Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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> ~ ~ z 0 :r « ~ z « 0 > III VI 0 ~ 0 l ~ 00 O"l ~ c<":l l.-o V ..0 0 ..... u 0 Jorgensen (44) leads Poovey (18), Greham (3), Shobert (67), Pearson (95) and Eklund (8) into the infield on lap one. Jorgensen checks on Shobert's progress while leading early in the National. The pair ren 1-2 all the way. AMA Grand National Championship/Camel Pro Series: Round 29 Totally Jorgy at AscotTT By Dele Brown GARDENA, CA, SEPT. 21 Alex "Jorgy" Jorgensen, whose first Ascot TT win came in 1978 on a BSA twin, made it three wins in the last four such events with a convincing victory in the 25-lap TT National. Team Honda riders Bubba Shobert and Ricky Graham were close early, but could do nothing to catch the fleeing Wood-Rotax rider and finished 2-3. "I got out in a good position and stayed there," said the winning Stockton, California, resident. "I did most ;. f t I of the work on the bike, and it did run well tonight, so it feels really good to win." With the win, Jorgy now has four Ascot TT wins, one off Gary Scott's record total. Shobert's runner-up placing gave him a record of two wins and five seconds in 'the last seven races, a I ~ I) .! .. f " record according to announcer Roxy Rockwood. Graham, with his admittedly cautious third, edged closer to mathematically clinching the Camel Pro Series title. Going into the second event of the Ascot doubleheader he carried a 42-point lead. Pro MX star Warren Reid entered the event and evoked memories of the retired Steve Wise. Riding a lowered Yamaha TT600, Reid looked very good in practice. However ignition troubles kept him out of the hunt in the race, where he eventually placed eighth in the Last Chance Qualifier. A sparse crowd of under 5000 was on hand for the event, which was run in place of a five-eighths-mile flat track slated for the nearby Los Alamitos horse-racing facility. A change in Los Alamitos ownership led to the cancellation of the event. Time trial. Not known as a TT specialist, Terry Poovey's fast time aboard the Tex PeeIiShoei/CastroIiSisemore/ EGF Racing H-D 500R was somewhat of a surprise. Moreover, the 44.829-second clocking broke the track record set 12 years ago by former Grand ational Champ Mark Brelsford. At 44.890, Jorgensen was second fastest on his Hi-Point/Pioneer Trucking/Storz/j. Erick on's/Jorgy's/R&B H-D-sponsored machine. Those two were the only riders under 45 seconds, with Graham and Shobert qualifying third and fourth. Heat. In the first offour IO-Iappers, Poovey sna tched the lead as the pack made the left into the infield on lap one. Mickey Fay, riding Jay Springsteen's factory Harley 500R, slipped in behind Poovey as Rich Arnaiz elbowed his way into third. The top three positions - the ones that offered transfers to the National - stayed as they were from lap one to lap 10. Building his lead lap by lap, Poovey gave the field the slip and eventually finished eight seconds in front of the pack. Arnaiz (Ventura H -D/Amaiz Construction H-D) pressured Fay through most of the race, but shifting troubles on the final lap left him third at the finish. The best race in the race was a four-way battle for fourth that Rich King took over Mike Inderbitzen and Sal Hoffman. Poovey's time of 7:40.00 lowered Jorgensen's seven-year-old track record by two seconds. Jorgy overcame quick starter Steve Monger to lead the second heat across the line at the end of a lap. On lap r l' I ) t ) I Jorgensen and Shobert exchange champagne in winner's circle, joined by Mi.s camel. two Steve Eklund got underneath Monger in a sweeping right-bander, and the top three were set. Jorgensen eventually finished five seconds up on Gardner/Arai/Esprit-backed Eklund's Harley 5OOR. Yamaha-mounted Monger was a solid third in front of Keith Day. Jorgy's 7:39.22 gave him the record back. Scott Pearson again got a great gate at the beginning of heat three, but Graham was in the lead before lap one was over and on his wav to the win. Pearson, backed by PIC Manufacturing, Circle Bell, Shoei, Carlisle, Knight, Esprit, Hap Jones, Supertrapp, Blendall, Megacycle and M&M Leathers, followed Graham to the checkered, finishing about five seconds back. Oregon's Barry Pelkey was a start-to-finish third on his Don's Plumbing/Megacycle/NO/ Simpson/Applegate Well Drillingsponsored H-D 500R. Reid was in the third heat, and after being bottled up in traffic in the early laps, used his late braking into tight turns to eventually finish sixth behind Ronnie Jones and Robert Land. The final heat saw Shobert leading Steve Morehead and Pete Hames. Five-time winner Gary Scott had his night end early when he and Chris Cannon went down in the first turn. Shobert was the fourth in a line of heat-race winners to go unchallenged. In the early laps Morehead was a solid second over JeH Harsha. HarleyDavidson's Scott Parker was sixth on lap one, but by the fourth circuit he was challenging Morehead for second. Second was his a lap later and the top three were set to the finish with Esquire/KKSupply/Storz/ Bill's Pipes/D's-sponsored Morehead taking the final direct transfer on a Harley single. Hames finished fourth ahead of Tim Mertens. Semi. Two transfers to the National were up for grabs in each of the semi~. After an initial shuffle on the opening lap, Ken's Seafood/Parra Perf.! Bell/Megacycle / Hi- Poin t/M&M Leathers-sponsored Hoffman had the lead over Iowa's Kingand early leader Jon Cornwall. Whereas most of the previous races had an established order laps 1-10, this one was for laps 1-9. King passed Hoffman on the final lap to take the win. The second semi was red-nagged when Reid was called for jumping the start. With Reid on row three they tried again , but two riders crashed in ,. (' (1 t J1 I I ) ) ) J t f