Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

(Above) Johnny O 'Mara's new works 250cc Honda : Check out the seat and t iny radiator, (Below) Mike Larson leads 500cc Pro winner Broc Glover. Mark Barnett made his debut riding for Team Kawasaki on a stock KX250 : He netted third overall. He'll have a works b ike next week. Johnny O 'M ara a nd Ronnie L ech ien were o n brand n ew '85 wo rks 250s, which fea tu red a m yster ious a lum inum "box" a lo ngs ide th e carburetor (ma ny guessed it was a n electronic fuel in jectio n system, but H onda m echanics would on ly say it wa s a " secre t"), an d th e debut ride by Ma rk Ba r n ell on a Ka wasak i. Barn ell 'S Kaw asaki was box stock, but he said he will have a wo rks bik e next week . At the start of the first moto, O ' Mara stole the lead away from Yama ha rider J acky Vimond. H o wever , by th e end of the fir st lap it was Lechien O UI in front ahead o f Ward, O 'M ara , Vimond, Kawasaki's Goat Breker, Suzu ki's George H olland,Jeff H icks , Yama ha 's R icky Johnson , Suzuki's Scoll Bu rn wo rt h , Joe Wrigh t and Ross Pederson . A few laps la ter, Ward had reel ed- in Lechien, and th en th e new l 25cc Na tio n al Cha m p io n moved into the lead. As th e rno to progressed , Ward opened up a slight lead, while O 'M ara started fading ba ck . After p as sing Breker,J o hnso n sta rt ed to close in o n O ' Mara , and with th ree lap s to go , th e ' 84 250cc N ational Champion, J oh nso n , motored past O 'Mara . A la p la ter , Breker also p assed O 'Mara . "I had a couple of problems," sa id O ' Mara . " P robably th e ma in o ne was that m y goggles fogg ed up for the seco nd week in a ro w , n o w. And when th at h appens, yo u ha ve to take th em off, and the n i t's h ard to ri de wit hou t them. Also, I wasn 't feeli ng reall y co m fortable o n the new bik e befo re th at, I had to fig h t the bike and, withou t the gogg les it m ad e th ings rough. So , I just tried to h ang in th ere." At th e fi nis h , it was Wa rd a few seco nds ahead o f Lechien, then John- · so n , Brek er , Vimond , Ho lland , O 'M ara , Bu rn wo rth , Barnell and J eff Leisk . " I was rid ing p robabl y 75%," said Ward. " My arms are as hard a s a rock. I just tri ed to hang o n , because I haven 't been tr aining rea l hard . I wasn ' t push in g mys el f .. . I was kind of su rpris ed, because I thought th ey wo u ld be harder than th ey wer e. Once I h ad th e lead , I settled down and tried to relax." Aft er one of h is best perfor mances on a 250 in a lo n g time, Brek er , who rode and placed th ird in the '84 500cc National s, wa s happy with his fir st rno to performance: " I got a good start, th en R icky (J ohnson ) passed me. I thin k I co u ld 've sta yed with him , bu t I just co u ld n' t h an g o n. Abo u t the third la p , I sta rted having p roblems hanging o n 10 th e h andl ebars, so I backed do wn a lilli e bit ." After h is first ri de o n a Kaw asaki, and after a firs t-more ninth , Barnell sa id: " I felt good, but I fell do wn in the first co rner, an d I was about d ead last o ff the start. Aft er I got kn ocked down, I p assed 20 to 25 guys th e firs t la p , wor ked up to n inth and staye d there. I really d idn 't lose much time on th e leaders. It worked o u t p re t ty good , an d I'm h appy with wh at I d id . Th is is just a warm up race - nothing 10 get exci ted about. Wh en I get my wo rks bike, I'll be bet ter." The second rn oto was all Ward 's: H e sto le th e holeshot and cru ised fo r th e win . Near the en d o f the m o to: th ough , Johnson , after a fourth-place sta rt . got close 10 Ward but co u ld n' t pose a serious th reat. Barn ell had a much better rno to by taki n g a fi£th place sta rt a nd worki ng up 10 third by th e fourth la p and h old ing off stiff challen ges by Leisk a nd H olland for third in th e rnoto and fifth o ver al l. O 'Mara to ok an 11th -p lace start but cou ld only m anage to work hi s way up to eigh th . A fir st-turn crash kept Lechien o u t of th e hunt : - h e fini~ 10th , fou rth o vera ll. 500cc Pro Favored 10 w in the 500cc P ro class was Gl over, but a terrib le first -mote . start almos t cha nged things around. H onda -mo unted Mike Larson jumped • to an ea rly lead, wh il e Larry Dash iell , J oey Sch lag, Eri c McKenna , Jim Elli s, Ed Arnet and Scott Man ning follow ed. Gl over was back a round 15th. H o wever, he was o n th e mo ve, p assin g riders i n every turn . By th e fourth la p, G lover a lready h ad taken over second but was still a bo u t six seco nds behind Larso n. Aft er th ree mo re laps, Gl over m o ved 10 the ins id e of Larson aft er a do wnh ill a nd passed Larson . after Larso n swapped an d almos t cra shed . " I h it a sli ck spot and went sidewa ys," sa id Larson. " I got ou t of sha pe a nd went off th e track . As he (G lo ver) went by, he ta p ped me o n the shou lde r, because I barely saved it . T hen m y arms got tir ed and my shock fad ed away. " From tha t poin t o n, Gl over mot or ed to a huge lead an d took th e win. Larso n fi nishe d seco nd a h ead o f McKen na , Dashiell , Ellis , Sch lag, Bill Grossi, Arnet , Ro n T u rner and Mark Ban ks. G lo ver roos ted in to the lead a t th e sta rt of th e second rno to a rid never loo ked back. Larson was second, but G lo ver was p u ll ing a way with every lap. After Larson was, M-Star-m ounted P hil La rson, Schlag , Ellis, Banks a nd Arn et . With two la p s remai ning, G lov er enjoyed a 29-second lea d o ver La rso n which h e p u t to good use - o n the last la p . G lover a lm ost lost th e lead an d o verall. In a turn Gl over went o ff th e track , wrapping hi s bike up with ba n ners. " It was a real sli p pery spot," said Gl over. " My front wheel ca ugh t a ru t a nd steered me r ig h t o rr th e track a nd int o th e banners.". Not wanting 10 get th e banners tangl ed in h is wheels, Gl over look his time gell ing u ntangled . H e re-en tered th e track a nd sti ll won with pl en ty o f d istan ce o ver Larson. Dash iell took th ird a hea d of Greg Ziuerkopf, Ellis, McKen na and Turner. " I wasn't going as fast as I possibly co u ld, " sa id Glover. "Bu t i n th e firs t rnoto, I had 10 co me fro m beh in d whi ch made th in gs kind of n ice." • Results 80cc EX: 1. SCOII 8 row n (HonI 2 ·2; 2. Kyle Lewis (Honl 5-1 ; 3 . Mike Pascarell a (Vaml 3 ·3; 4 . Robby Gordon (Kaw ) 1-6 ; 5 . Shaun Kalo s (Hon l 7 -4 ; 6 . Lowell Tho m son (Kaw) 6 -5 ; 7 . Rick Simmet (Hon) 4 ·8; 8 . Sh an e Tr itt ler (Vam) 9 · 7; 9 . Paul Vla ch (Kaw) 11-9 ; 10. Colin Kar ch er (VamI 8 -1 3; 11. Sean 8 lanch ard (KawI 12- 10: 12 . Tallon Voh land IKaw11311; 13 . Gary Delleqe tt e (Ho n) 16 -12: 14. Chr is Nea l 15- 14 ; 15 . Steve Lamson (KawI 14 - 15; 16 . Shaun Wooten (Vam) 10-22; 17 . Bri an Elder (KawI1 7 -1 6; 18. Ste ve n Kota jarvi (Kaw) 19- 17; 19 . Greg Ti rhei . mer (Yam) 18- 10; 20 . Wes Parker (Yam) 20- 19. 125cc PRo: 1. A.J. Whit ing (Suz) 1-3 ; 2. KeIth Bowen (yam) 2- 2;3. Larry Brooks (Hon) 7 · t ; 4 . Bill y Frank (Kaw )4-4; 5 . Ooug Dubach (S uz) 3 · 5; 6 . Mike Healey (Suz) 5-6 ; 7. W ill ie Surr all (Hon) 11-7; 8 . Rod ney Harriger (Kaw) 6 ·1 2; 9 . Bri an M anley (Hon) 9- 10 ; 10. Eddie Hicks (Vam) t 0 -lt ; 11 . Ron Turner (Cag) 14-9 ; 12 . Fred Andrews (Hon) 12 · 16 ; 13. Guy Cooper (Hon) 18· 14 ; 14 . Doug O'Oonnell (Kaw) 15 · 17 ; 15 . Deen Ma ts on (Ka w ) 23 ·1 5; 16 . A llen Siha nek (Hon) 20- 18; 17 . David Hellinga (Kaw) 19· 19 ; 18 . Ji m Cres sa (Kaw) 29 ·13; 19. Erik Kehoe (Suz) 17-25; 20. Terry Fowler (Hon) DNF-8 . 25 0cc PRO: 1. Jeff W ard (Kaw) 1·1 ; 2. Rick Johnson (Vam) 3 -2; 3 . Gee l Bre ker (Ka w) 4-6 ; 4 . Ron Lech ien (Hon) 2 -10; 5 . M ark Barn ell (Kaw) 9 ·3 ; 6. Geo rge Holland (Suz ) 6-5; 7 . Jeff Lie sk (Hon ) 20 -4 ; 8 . Jo hnny O'Mar a (Hon) 7 -8 ; 9 . Jeff Hicks (Hon) 13- 7; 1D. Ross Pederson (S Ul) 1 1·9 ; 11 . Jim And erson (Yam) 12-12; 12. J im Holl ey (Yam ) 14- 1 1; 13. Russ Wageman (S uz) 16-13; 14 . Dave Coupe (Kaw) 17 -14; 15 . Scott 8 urnwort h (Suz) 8 · 24 ; 16. Vaughan Sty le (Hon) 19 -16; 17 . Glen Bell (Yam I 2 1·1 5; 18 . Howie Ross (Suz) 20 -17; 19 . Mark Mclaren (Kawl 24-18 ; 20 . Jacky Vimond (Yam) 5-DN F. . 500cc PRO: 1. 8 roc Glover (Vam ) 1·1 ; 2. M ike Larson (Hon) 2-2: 3 . Larry Dashiell (Hon ~ 4-4 : 4 . Eric M cKenna (Ho n) 3 -6 ; 5 . J im Ell is (Vam) 5 ·5 ; 6 . Joey Sch lag (Hon ) 6 -9 : 7. Ron Turner ICag ) 9· 7; 8 . Greg ZlI l er kopf (M - St ar) 15-4 ; 9 . Ed Arn el (Vam) 8 · 10; 10 . Phil Larso n (M ail 12 -8 ; 11 . Mark Ban ks (Honl 10-13; 12. SCOII M ann ing (Vam) 13 ·1 1; 13. W illy Sim ons (Hon) 16 -12 ; 14 . SCOIl Johnson (Hon) 14 . 14 ; 15 . Tim Wo rth (Hon) 1 1-1 8; 16 . Ron LaPointe (Vaml 17 · 15; 17 . Bill Jamerson (Suz) 19-16; 18 . Troy 8 radshaw (Vam ) 18 · 20; 19 . 8 ill Gro ssi (Hon l 7 -31 ; 20 . SCOIl Sargen t (Kawl 2 1·19. POINT STAN DINGS 12 5cc PRO: 1. A .J . W hil ing (14 9); 2. Keit h Bowen (14 8 1 3. Larry Brook s (134); 4 . Ooug Dub ach (132); ; 5. M ike Healey (12 5); 6 . Bobby Moor e (12 11 7 . Erik ; Kehoe (1 14 1 8. Edd ie Hicks (1 0 5); 9 . Rodn ey Har ; rige r (102 ): 10 . W ill ie Surran (9 11 . 250cc PRO: 1. Jeff Ward (156); 2 . Rick Johnson (14 9); 3 . Ron Lach ien (14 2); 4 . Geo rge Holland (129); 5. J im Holley (112 t, 6. Ross Pederson (109); 7 . J im Anderso n (108); 8 . Jeff Leisk (10 61; 9 . SCOIl Burnwort h (100) ; 10. Johnny O'Mara ( 9 7~ 500cc PRO: 1. 8 roc Glover (164); 2. M ike Larson (1481: 3. Greg Zillerkopf (1181: 4. Larry Dash iell (11 41; 5 . SCOIl Manning (1 12); 6. Mark 8 ank s(108 ); 7. W illy S imons (l OS); 8 . Ed A rnet (9 91 9 .Jim Ellis ; (9 8); 10. Ron laPointe (94) . 7

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