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/126805
w w w ~ ~ CIl a: x w a: > '" CIl o l- o :r c.. ~ 00 ~ ...... ~ (,,0 >-.... C\l ~ .... ..0 Q) ~ Yamaha support rider J im Holley (921 didn 't practice, bu t still won the 250cc Pro class. (Below) A .J. Whiting took the 125cc Pro s with a1-3 ride . Phil Larson (28) swept both 500cc Pro motes in convincing fashion, Round one saw him battle brother Mike for the lead; round two was all his. C MC/Skoal Ba nd it Golden State Nationals: Round 4 Whiting, Holley, Larson take wins Wh itin g had j ust eno ugh tim e for th ree la ps of p rac tice . Un li ke Wh iting, 250cc Pro Class winner Yamaha su pport rider Jim Holley di dn' t ge t any p rac tice an d bare ly had hi s YZ250 warmed u p when h e got to the sta rt ing lin e for his first m ota . "My p lane was lat e in ge tt ing in ," H oll ey sai d. "I wa s supposed to get in a t nine thi s m orning, but I got into Sacramen to a bo u t a quarter to 12. We just redlined it to th e tra ck, a nd when I got there th ey sai d th at m y class was on the line, but fort u na tely it wa s a restart: I felt pretty good this mornin g , a nd if I had so me p ractice, I would 've done better in th e first mo to. As it was, o n th e first sta rt, I didn't know which way the firs t turn went." In spite of the calamity , H o lley got a fourth in the first mota, th en smoked th e p ack in m o to two for th e o vera ll. Larry Wosick (Hon) was the first mo ta w in ner, and looked lik e a sure bet for th e overall with a third in round two , but run-in with Pederson knock ed him to second for th e da y. Swedish ri de r And y Eson (Ya m) placed 2-3 for th ird. Compar ed to Whiting and H olley, Phil Larson 's win in th e 500cc Pros was almost un eventful. T he H onda mounted rider spent th e first rn oto d icing for th e lea d with brother Mike, who took seco nd. The seco nd m o ta sa w Phil work hi s way up to th e lead .Iro rn a poor sta n 10 se w it a ll up with a I-I for the day . Eri c McKenna (Hon) wa s seco nd with a 3-2; Scott Sargent (Ka w) pulled a 5-3 out for third overall. By Rex Reese 125cc Pro MAR YSVILLE, CA, JAN. 27 The fir st mota holeshot fell to Kawasaki-mounted Rod ney Harringer, followed by Vohland, Dave Coupe (Ka w) an d Tim Aston (Kaw), By th e end of th e first lap, Vohland was in th e lead, with Coupe second a nd Willi e Surratt (H on) third; Vohland inherited th e top spot when Harringer crashed big time, tweaking his bike and taking him off the pace. With Voh la n d in the lead, Whiting was lu rkin g in fourt h place, havin g worked h is way u p fro m abou t 10th at the start. As th e mota wound on Whiting began gassing it through traffic with his sights set on Voh la nd. A few laps later Wh iting began knocking on Vohland's back door, but the Kawasaki rider wasn ' t going to hav e anything to do with it. At the same time, Pederson had also made his .way through traffic and the Ca n- Suzuki support rider A.J . Whiting tightened his g ri p on the 125cc P ro class wi th h is third consecu ti ve win as the Continen ta l Motorsport Club/Skoal Bandit Golden State Nationals shifted back u p to northern California at Marysville's "E" Stree t track. Whiting overcame Sac ra mento's Tyson Vohl and (Kaw), Suzuki Canada's Ross Ped er son and fogged-in airports to post a 1-3 ride to maintain hi s class points lead ahead of a consistent Doug Dubach (Suz), wh o placed third overall tod ay with a 4-5. Pederson clinched second overall wi th a consistent 3-2 score. But ' Whiting's win almost never happened. Fog played a major factor in today's rider lineu p since Whiting a nd a handfu l of other riders were barely able to make it to th e event in time a fter being fogged in at the airport th e night before at San Diego where they com pe ted in the season's fir st Supercross. Besides Whiting, Suzuki support teammates Erik Kehoe, and R uss Wageman made it to the track on time. When h e arrived, adian rider was so lid ly in third place after ge tti ng by Dubach . • In th e final laps of th e m o ro , Whiting and Vohland were in a cu t-a n dthrust duel th at a p pea red to be wearing th e Ka wasak i rid er down. Whiting fin all y got by Vohland as they roosted th rough a left-hander , and th e Suzuki p ilo t wen t o n to claim th e first mota win with big lead over second pl a cer Voh la nd: Ped erson was a distant thi rd ; fourth was Dubach. Moto two sa w Pederson o ut in front for much of the mo ta; beh ind h im was Whitin g, Dubach , Kehoe a nd Wa geman , making it a Su zu ki sweep of th e tap five pl aces. Kehoe wa s a ble to ge t a drive going a nd got by Pederson whil e Whiting decided to settle for third. wh ich was all he needed. Fin ish in g fo urt h was Wageman, who ca me ba ck from a fir st ro u nd DNF; fifth was Dubach . Pederso n's 3-2 was good for seco nd ove ra ll , with Dubach 's 4-5 good for third . " I on ly got three laps of practice . and a bo u t five laps into th e first mota I wa s a ble ro find some good lines," commented Whiting. " I couldn 't remember a ll th e turn s, but th en I was a ble to figure every th ing ou t an d take co ntrol. Everyt h in g work ed ou t real well. " a 250cc Pro T he sta rt of th e first 250cc Pro moto go t underway with Yam ahamounted T im Winslow in the lead, with Tony Ri chards (Kaw) and Ped erson third. But a serious pileup just after th e first turn brought out the red flag to abo rt the moto. Yamahamounted Ro bby Watk lo had beco me entangled with Scott Nielson (Hon) whi ch resulted in Watklo havin g Nielson 's brake lever em bedded in his left ann. The confusion and time it took for medical technicians and tra ck personnel to remove the brake lever from Nielson 's Honda and transport Watklo to the hospita l was just long enough for Holley to get positioned on the sta rti ng line. On the restart Wosick. Easo n a n d fellow Swede J o n n y Nelson (H us), Coupe and Jeff Watts (Yam) were a mong the leaders. Just af ter passing th ro ugh th e first turn, Wat ts went do wn and Co upe ass umed the lead p osition. Holley, totally unfamiliar with the track, was riding towards the back of the pack. Wosick took over the lead from Coupe only a couple of laps into th e m o to . From there. Wosick began to charge h ard into an unco ntested lead