Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

r-:----;--;=---;--;--;--;--''----;---;--;-;:-- - - ; - - - - -'----;:-;-- - - - ;--;7'1 l:l w w a: X w a: > '" en o b :x: "- l.C") • 00 . - o» Thomson (left) and Kalas (right) cool off after the ROC. Eddie Hicks . ' (below) ~ omi nated both motos to win the 125cc.Stock Pro class. Lowell Thomson (top) put togethe a 2- ; -.2 ride to win the Race of Cham~ pions. over Shaun Kalas (below) . Both riders made t he last mota a thriller. NMA World Mini GP Thomson triples LasVegQs in' By Rex Reese LAS VEGAS , NV, APR. 26-28 Kawasaki Team G reen rider Lowell Thomson top ped a busy weekend of racing by taking three important class champions h ip win s at th e l -l rhannual N a tional Motosport Association/Kawasa ki World Mini , Grand Prix. By riding co n sis tent ly throughout the three-day event, Thomson was 16 a ble to clinch th e cro wns in th e 83cc Stock and Modifi ed Expe rt classes with second p la ce run -off scores. And in the Ra ce- of Champions, T ho mso n claimed victory with a 2-1-2 a fter an clec tr ify ing' fin a l rn o t o du el with Sh aun Kalas, wh o finished second a vera II. Thomson co u ld n' t win th em a ll, how ever. The Idaho-bred Mini pi lot fin ished th ird overa ll in th e 105cc class, behind Ri ck Sim me r (Han) a nd class winner Vin ce De Van e (Yam ). As in yea rs pa st, thi s ed itio n o f th e Wor ld Min i dr ew a 'very la rge field of en tra n ts from across th e co u nt ry a nd a ro und th e wo rld . Co m pe ting for top ho nors in th e Race o f Cha m pions was Rodney H illmer from Canada , New Zealander Darryl Atkins, and Lee .Hogan o f Au stral ia . Hi llmer post ed the best score o f th e for eign contingent in rhe RO C with 10th overa ll. T h is yea r's World Mini did have one very big d ifferen ce. For the first lime since its creation, the Wo rld Mini was held outside Ca lifornia; the cl osures of Saddle ba ck Park and Ind ian Dunes forced the NMA to move th e event 10 Las Vegas Motocros s Park , locat ed about 20 miles so u theas t of downtown Las Vegas. Compared to the traditiona l Saddleback tra ck, th e Las Vegas course Iea lures sand and a super cross-typ e layout, com p lete wi th stu tter bumps and double jumps. Its tight configuration was responsible for lots of eq ~a lly tight, and exci ting, racing. Race of Champions The top 15 Mini riders in th ecountry are in vited by th e NMA 10 part icipat e in each yea r' s ROC, an d the lineu p for thi s year's event promised a good battle to see who wou ld be the best Mini rider in the business. Besides Thomson" other co ntenders for top bra ss included Kalas, De Vane, Scott Brown, Colin Karcher, and dark horse Dennis Steph enson, from Omaha, Nebraska. As per ROC procedure, 15 ident ica l Kaw as aki KX80s wer e prepped for th e race, and th e rid er s would draw a number for th e machi ne he would rid e. J ust to keep everybod y on th e sam e footing, th e bik d a re switched around for eac h of the three mot os; the riders keep their assigned numbers. . Brown got I he hol eshot in th e first moto, followed by Stephenson, Kar- che r a nd De Vane: Brown held the lead for th e next co u p le of laps a nd even built up a respectable margin over second pl ace. The only change during th e next lap was De Vane moving into third wit h T homson fourt h and Kal a s fifth. Lap five saw De Vane and T homso n pass Brown for the first a nd second place spot s; Kalas then took th ird 10 knock Brown back another notch . For th e rest of the mota, Thomson made severa l threa ts o n De Vane for the lea d, who held on successfu lly to the end. At the finish it was De Vane, T homson, Kalas and Brown. The start of th e second mota once again had Brown in th e point positi on, aga in pursu ed by Stephenson. T h is lime, by the end of th e firs t lap, Stephenson was leading , tai led by Bro wn, De Vane a nd Thomson. O n th e second la p , Kal a s moved up to tak e th e lead, a nd Brown went down in th e back section o f the track, putting him far back in th e pack; the cha n ge , however, put Thomson in seco nd p lace a nd in position for a no the r a ttem pt a t stea lin g the lead. Over th e next few lap s, T homson bega n creep in g up on Kal os.J ook in g for an opportunity to pass. Ka las soon began feeling th e heat from Thomson an d started tak in g defensive measures agains t hi s rival. As Thomson tried to cu t in on Kalas on a corner, Kalas cu t bac k, stopping th e (C o ntin ued to page 18 )

• Cover