Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Bob Hannah (25) and Keith Bowen were back at it again . The two diced for the lead during a qualifier Saturday night - Bowen won. co u ld n ' t m ake a pass. At th e fin ish it was Lechien , G lover. Wa rd , j ohnso n . H annah . Bo wen . Bu rn wo rth . King . O 'M ara and Wh itin g . There was no doubt Ron Lec h ien was t he fastest rider in Sea ttle - he easily won t hree out of f our m ai ns and is now tied f or th ird in po ints. Semi -finals The first sem i-fi nal was all Barnell 's - he led from sta rt to finish . whi le Team Tarn m 's And y Stacy had 10 wo rk hard to fi nish second. Stacy passed S mi t h a nd Suzuki 's R u ss Wa geman by th e fourth lap to transfer to th e mai n. It was n't much o f a surprise to see j ohn son wi n the seco nd semi -fi na l, but he had to wor k h is wa y u p from a terribl e sta rt. R idin g a wo rk s S uzuk i. Erik Keh oe ca p t ured th e ho les hot and was followed bv Kaw a sa ki 's G o a t Breker , Keyl on . Gu y Cooper and j im - , H olley. j ohnson sta rted m aking u p fo r hi s poor sta rt in a hurrv and had co n trol o f th ird by th e seco,id la p . Du r ing the seco n d lap . Br ek e r crashed and dro p ped 10 the back of th e pac k. T his ga ve seco nd 10 Keylon. w ho wa s n ow pr essu red hard by j ohn so n . At the h aIrwa y p o int . th e th ree lea d er s threaded th eir wa y th rou gh tra ffic, but j ohnson found a clear lin e in th e Stu lle r bumps a nd passed Keyl on. With tw o laps to go , j o hnso n had reeled -in Keho e a nd dove inside o f th e Suzuki ri der in a tu rn a nd took over th e lea d. It was j ohn son. Keh oe and Keyl on a t th e finish . Last Chance Qualifier Sm ith , H ick s a nd Brek er wer e th e ea rly leaders a t th e sta rt . th en Brek er started to m ake h is m ov e b y pa ssing Holley. th en Smith by th e third lap . Brek er sta rted to pull away. whi le a fant astic duel for seco nd (t he fin al tr an sfer sp ot ) d evel oped between Smith a nd H olley. The tw o rider s di ced back and forth throughout th e who le moro - th ey swa p pe d po sitio ns II times durin g th e eigh t lap race. W i th less than a lap to g o , Smith got st uffed into the ha yba les by Kell er, who wa s fo llowing fourth . Breker took th e win ahead o f H olley. Mains As th e pack ro u n de d th e fir st turn a t th e sta rt o f th e fi rst 250cc m a in, it wa s Lechien o n his works H onda o u t in from with Burnworth a nd Wa rd l l , ~ hOI o n h is tracks . However , during th e first laps, Bu rn wo rt h dropped back to fifth, leav in g the fir st four positions Lech ien , Ward . Glover a nd Brek er. Ho n da riders H a n na h a nd O'Mara had bad starts - H an na h was l -lth, whi le O' Mara was' Ii th. By th e third la p . the top four r id ers became fairl y spread apart . while Bu rn wo rth , Bo wen . j oh nson . Storbeck. Barn ell . Stacy a n d Keylon were bunch ed u p . Du r in g th e si x th lap o f the 12-la p ra ce. Lech ie n got hun g up in a ru t a nd d ro p ped his mou n t, H e qu ickl y p icked up h is bike a nd con tinu ed , hut Ward had ca ught up to wi thi n inches of Lechi en . H owever, Lechien went inro o verdrive a nd sta rt ed pulling away fro m Wa rd , aga in. Near the e nd o f th e race, th e top fo ur riders were still spread apart: Lechien, Glover, Brek er, j o hnson . T hen followed Bowen a nd Burn wo rt h . With two la p s to go. Ward go t s tu ck in a deep groove an d lo st fou r p o siti on s. At th e fini sh . it was Lech ien , Gl ov er . Brek er, joh nson. Bowen , Ward , Burnworth a nd H a nnah. For th e th ird time of th e ni gh t. Lech ien capt u red the hol esh ot a t th e beg inn in g o f th e second m ain moto , Suzu ki ri ders Keh oe a n d Burn worth fo llo wed cl o sel y. but Keh oe cras hed befo re the end o f the first lap a n d G lo ver, w ho wa s in fourth. ran int o him . But Gl over ca me ou t o f it o kay a nd h ad co n tro l o f second by the s ta rt o f la p tw o . Burnwo rth. j ohnson . War d, H annah , Whit in g , O 'M ara a nd Kin g foll owed Glov er. By th e third lap. Lechien enjoyed a hu ge lead - a bo u t fou r seco nds a hea d o f Gl o ver . who had a few bikel en grhs o n Ward . j ohnson sta rt ed to pressu re Ward . whi le Hann ah was a few seco nds hehind j ohnson. So on after , j ohnson bl ew by Ward fo r third, but Ward stayed cl ose afte rward s. A few la p s la ter . Wa rd ret aliat ed a nd re too k thi rd a way fro m j ohn son . From this p oint o n , th in g s se ttled do w n w ith Lech ien wa y o u t in from . G lo ver seco nd a nd Wa rd thi rd . j oh n son fo llowed Ward close lv in fourth but t: , \ , • .1. . I ~ . I " t } 1 25cc S upport m ai n At th e start of the 125cc S u p port mai n . Ka wasa ki ri d ers Tyson Vohla nd and Todd Ca mpbe ll go t th e jump o ff the ga te. H o wever , Ca mpbell . w ho was o n the o utside. cu t a cross the pack and took out Vo h la nd . who was i n the cen ter . Campbell clipped Vo hl and 's fro n t wheel. a nd Vo h la nd wen t down hard . Vo h land re-en tered th e race bu t without a fron t fender and bad ly bent handl e. bars. As the field rou n de d th e firs t turn . Ka wasaki r ide r Bill v Fr ank h ad th e lead fo llowed by S u;u ki 's Mike H ea lev. In third a n d fourth wer e S u zu k i 's Bobby Moore a nd Kawasaki -m ounted Bader Manneh. Healey cl osed grou nd o n Fra n k as th e ra ce progressed a nd sta rte d lo ok in g for a way a ro u n d Fr ank. T he S u zu ki r ider m ade a m ov e in th e st u t ter bumps. go t o u t of shape. a lm o st looped it, but s till ma naged to pass Fra n k. Frank stayed close fo r a co u p le o f la p s unril h e dropped h is bike in a r u t. H e sa ved seco nd p lace. bu t lost va luable seco nds 10 H eal ey. H eal ey sell led down and ro de conservatively to the fi n is h to take h is seco nd 125cc Sup port w in in a row . Fr ank to ok secon d a head o f Mo ore. , Saturday: 250cc Qualifiers Wh itin g . H o lley a nd Ki ng warm ed thin g s u p a t the start o f th e first qua lifier Sa turday n ight with a heat ed bailie for th e lea d througho ut th e m oro . Whiting sto le th e h ol esh ot, but H oll ey and King wer e in cl o se pursuit, Kell er foll owed in fourth. Du rin g th e seco n d lap . H oll e y stuffed hi s Yamaha in sid e o f Whitin g in a fast r ight turn and to ok th e lead . H owever. Wh iting sta yed close 10 H oll ey a nd th rea tened 10 p ass in eve ry turn . King. o n th e o ther hand. was app lying pressure on Whitin g. whil e Kell er d ogged th e T eam Tamm pil ot , For th e remainder o f th e race. th e four wer e never m ore than a bikelen gth a pa rt. H olley h eld for th e win . a head o f Wh iting . Kin g a n d Kell er. Keh o e pu t his fact ory Suzu k i int o the lead at th e sta rt o f the second qua lifier JUSt ahead o f Brek er, Ba rn ell. Bu rn wo rt h a nd Husq va r na 's Da n n y LaPo rt e. Keh o e hel d o n to h is lead for th e next two la p s, then h is front wh eel wa sh ed o ut in a g roove a n d h e crashed . T his gave th e lead 10 Ba rnell. w ho had just passed hi s team m a te. Brek er. At th e halfway mark. it wa s Barnell. Brek er , Bu rnworth 'a nd La Porte. La.Porte, wh o hasn 't had much luck th ro ug h the firs t three su percross ro u nds. picked up h is pace a nd ca ught up 10 Bu rn wo rt h . But .it was"roo la te - Ba rne ll to ok the Will a h ea d of Br eker , B u rn w o rth a nd La Porte. The thi rd qua lifier fea tu red th e best ra ce o f the wee ke nd - a fa n tastic d o gfight between Bo wen a n d H annah. At the start, th ough, it was O 'M ara who took th e hol csh ot , but he qu ickl y d ro p ped ba ck 10 fifth a fter ge lli ng pas sed by Lec h ie n . Lech ien led for three la p s before crash ing in a turn . T h is g a ve th e lead 10 Bo wen w h o was chased by H annah . T he duel sta rted a t th e halfwa y mark with H annah tr ying 10 stu ff his H onda under Bowen in th e tu rn s, b UI Bowen would j ust sla m th e d o o r sh u t o n h im. H owever , Ha n na h d idn't g ive up a nd zapped Bo wen in a wide turn . Th e cro wd was o n its fee t as Bo wen st a yed g l ued to H anna h 's rear fender. It was H annah 's turn to CUt off Bowen. W ith o ne-a nd -a -half laps 10 go. Bo wen pull ed up a lo ngs ide of H an nah in th e stu tter bumps. used th e o u tside lin e in th e followi ng turn a n d passed Ha n na h back. H a nnah ga ve chase d u r in g the last la p b ut co u ld n ' t ge t by. O ' Mara fini sh ed third a head o f Cli nt H a rd ic k a nd Lec h ien , Gl ov er gra b bed the ea r ly lead in t he fourth qualifi er a n d q uick ly gained a few seconds o n j ohnson. Ward was in ninth . th en he rammed in to a d o wned ri de r in a rut a nd d rop ped back 10 a lmos t last, Gl over m aintained h is adva ntage o ver j ohnso n a nd Ward a t th e fin ish. Semi f inals Lechien easily led fr om sta n to fin ish in the first sem i-q ua lifier , but most o f th e anion took p la ce for third position. With Lechi en way o u t in front. Yamaha rider Dannv St orbeck held firm co n tro l of seco'n d, while Smith, Kenn y Keylon a n d H ardi ck foug h t ov er thi rd . Dur in g the second lap , Sm ith a nd St orbeck co llided i n th e st u tte r bumps - Sm i th we n t o ff th e track wh il e Storbeck crashed a nd got pin ned unde r hi s Ya m a ha . Both rider s re-entered the race bu t were o ut of co ntention wi th th e leaders. T h is 21

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