Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

behind, with Ward and Lechien running fourth and fifth. Hannah, caught in traffic exiting the first turn, was 12th. Ryan, however, was uninhibited by all of the traffic well behind him, and was putting on an outstanding performance in the first four laps, holding off Barnett, Ward and Lechien, with Holland back to fifth. On lap five tbe war began. With Ryan, Barnett and Ward so close the lead was a toss-up, Ryan and Barnett banged bars and Ward jetted out front. Ryan, however, was not content with second, and within a half lap bounded ahead of Ward, but Ward soon repassed. Lecbien, watching the lines of the leaders c10sel y, decided it was time to make his move. That he did, passing Barnett and Ryan, landing in a semi-secure position on lap seven. O'Mara and Johnson were up to fifth and sixth behind Barnett by lap eight. Ward had managed to leave Lechien several seconds behind as he led lap nine, but O'Mara was on the move and third ahead of Johnson. Hannah was still having problems, bULwas up to fifth. "Eric Eaton and Ricky Johnson were giving me a beating.... Hannab said. "I couldn't get by either one of them. I'd get by Eaton, and by the time I set up to pass the next rider he would pass me back. He was really riding well." By lap 13, Ward had built a fivesecond gap between himself and the Lechien/O'Mara battle over second. Hannah, after two laps of repeatedly thwarted attempts to pass Johnson, got past and bid Johnson farewell. With four laps remaining, Hannah was fourth, with only leader Ward, O'Mara and Lechien standing in his way. Hannah, in seemingly effortless fashion closed the gap on Lechien, and motored around. But Ward, who had been continually building his lead, was greeted by ' disaster on lap 17. "I bobbled a little bit and hit a haybale," Ward said, "then I stuck my front wheel in a rut." O'Mara passed the fallen Ward, with Hannah ahead of Lechien and also getti.ng past before Ward rempunted. "I was closing on Ward when he went down," O'Mara said. "He had trouble getting up since the bike was on top of him." O'Mara's lead, however, soon evaporated, due to a prevailing "Hurricane" force wind. "Hannah snuck in on the inside," said O'Mara. "Actually, I got a little sideways, but one little mistake was all it took. I thought I would be able to hold it, but Bob was pressing too hard - he wanted to win bad." And he did. Accompanied by a huge roar, Hannah passed O'Mara and crossed the finish line for the win, with O'Mara just a second behind. Lechien saw what he thought was a solid third go away. "Right near the end of the last lap, I made a little mistake and both Johnson and Barnett got by," Lecbien said. Johnson took third over Barnett, Lechien and Bailey. Ward was seventh. "It was a very rough 20 laps," said Hannah. "It feels so good to win, but I was helped by a bit of luck when Ward fell." With that, Hannah was off to sign autograpbs for a waiting throng of fans. ''I'm pretty happy with second," O'Mara said. ''I'm going for the Supercross title, so consistency counts." Ryan, forced to deal with a transmission that had lost second gear, finished 13th. "I had a great holeshot," Ryan said, "and I think I could've kept the lead longer than six laps, but without the use of second gear I was in trouble." The qlost tor Illtl um..... lubri...I ...lecll.. b. _ _ .,,"IIIea_b. BUI now, discovered in Great Britain by Answer Products, comes the Final Oil Answer - Silkolene. ~ll«ilene's repulalion ~ known 1T0m Ihe Grand Pri, e"cuillO Ihe supo",,",e Concord. EYen Ihe U S. Air Forc. We are one of Ihe largosl manumelurefS 01 specialty lubncants in Europe. I'vllh over 75 je

• Cover