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/126758
(Above) The start of the main saw Hannah with the holeshot. (Below) Mark Barnett gives Jeff Ward a taste of Daytona dirt. Barnett finished fifth. Bob Hannah lost a battle with a fence and dropped out of the race. Liles worked his way past Smith into second. After two laps, Ward held a 10second lead over Liles, with Smith holding third and pulling away from Ryan. On lap three, Ward's lead read 12 seconds over Liles, as Smith held off Ryan for third. Keith Bowen was fifth ahead of Carson. Ward slowed in the final lap with his win secure and cruised in for the victory, with Liles finishing second over Smith. Ryan topped Carson for founh. Semis Pennsylvania resident Emery Anden led the early laps of the first semi, with Canadian Terry Hofoss taking up second over Matt Mafredi. Late in lap three, Hofoss tightened up the slack between himself and Anden, and the pair engaged in a battle over the lead. Hofoss was cleanly out front by lap four of the six-lap event and began to build up a cushion over Anden. Manfredi, Steve Burdette-and Chris Heisser were involved in a fight over third, which fell to Heisser later in the lap. Hofoss kept his lead for the win .over Anden, with Heisser holding off Burdette for third. Eric Hall, who hails from Camas, Washington, led Floridian john Collins and Canadian Doug Hoover in the early laps of the final semi. Hale pulled away from the' ballie over second between Collins and Hoover on lap three, with Georgian Mike Cranke holding fourth. Hall lost ground to second-place Hoover in the closing laps, then crashed late in the last lap and handed the win to Hoover. Collins finished second. with Andy Stacy 'passing Crane just before the finish line to lay claim to third. Last Chance Qualifier Team Suzuki's Scott Burnworth put on one of the best come-frombehind rides of the day to win the Last Chance Qualifier. Dallas-based Steve Pate lea the first five laps of the race, while Burnworth was busy picking off two and three riders a t a time after a mid-pack start. By lap three, Burnworth was all the way up to fourth, then passed Russ Wageman to nail third. Burnworth jammed into second ahead of Greg Mayo with a lap left to go, then quickly made up the difference on leader Pate with a quarter lap remaining and flew past for the lead and held on for the win. Mayo and Wageman, finishing third and fourth, took the last two transfer to the fin;l1. Jeff Ward could only a manage a fourth overall. Final On the start of the final, Hannah appeared destined to repeat his win of the event in 1983 by pulling a clear-cut holeshot over Ryan, Glover and Bailey. Liles went to the outside of the corner and got k.nocked over in the shuffle. He remounted his bike near the back of the pack. Hannah was out front all alone less than a half lap into the race, with Bailey trailing. Glover, in an attempt to catch Bailey, went down hard in a berm and O'Mara came through for third with Barnett and johnson following closely. On lap two, Hannah maintained a three-second lead over Bailey, with O'Mara a few bikelengths back. Barnett was forced to contend with pressure from Ward. ·who had wedged himself between Barnell and johnson. Late in lap three, Hannah took a very hard fall after running over the edge of a berm - a fall that knocked him out of contention and caused several injuries. Hannah's tuner, Brian Lunnis, later explained the incident. "There were no hay bales between the fence and the berm where Bob went down," Lunnis said. "He got a lillIe LOO close to the fence that time around and the front brake lever on the bike caught the fence. It drove him right into the ground hard, and messed up his ankle and arm." For an update on Hannah's condition, turn to the Latest Poop section. With Hannah out, Bailey inherited the lead and began to pull ahead of O'Mara. Another few seconds off the pace, Barnett, Ward and johnson continued to argue over third. On lap five, Ward dropped back to fifth behind johnson and Barnett after he overshot a berm. Burnworth held sixth over Ryan. Bailey led laps si.x, seven and eight as O'.Mara fell five seconds off the pace. johnson moved close to O'Mara and farther away from Barnett in fourth. By lap 10; Bailey enjoyed an 11- second lead over O'Mara and johnson, while Ward moved back up to challenge Barnett for fourth. Later in the lap, Ward made a successful pass on Barnett. On the final lap. johnson made his move to pass O'Mara with only a quarter lap remaining. johnson throttled past for second behind Bailey, but the race for the runner-up position was still not decided. Bailey crossed the finish line for the win, and only a few seconds later johnson found O'Mara in the air beside him as they passed the checkered flag. The nod went to johnson, with Ward finishing fourth over Barnett, Burnworth and Lechien. "I had a good feeling on the start," said Bailey, "and I thought that Bob and I would just pull away. Then he fell and made it a heck of a lot easier for me - he had probably two seconds on me then. I feel bad about what happened to him, but that's racing. "I started relaxing a bit after that, and was having trouble with some of the corners since they were so dusty. O'Mara began to make up the difference, but then he fell back a bit. When the white flag came out, I felt a sigh of relief - all I had to do was to keep it on two wheels. I feel great about this! I needed a Supercross win to get my confidence back." "I saw O'Mara braking too early in the final laps," johnson said, "and I knew it wa's a matter of time before I passed him. They had laid logs inside of the whoops in that section, and he didn't hit them square and got OUI of shape. I went to the right a lillIe higher and floated past rum. I thought I had enough,room on him at the finish and hejumped over me. I beat him out for second - that's how it goes." O'Mara explained his view of the final laps. "I lost my momentum about five laps from the end - I went off the track when closing in on Bailey," O'Mara said, "and things went downhill from there. I thought I had more of a cushion on johnson on the last lap, but he came into that whooped section a lillIe harder and gor past me. I made up the difference right at the end, but I guess it wasn't quite good enough." "I got into traffic near the end and Ward got by," Barnell said. "I was going to try to get him back, but it might have meant landings on topof one of the la pped riders tha t were between Ward and myself," • Results 1. David Bailey (Hon); 2. Rick Johnson (Yam); 3. Johnny O'Mara (Hon); 4. Jeff Ward (Kaw); 5. Mark Barnen (SUl); 6. Scott Burnworth (Suz); 7. Ron Lechien (Hpn); 8. Rick Ryan (Suz); 9. Jeff Hicks (Hon); 10. Rodney Smith (Yam); 11. Keith Bowen (Yam); 12. Billy Liles (Kaw); 13. Kenny Keylon (Yam); 14. Brac Glover (Yam); 15. Kent Howerton (Kaw); 16. Doug Hoover ('Yam); 17. Jim Holley (Yam); 1B. Chris Heisser (Hon); 19. Tom Carson (Hon); 20. Scooter Stafford (Yam). AMA GRANo NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP MX SERIESPOINTSTANOINGS: 1. David Bailey (79); 2, Jeff Ward (74); 3. Johnny O'Mara (701; 4. Mark Barnen (60); 5. Broc Glover (551; 6. Bob Hannah (53); 7. Rick Johnson (501; 8. Ron Lechien (49); 9. Rick Ryan (441; 10. Goat Breker (421. 23