Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

...... (A bov e) Rick Johnson easily won both 250cc motos, while Keith Bowen (14. below} chases Mark Barnett in the 125s. Ron Lec hien 's fifth win 0 1 the series gives him a commanding points lead in the 125cc class ove r Erik Kehoe. The ru n n ing order o n lap n in e read J ohnson over Ward (by nearly 10 seco n ds ), Storbeck , M yer scough , Hanna h and - af ter a ga p o f ov er 30 seco nds - Husq varna 's Micky Dymond , Yama ha Support rider Jim H oll ey a nd H onda 's johnny O'Mara. Ward trimmed winner Joh nson 's lead to approx ima tely five seconds by th e fini sh , with Storbeck holdin g o n for th ird a fter Myerscough had pu t the p ressure o n in th e la st three o f th e 13 laps. Hannah , Dymond, O 'Mara , Holley, H anna h Racin g Products' Jeff H icks and Burdet te ro u nded o u t the top 10. J ohnson sped o ff with th e lead a t th e drop o f th e ga te in moto two , whi le Yamaha-mounted Da ve H o lli s came ou t in second over Myersco ugh . O ' Mara , Ha nnah , Ward and Storbeck. After th e seco nd lap, J ohnson was aga in co m p letely cl ear o f th e pac k, whi le O ' Mara h ad m oved into second over Myerscough , H a n n ah . Holl is, Storbeck a nd H icks. Wa rd made up th e few bikelengths fourth-pl ace H annah had on him and made a success fu l pass for th e spo t on a downh ill j u m p , th en began to close o n Myerscough as th e race ente red lap four. Johnson had pu lled o u t to a fiveseco nd lead o ver O 'Mara bv th e sev ent h circui t, while Myersco ug h was hol din g h is own under born bardrnent from Ward . La ter in th e lap - as Myerscoug h a nd Ward traversed a set o f do uble jumps - Ward got a beuer drive off the first j ump a nd rocketed pas t to secure th ird . H o ll is had dropped off th e pace. With th at , th e o rder was set; J o hnson held a five- to six -second m argin over O 'M ara th ro ugh the finis h o n lap 13, with Ward fi ni sh ing th ird over Mverscough , Hannah , Storbec k and H icks. Ho lley, Nor rhgate Honda 's Tom Carson and H icks filled out th e top 10. " Rick (Joh nso n ) has been wondering if the problem ha s been himself, the bike or wha t," sai d J oh nso n 's -tu n er. C liff Lett, "and th is win g ives h im a real kick in th e pa nts . He needed to win tod ay to get some co n fidence back . He was on a special diet wi th n o fa ts, sugars or sa lts, a nd I ta lked h im into dropping it; wh ether or not th a t ma de the differen ce is difficu lt to say. I' m rea l proud o f h im ." " I' m ha ppy doing as well as I did," sa id Myerscough in regard to h is fourth-overa ll fini sh. " I want to keep p utting in good finishes in th e Na tio nals to ge t a cha nce at some hea lth y sp o nso rshi p fo r next year." 500cc T he m o rning practice sessio ns proved harmful for Honda 's David Ba il ey and Ka wa sa ki's Bill y Liles. " I was heading down th e ski j urn p dow nh ill and got out of shape," sai d Ba iley. " I tan gled with the fence a nd m y left wrist took mos t of th e blow." Bailey elec ted to ride the fir st moto, as did Lil es, wh o had a lso cra shed hard a nd injured hi s right sh oulder. Broc Glover, Eri c Eaton , T exan Ron Dunfee, Yamaha Support's SCOll Marm in g , And y Stac y and J o J o Keller form ed th e top six as the firs t mot o wa s laun ch ed . Sta CY was back with Husqvarn a a fte r 'h is Tea m Tarnrn ride went awry, whi le Kell er was m ounted o n a H on da C R500 R eq u i p ped wi th Eyvi n d Bo yese ns para llel ogram lin ka ge rear su spension - ca lle d Bo yesen -Lin k. Li les wa s kn ocked down in th e first corn er, again sus taining damage to hi s shou lder. Ba iley was a t the back of th e top 10 p ack. After the first fu ll la p , leader G lover was in tro ubl e. " I came down th e down hi ll ski j u mp and j u mped way too far, " sai d G lover. " I h it the fence and re-injured m y left wris t (whi ch he bro ke in March ). I went dow n hard ." Eaton swept past while Glover worked to free himself from the fen ce, with Du n fee al so gelling around. Gl over got ba ck on th e tra ck in third a head of Man ning , S tacy, Kell er and Mike Fish er. By lap seve n , Eaton h ad a sixseco nd cushio n on Dunfee, w h ile Glover was stru gg ling to ma ke up time in third after the cras h had left him wi th bent ha ndlebars. Keller was cha rg ing hard a nd was in fourth a hea d o f Mann ing, Stacy, Yamaha Su p port rider Mark Murphy and Kaw asaki -m ounted Alan King . Three laps from th e fin ish , Eaton slo wed with a flat tir e. By th a t tim e, Gl over wa s free of Dunfee a nd pressing for th e lea d. " Bro c ca ug h t m e," sa id Ea ton, " bu t I was real happy to be a ble to follow him." Kell er , too, sq uee zed past Eaton with less than a lap left , a n d at the finish it wa s Gl over the wi nner - barely. " G lo ver bea t me by j ust a ha lf bikelen gth," said Kell er. Eaton finished third a h ead of Dun fee, Ma nn in g , Stacy an d Fisher. After tu ner Jon Rosen sriel rep laced th e bars o n G lover's Yamaha a nd po unded th e rear frame secti on back into shape, Glover ch arged o ff wi th th e moto two ho lesho t. Ea ton was aga in near th e front, this time running second over Ma nning, Stacy, Du n fee a nd O'Neal-sponsored David McCl ain. Kell er was mired ba ck in l Oth, but " wasn' t worried since I kn ew Broc h ad h ad a lot o f p roblems in th e fir st m ot o and I fel t strong. I got up wh ere I could see th e lea d pack , but the n m y shock reservoir h ose broke. I lost a ll th e oi l o u t o f the shock." By th e seventh lap, G lover wa s well o n h is way wi th a 22-secon d ma rg in o n Eaton , wh ile Fisher wa s goi ng fu ll tilt in th ird ahead of Stacy, Dunfee, Mur p h y a nd McClain . Fisher beg an nipping at Eaton 's h eels on lap 10 a n d by lap 12 wa s so lid ly past. " I kn ew I had seco n d overall wrapped up after Kell er dr opped out, " said Ea ton , "and I liked th e th ought o f it since I've n ever fi nis hed seco n d in a Nat ional before. T he two guys cha llenging m e for third in th e points (Keller an d Lil es) dropped o u t, so I wa s rea IIy excited." At th e finish , Gl over was th e winner by nea rly 30 seconds over Fisher, whi le th ird aga in went to Eaton over Sta cy, Murphy, Dun fee, McClain and Man ni ng. Bai ley started the m oto, bu t pulled off aft er the fir st lap. " My wrist was gelli ng worse and worse," sa id Bailey. " I' ve never been in as much pain - raci ng sure has its ups and downs." • Results 125: 1. Ron Lech ien (Hon) 1 ~ 1; 2. Keith Bow en (Yam) 3 -2; 3 . Rick Ryan (Kaw ) 4-3 ; 4. Georg e Hoi land (Suz) 2- 5; 5 . Erik Kehoe (Suzl 7·4; 6 . M ar k Barn ett (Kaw) 9 -7; 7. Eddie W arr en (Kaw) 6-10; B. J im Veugeler (Kaw) 12· 8; 9. Keith Turp in (Hon) B-12 ; 10 . A J . Whiti ng ISuz) 16 -6 ; 11. Guy Cooper (Hon) 13-9; 12. Clay Hoen she ll (Suz) 10-1 3; 13 . Larry Brooks (Hon) 5-23 ; 14 . Jeff Frisz(Hon) 14 -14; (Co ntin ued 10 page H ) 7

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