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/126784
larry Brooks (112) passes Mark Crozier for second during the 250cc Pro Division One qualifier. Brooks won the moto and overall. Mike Healey (1) and Eddie Hicks spent much of the 83cc Modified Expert moto this close Friday; Hicks-won. Ed Warren rode an '85 KX125 to the 125cc Stock Pro win. He also finished second overall in the Modified class. event of the year. After seven straight days of practicing, qualifying and finals -one of those days in terrupted by a 45- NMA/YamGhG Grand National Championship .Hiells, Heale~, Moorehead Ponea Ci·t~ By Kit Palmer PONCA CITY, OK, AUG. 6-12 Over 1,700 riders entered the National Motosport Association's Yamaha-sponsored Grand National Championship in Ponca 16 City for the longest and largest motocross minute thunderstorm producing winds up to 65 mph - Eddie Hicks, Mike Healey, Ed Warren, Rodney Barr and Larry Brooks walked away with the Expert and Pro wins. Yamaha/Dave Miller Concept's Hicks and Suzuki R&D's Mike Healey spent much of their qualifying moLOS in the 83cc Stock and Modified Pro classes - and in the 105cc class - banging handlebars for the lead. However. the duels between Hicks and Healey never materialized during the determining run-off moLOS on Sunday. Either bad starts or mechanical ills kept the two Mini speedsters apart. Kawasaki's Bobby Moore beat them both in the 83cc Stock Pro division winning handily. Honda's Brooks became the first rider ever LO have previously won a minicyde championship at Ponca to come back, three years later, and win the 250cc Pro class. He also tried LO win both the l25cc Stock or Modified Pro classes, but crashes slowed him down. Instead, it was last year' 125cc champ - Ed Warren - who LOok the SLOck win. Rodney Barr LOpped the Modified class. Qualifying ended Thursday. The riders who transferred raced again Friday and Saturday, and the points they earned (first place equaled one point, second place equaled two points, etc.) from those two days were carried into the final, or run-off moLOS Sunday; low total score won. The first Expert race on Sunday was the 83cc Stock class which featured Hicks and Healey. However, going into the race with the low score was Moore with two. Hicks had four while Healey had five. When the gate dropped for their final maLO, Rick Simmet, aboard a Kawasaki, led the rack into the first turn with another Kawasaki rider Mike Kiedrowski - close behind. By the end of the first lap, Simmet still held on to his lead with Kiedrwoski glued LO his rear fender. Both Hicks and Healey had horrible starts and were stuck in the pack around 20th. "I kind of got a bad jump and those Kaws just out-pulled me inLO the£irst turn," said Hicks. After Kiedrowski followed Moore, Honda's Scott Brown, and Ronnie Tichenor and Jason Langford, both on Kawasakis. During the econd lap, Moore made his move by passing both Kiedrowski and Simmet. Soon after, Simmet went down, handing Kiedrowski the number two slot. Simmet's crash dropped him LO the back of the pack and outof contention. Quickly, Moore extended his lead to a comfortable margin while Brown was on the warpanh. Brown moved into second by lap three but never caught sight of the leader Moore. Meanwhile, Hicks and Healey couldn't gain much ground on the leaders, only passing one or two riders a lap. Honda pilot Shaun Kalos started the race in 11th and was riding very weil by catching up LO fourth