banked turn. Brown managed to pick up his mount quickJy but not until HeaJey had already roosted by. Hicks inherited a huge lead that took him to the checkered first. Healey again finished second ahead of Brown, Kiedrowski and Kalos. 125cc Pro Holland, notorious for his good starts, holeshot the first 125cc Pro molO followed by Ward, Gary Bowman, Bader Manneh and Kun Henricksen. Surprisingly, Holland gained a two-second lead over Ward by the end of the first lap, but a lap and a half later, Ward reeled in Holland and lOok over the lead. For the next three go-arounds, Holland stayed glued to Ward's rear fender and, again, the Suzuki pilot surprised the crowd by stuffing his mount underneath the leader in a tight tUTn after a steep downhill. At that time, Ward had problems pulling off a tear-off from his goggles and dropped a few seconds lO Holland. A turn later, Ward pulled off his goggles and threw them lO the ground. "I had to pull off my goggles," said Ward. "And when I did, my eyes filled with sweat which took a while to clear up." That gave Holland almost five seconds on Ward by the nex.t lap; however, Holland' lead grew to 13 after Ward crashed. "On a fasl straight, I went over a dropaway and when I landed the front wheel must have hit a rut or something which jerked my