Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

lot o f little m istak es. I go t ahead, the n p u t o n a li ttl e exh i bi ti o n fo r a co uple of laps." G lo ver im med iate ly dropped a few seco nds beh in d Bailey, while Ea ton was sti ll in a tuss le with La Po rte. " I co u ld see Bailey a nd G lover gett ing away, ' sa id La Porte. " T h ey rea lly go for it righ t o ff the start. I m anaged to get a h ead of Eaton a nd pull ed o ut abo u t three seco n ds o n him , I decid ed there was no wa v I' d be a ble to ca tch th e leaders, so I stop pe d for a glass of water. Ea to n passed m e ba ck , but I co u ld n' t quite get him agai n befor e th e fi nish ." With two la ps left , Gl over found th e energ y to close th e ga p , " I was cru is ing for a few lap s," sa id Bailey, " a nd Broc began to close in , H e tried to pass and al most ma de i t stick a co uple of tim es. I got a way from him (a n d wo n ) bu t let me tell yo u , it was toug,l,l a nd ho t. I was tire d by th e end . Afte r Ba i lev an d Gl o ver a t the finish ca m e Eaton, La Porte, Mu rph y, Dunfee, H a rr ell a nd Lil es. " T hose g uys (Ba iley a n d G lov er ) go so fast in th e ear ly laps," said H arr ell wh o fin is hed th e day in eigh th o vera ll, " and do n ' t seem to back of £. I have to get in better. shape if I wa nt to stay wi th them a ll the way." 125 cc J eff Hicks (22) leads the start of the first 250cc moto just ahead of Danny Storbeck (34), class winner Jeff Ward (2) , Scott Burnworth (39) and Johnny O'Mara (behind Hicks). AMA National Championship MX Series: Round 5 Lechien, Ward and Bailey scorch Six Flags By Tom Kolnowski AT L ANT A. GA , J U N E 2 As temperatu res were soarin g into the upper 90s, Honda 's Ron L echienwent about his business of scorin g wins in both 125cc class motos at the 2nd Annual Six Flags Over Geo rgi a Na tio nal Mot ocro ss. ' L ec hilen a n d Kawasa ki s M ar k I Barnett push ed past Suzu ki 's Erik Keh oe a nd grabbed th e 8 . , fi rst .two spots m mo ta o ne, th en Lechien and Barn ett w~ rmed up to a nothe r re peat 1-2 show m th e seco nd m o ta . . " .. As th e ro!ler coa~ters m th e . th eme park co n u !l ued a lo ng th ei r merr y wa y" Lech len. wh eeled out . of th e p ark s gates w tt~ th e class pomt lead over fo rmer senes ~eade.r Keh oe, 217 to 194. Mt. Mo rn s wmner Keh oe n earl y co llapsed a fte r m ota o ne due to th e extreme h eat a nd didn't ride mota two . Kaw asaki 's J eff Ward was forced to take a ba ck sea t to Honda's J ohnny O 'M ara in th e o pe n ing moto of th e 250cc class, wi th O 'M ara a nd Ward leading Honda 's Bob H annah across th e finish line. Ward ca me back stron ge r in m ot a tw o to best H annah a nd O 'Mara, a nd put th e fini shing touches on h is fourth o vera ll win of the series . Wa rd stretched hi s lead o ver Yamaha 's R ick J ohnson - th e fourth overa ll fin isher - to 25 points. Wa'rd has 236 points to Johnso n 's 209. H ond a ' s David Ba il e y p u lle d a not he r six poi nts clo ser to 500ccdivision poi nt leader Broc Glover by posting a I- I score ove r the 2-2 of G lover, whi le H i-Paint-s upported Yama ha rider Eri c Eaton cooked to a 3-3 sco re, which ea rned h im third o v~ral l. At th~ halfwa y mark in .the series. Yamaha s G lover has 229 poin ts to def end ing ser ies champ Ba iley's 219.. T he Suzu ki!Art h ur Fulrner -sponso red event, held w ithin the co nfi nes o f th e am usemen t park, wa s wa tched by a n esti ma ted 6,000 spec tators. For m ost co mpe ti tors, th e event was a true test of en d ura nce due to a h ea t wave (th e thermometer touch ed 97 degr ees), hi gh hum id it y a nd a dusty co urse . 500cc As the first m ot o of th e afte rnoon left th e lin e, Eric Eaton, with David Bailey a n d Brae Gl over for co m pany, head ed th e pack . L ess th an a half lap in, h ow ever, Bailey was clearl y th e lead er with neme.lis Gl o ver runn ing a close seco nd . Eat on wa s kn ocked to third ahead of Bettenco urt's H onda o f Bridgewa ter , Massachusetts, ride r J o J o Kell er, Gear Ra cew ear's Greg Zitt erkopf, H o nda Su p port riderMike Fish er an d Yamah a Support rider Mark Murphy . " I was feeling good o u t th ere," sa id Bail ey. "1 tr ied no t to was te m y energ y, a nd I co u ld tell Bro c didn 't seem to ha ve a who le lot of aggres- sian. My stra tegy was to win but sti ll sa ve energ y for mota two ." Wh ile the Bail ey, G lo ver an d Eaton held th ei r res pecti ve positio ns for th e duration, th e th ree were anythi ng but close. By th e end o f th e seve n th o f wh at would turn o ut to be 16 la p s, Bail ey h ad stretched hi s lead to over 10 seco nds over Gl over, whi le Eaton 30 seco nds behind G lo ver. T he re we re a pa ir of ri ders o n th e m o ve beh ind the front th ree af ter . comi ng off th e line mid-pack : Ka wa sa ki's Billy Lil es a nd Husqvarna' s Dan n y L a Po rte, Liles, i n h is fir st ride back a fter surgery to co rrect a h ernia condi tion, was u p to fo urth by th e end o f lap nin e, with LaPort e pu lli n g into fifth ahead of Zi tterko p f, Ya ma ha Support rider Kevin Fo ley, Fis he r, V P Fuels -bac ked Ron Dun fee a nd H i -P o int z Sco t t USA- backed Todd H a rrell. At th e fin ish , win ner Bailey h ad nearl y a o ne-m in u te, 30-seco nd lead o ver G lo ver, with Eaton th ird ahead o f L iles a nd La Po rte, Murph y en ded h is charge in sixth a head of Du nfee, Fo ley, H arrell a nd Zitterko p£. . G lover wa s of f the line first in m ot a two , a nd it was Bai ley who was forced to pl ay foll ow- th e-lead er. " Broc . jum ped o u t th ere a nd p robabl y sa id to h im self, 'I' m goi ng to bea t this g uy .'." sai d Bail ey. " I kn ew I wou ld have to m ak e a charge - or lose." By the end o f lap five, Bailey was faced with a four-second defici t beh ind leader G love r, w ith Eat on a ga i n runn in g a d istant th ird, engaged in a battle wi th L arson Racing Enterp ri ses-ba cked Phil Larson. Murphy, H arrell a n d Fish er follow ed th e lead tri o , with LaPorte picking his way toward th e front. H eading into lap seven, Glover still maintained a four- to five-second advantage o ver Bail ey, while Eaton found himself in a battle ove r third with L aP ort e a fte r Lar son had dropped o u t. Murph y held fifth ahead of H arrell a nd Fish er. On la p n in e, Ba il ey fin ally got h is chance to ca tch Gl over. " I sta rte d to shave Broc's lead. ' sai d Ba iley, "and he may have had some trou ble with lapped ride rs. I pulled right u p beh ind him . a nd it seeme d like h e almost was going to let me by - he was ma ki ng a .. I • • T he start of th e first m o to bel onged to Eri k Keh oe, bu t o n ly after he narro w ly escaped a 'cra sh . " I ca me off th e line about th ird, " sai d Keh oe, " bu t as we ca me into th e left-h and sweeper, I kn ock ed the left side of the bars agai ns t o ne rider, the n at a bo ut th e sa me time kn ock ed th e right side agai ns t so meone else : th e tw o kn ocks so rt of bal an ced eac h o the r. Af ter th e firs t full lap , Kehoe had a tw o - s e c o n d c u s h i o n ove r R on Lechi en , with Mo to-X Fo x- bac ked Ri ck y Ryan third a hea d of Ma rk Barnett a n d Suzu ki's Bobby Moore. By th e en d of lap five, Yamaha 's Kei th Bo wen h ad worked h is way into th ird a head o f Barnett, wh ile Lechien was m o vin g in in lead er Keh oe, " Kehoe was goi ng good," sai d Lechien , "a n d th e track was sof t in so me ' spo ts in hard in o thers, Wh en yo u got back into th e trees, th e going wa s prett y slo w a nd it wa s rea lly h u m id . I waited him o u t. a n d he fina lly mad e a mistak e a n d I passed him (o n la p eig h t of the 16-la p m ot o), I pull ed a head an d rode m y o wn race from there." Bowen mad e hi s mov e to pass Keh oe o n la p nine, bu t it was not to be, " I was co m i ng do wn a hill ," said Bo wen, "a nd the engine sei zed just as I got a lo ngside Keh oe. T hat wa s it for me," In the re ma i ni ng laps, Barn ett wo rked his was aro und Kehoe to net seco nd , but Barnett finishe d nearlv 20 seco n ds behind w in ner Lech ien , foll owed by Keh oe, Suzu ki's G eorge H oll and, R van a nd Kawa sak i rider Mik e Bei er: Tea m G reen 's Edd ie Warren took sevent h after ge tti ng tan gl ed in a pile-up o n th e sta rt a nd co m ing o u t in last place. " I tried to win th e race in the early laps," said Keh oe, "a n d I wore my self o u t." Approximatel y 10minutes aft er th e fin ish, Keh oe began to vomit and was pu t in a n am bu la nc e. According to team m an ager P at Al exander, Keh oe was dehydra ted, but was treated a t th e track a nd soo n recovered . Alexa nde r d idn 't a llow Keh oe to ride th e fin al rnoto. Tragedy struck near the middle of th e m o ta w he n a spec ta to r wa s rep ortedl y hit by Mark C ro zier. The spectator wa s h ospitalized in serio us but g ua rded co n d itio n. Crozier lat er cras h ed in a separa te in cident and was treat ed for a broken a n kle, L echien was a t th e head o f the

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