Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

(Left) Ricky Johnson banzaied his way to third in the main. (Right) Johnny O'Mara was sixth, but retained his points lead. Alan King rode his CR250R to eighth; top privateer. Here he's chased by Billy Liles and Mark Barnett. (Below) Russ Wageman won the LCa. Broc Glover (3) tries an outside line as O'Mara leads David Bailey (1), Johnson (17), Ward (4), and Mark Barnett (2). only a few bikelengths back, with Burnworth third. O'Mara, no doubt conscious of where he stood in the points race, rode conservatively to fourth place, while Bailey rolled in for fifth. Bowen, Liles, Holland and Eaton made it to the final by grabbing positions six through nine, respectively. Johnson holeshot semi two, followed very closely by Ward, with King and Breker in tow. Barnett was fifth off the start. While Johnson was enjoying his lead, King was battling Ward for second - the Team Tamm rider wouldn't let the Kawasaki pilot by. A little further back, Howerton pressured Holley for seventh place. After a few more laps, the pack straightened out into its final finishing order, with Johnson the winner, followed by King, Ward, Barnett, Breker, Howerton, Holley, Hicks and Ryan. . With the rider lineups beginning to shape up for the final, knowledgeable supercross watchers soon laid odds on. the rider with the most potential for winning. The money wason Johnson, then Lechien, Glover and Bailey. Last Chance Qualifier Team Green hotshots Manneh and Warren weren't able to make the nine-rider cut in their semi to make it into the main event, but since only the top two from this race would make it to the final, they looked like the logical choices. Storbeck took the holes hot, followed by Wageman; Manneh and Warren were stuck in the back half of the pack. Allen Semar (Yam) was soon on top of Wageman, and eventually passed him for second. A couple of laps later, Manneh was able to brea.k fr~e and work bis way up to fourth, then third and second, and began knocking on Storbeck's back door. As Storbeck ran through some whoops, he bobbled momentarily, letting Manneh cruise on by. Everything seemed to be in control with the young Kawasaki rider. But just after crossing the start/finish line, Manneh crashed into the haybales. The lead was now Wageman's as he passed Storbeck; Semar then passed Storbeck to relegate him to third. Wageman took his lead all the way to the finish, followed by Semar. Final Glover and Johnson pulled their whi te-and-red YZ250s to the line for the final showdown. Nearby was Burnworth, Lechien, Bailey, Ward, Barnett, Howerton. Johnson was excited, after having won the longest jump contest off the diet Coke Catapult. For-jumping 62 feet, he picked up a cool thousand bucks; Johnson was a crowd-pleaser, and a good bet for the winner's circle. Bailey, on the other hand, didn't seem to have the magic that brought him the gold at Sacramento. It was the surprise of the night perhaps to everybody, when Lechien grabbed the holeshot ahead of Johnny 0' and Johnson. At the end of the first lap, Honda's youngest factory rider was leading Johnson, Glover, Barnett, Burnworth, Howerton and O'Mara; almost last was Ward, followed by Semar. With the final still young, Lechien hung onto the lead, riding intelligently all the way. In second sas O'Mara, with Glover threatening to take that spot away. Johnson was also there, applying his own squeeze play to his teammate. After having a less-than-thrilling night, Barnett filled out the top five. Soon, O'Mara almost crashed, allowing G lover to pass. Several bikelengths back, Johnson was holding off Bailey, while Barnett rode ahead of Burnworth. By the halfway mark, Johnson caught up with Glover, and there began an intense fight for second place. The two Yamaha riders went for it bar-to-bar all around the track, and several times, quick attempts to pass were thwarted by equally quick moves to shut the door. Following the Glover/Johnson duel in fourth was O'Mara, who took his time throughout the final; in the neighborhood was teammate Bailey, who was making progress after another poor start. Further back were Burnworth, King and Liles. Glover held off Johnson but could gain no ground on Lechien. About three laps later, Bailey was suddenly in the picture in fourth place. He put the pass on Johnson and began work on Glover. The Honda rider was able to get his factory RC250 around Glover's stock YZ, but could gain no ground on Lechien. After bobbling in a corner, Johnson dropped back, then had to fight for it all over again in a battk with O'Mara. The laps that followed saw Johnson take a lot of risks attemping to pass O'Mara; it finally worked as he passed through a tight left-hand turn. Johnson passed Glover for third in a last-ditch attempt on the last lap, only yards from the finish line. A few seconds earlier, Lechien had put his works Honda across the finish line in triumphant first place; a bit behind him was Bailey. "I gota good StaTt for once," recalled Lechien. "And I got it when I needed it - nobody was close. I rode to hold a steady pace and not fall this time, because it's a tough track. It should've been me in front at Sacramento, but I 'went down real hard, so winning tonight felt pretty good." Because of his sixth place finish, O'Mara wasn't able to clinch the series championship, so the title will be decided at the final round in Los Angeles on November 3. With a 43point lead over Bailey, O'Mara needs only six points to wrap-up the title.• Results 20-LAP FINAL: 1. Ron lochien (Hon); 2. David Bailey (Honl; 3. RickyJohnoon (Yaml; 4. Broc GloWlr (Yam); 5. Scott Burnworth (Suz); 6. Johnny O'Mara (Hon); 7. Keith Bowen (yam); B. Alan King (Hori); 9. Mark Barnett (Suzl; 10. Eric Eaton (Hon); 11. Billy Liles (Kaw); 12. Kent Howerton (Kaw); 13. George Holland (Suz); 14. Goat Breker (Kaw); 15. Jeff Ward (Kew); 16. Jim Holley (Yam); 17. Ru.. Wagemen (Yam); 1B. Jeff Hicks (Hon); 19. Rick Ryan (Suz); 20. Allen Semar (Varni. INSPORTIWRANGlER SUPERCROSS SERIES POINT STANDINGS; 1. Johnny O'Mara (552); 2. David Bailey (509); 3. Ricky Johnson (49B); 4. Jeff Ward (470); 5. Ron lochien (442); 6. Broc GloWlr (409); 7. Mark Barnett (378); B. Alan King (330); 9. Bob Hannah (299); 10. Billy liles (289); 1 1. Kant Howerton (231); 12. Goat Breker (198); 13. Keith Bowen (195); 14. George Holland (193); 15. Jim Holley (157); 16. Scott Burnworth (139); 17. Rick Ryen (124); 18. Eric Eaton (114); 19. A.J. Whiting (106); 20. RQss Pederson (90). 7

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