Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

(Above) The startofthefirst 125cc moto: Lechien (6) , Bowen (14), Kehoe (16), Warren (801), Ho lland (27) and Barnett. A fe~ feet later, Kehoe bumped Warren's rear wheel and almost crashed. (Below left) Barnett stops f or a new clutch lever. (Below right) 125cc w inner, Lechien . cough and J oh nson were having an exciting duel. Myerscough held back Johnson for five laps, then stayed fairly close to Johnson to th e end. Up front , it was Ward's turn to fight back. Hannah held on to his lead for three laps, then Ward slipped by him and waved good-bye. After that, it was Ward' s race, bu t a ll eyes were focu sed on O 'Mara, wh o had to pass hi s teammat e, Hannah , in order to tak e th e overall . T eam tacti cs were not in effect, here. Although it go t close at th e end, Hannah didn 't let up and finish ed second to Ward. O 'Mara took third for second o vera ll, ahead of Johnson and Myerscough. 500cc Glover was un stoppable in th e first 500cc moto - he cha rged to th e front of the pack as soon as the starting gate hit th e ground. The factory Yamaha rider rounded the first coup le of turns way out in front of Ba iley and Honda rider JoJo Keller . After . the end of the first lap, Glover's lead ha d grown to about five seconds over Bailey, but everybody was waiting for the Honda pilot to boost it up and ree l-in G lover, like he's done so an y tim es in the pa st. How ever , Glover's lead was ext ending not dwindling. As a matter of fact , Glover was ga ining about two seco nds a lap o n Bai ley, who was enjoying a co mfort a ble lead over Kawasak i factory p ilot Bill y Liles. At th e halfway mark , Gl over's lead had extended 10 nearl y 14 seconds; then foll owed Bail ey, Lil es, Yamaha rider Mark Murphy, Keller, Kawasaki rider Phil Larson and Yamaha rider Eric Eaton, For the remainder of the race, things pretty much sta yed the same, but Glover crossed the finish line 30 seconds ahead of Bailey. MOIO two was , once again , all Glover's. He ran orr wit h the holeshot just ahead of Liles, Kell er and Ba il ey. A few laps la ter, Bailey had worked into third but picked up a flat rear tire in the p rocess. Ba iley mainta ined his posi tions for a few laps before pulling into the mech an ic's area to replace the whole rea r wheel. The p it stop took j ust over two mi nu tes and cost him one lap. From then on, G lover just cruised and took the win, way a head of Li les, who p laced second overall. Third went to H onda support rider Mike Fisher; then fo ll owed Kell er, Eaton and Yamaha rider Scott Manning. 125cc Lechien and his works Honda eas- ily sho t into th e first-mote lead, wh ile factory Suzuki rider A.J. Whiting, Kawa saki riders Eddie Warren and Ri cky Rya n , and Honda-supported Larry Brooks cha sed. Keho e tagged Warren 's rear wh eel a few feet orr th e gat e and came around th e fir st turn nea r the back of the pa ck . Lechien looked in complete co ntrol as he quickl y extended his lead . Whiting was riding sm oothl y, maintain in g hi s seco nd pl ace, while Warre n, Ryan , Brooks, H olland a nd Yamaha 's Keith Bowen fought closely. Keh oe, by thi s tim e had moved behi nd Bowen . At th e halfwa y po int, Ryan stuffed Warren in an o rr-camber turn , dropping Warren back a bo u t four positions , whil e both H olland and Kehoe moved up, from th en o n things p retty much rem ained th e sa me. At th e fin ish , it was Lechien wa y OUI in front followed by a trio of Team Suzuki riders: Whiting, Hol land and Kehoe. Ryan finish ed fifth ah ead of Brooks. After a second rnoto restart, Barnell, who had crashed out of the first moto, grabbed the early lead but was passed by Lech ien and Kehoe before the first lap was through. Bowen , who had crashed in the fir st turn, came around th e second turn in dead last bu t passed six riders a half-lap la ter. In fou rth p la ce was Suzuki support rider Bobby Moore, Holland, Kawasaki rider Do ug Du bach , Whi ting, Warren, Ryan and Honda rider Guy Cooper. Lechien jumped out to abou t a five-second lead ove r Kehoe, who . stayed about tha t dis tance back for much of the race . By the second la p , . Holland had slipped by Moore, then Whiting did the same two laps later. These positions remained the same for the next seven ?laps until Cooper I. , ',.. . . I 'I." ~ . j " moved into sixth; then Moor e fell in a n o ff-cam ber tu rn , droppin g 10 13th. With about five laps 10 go, a dogfi ght bet ween Holland a nd Barnett o ver third pl ace was in hi gh gear. Holland reeled-in Barnett a nd pa ssed him , th en Barnell tried to do th e same. However, H oll and sta yed tough and Barnell couldn 't find enough room 10 pa ss. Lechien eventuall y stre tched his lead slightly before crossin g th e ch eckered Ilag, ah ead of Kehoe, Hol land, Barnell and Whi ting. The battle for sixth came down 10 th e wire between Brooks and R ya n . In th e last turn , Rya n out- braked Broo ks a t the bottom of a dow n hill and slipped by, but Brooks cut inside when Rya n wen t wide, and then Broo ks won the drag race to th e checkered . • Results . 125 cc: 1. Ron Leehien (Hon) 1·1 ; 2. Erik Kehoe (Su.) 4-2 ; 3. George Holland (Su.) 3-3; 4. A.J . Whiling (Su.1 2· 5; 5. larry Brooks (Hon) 6- 7; 6. Rick Ryan (Kaw) 5· 8; 7. Keith Bowe n (Yam) 7· 9; 8. Guy Cooper (Hon) 11·16; 9. Mike Heelev (Su.) B· l 0; 10. Doug Dubach (Kaw) 9-12; 11. Mark Barnett (Kaw) 20-4; 12. Bobby Moore(Suz) 12·11 ; 13. Ray Sommo (Kew) 12·15; 14. Eddie Warren (Kaw) 16· 14; 15. Stacy Cook (Kaw ) 19·1 3; 16. Dan Newell (Hon) 1418; 17. Clay Hoenshell (Su. ) 18·16; 18. Jeff Frisz , (Hon) 13·21 : 19. Tim Buchl i (Yam) 17 ·19; 20 . Bruce Gatas (Hon) 15·22. 25Ooc: 1. Jeff Ward (Kaw) 3-1; 2. Johnny O'Mara (Hon) 1·3 : 3. Rick Johnson (Yam) 2-4; 4 . Bob Han nah (Hon) 5-2: 5. Brian Myerscough (Suz) 4·5 : 6. DannyStorbeck(Yam)6·6; 7.Jim Holley (Yam) 7·7 ; 8. James Mitchel (Hon) 9·9; 9. Jeff Hicka (Hon) 10·10; 10. Alley Semar (Yam) 12· 11; 11. Micky Dymond (Hus) 16·8; 12. Loch Namas (Honl 15-12; 13. Steven Burdett e (Yam) 14-14; 14. Scooter Staf · ford (Yam) 8· DNF: 15. John Shay (Yam) 19-13 ; 16. Chris Sunsterom (Han) 1' ·ONF; 17 . Gary OePi11o (Yam) 18·16; 18. Joe Wr ight (Hon) 13· DNF; 19. Steve Hendricka (Yam) 17·18; 20. Jeff Stevenson (Suz) 24-1 5. SOOcc: 1. Broc Glover (Yam) 1-1; 2. Bill y Ules (Kaw ) 3· 2; 3. JoJo Keller (Hon) 5-4 ; 4. David Bailey (Hon) 2-9; 5. M ike Fisher (Hon) 8-3; 6. Eric Ealon (Yam) 7-5; 7. Scott Manning (Yam) 10- 6; 8. Mark Murphy (Yam) 4- 15; 9. David McClain (Hon) 11· 8; 10. Todd Harr ell (Hon) 9-10; 11. Kevin Folley (Yam) 18-7; 12. Ron Dunfee (Hon) 14·11 ; 13. Terry Hobbs (Hon) 13·1 3; 14. Phil larson (Kaw) 6· 30; 15. Dave Newell (Kawl 12- 17; 16. David Mclean (Hon) 16· 16; 17. Greg Zitterkopf (Hon) 20- 12; 18. M ike Lerson (Kaw) DNF-14; 19. John Collins (Hon) 15-2 0; 20. Ed Arn et (Yam) 17-19 . POINT STANDINGS 12 5: 1. Ron l echien (26 7); 2. Erik Kehoe(234 ); 3. George Holl and (204) ; 4. Keith Bow en (150); 5. (TIE) Rick Ryanl AJ.W hit ing(148 ): 7. (TIE)Mark 8arnett l Guy Cooper (14 11 9 . Eddie Warr en (138); 10 . larry ; Brooks (122) . 250: 1. Jeff Ward (281); 2 .Johnny O'Mara (250): 3. Rick Johnson (249); 4 . Bob Hannah (224); 5. Jim Holley (15 9); 6.Jeff Hicks (149); 7. SCOllBurn wonh (147); B. Br ian Myerscough (146); 9. Danny Ster beck (111); 10 . Steve Burdett e tB3). 500: 1. Broc Glover (279 ); 2. David Bailey (253 ); 3. Eric Eaton (15B); 4 . Billy Lile s (147); 5. JoJo Keller (133); 6. Kevin Foley (119 ); 7. Mark M urphy (116); B. Scott Manning (lIS); 9. Todd Harrel (107) ; 10. M ike Fisher (105). .r i l C , j I), •• 1 J L i I ; 1 ) 11

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