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/126815
~ o .-. .-. .... ~ 0.. -< Honda 's Ron Lechien barely worked up a sweat on his way to cla im the 125cc class win; however. Suzuki's George Holland still leads in points. J Jeff Ward captured his second consecutive 250cc Natio nal w i n after dominating both motos at Hangtown. Rick Johnson f in ishe d second . AMA/Skoal Bandits Nationals: RoundZ Lechien lands RangtownMX victory By Kit Pa lmer SAC RAMENTO, CA . MAR. 3 1 "It was easy!" said Team Honda's Ron Lechien after claiming the l 25cc class' victory at AMA/Skoal Ba n dits' Nationals at the P ra irie City ORV Pa r k in Sacramento, Californi a , a lso kn own as th e H angtown Classi c. Le chien a nd his Ch ri s H ain es-tun ed RCl25 H onda d ominat ed both motos 16 by lead in g from sta rt to finish desp it e nu rsi ng a pa in full y bu ised heel th at he suffered a week ago d ur ing a loca l mot ocr oss. " It bo th ered mea litt le bit o u t th ere." said Lechien , "bu t I just had 10 turn m y head a nd forget abo ut it. Basicall y I feel good, a nd m y bike is working real goad now. H opefull y, I' m n ot going to break an ymore headsta ys (a broken h eadstay deprived Lechi en th e I25cc win a t th e Nati onal MX o pe ne r in Gainesville, Fl orida . lour weeks ago)." Also joining Le chi en in th e win ner 's circle were T eam Kawasaki's J eff Ward a n d Team Ya m a h a ' s Bro c G lov er who took th e 250cc and 500cc Pro class wins. Both Ward an d Glover won inC ainesvi lle: Ward won both 250cc rno tos to da y, wh il e G lov er traded moto wins with cu rre n t 500cc National Champion T ea m H onda 's David Bail ey. " T h is win rea lly helps m y co n fiden ce," said Ward . " In Gainesvill e I won both mot os , wh ich is good, bu t yo u never know for su re if yo u just got lu ck y or wh a t. But wh en yo u pull two wins o ff in a ro w, it rea lly h elps." Lech ien was n't th e o n lv rider rod a v co mpeting in pa i n : " I don 't wa n t to ma ke a nv excuses ," said Gl over. " he (Ba iley) Just p lainly beat me in the firs t mo to, but I'm having a ha rd time ridin g wi th a bro ken wri st. " Wel l. Gl o ver di dn'r le t a broken wrist (susta ined a few , weeks ago while practicing)slow him an y in th e seco nd mot a ; G lo ver led from sta rt to fini sh and held off a late-m ot e co mebac k by Ba il ey. 125cc Lechien wa sted no time ju m ping 10 the front o f th e pack at the sta rt of th e fir st l2 5cc moto: he wa s closel y foll ow ed by a nothe r Ga inesv ille win ner G eorge H olland o f Team Suzuki , Ka wa sa ki rider Edd ie Warr en ca me a ro u nd in third a hea d o f S uzu ki's Mike H eal ey and an oth er Suzuki rid er Drev Dirks, Works Kaw asaki rider Mark Barn ett was 13th . By the en d o f th e fir st lap, Le chi en had alread y o pe ne d u p a co n side ra ble lead o ver Holl and . who was busy tryin g to sh ak e Warren . H oll and' s teammat e, Erik Kehoe, go t involv ed in th e ac tion by passin g H ealey a nd Dirks for fourth . Three lap s int o th e race , Lechi en 's . lea d had grow n 10 eight seco nds. an d H oll a nd a nd Wa rren .were sti ll going a t it as stro ng.asever. H o wever, two laps later. Wa rren released hi s tigh t gri p o n H oll and , as the Suzuki pi lot sta rt ed to creep away. The to p four riders: Lechien , H ol land , Warren and Keh oe bega n to sp read o u t as Ya ma ha 's Kei th Bow en mad e his presence known , (after a ninth-p la ce start ) by pressurin g Keh oe. Once Bowen started hounding Kehoe. th e Suzuki pilot pi cked up hi s pace a nd th e tw o sta rted ga ining o n Warren . oo n a fte r, it was a three-way battl e between Warren, , Keh o e a n d Bowen fo r third , but Warren stayed tough by mana gin g to keep a few bikelen gths betw een himse lf a nd Kehoe, As th e race drew 10 a close. th e Warr en /Keh oe /Bowen di ce had carried up 10 H olland . who wa s 10 seco nds beh ind Lech ien . Onl y five seco nds separa ted H olland . Warren . Keh oe a nd Bo wen, while Barn ett had mo ved up to sixth but wa s no th reat to Bowen . Lechi en eas ily took th e wi n, while Holland held o nto seco nd. Although th e battl e was close. no o ne co u ld mak e a pas s - Wa rr en rook th ird a hea d o f Keh oe, Bow en, Barnett (a bo u t 10 seco nds behind ), Tyso n Vohland. Gu y Cooper , Hea ley, Dirks, Ri ck Ryan and Larry Brook s. Bro oks a nd hi s Honda stol e th e seco nd mot o holesh ot ahead of Keh oe, H olland. Bill y Fr ank a nd Lechi en, A few turns lat er . o n th e two -an d-a -h alf mile track. Keh oe slipped in to th e lead bu t go t o u t of shape com ing o u t o f a t urn a t th e bott om of a n uph ill letti ng Lech ien sh oot by. By the end of the first lap. it was Lech ien , Keh oe , Brooks, H olland , Bo wen , Fra n k. Wa rren , Vohl and a nd H eal ev, Ba rnett was 10th . . Kehoe m anaged to stay clo se 10 Lechien for a bo ut a lap befor e the I-Ionda ride r sta rted 10 p u ll a way no ticeabl y. Keh oe held a slim lead o ver Brooks. H o lla n d a nd Bowen, wh o were d icing Iiercl y. Bow en started breathing h eavil y down H olland 's back a nd even tua lly dove in sid e of th e Suzuki rid er in a turn for th e pa ss. Th en Bow en cru ised by Brook s a nd held co ntro l o f third pl ace. After Bowen, a gan g fight ov er fourth p lace to ok sha pe between Ho lla nd , Brooks, Warren , H eal ey and Barnett. Barnett was th e on e to wat ch , th ough as h e bu ll ied his way through th e battl e. Bu t it was Hea ley who made th e firs t mov e by passing Warren thro ug h a w ho op-d e-don section ; Bro ok s fell ba ck 10 six th. Barnett found h is wav around Warren. th en double-j umped by Bro oks a nd set a fter H ealey. Healey held his ground for a whil e, th en . wh en exit ing a turn, he sudden ly slo wed a nd gra bbed a.t hj s baqk in pain leujng B~rnf !t,by: H eal ey cam e 10 a stop and fell off hi s bi ke. He was lat er carr ied of f th e track and tak en to th e hosp ital for exa m inatio n . At th is poi III (six la p s from th e fin ish ) Le chi en had a n in e seco nd lead o ver Kehoe wh o was fo llowed bv Bo wen . Ho lia nd . Barnett. Brooks a nd Warren . Barnett reeled-in and passed H o lland th en set a fte r Bo wen . Up until two laps from th e fin ish. Barnett, Bow en and Holland wer e within bikelengths o f eac h other . battling for thi rd . But o n th e fin al lap. Bowen crashe d lettin g Holland by. At th e finish . it wa s L ech ien in IOtal co m mand a head o f Kehoe. Barn ett , H olla nd. Bowen . Wa rr en . Vohland a nd Brooks. " I j us t co u ld n't get goi ng tod ay," sa id cla ss po in ts lead er H oll and . " I d id get goi ng a littl e bit tow ard s th e end of th e race. bu t it wa s too la te. In th e seco nd mot o , I go t a bad sta rt a n d go t stuck beh ind th is g uy - he wa s CUll in g me off th e wh ol e race . a nd by the tim e I go t by him , I was just a ll scre we d up - i t m ess ed up my timin g , 25 0 c c At the sta rt o f th e firs t 250cc mor o. it wa s th e hol esh ot mast er a t work aga in - SC Oll Burnworth a nd his Iacto rv Suzu ki nail ed th e hol esh ot jus t ~ head of H on d a ' s J ohnn y O ';\[ a ra . Ward , Ka wa sak i ' s Goa t Breker, r urren I 250cc Nati onal Cha mp io n R ick J oh ns on and facto ry Husq varn a ri der Mi ck y Dym ond. During the first la p . Brek er went aro und J o hn son a t th e top o f th e uphill , but the Team Ya m ah a rider , J ohnson. reta lia ted two tu rn s lat er . T he n Wa rd made h is firs t move by di ving pas t O 'M ara , th en he sta rted 10 reel in Burnwo rth . ' Durin g th e seco nd lap. Burnworth a nd Ward head ed into a sha r p right o ff-ca mber turn wh er e th e Suzuki ride r went 100 wid e givin g Ward a clear sh ot a t th e lead. Begi nning th e third lap. it wa s Ward , Burnworth. O'l\lar a . J ohn s on. Br e ker a n d Dym ond, For th e next two laps, Burnworth kept steady ta bs o n Wa rd then started to drop back a bit. whil e Joh nson slip pe d by O' Mara. Mean wh il e, H onda 's Bob Hannah wa s working up to eighth . By th e fifth la p , Suzuk i-mounr ed Br ia n Mvers cough had worked his way up 10 th e sevent h spot. J ohnso n sta rted pushing Bu rn worth ver y hard a t thi s point a nd pass ed th e Suzuki p ilot wh en Bu rnworth wa shed out in a n off ca m ber ri ght turn . Burnworth recover ed in thirdbut with O:~~~ra in c1p§e P}I! ;