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/126804
Broc Glover (4B) captured the ho leshot at the start of the first 250cc Pro moto. Jeff Ward (2) . Johnny O'Mara (1) and Ronnie Lechien (6) follow. Lechien eventually won both motes. CMC/Skoal Bandit Golden State Nationals: Round 3 Sunrise GSN wins to Whiting, Lechien, Fisher By Kit Palmer ADELANTO. CA, jAl':. 20 The third round of Continental Motosport Club's/Skoal Bandit Golden State Nationals moved to southern California at Sunrise Cycle Park. Not even Team Honda's Johnny O 'M ara cou ld sto p A.]. Whiting a n d Suzu ki from winnin g the 125cc Pro class, fo r the second week in a row , Whitin g 6 used a 2-1 co m bo 10 top O' Mara's 1-3 tally. Wh i t in g ' s teammate, Er ik Keh oe, wen t 3-2 for th ird overa ll. " I felt reall y good o ut there;" said Wh il ing. " We got the bi ke wor king grea t between motos and that helped ma ke the difference." . T he 250cc class was fu ll of national supers tars incl udi ng Gol den Sla te newcomers Bob H ann ah , Bill y L iles, Dan ny La Po rte, Alan Kin g a nd Micky Dvmo nd , Most of the riders were preparing for th e Supercross opener in San Diego next week. Brae Gl over, who has lopped th e 500cc class durin g the firs t two ro u nds o f th e Golden Sta te Na tio na ls, and Keith Bow en , w ho has been ridi ng 125s durin g th e first two ro u nds, swi tched to the 250cc class th is week. But it was factory H onda rider Lechien wh o emerged with th e win . Kaw asak i's J eff Ward p ressured Lechi en in both mo tos bu t carne up sho rt. " I' ve been trying to sha ke a bad co ld a ll week," said War d. " I just ra n o u t of ene rgy." With G lo ver moving to th e 250cc class, the 500cc class wi n was up for gra bs. H onda 's Mike Fish er mad e hi s debut ap pearan ce a t th e GSN and easily won both motos. Another Honda rid er, Mik e La rso n, rod e consis tc ' e ~ " :' " ~ ... ' I • en tly a nd pl a ced second eac h o uti ng. .12 5cc Pro Kehoe shot 1 th e fro nt of the pack 0 at the sta rt o f the firs t I25cc Pro Class, closely followed by O 'M ara, Suzuki's Wh it ing and Mike H e- ley, H on da 's d Larry Brooks and Kawasaki rider Cra ig Ca noy . Befor e the end of th e first lap , O 'Mara had slipped past Keh oe, whi le Wh iting bega n pressuring his team mate. A few tu rn s lat er, Wh it in g n ipped Keh oe a nd tried 10 catch O 'M ar a , who was rid ing a p roduclion CR 125. O 'M ara managed to pu ll a sligh t lead by th e th ird la p , w h ile Brooks crashed in the whoops. Brooks quickly reco vered bu t had already. lost five posi tions. Meanwhile, O'Mara enjoyed abou t a seven-secon d lead o n Whit in g, but a t that point, O 'M ara 's lead dw in dl ed to o n ly a few seco nds. " He (O ' Ma ra) went of f th e track, a nd I ca ug ht up 10 h im a lillie bit ," sai d Whi ling , " the n I just stayed with h im ." From th en o n, O'Mara held o n to h is slim lead to lak e th e win . Followin g O 'Ma ra 10 th e chec kered flag were a tr io o f Suzuk i riders: Whit in g , Keh oe a nd Doug Dubach . Bro ok s fin ish ed fifth ahead o f Brian Manl ey a nd Canoy, " I felt lik e I was riding good," sa id Wh iting , "but th e bik e jus t wasn 't work ing right for me to catch J ohnny. .. ': . ,. ~ . " .. ,~., . A.J. Whiting leads Mike Healey. Craig Canoy and Larry Brooks. I'm reall y goin g 10 try and beat him next time. " My arms pumped up pretty bad by th e third lap," said Keh oe. " After J ohnny an d A.J. got by me, I lost th e coo rdina tion in m y fin gers from my arms pumping up. I dropped off th e pa ce a Iiule bit tow ards th e end of the mota. But a few laps from th e en d , they loosen ed up, a n d I sta rted feeling better. I do n' t th in k he (O 'Ma ra) is un beat abl e. I think I can beat h im in the second m or o ." T he second 125cc mot o saw Wh iling claim th e hol esh or , wh ile Brook s, O 'M ara, Kehoe, Will ie S urra tt and Fred An drews foll owed clos ely. Wi thin a few laps , Wh itin g a nd Brooks had pulled a way fro m the rest o f th e pack wh ile engaged in a d ue l for the lead.However, Whit in g star ted to p u ll away from Brook s slig h tly. T hen Brook s cras hed ,'ery hard in a fast sect io n o f th e tra ck. As a resu lt. Brooks suffered a com pou nd fractur ed wrist. Wit h Brooks ou t o fan ion, O 'M a ra an d Kehoe moved into third a nd fourth. A few turns la ter , Keh oe pu t the move o n O 'Mara. " I pa ssed h im in a roug h slra ighta way. I had beuer moment um comi ng ou t o f a tu rn, wh ile he h it th e choppy stuff a nd slowed h im do wn." Halfway th ro ugh the race, Wh i ting held a co m ma ndi ng lead , wh ile Keh oe stre tched hi s advantage over O 'M ara to a bou t five seco n ds. After abou t a 15th pl ace sta rt, Duba ch ha d worked his way u p throug h the pack to founh , a head o f Surra tt. Suzu ki's Russ Wagem an and Yamaha 's Eddi e Hi cks. At th e fin ish, Wh iting had a sa fe l7- second lead over Keh oe. wh o had a bo u t seven seco n ds o n O 'M ara. Duba ch finis hed Iou ri h a hea d o f Manley. Wa gem an a nd Surratt. " I felt really good," sai d Whit ing. "We changed the shoc k between motos and th e bik e worked perfectl y. I got a good-sized lead and seu led down." 250cc Pro Gl over and his close-to -prod uc tio n YZ250 Yamaha bea r all th e works bikes and the rest of the p ack into the first turn a t th e sta rt of the first 250cc moto, but th e race was red-flagged because th e starting gate didn 't fall correctly. On the restart , it was onc e again Glover with th e hol esh or , pursued by Lechi en , Suzuki's SCOIl Burnworth. Ward, Suzuki 's G eorge HoIland , Honda rider j eff H icks and -' ", ' .. O'Mara. Glover maintained h is lead for a lap-and-a-half before Lechien motored past. Ward, a few seconds behi nd Glover, began to work h is way closer to the leaders. During the fourth lap, Ward passed Glover in a sharp left turn, but Gl over retaliated a couple o f turns later. Th en Ward once aga in passed Glover a nd made it stick. Near th e end o f th e moto, Ward had reeled-in Lechi en , th en dropped a few bik elengths. Ward came back aga in but came up shon a t the fini sh lin e. . " I felt real good," said Lechi en . " I tried to stay rea l smooth, but I screwed up once a nd a lmo st ...-e n t down, and he (Ward) caugh t up to me. So, I just gassed it a lit tle hard er a nd pulled a way fro m him. " " I got 100 h ot. " sa id Wa rd. " I' m try ing 10 gel over a co ld and my throa t got real dr y, th en I co u ld n't swa llo w. It was prett y easy to ca tch up, bUI it's that mu ch harder to pass. I'm j us t not 100%yet. This co ld reall y dra ins me." Mark Barnell , who' rod e a new wo rks Kaw asaki for th e first lim e, fin ished fifth: " I felt good an d th e bike w o rked rea l good," said Barnett. " But I felt a lit tle sti ff... tense ." Barn ell 's teamm ate, Goa t Breker had terr ibl e lu ck . " I h it th e sta rring ga te wid e open and endoe d wh en th e ga te didn't drop rig h t. It ruined th e pipe, radiator a nd a bu nch o f stuff. I didn' t get a cha nce to ride the reslart." Gl over fin ish ed th ird a head of O 'M ara , Barnell , Hannah , who came from a lmost dead last, J ohnson a nd Burnworth . Burnwo rth a nd hi s br and-ric w works Su zuk i ca p tu red the second 01 0 10 h ol esh ot a hea d o f Gl over a n d Ward. H ow ever, th rough th e first set of double jumps, Gl over jumped them a nd Burn w o rt h didn't - G lover took th e lead, th en Lech ien slipped passed Burnworth. Ward, H oll and - a lso o n a n ew works Suzuki - O'Mara , Barnell, Breker, H icks and Canadi an Ross Peder son (SUl) follow ed. By the second lap , Ward had mov ed into th ird. th en second aft er pa ssing Glover. Ward, o nce agai n, reeled in Lech ien , and th e two lead ers pulled away from th e pa ck. Then Gl over a nd Burnworth duked-it -out over third while pulling aw ay from H o Ila nd. O 'Mara , Barnell and Hicks, ... . " ,. ... . ;