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/126790
o ~ ....... l-o ~ ..0 o ...... u o Round 13 of the WranglerIinsport Supercross Series saw Bailey move smooth as glass into a giant lead (top). Bob Hannah (below) rode hard to catch Johnny 0', took third instead. Johnny O'Mara's second (above) puts him 74 points ahead of Jeff Ward. Yamaha's Ricky Johnson (below) tangled with Mike Fisher, finished fifth. Bailey made it evident that he was going to be the one to beat. Last Chance Qualifier The LCQ turned out to be the surprise race of the night as it turned into a showcase for Reid in his first race since he brc;>ke his leg at Anaheim in January. Youthful privateer Smith got the holeshot, followed by Don Turk (Hon) and Coupe, while Reid rode in about fifth. And since only one rider transfers from the LCQ to the main, Reid rode as if he didn't have anything LO lose. Reid was able LO secure second behind 'Smith, and for several laps the chase was on, with the younger rider only a half-bike ahead of the veteran racer. The pressure finally got to Smith as he lost it in a section of whoops, giving the lead LO Reid. Smith got back up and made back some lost ground, but he was LOO late LO catch Reid. Final Bailey holeshot the stan artd proceeded to put on a virtually flawless ride. Right behind Bailey was O'Mara, Ward and Lechien. Hannah was riding about fourth off the start; Glover got another bad start and was cutting his way through the pack. ~ On lap two WaJX!l W~5 once aghin trying LO work on passing O'Mara, butthis time out he had some serious setbacks. Just after he rounded a right-hander and blasted down a straight, Ward bailed.off a jump LO take the first of two soil samples for the night. Two laps later, at almost the same spot, he bailed again - this time a lot harder. Ward suffered a twisted ankle, which may have cost him any possibility of adding a supercross crown to his outdoor National title. At'aboutthe same time Ward crashed out, Lechien endoed on the same jump. He emerged fJ:om the mishap with an injured wrist and ankle, and decided to call it quits. With Ward and Lechien out of the way, Hannah passed Breker to take third place behind O'Mara. Bailey enjoyed a IO-second lead over O'Mara, who was less than a second ahead of Hannah. Try as he might, the Hurricane couldn't make any ground on his teammate. Both -were evenly matched in their timing, as Hannah followed O'Mara move-for-move, constantly waiting for a mistake to happen or a place to pass; but Hannah couldn't find the hole that he was looking for. The three Honda teamsters were rapidly cutting through traffic, and by the tltl\et:qua'rt~n'Ial-ke~ t~nrfal, Bailey and company began to lap riders. For their pan: G lover and J oh nson had worked their way past slowe.r riders to take fourth and fifth, respectively. Farther back were Dymond, Breker, Reid and Barnett. Liles was definitely off the pace, taking up the rear guard. Towards the end of the final, Glover had fought his way past Howerton, and King had won a passing duel with Barnett, For a while it seemed as if Johnson might overtake Glover, but the newly-crowned 250cc National Champion tangled with a lapper and went down in a corner, but managed to catch back up with his teammate. By the white flag lap, Bailey, O'Mara and Hannah had lapped almost everybody on the track, and Glover and Johnson were no more than a quarter-lap ahead of them. By the checkered flag, the intense O'Mara/Hannah battle had cut Bailey's lead down to about eight seconds. When the flag finally dropped, there was a Honda sweep of the LOp three slots. "M Y bike ran prelly damned good, " quipped Bailey after the final. "We had to make some gearing and carb changes, but my mechanic, Cliff White, went right LO work on it. My c;lrb- wis' hiit4ng' the engine'dses when I landed from the jumps, which made my bike die out a bit. So Cli(f got in there wi th a grinder LO gc;tthe proper c1eara'nce." O'Mara commented, like Bailey, that he felt things were really working out just fine. ". could see that David was doing good," O'Mara admitted, "so. know. had to seule for second." O'Mara also admitted that while Hannah was applying quite a bit of pressure, there were no problems about anything which would threaten O'Mara's standings in supercross competition. ". knew that we were going LO get one-two-three," said Johnny O. ". guess Honda should like that a • whole lot." Results 2o-LAP FINAL: 1. David Bailey (Hon~ 2. Johnny O'Mara IHon); 3. Bob Hannah (Hon); 4. &roc: Glow< (Yam); 5. Rick Johnoon (Yam); 6. Kem - . o n (Kewl; 7. Alan Ki"ll (Hon); B. Kei1h _ (Yem); 9. Mike Fisher (Hon); 10. Merk Bernett (Suz); 11. Werren Reid (Yam); 12. Goet Breker (Kew~ 13. Micky Dymond (Hue); 14. Mike Beier (Yam~ 15. A.J. Whi'i"ll (Yam~ 16. Eric Eaton (Hon~ 17. Rodney Smith (Yam); 18. Billy Ulea IKa"); 19. Jeff Werd (Kew~ 20. Ron l.echien (Hon). INSPORT/WRANGLER SUPERCROSS SERIES POINT STANDINGS: 1. Johnny O'Mera (5201; 2. O""id Be~ey (473); 3. Rick Johnson 14581; 4. Jeff Ward (446); 5. Ron l.echien (398); 6. Broc: Glow< (371); 7. Mark Bemett (354); 8. Alen Ki"ll(3OOl; 9. Bob Hannah (299); 10. Billy UI.. (273); 11. Kent Howerton (2091; 12. Goet Sr.... (1801: 13. HoUandl1nl; 14. Kei1h _(1701: 15.Jim Hohy (148); 16. Ricky Ryen 1114~ 17. Scon B u r _ 1109);J1Jl. ~J .. lIJIl!iIi'1ll (lQ5):,I'.,Eric e.0lIl96l< 20· _ _ 190\. co-ve , 9-