Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Erik Kehoe was untouchable in the 260cc Pro class. (Right) Phil Larson won both motos in the Open Pros and finished second in the series. CMC Golden StatelSkoal Bandit Series: Round 6 . Ward, Breker take titles the hard way By Kit Palmer SANTA MARlA, CA, FEB. 26 Going into the final round of the Golden State/Skoal Bandit Series at Spillway Cycle Park, Kawasaki's Jeff Ward and Goat Breker had to put the final touches in the 125cc and Open class before claiming GS series wins. While Honda's Johnny O'Mara already had the 250cc title, Ward and Brek- 8 er's title-clinching rides were hardearned. Both the fanory Kawasaki pilots spent the previous night in Atlanta, Georgia, for a Supercross and had to fly back to California on race morning. They left Atlanta at 6 a.m. and arrived a few hours later in LAX, then boarded a helicopter and flew to the track; landing in the pits minutes before the first 250cc moto. Forty minutes later, Breker was sitting on the starting line without riding, or even walking the track. To complicate mallers, Breker's body was battered fT-om the night before. He fell in Atlanta, breaking three ribs and suffering some internal injuries, one of which a malfunctioning kidney. Doctors wanted to operate on Breker during the night, but he refused so he could race today. To clinch the Open-series win, all that Breker had to do was finish a moto, so he cruised around the track slowly and finished, for his second-in-a-row GSS win. Phil Larson won that moto, and the second, for the day's overall which put him second overall in the series. "I'm really hurting," said Breker after his series-clinching moto. "I have three ribs broken and have some internal injuries also. I went to the hospital after the race last night and stayed there all night long. I didn't leave the hospital until 5:30 this morning because the doctors wanted to operate on me right then and there, but I said no way. I will go to the hospital near where I live later this afternoon. But I am glad I won!" In the l25cc class, Ward had a tough time as well. He had to ride hard to beat Suzuki's Pro Support rider George Holland. Going into the race, Holland was only 38 points behind Ward, so Ward couldn't just cruise like his teammate. Ward topped both motos and captured the overall. ''I'm really tired," said Ward afterwards. "I've only had an hour's worth of sleep since last night!" Ward also said he was happy taking the l25cc class championship: "I've worked hard for it too." Even though O'Mara had the 250cc class win clinched, the battle for second in the series was up in tbe air between quite a few riders but mainly between Suzuki-mounted Jim Tarantino and Husqvarna's Micky Dymond; strangely, neither won. Honda rider Erik Kehoe showed both of them, and the rest of the pack, the fast way around the track. Kehoe led from start to finish, riding flawlessly in both motos. Yamaha's Eddie Hicks blew away the Mini Expert class with back-toback wins and also went home with a GSS title, clearly dominating throughout the series. A consistent pair ofthirds by Honda's Scott Brown took second. Mini Expert Hicks dominated the class, winning both motos with ease while Brown took second overall. Hicks' main concern throughout the series was Suzuki's Mike Healey, who could only manage a sixth in the first moto. Honda-mounted Shaun Kalos put in an outstanding ride in the same moto by capturing the second spot ahead of Brown and Kawasaki riders Kyle Lewis and Mike Kiedrowski. In the second moto, Hicks shot into an early lead ahead of Kalos, Brown and Healey. On the second lap, Brown shot by Kalos for second but dropped back to fourth a couple of laps later. While Hicks was busy stretching out his lead, Kalos and Healey were busy fighting over second. ·Near the end of the moto, Healey slipped by Kalos and held Kalos to third. Hicks, unbeatable, crossed the finish line for an uncontested first, and captured the GSS Mini Championship. Healey held on to finish second ahead of Brown, Kalos and Kiedro~sk1. 126cc Pro Holland went into the Spillway race with a great chance of winning the l25cc GSS championship as long as Ward didn't show up. As the morning passed, no one knew if Ward was going to make it frQm Atlanta, so things looked good for Holland. But when the small helicopter circled the track, Holland's heart sank and all he had left to do was worry about himself and do his best on the track, and then hope Ward crashed or broke. Ward went into the race with a slim 38-point lead, but with only one hour of sleep since'Saturday night and no practice on the sandy track, so Holland had a slim chance. When the gate dropped, Holland shot into the lead while Ward was fourth. In between Holland and Ward were Kawasaki's Bader Manneh and Suzuki-mounted Doug O'Donnell. By the end of the first lap, Ward had had some problems gelling used to the track and dropped back to seventh, while Suzuki's Gary Bowman worked his way into second. Soon after, Ward made his recovery by catching all the way up to Bowman, then two laps later, Ward took over second, and almost 10 seconds behind Holland. With each lap, Ward cut down Holland's lead by a couple of seconds. With a little over half the race completed, Ward snuck by Holland, but Holland fought back and jumped out in front again. It was only for a few turns, and then Ward made his move on the Suzuki pilot for good. The Kawasaki teamster opened up a comfortable lead and took the win ahead of Holland. Bowman held on and finished third ahead of Manneh and O'oug Dubach. Bowman shot to the front of the pack at the start of the second moto while teammate Holland followed. Ward got off to a poor start and was back in eighth. During the second lap, Holland passed Bowman for the lead while Ward picked of[ riders one by one until he slipped by Bowman on the fifth go-around and set after Holland, who had five seconds on

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