Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Phil Larson (28) and Rusty Ott (344) bid for the second moto 500cc holeshot. Two turns later, both riders collided and crashed out of contention. CMC/Sko al B andi t s Golden State Nationals: R o u n d 6 Byan!, Ward!, Smith nail Hollister wins By Kit Palmer H OLLIST ER , CA, FE B. 17 For Kawasaki's Rick 'R ya n and Yamaha 's Rodney Smith, it was their first appearance of the 1985 Continental Motosport Club/ Skoal Bandit's Nationals, and they made their presence kn o wn with overa ll wi ns in the I25cc a nd 500cc P ro classes. Kaw asaki 's J eff Ward was th e o n ly factory rider w ho .8 showed u p a t H ollister, and he did n 't ha ve mu ch trou ble clai mi ng the 250cc P ro class wi n . Ryan , w ho ro de for Suzuki last yea r, is n ow a member o f Tea m Kawasak i a nd eas i ly wo n th e first 125cc m ot a by leadi ng fro m start to fini sh . After a so -so start in th e seco nd m ot a , R yan worked hi s wa y u p to second, wh ich wa s en o ugh to cl inc h th e ove ra ll win . Suzu ki support rider Ru ss Wa geman crossed th e fini sh line first in th e second m oto with a sta rt-to -fin ish win . T here wa sn 't much su rprise wh en Ward went h ome wi th firs t place laurel s in th e 250cc cl ass - he eas ily won both m otos but had a slig h t enco u ntel' with Yamaha rid er J im H oll ey ea rly in th e seco nd mota that gave the good n um ber o f specta tors something 10 cheer abo u t. . Even though Ho nda rider and 500cc points leader, Ph il Larso n, was favo red 10 wi n iod a y' s 500cc P ro class, it was Sm ith a nd h is two-vea ro ld YZ490 w ho wo n bot h m oi o s. Smith said that th e Ya m aha h e was rid in g was hi s d ad 's " co w-tra iler," a nd it was very stock excep t for a n Ohl in s rea r shock. '" lik e it a lo t." sa id Smi th. " II wo rk s reall y good ." T he tr ack - whi ch m any rid er s co ns ide red th e best ve t o f th e series - was la id o u t o ver ; o ll ing a nd very g reen hills a nd became ver y rough as th e day wore o n. It even featured a stee p downhill stre tch th at wo uld hav e m ade end uro rid ers p ro ud . The gen er al d escri pt ion o f th e hill wa s simpl y - " g na r ly." 1 25cc Pro I • R yan bl a sted · io {he ·fro nt o f · the I pack a t th e sta rt of th e fir st 125cc P ro 1I10to but was clo scly Io ll ow ed by So uth Africa Na tiona l Champion J im Tarantino, Honda -mounted Wi lli am Surratt , Ka wasa ki riders Tvson Voh la nd a nd Bill y Frank a nd Honda p ilot Shau n Kal os. During the firs t few la ps, R yan an d hi s Ka wa saki dev eloped a fo ur seco nd lea d , w h i le Tara nt ino jumped to a bo u t a th ree seco nd cush io n over S urratt . A la p lat er, Fra nk sli p ped past Su rra tt but co u ld n ' t g ai n a ny di st an ce o n S u zu k i's Ta ra n t i no. l\l eanwh il e, series po ints leader, A.J. Wh it in g a nd h is Suzuk i had a terri ble start a nd was busy ma ki ng h is way u p t hro ugh th e fiel d . Dur in g the third lap, Wh it in g was in eig ht h a nd had fif th two la ps later. At rhis point, the top [ive riders were Rya n . Tara n tino, Fra n k, Vohlan d a nd W h iting . H a lfw a y thro ugh th e ra ce, R yan 's lead had grown to a com fortable margin , w h ile Voh la nd a nd Whi ting we re ba nging han dl e ba rs in every turn , b u t Voh land sta yed ro ugh . W h il ing even tua ll y fou nd a wa y by Vohla nd fo ur laps from the end; then, Whit ing set h is sigh ts o n Frank , w ho wa s o n ly a co u p le o f seconds a hea d of th e Suzu ki rider; Li ke Vohland , Frank m ade thi ngs di ffic u lt for Whit in g by gell ing o n th e gas a nd slam mi ng the d oo rs sh ut in a ll th e turns. But Whi ting never gave up a nd p assed Fra n k th rough a n o ffca m ber tu rn a nd sell led into second . R yan enjoyed a hug e and unchal len ged lead as he cru ised past th e checkered fla g a head o f T a rantino , w ho a lso had a co m fo rta ble di stance o ver Whiting . Fr ank , Vohl and, Surratt a n d Suzuki-m ounted Doug Dubach foll owed. " It went real good ," sa id R yan , " b u t ' h ad a lillie troubl e with m y shoc k. It d idn 't rea lly bother m e until th e end o f th e race, so it didn' t reall y matter." A fa u lty sta rt ing ga te ca use d a restart I Qr t he sqoond 125GO 11101.0 ;. ~hi s time it wa s Suzuki's \ Vagem a n who n a iled th e holeshot just ah ead of Vo h la nd, Smi th a nd Kawa sak i rider Bad er Manneh . Bv the end of the first lap, Smith had w~rked up to seco nd, dropp ing Vo h la nd 10 third . After Vo h la nd fo ll ow ed Manneh . Suz u ki r id er Drev Dircks, Ya m ah a 's Ed die H ic ks, Ryan , a nd Fra n k. Up fro nt, Wa g em an s ur p r ised everyo ne by quickl y lea ving th e pa ck be h ind wh il e stre tc h ing hi s lead to a bo u t six seco nds o ver Sm it h. T hen Sm ith was repassed b y Vohland a nd Manneh. Soon after, Sm ith slo w lv d ropped off th e pace, wh ile Manneh slipped aro u nd Vohl and to take o ve r th e second spot. As th e m ot o prog ressed . l\Ia n ne h, Vohland , Ryan a nd Suzuki's Bobbv Moore were involved i n a ve ry clo~e bailie. Once agai n Whiting had a poor start but was quickly ma ki ng u p fo r it by ta ki ng sixt h after passi ng Dircks. O nce R ya n had worked his way th ro ugh the six rider clash, th e Ka wasaki pil o t sta rted to pu ll away a nd th en tried to ree l-in the leader, Wagem a n . With th e halfway sign o u t, Wag e· m an ha d a co mfortab le si x seco nd lead o ver R van , w ho wou ld sti ll take th e overa ll '~'it h a seco nd rnoto seco nd. H ow ev er. R yan s ta rted ga i n i n g grou nd eve r-sa-slig h tly o n Wagem an . But, as th e m ot a nea red th e end . it wa s a pparent Ryan was n 't gai ni n g enough gro u n d o n Wageman to win - abo ut four seconds sepa ra ted the tw o with tw o laps to go. Whiting was purring o n a good sho w by d icing with Frank o ver th e fourth posi tio n . In a n off- camber sw eeper turn , Frank and Whitin g collided, but Whiting m anaged to make th e pass. Ex actly a la p later, Whiting passed Manneh for th ird. At th e finish , it was a ver y happy Wagem an who took th e win a head o f Ryan , Whit in g , Manneh , Frank a nd T a ra n tin a . R ya n 's 1-2 score wa s m ore than enough to cap t u re t he o vera ll, while

• Cover