a:
w
~
~
:::E
..J
'"
Vl
o
o
l-
J:
0-
ll")
00
O"l
~
to
...c::
U
M
('lj
~
J im Tarantino (531 took the overall in the 125cc Pro class with a 2-1 tally. Billy Frank (73) won the first moto but crashed in the second.
' M C/ S k o a l Bandits Golden State
C
Nationals: Round 7
Tarantino, Leisk,
Larson s~eep
Golden State
finale
By Kit ,Palmer
LAKE MADERA, CA, FEB. 23
South African N a tion a l Champion Jim Tarantino, Australia's 250cc Na tio nal Champion
Jeff L eisk and Phil L arson were all P ro
winners at the eighth an d final ro u n d of Continental Motosport Club /Skoal
Ba ndits' Golden Sta te Nationals
in Lake Madera. However, of
those three riders, only one of
them can claim being a 1985 Golden
rider P h il
Larson. Larson, as well as Yamaha
rider J im Holley and Suzuki's A.J .
Whiting have clinched Golden State
championships in their respective
classes: Whiting in the 125s, Holley
in the 250s and La rson in the 500cc
class.
After the official results were tallied following last week's round in
Hollister , California, Whiting h ad
clinched the I25cc Pro class and didn 't
make an appearance today a t Lake
Madera, since he raced in the Atlanta
(Georgia) supercross the night before.
Like Whiting, Holley competed in
the Atlanta supercross, placed 12th
and flew in for the Golden State race
the same morning. Holley went into
today's race with a commanding
points lead over Kawasaki 's Jeff Ward,
StaLe~ham.E~I1-Honda
10
who also flew in from Atlanta on the
same flight as Holley. All that Holley
had to do to claim the 250cc Golden
State Championship was to at least
finish either mOlDS - which he did.
Larson, too, had a co mfo rta ble
points lead in the 500cc class going
into today's final over Scott Sargent,
and easily clinched the championship by winning both motos.
In the 80cc Expert class, Honda
rider Kyle Lewis clinched their champ ionship after winning the first rnoto.
In the second round, though, Lewis
crashed while pursuing moto leader
Colin Karcher and finished fifth. This
gav e the day's overall to Karcher,
who went 2-1.
Kawasaki rider Bill y Fran k almost
took the win in today's 125cc Pro
class, but a second moto crash spoiled
his chance. Frank came from a
seventh-place start to win the first
moto, while Tarantino took second.
However, during the second round
whi le challenging for the lead, Frank
crashed , which put the pressure off
Tarantino, who was in fou rt h at the
time. All that Tara ntino had to do
was place third in the moto and the
overall wou ld be his; instead, Tarantino wo n . His 2-1 tally was more than
enough to beat Kawasaki rider Bader
Manneh 's 4ยท2 score.
.
Leisk - from Australia - became
the first foreign rider ever to win a
rnoto in a Golden State event after
winning the first moto. He topped
that record by becoming the first foreign rider ever to win an overall following his second moto second. Iro nically, another foreigner - Canada's
Ross Pederson - claimed second
overall with a 2-3 combo.
In th e 500cc class, Larson had to
overcome stiff competition by Yamaha
rid er Jim Ellis to take the overall.
Lars on won both motos, while Ellis
fini shed second each o u tin g.
125cc Pro
Suzu ki's Bobby Moore stole th e
h ol esh ot at th e sta rt of th e first 125cc
Pro moto but was quickl y passed by
Mann eh. At th e end of the first la p , it
was Manneh , Moore, Kawasaki rider
T yson Vohland. Honda pilot Wi lliam Surratt, Frank and Yamaha's
Eddie Hicks.
A lap later, Vohland slipped by
Moore on th e inside in a turn and
started to reel-in the leader , Manneh.
Vohland soon caught up to Manneh,
and th e two diced for the lead for only
a lap, before Vohland dropped back a
few bikelengths, While things were
getting close up front , Frank was
busy inching his way up through the
pack; by the fourth lap, he had claimed
third, while Suzuki rider Drey Dircks,
Brian Man ley and Tarantino follo wed.
At the h a lfwa y point, Frank had
moved into second and started closing in on Marineh. A lap later, Frank
zapped Manneh and took over the
lead, wh ile Tarantino slipped past
Dircks for third and was narrowing
the gap between Manneh and h imself. Two laps from the finish , Tarantino passed Manneh but had a lot of
ground to make up to catch Frank
with little time left. With one lap to
go, tho ug h, Tarantino started breathing heavily down Frank's back, but
the Kawasaki pilot stayed tough and
won the moto, Tarantino finished
second ahead of Dircks, Ma nneh,
Honda rider Ma n ley, Pederson; Voh land and Surra tt.
Vohland captured the hol esh ot in
the second moto just ahead o f Manneh, Frank, Surratt and Tarantino.
By the start of the second lap, Frank
had taken over the seco nd spot a nd
started to p ressure Voh land. Fo r th e
next four laps, the first three riders
were engaged in a very tigh t dogfigh t.
About four seconds behind was Tarantino and Surratt.
During the fifth lap, Frank came
off a double jump and overshot the
following left turn . Trying to ma ke
the turn, Frank buried his front wheel
in the powdery berm and crashed . He
qu ickly picked up his bike, but the
motor h ad stalled, causing him to
lose five positions. This gave second
to Manneh, who was passed two laps
la ter bv Tarantino. Tarantino then
passed 'the lead er , Voh land, all in the
same move. With o ne lap togo , Vohla nd cras hed, g iving second a nd third
to Mann eh a nd Pederso n. At the fin ish , it was Tarantino, Manneh , Pederson, Vohland, Suzuki 's Ross Wageman and Frank.
250cc Pro
Even though Ward's chances to
catc h Holley in the points standings
were very remote, if no t impossible,
Ward said he wanted to make today's
rac e to get in some last-minute practice on his works 250 in p repa ra tion
for next week's nationa ls in Gai nsville, Georgia. In the first 250cc moto,
Ward got about half-a-race of practice before the swingarm nut came
loose, causing him to slow. However,
up u n til that time, Ward ha d a to ugh
time ge tt ing around Leisk and Pederson . At the start - after two restarts
because of a faulty starting gate - it
was Wageman with the h ol eshot
inches in front of Leisk, Pederson,
Holley, Sweden's Leif Niclasson and
Ward. By the third lap , Wageman
had dropped back to fo urth , ma king
the top three Leisk, Holley, Pederso n
and Ward.
For the ne xt three laps, Ho lley,
Pederson and Ward were within in, ches of each other, while Leisk enjoyed
a comfortable lead. During the fourth
go-'round, Pederso n dove underneath
Holley in a turn, taking over second,
while Ward did the same soon after.
