Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

.--------------------------------------- Team Suzuki's Rick Ryan (24), Mark Barnett (2) and George Holland (35) lead the start of Saturday~s main. Ryan holeshot both nigh~. (Balow) Danny "Magoo" Chandler (18) did not fare too well in Michigan. He could not make it to the main either nights. Bob Hannah (left) and Honda's race team manager Dave Arnold relax between races. Hannah's Saturday win was his first major win this year. Sunday 8 Heats The direction of the track was reversed on Sunday, with a section of sharp whoops smoothed out. Keith Bowen adapted to the track weU~ in a rut, and Bowen moved in to do battle again. The win went toO'Mara, with Lechien getting a longer flight over the last jump on the final lap to place second over Bowen. Alan King was fourth. Larry Witmer, an Indiana rider competing in his first Supercross, had his share of problems. "I got taken out by a rider landing Qn top of me," said Witmer. Mark Barnett had his best ride of the weekend in the second heat, grabbing the lead on the start and running away for a seven-second win over Ricky Johnson. Billy Liles, second most of the way with Johnson in close company, fell a lap from the end. Jeff Surwall took 'advantage of the situation and finished third over Rick Ryan. Liles recovered for seventh. Jeff Ward took possession of the third heat £rom the very beginning and stayed there, while Goat Breker and Jim Holley battled for second. Ward was one of the few riders doublejumping a set of wboops in the back section of the track. Holley passed Breker to secure second on the final lap and finished there, with Breker third over Kenny Keylon. David Bailey won in the final heat. Bob Hannah, caught toward the back of the pack on the start, charged up to finish second, battling with Eric Eaton part of the way. Eaton finished third ahead of George Holland. Quarter-finals Jeff Hicks and Danny Storbeck battled it out in the first quarterfinal, swapping the lead back and forth through the first four laps. Storbeck crested a jump at the start of lap five with the lead and pulled away, while Eric Kehoe moved up to dice with Hicks. Storbeck won, as Kehoe managed to put Hicks away to finish second. Russ Wageman was fourth. While Ohioan John Shay led the first two laps of the last quarter-final, Chris Heisser and A.J. Whiting made him work for it. Heisser railed past Shay on lap three with Whiting doing the same on lap four. Clay Hoenshell. got into the act also, passing Shay later in the same lap. Heisser and Whiting carried their scuffle for the win right to the finish line, with Heisser getting the nod by less than a bikelength. Hoenshell was third over Jeff Frisz. Semis jumping to an immediate lead over Johnny O'Mara in the opening heat. After a lap, however. O'Mara closed the gap and went past, with Ron Lechien up to third. O'Mara lost some ground.wbeD.he. g-Ol s~-.a.y.s•• ••• Q'Mata..wboJAA m WI<:.sl Ptil~, was all alone out front after a lap of dicing with Barnett in the first semi, with Lechien and Bowen tangling for third. Johnson, setting a frantic pace in an attempt to make up time after a mediocre start, collided with a fallen rider and DNF after a trip over the bars. "There was nothing I could do," Johnson said. "I came over the jump and there he was. I was shaken up pretty bad, but I'm feeling pretty good now." O'Mara maintained his lead through lap six, but Barnett and Lechien closed the gap. Barnett pressed on in the final laps, but the win went to O'Mara. Lechien dropped off the pace but finished third, with King fourth. Bowen, who had stayed with the leaders through the first five laps, was sidelined with mechanical problems on his production-based Team Yamaha YZ250. "It (the engine) just locked up out there, and I was left sitting on the side of the track," Bowen said. After clutch surgery by mechanic Ron Heben, Bowen's machine was ready for action in the! Last Chance Qualifier, his only chance to make the final event. After some early tangling with George Holland in the last semi, Ward was well on his way to another win. Bailey gave Ward an early fight, but crashed and Ward cruised on. By the end of the second lap, Ward had several seconds on Whiting and BrocGlover, but Hannah wasalsoon the move. Hannah's rapid movement through the pack took him past Glover and Whiting by the end of lap five, but he faced a nine-second deficit in his pursuit of leader Ward. Ward held for the win, with Hannah. unable to make up the difference, a distant second. Glover was third, with Bailey putting in a stellar performance to finish fourth after his fall. Last Chance Qualifier Hometown favorite Bowen was the undisputed star of the Last Chance Qualifier. Bowen was forced to make up time after tangling on the start with John Whelchel. Jeff Hicks led laps one through four, with Whelchel, Jim Holley and Bowen chasing. With the crowd behind him, Bowen passed Holley in mid-air, then the two collided but stayed up. Whelchel dropped back to fourth. Bowen finally broke free of Holley and set after Hicks, passing him with less than a half lap left. Then disaster struck. While less thanI ::J10 • feet from L ,I ; _ , 'J ) I I J ,e \

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