Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

~ 00 C'l ...... Ron Lechien continues to dominate the 125cc class by winning both motos and is close to wrapping up his first-ever National Championship . Johnny O'Mara won both 250cc motes. while Jeff Ward (2 ) finished second despite having a sore shoulder and transmission problems. Ward. however. still maintains the po ints lead by 28 over Rick Johnson. AMA National MX Championship Series: RoundS Broome-Tioga sweep seals title for Glover By Tom Kolnowski CENT ER LISLE, NY. JU L Y 28 Yamaha's Broc Glover came, conquered and left the Suzuki/Coca Cola N a tio n a l Motocross held on the hills of Broo m e-T ioga Sports Center with h is third 500cc National 6 Cham p io ns h ip securely tucked away . While two ro unds remain in th e 1985 ser ies, Gl o ver's fift h and sixth consecu tive mota wins ca rr ied him to a m a th em atica lly untouchabl e 115-point lea d in th e series point chase over defending 500cc National Champion Da vid Bail ey, wh o wa s for ced to si t o u t th e race due to a wrist injury. Clinching th e title has made Glover a six-time National Champion - he also has three 125cc titles to his credit. In the absence of Honda's Bail ey. who injured his left wrist at the Bu ch a n a n (Michigan) National, Kawasaki-mounted privateer Alan King turned in a 2-2 score to ea rn second overall on the day in the 500cc class, while Yama ha Support rider Eric Eaton placed third o vera ll via a 6-3 score. Ea ton is ranked third in the point chase, 3 1 points behin d Bailey . Honda's Ron Lechien won his seventh and eighth straight motos in the 125cc division and m oved o ne step closer to his first Na tio na l Cha m pionship. Suzuki factory riders George H o lla nd, Erik Keh oe and A.j. Whiting finished second, third and fourth overall, respectively, while Honda Support rider Larry Brooks placed fifth . Lec hien has pulled out to an even more commanding series point lead - 63 points - over Kehoe. Lechien has 367 points to the 304 of Kehoe and the 286 o f Holland. On the heels of his win at the United States Grand Prix at Unadilla, Honda's Johnny O 'Mara put his fir st National win of the season in th e record books by topping the series point leader, Kawasaki 's Jeff Ward, in bo th motos. Ward tak es a 28-point lead over defending National Champ ion Rick Johnson (367 10339) to th e next race in Minnesota, with O'Mara th ird a t 336 points. Yamaha 's J ohnso n finished th ird overall by posting a 3-3 sco re, while Honda 's Bob H an nah a nd Yamaha Support rider Danny Storbeck rounded out the top five overall. 500cc In onl y hi s second ra ce a fter h ea ling " p retty well " from a broken left wrist , Alan King led th e sta rt of th e fi rst moto o f th e a fternoon . while Savage Ra cing's ] o J o Kell er. Yamah a Su pport ride r Ti m Coombs, Broc Glover and Spectra- sponso red Honda rider Don Dunfee scram bled behind him. By the en d o f the fourth lap, Kin g was five seco nds clear o f the battle ov er seco n d - between Keller a n d Glover . Near th e ta il end o f the pack were Yamaha Support's Mark Murphy and Honda Support's Mike Fisher . victims of a pileup just after the start. Glover carved inside a nd ahead of Keller on th e fifth lap. then began to close on King. "I really wasn 't putting out a 100% effort, " said Glover, "and was just riding as comfortable as I felt 1 needed to . My suspension wasn't set up as we ll as it shou ld 've been; it wa s way too soft. All 1wanted to do was win the mota." Just before the start o f lap six, Glover pulled up to the tail of Kin g and motored past. but Kin g co untered with all the righ t moves; the pair swapped the lead tw ice through lap nine, then Glover was free. " I was hoping to win it, " said King, "and after Brae passed me the last time he m ised a shift going over a jump; it looked like he was going to go down and I would win it the easy way . He stayed up." Keller was settled into a lone third by lap seven , with Yamaha Support rider Scott Manning running fourth ahead of S&S Sprockets' Todd Harrell . Eri c Ea to n, Coombs, Dunfee, Kaw asaki 's Billy Liles and Fisher. While Kin g kept th e pressure on a nd Gl over never go t m ore th an four seco nds a head , a t th e fini sh o n lap 14 it was Gl over the win ner by three seco nds. Kell er came in with th e third he had held since lap five, with Manning , Harrell , Eaton , Coombs, Dunfee, Fi sh er a nd David McCl ain fo llowing him. Lil es sta lled on lap 10 afte r hi s bike " wo u ldn ' t TUn clea n a nd 1had to p u ll th e clutch in and rev it to clean it o u t." He finished 16th. " I wa sn't happy with th e way I rode, " said G lover, "s o I wanted to ge t th e lead in th e seco nd rnot o to get th e feel in g th at I ro de well. " And th at 's wh at he did; as th e ga te dropped, Gl ov er broke free from the throng a lmost im me dia tely in a mo to wh ere he wo uld cl inch th e cha m pions h ip . At th e end of th e first lap , th ere was a fou r-second ga p betwee n Glover a n d seco n d-p lace Dunfee, while Kell er .

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