Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

(Above) David Bai ley led early in the second heat before getting past by Keith Bowen (14). (Right) 125cc Pro-Am winner Larry Brooks. . that took out T eam Kawasaki 's Billy Liles. Li les quickly recovered and started 10 work his wa y up through the pack. Up front , R ya n and Whiting were pulling away from the rest of the pack . Whiting cha ll en ged R yan a couple of times for the lead but kep t making mistakes that let R yan reta in h is lead . Rya n took the win, followed by Whiting, Lil es an d Stafford. Lechien edged Wa rd 10 th e first turn in the seco n d semi but held on to th e lead for o n ly a lap before gellin g passed o n th e outside by Ward . In third was King followed by Suzuki rid er Brian Myerscough. While chasing Kin g , Myer scough mi ssed a sh ift over a tr iple jump, landed short an d en doed ha rd. H e landed o n h is head but quickl y got to his somewhat-bent bik e an d rem ounted. Two laps lat er , while tr ying to sta y cl ose 10 Ward, Lech ien wa s thrown off his bike wh il e la n di ng off a high-speed double jump. H e landed running a lo n gsid e his bike, tr ying to slow himself a nd his bike down before th e nex t turn , which he did - barely. T h e crowd gave him a standing o va tio n for tha t st u n t. Ward won th e m oto , wh il e Lec hien took second. Th ird and fourth wen t 10 Kin g and Dym ond. Last Chance Qualifier In thi s race, Winslow, Yamaha support ri de r Mike Bei er , Kell er a nd Myerscough were involved in a fourway scu ffle for th e last two tr ansfer spo ts. Winslow took the earl y lead, while th e rest follow ed close ly. Halfwa y th rough the race , Beier , who is suffe ri n g from a n injured kn ee, wa s passed by Kell er , th en Myerscough a lap lat er. A few seco nds separa ted th e top three riders with less th an a lap left , the n Myerscough tried to pass Kell er but fa iled . Winsl o w took th e win , wh ile Kell er took seco nd . Mains T he firs t 10-lap ma in rn oto saw Bailey g ra b th e holeshot, narr owl y a head of Lech ien, who cras he d over th e first set o f doubl e jump s. This ga ve seco nd 10 Brek er foll ow ed by Winsl ow , Kell er, Gl ov er , H oll ev, Bow en, J ohnson a nd Ward . . During th e second lap, Bowen tried to pass H olley but crashe d hard in th e wh oops a nd was o u t fo r th e res t of th e even ing. Sh ortly after th a t, Win slow lost it in th e sa me set of whoops and went through th e ha ybales and lost a bunch of positions. Things sta rted settling down by th e third lap with Bailey enjoying a comfortable lead ahead of Breker, Kell er , G lover, O' Mara , Holley, Johnson, Ward an d Holland . The battle for fifth was intense between O 'Mara, H olley, Johnson and Ward. Johnson soon found a way around Holley in a turn, then he set after O 'M a ra , while Ward wa s ha~i.~g a re.~I. hard time wi \h Hol!ey. As soo n 'a J oh n sbfd ta ft oo pre s'1ir- i n g O ' Mara , the two began pulling away fro m Holley and Ward. Two laps later, Ward stuffed his way by Holley and fo u nd five seconds separating hi mself and Johnson . However, Ward quick ly closed that gap. Meanwhile, Ba il ey held a commanding lead over Breker , who had about four seco nds on Kell er. G lover got close to Keller for a while th en started to drop ba ck a bit whi le O'Mara, Johnson an d Wa rd moved up. With four laps rema in i ng , O' Ma ra pulled alongsid e of Gl over in the wh oop s an d pass ed him. With Ba iley, Brek er , Kell er a nd O 'M ara fairly spread a p a rt, the bailie for fifth was still up in th e a ir. Gl over held o n to fifth with his teammate J ohnson separa ting h im a nd Ward . It looked as though Wa rd was in a hopeless situation havin g 10 pass J ohnson to get at Glover, but with two laps 10 go , Ward surprisingl y slipped by Joh n so n rather easily. " We were in th e whoo ps," sai d John son, " an d G lover had th e best line o n th e inside, so I went to th e o u tside so Ward wou ld n ' t p ass us both. Ward foll owed Broc's line a nd passed me." Ward went for it o'n th e last la p , bu t G lov er slam m ed th e door o n Ward a co u p le of ti mes 10 h old o n. Bail ey eas ily won th e m ot o , whi le Breker fin ish ed seco nd . O 'Mara made a lastlap p ass o n Kell er 10 finish third. Fifth went 10 Glover followed by Ward a nd J o h nso n . The second m oto , th e last rno tp o f the year, would decide the cham p io n, a nd a ll eyes wer e focused o n Ward a nd Gl o ver a t th e sta rt. Ward got t he j u m p, but O 'Ma ra had th e better line throug h th e first turn a nd h eld o n 10 the lead. Ward wa s seco nd , J ohn so n third a nd G lover fo u rt h . T h e top four ride rs wer e with in a co u p le of seco n ds o f each other for the fir st few la p s, a nd J ohnson wasn' t m ak ing th ings any easier o n G lover , who wa s closely following h is teammat e. H ow ever, J ohnson went into the wh oop sect io n and bailed big-t ime. " I wasn 't ridi ng o ver m y h ead or anyth ing," sa id J ohnson , " I j u st hi t a bad hole i n th e w hoo ps, tri ed to save i t bu t cra shed " By th e time J ohnson remounted , he was wa y back in th e pack a n d o u t of the race. At this tim e, th e sta ge was set, Gl over had to pass Ward for th e ch ampionship; instead, Gl over sta rted falling off the pace a bit, while Ward kept close tabs on O 'Mara. About five seconds behind G lover foll owed Breker, Bailey, Rya n , Keller , Le chi en a nd Keh oe. With on ly a few laps remain ing, Glover noticeably pi cked up hi s pace and was reeling in Ward. On the last lap, only a ' bikelength separa ted the two, but a slight bobble by Glover was the clincher for Ward. O'Mara t06 R 'tire1 'if.. ~ h(( 0 ~ia ll wh ile Ward and his Mike McAndrew s-tuned Kawa saki crossed th e checker ed in seco n d with th e cha m pionship under his belt. Glover fin ished th ird a head of Breker , Bailey, R yan , Lechien, Kell er and Kehoe . " T he fir st thing I th ought o f was all th at work I've done ha s paid off," sa id Ward. "I rea lly have 10 th ank J eff Spencer for h elping me out a ll yea r, especi all y th e la st few weeks fo r gelling me ba ck up to shape a fter m y sho u lder inj ury. "I kn ew that Broc was gaining o n m e there a t the en d ," sa id Ward , " bu t 1 was really co ntent where 1 was . 1 wasn 't p lanning o n trying 10 p ass O' Ma ra , o r a ny thi ng, 1just wa n ted to keep Bro c behind me. 1 had some bad sta rt s a n d some crashe s ea rly in th e evening , bu t I never lost m y m omentum - tha t was th e key." G lover was in decent spirits after the race , but h is ri g h t wrist was bandaged a nd packed with ice. H e said i t was ver y so re an d was g iv ing him problems out o n th e trac k. Bailey was a littl e bit so re (not physi cally ), too, co nce rni ng the outcome of the race an d cham p ionshi p : " If 1 were Broc, 1 wo u ld go over 10 Ward 's pits a n d give him a cre me puff right in th e face ," said Bail ey. " J eff sho u ld've been di squalified for ridi ng o n th e co u rse backwa rds in h is qualifier instead of bei ng p u t a la p down . It sa ys that ri gh t in th e AMA ru lebook .:.... Bro c was di squalified for ridi ng backwards o n the track in the (500cc) USG P and so was 1 at a su pe rcross ea rlier in th e year. J eff's been gelli ng a way with thi ngs like th a t a ll year long a n d it rea lly pisses m e o ff." (Ward was later fine d $500 .) " Besides a ll that, 1 reall y felt good to night. 1 go t a good sta rt in th e first m o to a nd just cru ised . It was rea ll y important 10 get a good st a r t tonight because th e track is a little tigh t, but 1 rea lly think it was th e bes t track we 've raced o n a ll yea r lon g . The secon d moto I fo rfei ted m y starting posi tion to Lech ien a n d got sq ueezed o ut in the first turn . If 1 had a better spo t on th e line, I'm sure 1 co u ld 've won." 1 25cc Pro-Am Larry Bro oks didn 't have 100 much trouble taming th e fir st 125cc ProAm qualifier ; by th e en d o f th e firs t lap, Brook s had th e lead a nd wa s pullin g away. Eddie Hicks eventuall y ) irh,vetif n u o"second an'd gO close' 10 I Brooks o ne time wh en th e H onda rider got o u t o f sh ape in th e wh oops a nd a lmost lost it. But Brooks regain ed his co mposu re a n d took the w in a he ad of Hicks, Drey Di rck s (Hon ) and Kenny Cl if ton (Suz). After a first-turn crash th a t ca u sed a restart, th e second q ua lifie r sa w S Ul uki 's Bobby Moore wi th th e h o lesh o t but was passed a few turns la ter by Kaw a sa ki ri der Bill y Fra nk. Moore dropped back o ne more posi tion when KTM rid er T odd Campbell slip pe d by during th e seco nd lap. As th e ra ce . progr essed , posi tions bega n 10 spread o u t an d Fra nk eventua lly finish ed the rnoto with the win . Secon d went 10 Ca m p bell, foll o wed by Moore. Brooks o nc e again put hi s Honda o u t in front a t th e start of the mai n a n d was followed by Steve Schmitz (Hon), Kurt H enricksen (Kaw) and Ca mpbell. These positions stay ed the sa me u ntil th e third lap wh en H en ric ksen endoed over th e tr ip les a nd Ca m p bell cras hed into h is bike. Wh ile . H enri ck sen was try ing 10 ge t off the tra ck , he was hi t by a nother ride r wh ich put him o u t of the race. Ca m p be ll re-entered th e race but o u t of co n tentio n . Schmi tz h eld o n to th e seco nd spot for five la p s before le tt in g Kawa saki rider Dea n Matson by. Then H ick s got in o n the action a n d p assed Schmitz in th e whoops and the n se t a fte r Matso n . Hi cks go t cl ose but co u ld n ever make th e pass. Brooks too k the wi n 15 seconds a h ea d of Ma tso n , H ick s and Fra n k. • Re sults 25 0c c: 1. Johnny O'Mara (Han ) 3 - 1; 2. David Bai le v (Han) 1· 5 ; 3 . Goat Br eker (Kaw) 2 -4 ; 4 . Je ff Ward (Kaw) 6-2; 5 . Broe Glover (Yam) S· 3; 6. J oJ o Keller (Hon) 4·8 ; 7. Ron Lochien (Hon) 9 -7; 8. Rick Ryan(Kawlll ·6 ;9.Jim Holley (Yam)8 -10; 10 . Rick J ohnson 7- 16; 11. George Holland (SuzI 12-1 1; 12. Al an King (Kawl 13-13 ; 13. A.J. Whit ing ISuz11412; 14. Erik Kehoe (Suzl 1B-9 ; 15. All ey Serna, (Yam) 10 -1 9; 16. Tom Carson (Hon) 17-15 ; 17. Eddi e Warre n (Kaw) 15 · 18 ; 18. Eric Eaton (Yam ) 16 - 17; 19. Billy Utes (Kawl 19- 14; 20 . Keit h Bowen (Yam) 20 ·20. 125cc PRO-AM ; 1. Lorr y 8rooks (Honl ; 2. Oean Matson IKaw ); 3 . Eddie Hicks (Yam) ; 4 . Billy Fra nk (Kaw ); 5. Steve Schmit z (Honl; 6. Todd Campbell (KTM); 7. 80bby Moore (Suz); 8. Doug O'Donnell (Kaw ); 9. Sta cey Cook (Kaw); 10 . Ken ny Cli fton (Suz) , 1 1. J o n Nelson (Hon ); 12 . lance Bu rg ess (Hon); 13. Drey Dircks (Honl; 14. David Antill ion (Hon); 15. Ray Sommo (Kawl; 16. Chris Taylor (Yam); 17. John lahrt (Kaw); 18. Chris Heinrich (Kaw ); 19. Ooug Dubach (Yam); 20. Kurt Henr icksen (Kaw ). FINAL POINTS STANOING; 1. Jeff Ward (228); 2. Broc Glover (227); 3. Ron Lochien (223); 4 . Rick Johnson (2 12); 5. John ny O'M ara 1207); 6: Mark 8 arnett fl 63); 7. Oavid Beiley fl 59); 8. Keith 80wen 156); 9. Scott 8 urn wo rt h fl 491; 10 . Goat Breker 129(. J 1 I J' J ~: l l i r i \ I I J i ,' . J l ,13

• Cover