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/126760
....... ..... l-; 0.. ~ Broc Glover put in his best ride of the nason and finished third overall. [Below) Jeff Ward (4) and Bailey (1) at the start of the first qualifier. Scott Burnworth walked away from this textbook endo with a broken collarbone during the first semi final. o fourth after O'Mara 'and Bailey nuck by. Bailey reeled in the 'O'Show" and diced for second, but 'Mara managed to keep the Grand ational Champ at bay. Neanheend f the moto, Liles also slipped by urnworth, but during the final lap, urn worth made an attempt on Liles ut, it failed as he did a textbook endo ver ajumpand hit the ground hard. 'I'm not even sure what happened. I it the jump and the rear end came ver, and I hit my head pretty hard," . iet Burnworth. The Suzuki pilot eceived a broken collarbone. The start of the second semi final w johnson read the gate perfectly nd snatch the holeshot. King came round the first lap in second ahead f Hardick, Team Tamm newcomer erry Surber jr. and Barnett. Barnett as out of the hole dead last but ulled his way through the first turn to fifth. But johnson was out in ont with King hot on his tracks. ear the end of the moto, King chalnged johnson for the lead, but ohnson managed to hold on for the in. Lechien, after a poor start, eaved his way through traHic and nished third ahead of Barnett and ardick. at Chance Qualifier A fierce three-way baule for the d took place during the LCQ beeen Yamaha pilot Peter Snorteland, wen and Team Tamm's A.j. Whit-' g, but only the top two riders ould make it to the main. Snortend, Bowen and Whiting ran away om the pack during their feud with norteland leading the way. Inches parated the top three throughout e moto, 'and with only a few laps maining, Bowen finally made his ove and took the lead. During the nal lap, Whiting had to pass Snorland in order to qualify, butSnoTled held him off. Bowen flew past e checkers with the win a few seconds ahead of Snorteland and Whiting. Final Over 31,815 spectators rose to their feet a few seconds before the gate dropped for the start of the main, and as the pack roosted ou t of the first turn it was Bailey who had control of the lead. Glued to Bailey's rear fender were Glover, Tamm's jeff Hicks, Lechien, O'Mara, Ward and Rodney Smith. By the end of the first lap, Lechien displaced Hicks and set after Glover. Finally adapting to his new Honda mount, Lechien stuffed his front wheel underneath Glover in a turn, and on the fourth lap, flew past Glover over a couple of doublejumps. Unlike his normally aggressive self, Glover single jumped each one and dropped to third. "I missed two gears in a row," said Glover. "I just came through the berm, and I hit the first jump. I guess it caused it to jump out of gear or something. Then, over the third jump, it did it again. All I thought was, 'Ronnie, don'tjumpon me, please!'" Lechien found himself in second, five seconds behind Bailey. Ward, who took a sixth-place start, worked up to fourth but crashed after landing oU a jump. He recovered slowly and re-entered in seventh. A few moments later, Barnett, who also had a poor start, overshot a berm and tangled with some haybails, which cost him a few positions, dropping back to ninth. johnson, now known for his good starts, found himself in 15th at the end of the first lap but began picking riders off in a fury; clearly the fastest rider on the track. By the halfway mark in the 20-lap race, johnson was up to sixth. However, johnson bailed hard over a set of doubles and dropped back to eighth with five laps remaining. Steve Stackable return~ to racing after a two-year retirement with fair results. Johnny O'Mara overtook the points lead only nine points ahead of Rick Johnson. Up front, Bailey had the track wired and rode flawlessly. Lechien cruised about eight seconds behind him, while Glover followed closely. O'Mara, in fourth, didn't start threatening until late in the race. He pressured Glover, but Glover gave the Honda pilot no slack. Bailey crossed the checkered flag with the win followed by Lechien, Glover and O'Mara. After taking the flag, Bailey pulled off the course and tossed his goggles into the crowd. "I felt great out there," said Bailey. "I grabbed the lead early and rode at a comfortable pace, pretending I was just riding practice. I think that made the difference." "I got in the groove after passing Glover, and I tried to ride consistently. I knew Broc was coming, but I didn't know how hard, so I'just paid real close attention to my pit board," said Lechien afterwards. "After Lechien got by, I tried to be Mr. Cool and just ride around and try a last-minute charge," said Glover. "But it just didn't work. johnny started charging, and I started thinking about him; that's what you shouldn'tdo soRoonie w". Alan King won a tough battle with Mark Barnett in a qualifier. and took fifth in the main. Results 1. David Bailey (Han); 2. Ron Lechien (Han); 3. Broe Glover{Yam); 4. Johnny O'Mara (Han); 5. Alan King (Han); 6. Mark Barnett (Suz); 7. Rick Johnson (Yam); 8. Keith Bowen (Varni; 9. Kent Howerton (Kaw); 10. Rick Ryan (Suz); 11. Jeff Hick.(Hon); 12. Dannv Storbeck (Yam); 13. Peter Snorteland (Yam); 14. Billy Liles (Kaw); 15. Rodney Smith (Yam); 16. Jeff Ward (Kaw); 17. Russ Wageman (Yam); 18. Eric Eaton (Hon); 19. Clint Hardick (Hon); 20. Doug Hoover (Yam). SERIES POINT STANDINGS; 1. Johnny O'Mara (1 9B); 2. Rick Johnson (1 B9); 3. Jeff Ward (1 B7); 4. David Beiley (156); 6. Mark Bernett (1661; 6. Broc Glover (151); 7. Ron Lachian (149); B. Alan King