Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

~ a:: w ~ ...J ~ t;;: a >- '" 0 fJl t- o :I: l1. -.:l'" 00 0") ...-4 ~ 00 ...-4 >..... ;j ~ Ron Turner enjoys the spoils of victory after winning the first-ever Supercross in Hawaii. He led 19 of the 25-lap race. Favored to win the race was Brian Myerscough. A third-lap "bobble" probably cost him the win. He finished second. inches behind Turner. CMC/Skoal Bandit Supercross Turner tops at Hawaii IIAlohacross" By Kit Palmer HONOLULU, HI, JUNE 30 Cagiva's "Radical" Ron Turner had a grin from ear-to-ear after winning the Continental Motorsport Club/Skoal Bandit Supercross in Honolulu's Aloha Bowl, successfully fending off a late-moto charge by Kawasaki's Brian Myerscough. Turner crossed the finish line inches ahead of 16 Myerscough to win a beautiful wood trophy. "I wanted the trophy so bad when I first saw it and now I've got it. It feels so great, I almost can't believe it," said Turner. The event was special, the firstever Supercross held in Hawaii. Many of the Hawaiian spectators and riders had never even seen a Supercross. Still, the CMC-sanctioned race was a huge success. The race was promoted by Pro Motion, Inc., which normally promotes rock concerts on the islands, and this was their first attempt at promoting a Supercross: The results proved impressive with over 17,000 spectators in attendance. John "Flyin' Hawaiian" DeSoto, 37, came out of retirement to compete, displaying brilliant and daring moves on the track to qualify for the' 12-rider main. DeSoto commented after the race: "Old pineapples never die; they just get old, ferment and just get betterI" Five riders from the mainland flew to the island of Oahu to compete and were the favorites to win; they were Rodney Smith, Jimmy Ellis, Chri Heisser, MyerscoughandTumer. They, plus the Hawaiian riders, did Dattle for a 10,000 purse. The track was very tight and small, which featured the basics: three double jumps, one very tough stutter bump section, six turns and a huge unish-line/plateau-j ump called the Toyota Lava Leap. Larry "Supermouth" Huffman, who at one time was a resident of Honolulu as a radio disc-jockey, did the announcing. The crowd seemed to .enjoy and reacted well to Huffman's Supermouth. All riders were armed with l25cc mounts. Qualifiers When Myerscough was announced for the start of the first qualifier, a few boos could be heard from the stands. That came about when Myerscough was being interviewed for the local TV news the day before and was asked to compare the Hawaiian Supercross tracks to the ones on the mainland: He answered, "Well, back in America ..... However, after the spectators witnessed Myerscough's impressive first-qualifier win, the minor mishap was forgotten, and he soon became the crowd's favorite. Myerscough led from start to finish, while Hawaiian rider David Amorin, aboard a Suzuki, spent the whole race in second and finished that way about 20 seconds behind Myerscough. Yamaha-mounted Royce Racoma finished third ahead of Jace Furuike and Stuart Whittingham. The second qualifier was all Ellis'. At the start, Ellis put his CR Honda into the front of the pack, closely tailed by "Great" Dane Patao, piloting a Kawasaki. Patao, who makes his home in Kahului, has someexperience racing in California, when he participated in this year's Golden State Series. He is one of Hawaii's top riders and was a definite local favorite. The Kawasaki pilot kept close tabs on Ellis for the first few laps, but Ellis eventually stretched his lead to a very comfortable distance. Before the end of the moto, Ellis lapped the thirdplace rider but couldn't catch Patao. Third went to Suzuki-mounted Matthew Lyman, while fourth and fifth went to Kris Kiser and Jack Ching, both riding Hondas. Two very exciting races of the night took place during the third and fourth qualifiers. The third qualifier featured Turner and DeSoto. Turner got the nod offthe rubberband start, but he was closely pursued by Phil Oveland, Hagi Alexander and DeSoto. During the first lap, Oveland made a surprise move by putting his KTM into the lead after cleanly passing Turner. DeSoto also made a move and slipped past Alexander a lap later. Oveland started gaining ground on Turner by the third lap, but Oveland's KTM developed exhaust pipe problems - the header portion of the pipe got bashed in after landing a little short over one of the doubles. A small crack in the header pipe became bigger and bigge.r, causing the KTM to lose horsepower. Turner "heard" his chance and shot past the crippled KTM. While Turner was busy running away, DeSoto was busy dropping back to fifth. Alexander retook third, while Suzuki rider Thomas Key slid by DeSoto for fourth. But DeSoto did not give up: With only two laps remaining, the Flyin' Hawaiian decided he wanted fourth, so he reeled in Key and the two began to duel. At times, they locked handlebars through the whoops, but Key would not give in to DeSoto. DeSoto made a serious attempt to pass Key in a tight right turn that was preceeded by a fairly small jump. DeSoto took the tum tight, while Key went wide. As DeSoto wicked on the gas at the jump, his fTOnt wheel came way 0(( the ground, but he didn't let off. Key bounced off the outside berm across DeSoto's path and the two collided. DeSoto's Yamaha looped over to the side on Key, and they both went down. The crowd went wild as DeSoto quickly got bacl': to his feet and rejoined the race. Key laid on the ground for a few laps but eventually walked away under hi own power, but a little battered. ~ Turner went on to win the mot() ahead of Oveland, Alexander and DeSoto. "I wanted it real bad and so did he," said DeSoto regarding the crash. "I grabbed a little bit too much throttle and looped it as we collided. Luckily, I didn't get hurt and managed to continue."

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