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/126819
(Above) Ron Lechien sailed to his third supercross victory of the year in Orlando, Florida. (Below) Jeff Ward (2 ) leads in points by only one . Larry Brooks put an end to Eddie Warren's three-race win streak in the AMA Sopereross Series: Roond8 Orlando Lechlen's starry night By Tom Kolnowski ORLANDO, FL, APR. 27 Honda's Ro n Lechien was clearly the star of the show at the 3rd Annual H o n da/ Mill er H igh Life Su p ercross of the Sou th in Orlando Stadium, where h e turned in a stellar 1-1 performance to earn his third . . hi WIn of the serres, Lee len , who scored his first career Super- . . a r Ian d 0 cross wi n In 6 . In 1983 • led every inch of the way in th e first main event moto, then sailed past a fallen Broc Glover en route 10 th e second rnoto wi n. Ya ma ha 's Keith Bow en p roved his ca reer-best secq n,d _..?~vf~al l Ji~is ~ , at th e April 20 Houston Su pe rcross was n o flu ke, turning th e tri ck again via a pair of second pl ace fin is hes. Bowen's tea m ma te, Ri ck Johnson, scored 4-3 10 round out th e victor y podium trio. The reigning Supercro ss cha m p, Honda 's Johnn y O'Mara , finished fourth ahead o f teammat e Bob Hannah - an impressive performance for Hannah in hi s fir st ride bac k after a brok en left wrist. I,' , .Y ~ma,~ a ' s, 9 10"i~r and Kawasaki 's 125cc Pro-Am class, For Brooks, it's his first w in of the series. J eff Ward - a lo ng with many ot her heavyweights - too k th eir share of spills and fin ished sixth and seventh, respectively. Ward, the series point leader going in, heads to the Dallas round wit h the narrowest possible cushion over G lover - one point 174 10 173. Lechien, while still third in the standings, pulled within a handfu l of points of the leaders, carrying 169 points. And only two points separate fourth from fifth ; O 'Mara ha s 160 points 10 J ohnson 's l5R. Kawasaki T eam Green's Eddi e Warren saw hi s winning strea k in the l25 cc Pro-Am class sto p ped at three a t th e hands o f Honda Support rider Larry Brooks. Brooks scoo ped up th e lead in th e final a fter a slo wer rider crashed in front of lead er Warren , th en mar ch ed o mo th e win. Warren nail ed second. A sta r-kissed ni ght a nd tempera tures in th e low 80s were just the ticket bring a health y turnout o f spe caters into Orlando Stadium (fo rmerly known as the T angerine Bowl ). An esti ma ted 32,000 were o n hand. Heat s Lap times on th e John Savitski designed and built track - which was laid out in the shape of a " nested" U - wer e just under a full minute. Johnson, David Bail ey and Lechien turned the quickest laps in practice at - 58.5. 58.9 and 59.2 seconds, respectivel y. Most called the track a very techn ical one; o ne misc ue and the rid.. was o ften over" the ha y bal es. er . .. ~ ~ ( .. . . In the first of four eig ht -lap hea ts, Hannah was off and runn ing showing no signs of slow ing down while dea ling with a still-healing wrist. Husqvarna 's Micky Dymon d kep t the pressure on Hannah in the first four laps, then Kawasaki's Goa t Breker wedged himself in between Hannah and Dymond. In the closing laps. Team Tarnm's Alan King snuck past Dymond, and at the finish the order wa s Hannah, Breker, King and Dymond, while Floridian Kevin Foley cla im ed fourth but would have 10 ride the semi s for a chance at the fina ls. Honda 's Bailey coo ked off the start in th e second heat with Bowen . Suzuki 's Scott Burnworth and MotoX Fox -supported Ri ck Ryan tucked in beh ind. Bowen pulled a lo ngside Bailey time aft er time on th e first lap but was unabl e 10 get a ro u nd. On lap two . however , Bowen got his break when Bailey took a sp ill; Bowen look over a nd led th e rest of th e wa y, while Bail ey qui ckl y regrouped . saved second and fini sh ed th ere. Burnworth took third ahead of Brian Myerscough, with Ryan topping Northgate Honda 's Tom Carson for fifth . "I'm feeling rea l strong," said Bowen, "but I was surprised how quick ly Ba iley came back at me. He got pretty close in the end." Johnson and O'Mara came off the line almost as one in the third hea t, wit h Hannah Racing Products-backed J eff Hicks running th ird over Betten co u rt 's Honda's Jo Jo Keller. A pileu p at the en d o f tJ:t.~ start ing straight-