Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Liles, Coombs and Eaton tra iled. Kin g was well o u t of th e to p 10, After six laps, Gl over bega n to p ick up hi s p ace. "They wat ered th e track pretty h ea vil y before bo th mot os, so to play it safe I waited until abou t halfwa y to rea lly put o n a charge. " Over 20 seco nds behind h im was Liles, who had inherited seco nd a fter Kell er had ba il ed in a slippery co rner a nd dropped well back. Dunfee, Ea to n a n d Coombs were running together in a tu ssle over th ir d , well clear o f Andrews Ho nda-backed Da ve Hand, Murphy a nd Kin g . " I had a long wa y to go," said Kin g , "and I wa s stead ily p icking 'em off." By lap I I, Kingwas at the threshold of wha t had beco me a Liles/Eato n di ce ove r seco n d, and o n the fina l lap Kin g " ma naged to sq ueeze by into seco n d." Glover's charge carried hi m to a 58-seco n d win over King, with Eat on third o ver Li les , Dunfee a n d Coombs, " I' ve rea d where Ba iley's ba sicall y sai d I' m a lo t stronger th is yea r," sa id Gl over as he signed a utogra p h a fter a u tograph for eager fan s, " a n d I am. I'm a lso more determ in ed . La st yea r (where he fin ish ed ru nner-u p to Bailey in th e 500cc sta n d ings) I was ca ugh t a li ll ie o ff guard. When yo u start the yea r, yo u 're a fter th e cha mpi on ship, a n d this ma kes me feel pretty good. Winn in g o ne on a producti on bike shows our bikes are ver y co m petitive, a n d th at makes m e feel pr ett y good. An d o f co urse, th ere are th e lu crati ve moneta ry rewards." 125cc George H olland led th e pa c k through th e first uphill o n the start o f moto o ne , with Suzu ki teammat e Erik Kehoe, Kawa sa ki 's Mark Ba rnett , Yamaha's Keit h Bowen a nd Ro n L ech ie n s h u ffl i n g for positions behind , " I so rt of back ed o ff a bit on th e start," said Lechien, "j ust like I've done in most o f the ot her ra ces th is yea r. I don 't wa nt someone to try a nd tak e me ou t." After two co m p lete circuits , Ba rnett wa s still clo sel y stal ki ng leader H olland, but Lech ien wa s foll owing hi s game plan of " sta rt in g slowl y th en p icking it up." By lap four, Lechi en wa s a ro u n d Barnell and Bowen and rapidl y closin g on Holland. " My arms began to pump up," said Holland , "a nd I couldn 't charge the wa y I n eeded to . Lech ien manged to ge t by (on lap five)." Behind th e front pair wer e Barnett, Kehoe , oto-X Fox-supported R ick R yan , wasaki Team G reen 's Mike J ones nd Eddie Warren , and Sco tt USA's ei th T u rp in , Bo wen was a full lap own : "T he bik e wa s runn in g rough rom th e start . I thought it wa s so me h ing in th e ig ni tion , but I pulled off nd Ron (He ben) just changed th e park plug. T ha t fixed it." Lech ien len gthen ed h is lead on lap in e to eigh t seco n ds , but Holland ga n to chi p away a t it , Barnett was till th ird over Keh oe , wi th J ones ifth a hea d of R yan , J ones, Warren, a rry Brooks a n d A.J . Wh itin g. Vhi ting th en made easy work o f th e id ers im m edia tely a hea d of h im; by a p 12 hewa s a ll th e way up to fourth, ust behi nd Keh oe . Lech ien came in for his fifth stra igh t oro win in th e class, j us t over five econ ds before H olland. T hi rd was iterally decided a t th e finish li ne ; ehoe had put Barnell away o n lap 3 for third , but Wh it in g was still on he move. " We ca me into th e last tu rn nd th ere wa s a la p ped ride r right h ere," sa id Keh oe. " I wa ited a split eco nd for th e rider to gel out o f th e ray, an d A.J . took a dive o n the o u tid e, I just took th e wro ng line; A.J . nd I were side -by-side across th e fin sh line." T he decision fo r th ird went to Whiting ov er Kehoe, with Barnett fifth over Jones, Brooks, Ryan , Warren a nd Turpin . . Keh oe and Holland were at the h ead of th e pack a t the d rop of the ga te in m ot o two , with J ones, Warren , Lechie n, Barn ett, Whiting and Broo ks lined up beh ind them. After two la ps , the stage was set for a three-wa y confron ta tion a t th e front which would rage for much of the ra ce. '" was riding m y o wn race for th e first few laps," sa id Keh oe , " bu t I could fee' Holland and Lechien right back there. We all had th e same pace go in g ." H oll a nd lost seco nd to Lechien on lap five. " Lec h ien just held it o n do wn th at long downhill ," said H oi land , "and got by me at the bottom." T ha t made th e order Kehoe, Lech ien and Holland, with less th an a seco nd separa tin g th e trio. " I wa s in beh ind Erik, but I wa s fighting th e bike in the corners ," said Le chien . " He was riding well , and th e harder I pushed th e more p ro blem s I h ad. An d ' kn ew Holland was rig h t o n my ta il - looking fo r a moto win ." After repeated ly-th wa rted attempts, Lechien pressed past leader Keh oe o n lap eig h t, a nd o n lap nine th e lead trio was broken up. " I h it a roc k partiall y bu ried in a ru t," said Kehoe , "and went down. George went past, a nd I fina lly got my co nce ntration back." Whiti ng was up to third by th is tim e, wi th Warren fifth over Brooks, Bo wen , Jones and Ma lcol m Sm ith 's Guy Cooper. '" was feeling m uch better th is time," sa id Holla nd , "a nd pushed it hard all th e wa y. I thin k Lechien backed off a bi t to ward the end ; I was onl y a bo u t two bi kele ngths behind him at th e finish (on lap 14)." Behi nd win ner Lechien a nd H oll and ca me Keh oe . Wh itin g, Bowen a nd Wa rren. "I had a problem wi th what I th oug h t was the front end in the fir st rn oto ," said Lech ien , "so we cha nged th in gs a bit; it o nly made it wo rse. I just barely hung in th ere forthe wi n." Barnett ca rded a DNF af ter severely twisting h is right kn ee which h e had injured ea rlier in th e season. 250cc While Rick Johnson had the initial lead at the beginning of the first rnoto, after the first full lap the order read Johnn y 0 ' Mara, Jeff Ward. Johnson , Yamaha Support's Jim Holley and Danny Storbeck, and MStar rider Ri ck Pinney. "I held it on a bit longer th an Johnson and came o u t wi th th e lead just after the start," sa id O'Mara. " I felt I had to get an advantage ea rly due to all of th e rocks o u t th ere. I held it open for a few laps th en settled into a comfortable pace." . Afte r five laps. O'Mara had pulled o u t to a seven-secon d cushion. wi th Ward still third over Johnson. Storbeck, Holley, Pinney, Bob H annah a n d Yamaha ri der Steve Burdett e. '" was still hurting from th e crash I took at Un ad illa," sai d Ward, " and I wasn ' t a ble to ma ke use o f m y left sho u lde r. But I didn't gi ve up a nd sta rted to close in so me; th en I started m issing sh ifts." On la p nine, O 'Mara 's lead had been trimmed to six seco nds by Wa rd. with Johnson a no ther 20 seco nds back in third over Sto rbeck, Hannah , H oll ey, Burdett e a nd Kawasaki's Goat Breker. "I was having mech anical p roblem s," said Johnson. " My fro nt fork locked in th e co m p ressed position and' crashed hard. which only made things worse since ' bai led off h ard in practi ce yesterday a nd was real stiff. That was that; I j us t h ung o n in third." At the finish, it was O 'Mara th e wi nner by o ver 30 seco nds, with Ward seco nd ahead o f J oh nson, Hannah , Storbeck, Holl ey, Breker and Burdette, Johnson, Ward and O 'Mara headed Broc Glover clinched his sixth-career National Championship after winning both 500cc motos. Here he is chased by privateer Alan King . th e sta rt of the seco n d rn oto , with Ward breaki ng away to a clean lead a fter j us t a h alf lap. J o hn son was bumped to seco nd a head of O 'Mara , Breker , Myerscoug h Raci ng 's Brian Myer scough , H annah , Ho lley a nd Mont g omer yvill e (Pe n nsy lva n ia) Cycl e's Mickey Kessler. As th e race entered lap four, Ward had a five-second lead o ver th e J ohnso n l O ' Ma ra battle. "I finall y m an aged to get by J ohnson," sai d O 'Ma ra, " bu t Ward had a lrea dy go tte n away quite a bit." " I was still ha ving a problem with m y front fork," said J ohnson . "and it was tending to stic k in th e co m pressed position." . Ward mai nta ined hi s five-seco nd cus hion over O 'Mara unt il lap seven. wh en h e began to ha ve p roblem s. " I was pulling away prett y well ," sai d Ward , " then th e transmission started to go stra ig ht from seco nd to fourth." The orde r o n la p II read Ward over O 'Ma ra by a slim o ne seco nd, with Johnson, Hannah, Myerscough, Storbeck , Holley and Kessler stru n g out beh ind. Breker ha d dropped o u t of co n tention, " I went off th e tra ck ." said Breker , "the n crashed and ca me ou t of it wi th a broken ha ndlebar clamp. The bars twisted in th e clamps, so I wa s p re tty much o ut of it." Wa rd 's transm issio n problem got wo rse towa rd th e end. " After a while, th e tra nsmission wou ldn 't shi ft a bove second, so I was stu ck wit h using first an d seco nd." O n lap 13. one la p from the fin ish , O' Mara cruised past a slow ing WaJd o n a long u ph ill . " I h ad sta rted to p ick my pace up," said O 'M ara , "and I kn ew Jeff was ha vin g troubl e mi ssing gea rs. I just kept pressing h im , and it pa id off in th e end ." O 'Mara ca me in for th e win ove r Wa rd by 20 seco nds , with J ohnson far o ff the pace for third ov er H an nah. Myerscough , Storbeck, Holley a nd Ha n na h Raci ng Prod ucts' Jeff H icks. " I' ve won a few motos this year," sai d O ' Mara, " bu t never h ave been a bl e to pull off an overa ll wi n . I' m feel in g really good ." " At one point th e tran smi ssion jammed com p letely," said Ward, "and I kept kicking it an d it fin all y jum ped into seco nd . I left it th ere until th e en d . But it 's not a total loss; I sti ll have a 28-point lead in th e series. - Results 50llec: 1. Broc Glover (Vam) 1-1 ; 2. A lan King (Kaw) 2·2; 3. Eric Eaton (Vam); 6·3; 4 . Ron Dunlee (Han) 8-5 ; 5. Tim Coombs (Vam ) 7-6: 6. Scon Ma nning (Vam I4-1 D; 7.JoJo Keller (Hon )3· 12: B. M ike Fish er (HonI9-8 : 9. Billy Ule s (Kaw) 16 -4 ; 10. Dave Hand (Han) 12· 9; 11. Todd Hart ell(Hon) 5· 16; 12. Ma rk Murphy (Varni 18·7 ; 13. Kevin Foley (Yaml 14 · 1 1; 14. Terry Hobbs (Han) 15-14; 15. David McC lain (Han) 10 -22; 16. Andy Stacy (Hus) 11 DNF; 17. Loa Fauteux(Hon)22 -13; 18. Kun McMillen (Han) 13-22; 19. Phil Cor lin (KTM I 23 -15; 20. Dag Boyesen (Kaw) 17-19. 500cc POINT STANOINGS : 1. Brae Glove r (37 9t, 2. Oavid Bailey (264); 3. Eric Eaton (233 ); 4. Jo Jo Keller (1641; 5. Scon Manning (17 3); 6. 8 illy Ules (17 01; 7. Mike Fisher (1661 B. Ma rk M urp hy (1621 ; ; 9. Ron Dunlee (161); 10. Kevin Foley (160) . 125cc : 1. Ron Loch ien (Han) 1- I ;p 2. Georg e Hal· • land(Suz)2 -2 ; 3. Erik Kehoe (Suz)4- 3; 4 . A.J . Wh it· ing (Suz) 3·4; 5. Lorry Broo ks (Han) 7· 7; 6. Eddie Wa rr en (Kaw) 9 -6 ; 7. M ikeJon es (Kaw) 6 -9; 8 . Guv Cooper (Hon) 12· 9; 9. Keith Turp in(Honl lQ-l l ; 10. Rick Ryan (KawI 8·1 4; 11 . Tom Rice (Kaw) 13· 12; 12. Keit h 80vven (Yam) 23 -5; 13. Merk Mclaren (Kaw) 11·15; 14 . Mark Barn en (Kaw I 5· DNF; 15. Do ug Dubach (Kaw) 17·1 3; 16 . M ike Beier (Yam) 24.10; 17. Paul A ust in (Kawl 15-1 9; 18. Bobby Moore (SuzI1 4- 3 1; 19. Eddie Hicks (Vam) 38 ·16; 20 . Jeff Frisz (Honl 16-2 1. 125cc POINT STANDINGS: 1. Ron Lech ien (36 7); ; 2. Er ik Kehoe (3041 3. Georg e Holla nd (288); 4. Keit h Bowen (208); 5. (TIE) Rick Ryan l A.J. Wh iting (206); 7. Eddie Warren (191 ); 8. (TIEl M erk Barn ett l Guy Cooper (183) ; 10. Larry Brook s (166 1 . 25Occ: i . Johnny O'Mara(Honl l ·l ; 2. Je ff Wa rd (KawI 2·2 ; 3. Rick Jo hnson (Varni 3·3 ; 4. Bob Hannah (HonI 4-4; 5. Danny Storbeck (Varni 5-6 ; 6. J im Holl ey (Varni 6· 7; 7. Bria n Myer scough (SUl ) 9-5 ; 8. Steve Burdette (Yam) 8 -9; 9. Jeff Hic ks (Han) 11·8 ; 10. Scooter Stafford (Yam) 13 - 10; 11 . M i ckey Kessl er (Hon) 10 - 14; 12 . Tom Carson (HonI1 4 - 12; 13 . Jo hn Shay (Vam) 16-1 1; 14 . Tony Duboski (Hon) • 15 -t3; 15. Goat Breker (Kewl 7 -34 ; 16. Terry Fowler (Han ) 12·0NF; 17. Scan Pinney (Hon l 22 · 15; 18. M arc Sal reed (YamI 24 · 16; 19. Jerry Sales (Han) 21 -1 7; 20. Chris Fischer (Varni 17·2 3. 250cc POINT STA NDINGS: 1. Jeff W ard (367 ); 2. Rick J ohn son (3391 3. Joh nny O'Mare (336); 4. 80b : Hannah C29 2t; 5. J im Holley (2 14 ); 6 . Bri an M yerscough (210 1 7. Je ff Hicks (19 8); 8. Dan ny Storbeck ; ( 1 7~1; 9 . Steve Burdene (148 ); 10. Scon Bu rnwonh (147). 7

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