Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Britain 's Da v e Thorpe is chased by Ro n Lechien (1 6), Georglts J o be (21 and Leif Persso n (9 ) at the start of the first moto. leading both rn otos from sta rt to finish a nd beating Yam aha's Rick John son. 500cc GP David Bailey finally puttogethertwo fine rides t o capture the USGP win. A collapsed rear wheel cost him a probable w in last year. .HI World Championship Series: Round 8 500CC Baile~ smokes 'em at Carlsbad By Nate Rauba CARLSAD, CA, J UNE 30 "Nothing cou ld have gone any better," said H o n da 's David Ba iley after winning both motos of the N issan Uni ted Sta tes Grand P rix of Motocross at Carlsbad R acewa y in Carlsbad, California. Bailey came from fifth to claim th e lead halfway through th e first mota, then led most of th e 14 seco nd round after a brief battle with Yamaha 's Broc Gl over, wh o was di squalified for riding backwards on th e tra ck aft er cra sh ing. Europeans Georges Jobe and David Thorpe tied for seco nd place points, eac h ea rning 30 fo r th e da y. Thorpe's 4-2 fi n ishes ena bled h im 10 pic k up II poi nts on rival And re Malherbe, who had an o ff day, fin ish in g with a 6-7 tall y and 19cham p ion sh ip p oints. American Grand Prix co ntender Danny "Ma goo " Chandl er encou n tered mech anical trou bles and failed 10 sco re an y p o ints. In th e firs t mot o hi s KTM 's front disc brake lock ed on , a nd a broken shoc k side lined h im in th e second round. In th e 250cc Support cla ss H onda's J ohnny O 'M ara had a perfect da y, follow ed . In th e th ird turn, both Bailey a nd Gl over sa nd wiched Thorpe and went by with Bail ey taking the lead. Glover pulled in behind just ahead of Thorpe. Yamaha support ' Glover posted th e fast est qualifyrider Scott Manning, Liles, Kurt ing time in th e morning a n d wa s at Ni coll and Fisher. . th e Iroru o f th e pack to th e first turn , " I knew I had to stay in front of but it was Honda 's Eri c Geboers, Bro c for at least a couple of laps to Thorpe a nd Jobe leading out of th e throw him off ," .said Bail ey. Bailey's 1800 left-hander , Glover slid out a nd lead onl y lasied a short time before d idn 't ge t going until h e was nearl y , Glover go t by onla ptwo ..Not wantlast. H onda 's Ron Lechien passed in g to wear himself ou t worrying ' th e three Europeans on th e first lap a bo u t Gl over, Bailey didn 't put up a n d qui ckl y o pe ned up a good lead. much o f a figh t wh en Gl over m ade Lechien led for th e next two laps h is m ove on th e do wn h ill. :'1 tried to before goin g down on th e third cirstay wi thin - fo ur or five seco nds of cu it, bruising his shou lder a nd endhim ," said Ba iley. "I kn ew tha t if I ing hi s day. T ho rpe took over th e was there at th e end o f.the race I'd be lead and had Jobe in his shadow, cl ose en o ug h . t ~ p u t on a charge: whil e Ge boe rs wa s a few seconds h opefull y, I'd have more reserve than . back in third just a hea d of Bail ey, Broc since he p u t o u t a lot o f energy Yamah a' s Leif Persson , and Malherbe, to mak e . th e in credibl e co me bac k, G lo ver gOI on th e gas afte r hi s sp ill in and it had 10 tak e its loll on h is bod y." , the first turn a nd moved into ninth . After foll ow ing Gl over for the next On the next la p Ba iley go t by Ceboers, ,fo u r la ps. Ba iley got a break wh en , whi le G lover m ade hi s wa y to sixth , Gl over went down in a corner. Gl over O UI front, J o be clu ng to T horpe in a recovered in' time to keep second ahea d batt le tha t wo u ld rage for the n ext o f T horpe, wh o h adjust broken clear several laps. Bai ley closed in o n thi s o f Fish er wh en the latter a lso fell in a ba ttl e and, o n lap seven, tried to ove rturn . j o be . Ni co ll a n d Li les went by la ke J o be. J o be woul d hav e none of it as Fisher gOI goi ng aga in j ust' a hea d ' a nd sh u t Bailey o ff while co ntin u ing o f Manning . Two l aps lat er Glover to pressu re Thorpe for th e lead. At cras hed hard whi le chasi ng Bail ey, m id -m ot o, J obe fin all y look th e lead lo sing hi s posi tion to T horpe a n d . fro m Thorpe, a nd Bailey al so went Jobe a s he slow ly gOI up. Bailey wa s by a short time lat er. Gl over was in left with a huge lead over th e Europearl s, while G lo ver had to co nten d fourth a nd closing, while H onda's Mike Fish er held fifth in front o f , with Lil es a nd Fish er for th e fourth Malherb e and Geboers. posit ion. At th e halfway mark. Gl over Bailey pu t th e h eat o n J o be. th en pi cked up hi s p ace an d moved a way p assed him a nd went into fir st on lap from Liles but was stil l wa y behind 12. Gl over m oved in on Thorpe a n d J obe. U p .Iro ru B a i ley enjoyed a h ealthv lead - ove r 30 seco nds - o n look th ird a co u p leof la ps lat er, th en p roce eded to reel in a nd lak e seco nd ' secon d' p lace T horpe . fro m j obe. With o n ly a few laps Bail ey com inued to stretch h is lead remain ing, Gl over was abo u t 10 secin th e seco nd half of th e race, a nd o nds behind Bail ey but co u ldn 't close Thorpemai n tained a io seco nd cus h the gap befor e th e fini sh. Bailey too k ion 'o ver j obe, Back in' eig ht h , Mal the chec kered flag with a co m forta ble herbe began clos ing on _Ni coll an d lea d ove r G lover, wh o fin ish ed sevpassed him o n lap 16. Fro m th en on eral seco nds a hea d of J obe. Thorpe th e order rema ined Bail ey with a huge lead over T horpe , j obe. Glover, ca me ac ross fourth, well ahead o f Liles, Geb oers, Malher be a n d Nicoll. Fisher. Malherbe, Geb oers, Persson, Bill y Liles, (who cras hed ea r ly in th e Following th e ra ce, Gl ov er was race),and Gr eg Zitterk opf ro u nded out protest ed by H onda o f Europe's Steve th e to p 10. Whitlock for ridi ng 'o n th e track backwa rd s, wh en he restarted his bike T horpe nail ed th e h ol eshot a t th e sta rt of m oto two as Bail ey a nd Gl over, • •••,!f!«;r. hj s seco nd cras h . G lover was

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