Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Riding. pre-production CR126. Larry Brooks e.sily won the 126cc Pro cl•••. Brooks w.s eighth in the 250cc cl.....fter cr.shing. Suzuki-mounted G.ry Bowm.n won Sund.y·s 250cc Pro clus .fter finishing second in the 500s .nd third in the 125•. Mammoth Mountain Motocross Brooks, Bowman, Ellis take sweet 17th By Matt Hilgenberg MAMMOTH LAKES, CA, JU E 29-JULY I Larry Brooks, Gary Bowman and Jim Ellis took their respective Pro class wins at this weekend's 17th annual Mammoth Mountain Motocross, in northern California. Brooks rode in a convincing style to the l25cc Pro class win over "Mr. Mike" Fisher and Suzuki pilot Bowman, who was competing in all three Pro classes. Bowman was closing in, but a lastlap flat tire slowed the speedster enough for Fisher LO pass for second. Bowman was third. In Friday's Open Pro action, Jim Ellis (Yam) smoked his qualifier than rode an exuemely smooLh and consiSlent 45-minute main to claim the S2000 cash first prize money. Ellis was followed across the line by Bowman and Yamaha rider Scott Manning. On the final day, Sunday, nearly 375 riders comprised the field of 250cc bikes. Mike Larson led the final for the Pros until two turns from the flag, where Bowman made his move. Larson looked to be nearly uncatchable, but a rear flat in the late going gave Bowman the opportunity to move into the lead for the win. The Vet class was taken by storm by six-time South African Champ Charlie Tissen. After dicing with Jon Miller for both of his qualifiers, Tissen came back in the final to trounce the field. Miller was the only other rider to even come close. 18 Open cia.... In the Sportsman divisions, each class was divided into three divisions. Each division ran two qualifier moto , with the top 10 from each division qualifying for the main. The moLO scores were carried over to the main, which gave double points. When all three scores were tallied, the overall winners were determined. In the Open Juniors, Craig Conway jumped out to the lead on the way up Mammoth's long, steep uphill. Maico-mounted Mike McGrale was third o££ the line, behind Carl Cox (Yam). On the second lap of the seven-lap race, McGrale moved up LO challenge Conway. The leading pair put on an excellent race, passing the lead back and forth, much to the deligbt of the spectators. McGra~e held the lead for most of the race, including the last turn. Conway made a last-ditch e££ort to stuff past McGrale before the flag, but came up short. Mike McDonald pushed his way past Cox before moto's end, to take thirdplace honors. When the back-falling gate let the group of Open Intermediates onto the well-prepared course, Nick Young was heading the pack. That was not LO last for long. however, as Nev LaBorde (Hon) putthe pass on Young in the back section of the track. LaBorde wasted no time in putting an eight-second advantage over himself and a bittle between Young and Aaron Pipes. Gary Scheidler, who got o££ LO a now-famous poor start, was on the move from mid-pack. Pipes soon bailed off, leaving the job of challenging Young up to Jon Miller. Miller swept past, but then crashed late in the moto. At the flag, LaBorde took the win, Young held on for second, and Scheidler moved up for the third-place honors. Eric Marnoch, who started the race in seventh, received fourth. The Pro class riders only had LO qualify in one molO. The top seven finishers in the first moLO of each division didn't have LO come back to race until the final. The second Pro moLO served as a consolation for the remaining riders, with the top six being taken from these races, LO make a 39-rider field. In the first moLO for division one, Ellis rode LO an easy vicLOry, clicking off lap times quicker than anyone else on the weekend. Eric McKenna was second in that qualifier. When the Pros tackled the large downhill for the first time in the main, Ellis was heading the way, fol· lowed by Mike Larson, Phil Larson, Manning, Billy Grossi, and Bowman. The positions maintained for a couple of laps, until Mike Larson crashed, putting him out of contention, and Bowman passed Grossi. That pass set upa Manning/Phil Larson/Bowman duel that would last to end of the 45-minute-plus-two-Iap race. Ellis paid no attention LO the fight over second, and pulled out to a 15-second lead. Ellis was riding flawlessly, the only mistake coming at about the 30minute mark. He hit a large hole that put him sideways, nearly coming in head-on contact with a tree. Grossi was running in fifth, but the bad luck from his first moto carried over LO the main. In bis initial qualifier, Grossi got tangled with another rider for quite some time, los. ing nearly three-quarters of a lap by the time the bikes would come apart. Grossi then mounted a charge toward the top, but it was halted suddenly by a derailed chain. He came back in moLO two to win easily, experimenting with several di££erent lines in the process. His bad luck in the main came in the form of a rock. The SLOne was thrown up by a competitor's wheel, and it knocked the fuel petcock from Grossi's M-Star tank. That put an abrupt end to the former National competitor's ride. . earing the end of the moLO, ~w man finally pulled clear of Mannmg and Pbil Larson. That didn't cool the fight, though. They were running neck and neck, with third place never readily apparent. At Lhe end, it was Larson taking the show spot, with Manning fourth. Mike Larson had worked his way back up LO fifth. 125cc clas... Andy Ellis turned some heads wiLh his performance in the 125cc Pro . class this weekend. The guy is fast, but inconsistencies kept him out of the money in both the 125s and Lhe 250s. In Lhe I25cc final, he was running in the lead on his Suzuki, but the bike died on the bottom of the downhill, and was never to be restarted. While leading the 250cc Pro class, Ellis crashed hard, and was forced to retire. When he gets his cool together LO where he can ride sanely while in the lead, Ellis will definitely be a winner. In the first qualifier for division three of the Pros, Brooks wrestled the lead from the start, and held it nearly all the way to the end. Ellis was pressuring him tbe whole way. Six turn from the finish, Ellis passed Brooks. Then Brooks, mounted on an '85 preproduction Honda CR125, got a wheel by, but couldn't make itstick. Hewas pushing hard, and finally spun out just before the finish, but didn't crash. Ellis rode on LO the win, with Brooks in second. The battle resumed in the final, only Ellis wa leading from the start. Brooks followed in second, with Denton, Mouse McCoy and Bowman behind. Ellis began to pull away, until he took an off-course excursion. The Suzuki rider went into a turn a little hot, went over the berm and through the banners, then turned a donut and got back where he left off. He sti1l held the lead by three bikelengths over Brooks. On the very next hip, Ellis' bike quit, setting him on the sidelines. Brooks took over the point position, with McCoy and Bowman.in tow. The top three were evenly spaced, with about four seconds between earn. Billy Frank was holding down fourth, and Fisher, who had been trying to move up from a seventh-place start, was pushing DenLOn from sixth. Coming'tiown the Mammoth downhill, Fisher made his move, blowing past both Denton and Frank for fourth. Then, just as the racers were coming into view from the back section of the course, Bowman passed McCoy for second, but was still nine

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