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/126832
; a: w ~ -' ~ t: "" > '" o ~ rJl l- o :x: c, li) co O"l ....... ~ r- ..... "J ~ eo ~ ~ (A bove) Bader Manneh cuts inside of J immy Brown in the 1 2 5 cc Pro . (Below) M anneh leads Brian M anley and Greg Zitte rkopf in the 500s. In the second 250 cc Intermediate mota. Jimmy Palm er is closely pursued by Jim Perry . Palmer won bo t h the 125 and 250 cc classes. cross Championships at th e Fl y-N LD Ranch n ear Carmel Jun ction , Utah . II was Mann eh .. however , who stole th e CMC/Skoal Bandit Western States Motocross Championships Manneh, Manley dominate in Utah By Kit Palmer CARMEL JUNCTION , UT . J ULY 21 Team Green's Bader Manneh and Hondam ounted Bria n Manley went home the top money winners at Continental Motorsport 10 Club/Skoal Bandit's Western States Moto- show by winning both the I25cc a nd 500cc Pro cla sses despite stiff co m petiti on from Ca giva 's R on T u rner, S uz u k i's R u ss Wa g eman , Manl ey a nd ma ny ot he rs. Manneh a n d Manl ey wer en 't th e o n ly bi g winners a t th e event , wh ich was spons o red by U .S. Suzuki a n d IR C T ires; in a ma te u r rac ing, Kaw asa ki rider Ji mmy Palm er a n d Yamaha rider Matth ia s Nikol ak opu los eac h took home a brand-new Suzuki RM for w inn ing th eir r espect i ve classes - Palmer in the l25cc a n d 250cc Interm ediates, a nd Niko lakopulos in th e 250cc Junior division. Both riders won every moto th ey competed in . Ov er 300 rider s attended th e seco n d an n ua l event, and Mother Na ture was much m ore agreea b le th is year - last yea r's rac e wa s shortened to onl y o ne round of ra cing due to torrential rain. Even though clouds threaten ed a few tim es toda y, th e weather wa s generall y hot a nd dry, crea ting du st probl em s by the end o f the day. Manneh jumped to a n ea rly lead a t th e sta rt of th e first l2 5cc Pro race, but was closel y pursued by H onda rider Wi ll ie Surratt , Kaw asaki-mounted Greg Vowell and Shane Neugebauee (Kaw ). It looked as th ough Surratt wo u ld give Manneh a to ugh battle, b u t h a lfwa y th rough th e fi rs t lap, Surratt wen t over t he handl eb a r s co mi ng o u t of a turn , wh ich put him o u t for th e da y witha leg injury. T h is gave Mann eh a s lig h t lead ove r Neu geb auee, wh o was h ounded by Kaw a saki rid er Ste ve Li edben an d Wageman. By th e th ird la p , L iedbert moved in to seco nd, wh ile Wagem an sn uck inside of Neu gebauee over a jump for thi rd . So on a fte r, Turner , co m in g back from a p oor sta rt, found hi s wa y to fifth. Turner passed Neugebauee on th e fifth lap, then set a fter Wageman . Wa gem an had hi s hands full trying to sne ak arou nd Li edbert, but did so o n th e eig h th lap. T he remaining two laps saw no position cha n ges as Manneh took the win and Wageman fini shed seco nd ahead of Liedberg, Turner a n d Vowel l. Moto t wo h ad Li edberg ou t in front a fte r th e first turn, while Turner , Kaw a saki rider Jimm y Br own a n d Jim Simons ( Ka w ) cha sed . Manneh wa s back in eigh th, whil e Wageman was 10th. For th e next four laps, Liedberg and Turner di ced handlebar-to-h an dl eb ar until Turn er made a cl ean pass an d took fir st. At th e same time, Manneh was busy working hi s way through th e p ack and wa s trying to get a ro u nd Brown for th ird - Man neh wa s having a diffi cult t i me . Then Manneh made a move o ver a j u mp that a lmos t put h im o u t o f ac tio n for th e rest o f th e da y. " I pulled up a lo ngside of him (Bro wn) ove r the jump," said Manneh , " bu t h e m oved righ t over o n m e - it wa s o bv io us h e did it o n purp o se. We ta ngl ed wh en we landed a nd I almost