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At the start of the single, 12-lap main, Jeff Ward (2 ) takes the holeshot, while Scott Burnworth (3 9) , Bob Hannah (25) and the rest follow.
AMA Supercross Series: Round 6
Hannah breeks
loose for
Daytona win
By Tom Kolnowski
DAYTONA BEACH , FL , MAR . 9
T eam Hond a 's Bob H a nnah watched from
behind as the leaders fell to the way side like
so many dom inos, then carved a fast lin e
around the ru bble a n d straigh t to th e checkered flag to win th e Hondasponsored Da yto na Supercross
over Kawasaki's J eff Ward a nd
H onda 's R on Lech ien.
" To me. Daytona is th e biggest
race in the world, a nd I just love wi nning itl" Hannah screamed from victory lane a t Da ytona Intern a tiona l
Speedway. a pl ace he is no stra nger
10, since he a lso won here in 1977 and
1983.
Ha nnah was in th e thi ck or th e
chase Irorn the very sta rt or th e single
l2-lap final moto, striving to catch
the two front runners - Ward a n d
H onda 's David Bailey. The tri o sta yed
in close fo rmari o n unti l lap seven,
when first Bailey a nd the n Ward
cras hed af ter getting snarled in lapped
riders. H annah circu m vented bo th
mi sh aps a n d lit erall y ran a way for
th e win o ver Ward, while Lech ien
jammed pa st Ba iley to tak e thi rd.
Bail ey fin ished fourth .
Yam aha 's Bro c Glover, riding wi th
a pa inful ch ip ped bo ne in hi s left
wrist, p laced fifth a head or Kawa sa ki's Mark Barnett a nd continues 10
head th e series point chase over Ward ,
147 poi nts to 135.
Heats
A 93-rider field was narrowed down
10 80 a fter a pai r or qualifier s wh ich wer e won by Kawasaki 's Bill y
Lil es a nd Team T arnrn's Mike Bei.e!,
respe ct ivel y. Thi s set the stage fo r
four 20-ri der heats.
Yamaha teammat es Gl over a n d
Ri ck J ohnson put o n a show in th e
first six -la p a ffair, runn in g side-byside ou t front as th e race entered la p
four, J ohnson got arou nd clea n Ior
the lead through a whooped sec tion
a nd pressed on Ior th e win , whi le
G lover took second - some 20 seconds
behi n d - a head or Li les, Yamaha
Su p port ride r Jim Holley and Ho nd a
pilo t J oe Waddi ngtort .
" I bumped in to a tire right af ter
Ricky got a ro un d me," sa id Gl over ,
"and m y root got ca ug h t. I'm a lso not
used to rid in g with tape wrapped
arou nd m y wri st a nd th e pain that
goes a lo ng wi th it." G love r in jured
his wris t in a pract ice session after th e
March 3 Gai nesvill e, Florida, Na tiona l.
John ny O 'M ara a nd Wa rd sq ua red
o rr in hea t two, wi th reigni ng series
cha mp O 'Ma ra keep in g the lead until
th e fin a l lap. Wa rd sai led a hea d of
O ' Ma ra over a do ub le jump a n d
ma de one last circuit for a clean win.
A tigh t second went 10 O 'Ma ra , wh ile
T u f Ra cing 's Tom Ri ce kept Bett enco u rt's Ho nd a 'sJo J o Kell er a t bay 10
tak e thi rd . Suzuki's A.J. Whi ting
picked o rr fifth over Floridia n J ohn
Co llins.
H eat three p roduced a nother good
match-u p, th is time between Lech ien
a nd Ba iley. Lechien managed to keep
th e upper ha n d Ior the lead th rough
la p four, while Bailey a p p lied co nsta nt pressure. ..I was p layin g it sa fe,
tr yin g n o t 10 ma ke a ny mi stak es,"
sa id Ba iley. " All it wo u ld 've taken 10
lose it a ll was one bad line."
Bail ey en ded up ta king th e corr ect
lines in the la st two laps a nd scooted
pas t Lech ien for th e win. "Lap pe rs
got in m y wa y, an d that was it ," said
Lech ien . " I' m g la d th at race is over;
it's h ot o u t th er e a nd I was burning
up." Suzuki' s Scott Burnworth rod e a
lo ne ly race to th ird a head of Kenn y
Keylon a n d Yamaha rid er Scott Mann in g.
Yamaha 's Keith Bowen jumped
out a nd set th e faste st hea t win in th e
last heat, to tall y im pervious to pressure from Barnett a nd Hannah. Han nah dial ed on th e power a nd jett ed
a hea d o r Barnett on lap rive a nd th e
pa ir remained 2-3 to th e finish . T eam
Tamm 's Alan Kin g cruised in Ior a
" sa fe" fou rth ove r team mat e Mike
Beier and Yamaha or Canada 's Dou g
Hoover.
Semis
Yama ha Support rider Danny Storbeck p u lled o u t a four-to-five-second
cush io n a n d led th e first semi over
Suzuki's Er ik Keh oe, a ga p Keh oe
began to slow ly chi p a way a t. By lap
rive o r th e six la ps, Keh oe wa s rid in g
the rear fender of Storbeck and p ushed
a head whi le head in g th rough an ess
turn . On th e last la p, Keh oe pu t five
seco nds o n Storbeck for the win ,
w h ile Dan H afner comp leted his ride
in th ird a head of Carlo Coen.
After dispensing with Guy Cooper
in the las t semi , j eff H icks went out
front a nd led th rough lap fo ur, while
Husqv arna 's Micky Dymond sliced
into second and started trimming
Hicks' lead. On lap five, Dymo nd
wa s close eno ug h to attem p t a pass,
a n d his bid - headin g over a double
ju mp - was spot-on. Dymond landed
in th e lead with yards to spare a nd left
H icks behind en route 10 th e win.
Cooper followed H icks home, wh ile
Yamaha rider Kevin Foley took fo urth .
Last Chance Qualifier
Yamaha of Ca na da's Serge Gregoi re h ook ed up an d left the o ther
rid ers in the Last Ch ance Qualifier ,
postin g a runa way win. Laban's Beer's
J eff Surwa ll an d Kaw asak i-mounted
Rick Rya n di ced during most o f the
five laps o ver seco nd spot, which
eventua lly fell to Surwall.
Final
As t he 40-r ide r pa ck sq ueezed
through th e sha rp left-h an der a t th e
en d o f th e sta rting ch u te, Ward was a t
th e front o f th e charge with Bailey,
Hannah , J ohnson, Bo wen , Lech ien
an d Barnett g iving chase as they
headed down the hea vil y-whooped
(Continued to page 10)
5
