Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

- (Above) David Bailey overshot this turn twice and crashed in it once wh ile leading the first mota main. (Below) Eddie Warren won the 125cc Pro -Am. Ron Lech ien (6 ), Broc Glover, Billy Liles (7) and Micky Dymond fly over a double j ump four abreast. Liles and Dymond crashed seconds later. pl erely off bal ance. and I co u ld n ' t ge t m y [oat up 10 th e sh iftlever in time and [ell over. " Ward inherited a h ealthy-size lead a nd went o n 10 win th e ra ce ahead o f Bo we n , Bail ey , J ohn son , Kin g , Lechi en , Burn worth a nd O 'M ara . Th e seco n d m ot a h ol esh ot went 10 O 'Ma ra o n ly in ch es a hea d o f Ba iley, Burnworth, J ohnson, Barnell, Breker a n d King; thi s time, tho ugh, it wa s Bail ey wh o cras h ed on th e first lap in the exact same tu rn wh ere he had prob lems tw ice before. Both O 'M ara and Bailey went off the double before th e tu rn , but Bail ey co u ld n' t slo w down in time a nd rammed th ro ugh the ha ybal es again. H e re-entered th e race n ear th e ba ck o f th e pack. " Trn never go in g to let J ohn (Sa vins ki.r he builder o f th e track ) bu ild a turn lik e th at agai n ," sai d Ba iley humorousl y. " I just ca n' t go arou n d th at turn (la ugh ter). J ohnn y a nd I got a lillie too close th ere, a n d I panicked . It was kinda m y fault; we just got real close, but I wouldn' t have been ab le to sto p an ywa y." By the end o f th e seco nd la p. O 'Ma ra had devel oped a h uge lead , wh ile Burn worth, Johnson, Barnell , Brek er a n d Kin g [o ugh t tooth and nail [or mos t of th e race. Then Ward got in o n th e bail ie a nd made it loo k easy by passing Kin g , J o h n so n and th en Bu rn worth wit h two laps 10 go . H ow ever, whi le War d wa s moving up, so was Ba rn ell . Ba rn ell had control o f seco nd wit h Wa rd brea thing dow n h is bac k. Bo wen was a lso on the gas, pass ing Kin g, J ohnson . and ' Burnworth. Bu t J oh nso n reta liated short ly after . mak ing rhe zop rive O' Ma ra , Ba rn ell , Ward , Joh nso n a nd Bowen wi th one-a nd-a- ha lf la ps to go. Wit h O 'Mara way o u t in front , Barnell h ad a few bikelengths o n Wa rd and looked 10 hav e seco nd pl ace all wr apped up, but h e ca me 10 a sudden ha lt a fter a sect io n o f whoops. " Mud got stuck in my rear brak e and locked u p ," sai d Barne tt. " I h ad 10 sto p an d ge t th e mud out." Wh ile Barnell was kicking h is brak e peda l asse m bly, a lmost half th e pa ck cru ised by. At th e fini sh it was a very happy O'Mara takig th e win [allowed by Ward , J ohnson, Bowen , Kin g . Burnworth. Brek er a nd G lover. " It reall y felt good," said O 'M ar a. " I ca n ' t tell yo u h ow good it feel s to win the mot o . It 's a lmos t as good as win n in g a ra ce right n ow . H opefull y th is will ge t me o u t of my lillie slu m p th at I'm in an d give me a Iirt le m ore co n fide nce . I wa s pretty upset a bo u t th at fir st moto , because I went down in the first turn , a nd it just didn 't seem [a ir ; my luck h as been going so bad, but it made me rea llv want 10 win th at seco nd mota. I wanted 10 get th e holeshot and show 'em th at I won the cha m p ions h ip, and th at I still have it. " " In th e seco nd m01O,1 saw J ohnny o u t front , a nd I got stuc k arou nd rid ers," sai d Ward. " I go t h it a few tim es, so I was try ing not 10 go down. I co u ld see everyo ne in front o f me, a nd I didn 't ca re wh o th ey were. I did n' t wa nt 10 follow an d m y m omen tum picked u p. Wh en I go t in to second, J o h n ny was too far gone, so I wasn't worried a bo u t h im; I' m sure he wa sn ' t worried about me, either. H e rod e reall y well tonight. " " I was rea l happy with m y sta rts." said Johnson a fter pi cking up fourth overall, " bu t in the first m oto, I was reall y unhappy with my [arks o n this right tra ck . so my arms pumped up reall y bad . Also , I wasn' t aggressive at a ll. I was pretty much rid ing like a pansy. Everyo ne just kept passing me. I wa s go ing th e o p p osi te o f m y usual rid ing sty le - I usuall y get bad starts and work forw ard , now I get good sta rts a n d work back." In th e pi ts a very disappo int ed Gl over was unwrapping m any layer s o f tape aro u nd his wri st and kn ee. "It's a co m bina tio n o f having so man y stu p id injuries and not gelling en ough time 10 p ractice be[are th e race ," said a dejected G lov er . " I was reall y pr ep a red go ing int o the Atlanta Nationals, an d aft er I broke m y wrist , I didn 't rid e for three weeks, th en I tr ied to ride H angt own , an d I ro de m ed iocre. Then I hurt my kn ee right a fte r H an gr own . the n I 'v e been screwed up for two weeks a fter that." " I feel good," sa id Barnell . " bu t I h ad bad lu ck a ll n ight. I won m y qua li fier, but a fter that, it was all dow n hi ll. I was fo urt h in the first mot o , th en Bro c crashed, a nd I landed right on top of h im , th en I had seco nd in th e bag , but . . ." 1 25cc Pro-Am , In the first I25cc Pro-Am qua li fier , Ma rk Crozier (H a n), Suzuki's Bo bby Moore and Suzuki rider Drey Dirks battled it o u t ea rly in th e race, th en Dirks bailed hard over so me j u m ps purring him out [or th e evening. Crozier and Moore pulled a wa y [rpm th e rest ol th e pack, wh ile Moore tri ed to Slav close. But at th e finish it was Crozier ta king th e win. fo llowed by Moore. Bille y Wh it ley (Ya m ) a nd H onda 's La rr y Brook s. A huge first-turn pi le-u p robbed m any riders a cha nce to make th e ma in in th e second qualifi er . o ne o f whi ch was Suzu ki's Mike H eal ey. Hea ley re-entered th e race bu t cra shed aga in near th e end . Enjoying a very co m fo rta ble lead wa s Kaw a saki rid er Eddie Warren . Warren easi ly took th e wi n ah ead of Rod ney Barr (Kaw), Bart S h if le t t (S u z) a n d Carr oll Rich ardson (Ka w), 125cc main H onda -m ounted Fred ;\ n d rews gra bbed the ho leshot and led for a lmost ha lf a lap befor e ge ll ing pa ssed by Warr en . In th ird foll ow ed Bill y Frank a nd Barr . Moore drop ped o u t o f co ntention a fter crash ing in the w hoo ps . Meanwhil e, Wa rren jumped o ut to a five-second lea d over Bar r , who had j ust passed Andr ews. and stayed the re th e who le race . At th e finish, it was Wa rren tak in g his third consecu tive Pro- Am wi n. Iolowed bv the Barrl Andrews duel whi ch Ba rr bare ly won , • Results 25Occ: 1. Jeff Ward (Kaw) 1-2 ; 2. Kei th Bowen (Vam) 2 · 4 ; 3. Johnny O'Mara (Han ) B-1 ; 4 . Ricky Joh nson IYam )4-4; 5. Alan King IKa w ) 5 · 5; 6. Davi d Bai ley (Han ) 3 -1 0 ; 7. Scott Burnworth (SUl) 7· 7; B. Goat Breker 10 -8 ; 9 , Ron Lechien (Han ) 6 ·9 ; 10 . Broc Glover (Yam ) 12 - 10 ; 11 . Mark Barn ett (Kaw ) 11 ·9; 12. Sco ot er Staffor d (Vamll0-12; 13. Andy Stacy (Kaw) 1 5·13; 14 . J im Ho ll ey (Vam ) 16 - 14 ; 15 . BIlly Li les (Kawl 13 - 19; 16 . Erik Kehoe (SUl) 17 - 16 ; 17 . Alley Sema r (Yam ) 19 · 15 ; 18 . Brian Myers cou gh (SulI 14 ·20; 19 . JoJo Ke ller (Ha n) 18 ·1 7; 20. Micky Dymo nd (Hus ) 20-1 B. POIN T STANO ING : 1. Jeff Ward (16 0); 2 . Brae Glover (158 1 3. Ron Lechien (1441; 4 . J oh nn y ; ; O 'Mara ( 14 21 5. Rick Johnson (1 3B); 6 , M ark Barnett (Kaw); 7 . Scott Burnwort h (11 (0; B. Keith Bow e n (102); 9 . Goat Breker (8 21; 10. (TIE) A lan King /Bob Hannah (80) . 125cc PRO-AM ; 1. Eddie Wa rren IKaw); 2. Rod ney Bar r (Kaw); 3 . Fred Andrews (Hon]: 4 . Raymond Sommo (Kaw ); 5 . Jeff Glass (Hon); 6. Mark Croz ie r (Han) ; 7. 8i lly Frank (Kaw); B. Larry 8rooks (Han); 9. Bi ll y WhItley (Vam); 10 . Craig Cano y (Kawl; 11 , Brian Manley (Hon); 12. J ason Up shaw (Kaw); 13 . Tylor M arcell (Kaw); 14 . Trampas Park er (Kaw); 15. Carroll Richardson IKa w) ; 16 . Bobby Moore (Su z); 17 . Bart S hif lett (Suz); 18 . Dam on M ino r (Hon); 19. Brian Abe rn athy (Hon); 20. Dav id Coombs (KTM) . 9

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