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/126827
en .~ w Z a: < <0 ; Z < a: <0 > <0 en ... 0 0 l!") ::c c, 00 ~ ~ ~ 0<") >- ~ ~ ~ -; Mike Larson sails to victory in the 125cc Pro class in the second round of the Gold Cup at Clark's Branch; Larson also won the Open class. R,.inier/ Y,.".,.h,. Go'd CUp: Round 2 Larsons leap to Clark~s Branch • wins By Brian Barnes ROSEB URG. OR, J UN E 9 Mike and Phil Larson of Bremerton, aboard three Cliff's Cycle Centet/Hi-Point/Marushin/Scott USA-backed Kawasakis, rode to wins in the second day of this weekend's Go ld C up doubl eheader a t C la rk's Branch Cycle Park nea r Roseb urg , O regon . Mike Larson , th e defe ndi ng 38 250cc and Open cha mp, scored win s in the l 25cc a nd O pen classes wh ile bro th er Phil put h is 250cc bik e in to the winner 's circle af ter flyin g in from San Diego Sa turday a fternoon . A fairl y sma ll O pen Pro class lin ed up for moto number one a nd wh en th e ga te dropped, Nampa , Ida ho 's Joe Wr ight pu t h is CR5 00 up front with Yam aha support 's Sco tt T yler and Mike Larson on h is brother 's KX500 in to w. Wr i ~ht look ed good up front as he held o n to th e lead for th e fir st two laps over Larson, Tim Michl itsch (Yamaha su p port / Ma lco lm Sm ith/Scott/ND ) a nd Cal ifornia' s Ron LaPointe aboard a Yam aha, while Tyler 's first moto ended with a jam med front brake. Larson too k over th e lead on lap number three and fro m th at point o n it was clear wh o was in com ma nd . After Michl it sch go t by Wright th e to p six was pretty m uch set for the remainder o f th e race, with Larson leadi ng Michl itsch, Wright, La Po inte , Co u ntry Yam aha 's J ere Meeker an d An dy T udor (K&M KT M/Mill er Prod ucts) across the finish line for the ch eckered flag. The secon d round fou nd Michli tsch on th e gas a nd u p front on the h ole- •• . shot wi th La rso n, Meeker, T ud or and La Po inte foll owing , but j us t as in th e first moto, Larson got pas t the rider th at wa s lea di ng o n lap three a nd cru ised o n to th e.win and a weekend sweep of th e O pen cla ss. Mich litsch look ed good for th e seco n d overall position in both the moto and for th e o vera ll wh il e LaPointe made hi s trek from down so u th pay-orr by taking third overa ll via hi s 4-3 performance. Meeker , Wri ght a nd Tudor rounded out th e top six. Th e 250cc cla ss h ad a number of tough competitor s entered a nd as th e pack cleared the long uphill stra igh t a nd ri ght corner it was a Yamaha frei ght train up front . Mike Williams (Yama ha NW / O ' Nea l), Michlitsch, T yler a nd Cor y Klaudt (Ma rus h in / Scott/Malc olm Sm ith/Yamaha ) were the top four , but, Michlitsch soo n was past Will iams a nd into th e lead. Ty ler a nd Klaud t follow ed suit by gett ing pa st William s with Phil Larso n on th e mo ve in fourth. Michlitsch an d T yler the n began wh at was p rob abl y th e best ra ce of the day as th e two swapped spots many times for eight of th e 12 laps durin g the mot a. Both rid ers were rid in g so intense ly tha t Lar son was n' t ga in in g a n y gro un d wh at soever. Wright, Rod Keller (Honda of Ro seburg / Answer), Kla ud t, a nd Ans wer rider Je rr Chapman filled the next four spo ts on lap eigh t, a n d when Ty ler came aro u nd Phil Larson (62) prepares to pass Joe Wright en route to his win in the 250cc Pro class; Larson took the overall with a 3-1 scores. with th e lead on that lap it would be for good . Tyler took the well d eserved win with Michl it sch a sol id seco nd after a grea t race. Larson , Wright, Kell er a nd Chapman wer e third th rough sixth. T he seco n d mot a sta rt was a wild affair as T yler. Larson, Wright, Klaudt an d Stan Lund a ll ended up o n th e ground after-a n unreal cras h. Michlitsch , Rob Burhart (L yn n wo o d Yamaha/Answer ). Chapman , Steve Oster (Ra in ier Honda/Hi-Point) a nd Scott Will iams (Yama ha NW ) were first th rough fifth a fter th e fir st lap with Mi chlitsch quickl y putting grou nd bet ween himself a nd Burkhart , wh o was looking great in second. Oster. Cha pman a nd Keller occ u p ied th e next three spots. Williams a nd S uzu ki mounted Rick Bozarth held thei r o wn in si xth a nd seventh. The fourth lap found Larson's hard aggress ive riding style (an d th e fact he wa s th e o n ly 250 clear in g a fairl y g nar ly set o f doubl es) was su ited wel lto Roseburg 's h ill y hi gh speed track a n d as he pi cked orr rider a fter rider was runnin g fifth by lap six. The top four rem ained the same for th ose si x laps but o n lap seven, Lar son had ca ug h t th e pa ck a nd wh en Michlitsch laid it down o n lap eigh t Larso n had moved pa st a ll four an d wa s on hi s way to th e win. Oster a nd Chapman both got pa st Burkhart a nd took over seco nd and third but Lar son wa s gone and took th e win. Oster and Chapman looked strong for th e seco nd a nd third positions as did Burkhart in fourth. Michlitsch remounted to take fifth with Kell er a nd Wright sixth a nd seventh. The 125cc class o n both da ys of th e weekend definitely had the most action as the top 15 spots were a virt ua l dogfight. Yamaha 's Jim Anderson (MX Fox/Lynnwood Yamaha/Marushin ) looked to be a shoe in for the first moto vict or y after getting th e h ol esh ot o ver T odd Hoover (FWCC Kaw a saki ), Id ah o 's Corey Barton (Ka was a k i) a n d Honda rider J eff So wa rds . Anderson was like a cru ise mi ssil e o u t front but a fte r seven la p s in the lead the rear brak e rod bolt ca me loos e an d Anderson turned over th e lead to Mik e Larson who mot or ed past a nd went o n to win . Anderson did h is best to hold on for the rest of th e race, but, both Ma rvin Wa ldo (En umclaw Kawa sak i) and Ost er were a ble to get past. Waldo 's pa ss came on that sa me set of gnarly doubles as he cleared Anderson and went on to tak e secon d . Oster, Anderson and H oover led Klaudt, Sowards . a nd Barton across the line for the seco nd through eig h th positions.. The secon d moto was to be Larson's all the way as he motored around the co urse with a n occa sional wheeli e a n d on to his second victory of the day . Oster turned in a n o ther excellent ride for second with Waldo, Rod Keller, Klaudt a n d Hoover third through six th. An excellent turnout of Am at eur ra cers from a ll over th e Northwest a n d even Canada and California showed up to do battle a lso a nd with th e track in top shape, riders were treated to grea t cond it ions. T wo team Yam aha ride rs occ u p ied th e to p two overa ll spo ts in th e Mini A cla ss. O 'N eal's Paul Winn scor ed both wins wh ile Post Fa lls, Idaho 's Brian Thompson went on to tak e bo th runner -up fin ished even with a cas t o n hi s wr ist. Team Green 's j eff Dail y (PJ IISinsa lo) a n d T ara Harrison were third and fourth with Doug Burton (Yam) fifth . Sa u g us, Californi a 's Terry Swa nso n mad e th e most of hi s trip by takin g the Mini B class with victo ries in both motos a board hi s Yam aha backed machine. Monte Spalding, a lso on a Yamaha, took both second place finish es while little Louis Aaron (Yam) scored third with h is 6-3 tally. T eam Green 's Larry Ward was untouchable in th e l25 ccA class during both mot os. After taking both holesho ts Ward motored aw ay a nd left everybody to race for second. Kent Kawasaki 's Oren Bray ,' who looked good a ll weeken d , took th e runnerup spo t with a 2-2 score whil e Canadi an rider Steve Fr iesen wa s third and John Sowards, a boa rd a Honda, looked good taking fourth. The I25cc a nd 250cc B classes will definitely be two of the most hotly co ntested during th e series. In l25cc B J as on Norton took hi s FWCC Kawasaki to the ove ra ll win posting a strong two rna to sweep . An other KX ri der, Curt Cunningham , was th e seco nd overa ll fini sh er with a 3-2 sco re. Ed Portz (Suz), J err Peck (KalGard /Scott) Lynw ood Yamaha 's Garre tt Pow ers and Honda rider Mark H a mak er fill ed in the nex t fou r spo ts but th e or der co u ld have gone a ny number ofways considering the num-