Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

(A bov e) Billy Frank (7 3 ) leads the 250cc Pros; Dean Matson (42); Johnny O 'Mara (1) and John Posca trail. (Below) 125cc w inner Robert Naughton. Team Husqvarna's M icky Dymond ro d e to 2 -1 moto f inishes on his 500eR . Phil Larson won the first moto, but crashed out of the second. CMC/Skoal Bandits Lady UbertyTrans-cal Motocross series: Round 3 O'Mara stars at Laguna Seca By Kit Pa lme r i\101'\TE REY . CA . SEPT. 22 " I just came here to have a little fun, " said Team Honda's Johnny O'Mara after winning both 250cc Pro motos during the third round of the Continental Motosport Club (CMC) / Skoa l Bandits-sponsored L ad y L ib erty T rans-Cal Ser- ies. O 'Mara rode a basicall y C R250 Honda to lWO Slac k 18 co me-fro m -beh ind wins o n th e h ill y Lag u na Se cu m o to cr o ss tra ck in Mon terey, Cal ifo rn ia . H onda support rid er Larry Bro ok s, wh o normall y co m petes in the 125cc class , borrow ed a 250 a nd ro de 10 a seco nd- p lace fini sh w ith a 2-6 score. " I like r id in g 250s a lo t m ore th an I do 125s," said Bro ok s. " H opefu lly 1"11 be rid ing 250s more of ten." A 6-4 ta lly ga ve H onda ride r Brett Ca hors third , wh ile fourth went 10 J eff H icks Russ Wa geman 's co nt ract with T eam Suzuki exp ired la st week, and h e showed up a t Laguna Seca o n a borrowed Yamaha YZ250 ; h e pl aced seventh in th e first m ot o a n d didn't fini sh th e second race du e to a thrown ch ai n. " I borrow ed th e bik e, " sai d Wageman, "a nd hav en 't had an y time di aling it in . Earlier in th e week, it threw a cha in and destroyed the ca ses, I didn 't get anoth er ca se until Friday , so I fought th e bike on th e track today m ost o f the time instead o £'flo wing wi th it. Alt er we get it working right, I think I ca n win th e next co up le of races a nd win th e series." Kawasaki-mounted Robert Naugh to n used Iast and co ns istent riding to nail th e overall in th e 125cc class with a 4-3 co mbo. Ri ck Ryan ( Ka w) crossed by th e checkere d n ag fir st in m ot o o ne, but because o f a la st-turn co lli sion with H onda-mounted Willie Su rra tt - who wa s leadin g a t th e tim e - was d isq ua lified for unsa fe riding . Surra tt fin ished th e firs t race in second a nd was awarded th e w in , bu t th e da mage was a lready done ; in the cra sh , Surratt su ffered a poss ible broken thumb and co u ld no t co m pete th e rest of th e af ter noon . Ryan ca m e back 10 wi n th e seco nd m oto hands down a nd pi cked up a 15th overa ll. Husqvarna 's Mick y Dym on d col lected th e overa ll in th e 500cc class wi th a 2-1 sco re. Ph il Larson (Ka w) smoked everybody in th e first mot o but en doe d over a doub le jump in th e second , en d ing hi s day a n d g iving Dym ond an easy second-mote win . 1 2 5cc Pro Before th e ga te dropped for th e start of the first l25cc mot o , things d id n ' t look good for Suzu ki' s Bobby Moore. Wi th th e two -minute sign up, Moo re was a t th e sta rt ing line, but h is bik e was back in th e pits being fra nt ica lly worked o n by hi s mech ani c: th e cha in had d era iled during practi ce short ly before th e fir st moto . But just aft er th e oneminute sig n had been raised, Moore's me ch anic a rr ived a t th e line with th e bik e a nd handed it 10 Moore. Seconds later, the gat e dropped ." Hond a -m ounted Shaun Ka los grabbed th e h ol eshot with Moore and Honda rider Surratt in ch es behind. Alter completing one lap, the top three positions remained the same as th ey pulled away from Dea n Matson (K aw) , Ra y Sornrno (Kaw), Eddie Hicks (Yam ), Jon Ne lson (H o n) and th e rest of th e pa ck . Kala s, Mo or e a nd Surratt were en gaged in a duel for th e lea d ear ly in th e race, th en Surratt sq ueezed past Moore in a turn. Shortl y a lte r, Surratt did th e same 10 Kal os a n d took co mm and ; th en Kalos dropped back one m ore position wh en Moore sn uck by. But a lap lat er , Moore dropped o u t of th e race wi th a nother de rai led ch a in . At th is time th e top five ri ders were Surra tt, Kala s, Somma, Mat son and Ne lso n , with R yan closi ng in quickl y in sixt h . Somma started p ressuring Kalas for th e next three laps before droppi ng h is Ka wa saki in a turn, losing four posit ions. At thi s point , Ryan was o n th e gas a n d m ov in g up throug h th e pa ck. H e even tua lly wo rked h is wa y in to seco nd and started reel ing in Surrat t. R yan p ulled to withi n a few bikelengths o f Surra tt as th ey sta rted th e fina l lap . With th e checkered n ag in sigh t, an d o ne turn to go, R yan tri ed 10 di ve in side of Surratt in a ti ght right-hand turn , but Surra tt held h is line a nd Rvan plowed ri ght into Su rra tt, causi ng bo th riders to cras h . T hey quickly rem ounted , but R yan won the race 10 th e ch eckered n a g , less than a bik elength ahead o f Surratt. In th e crash, Surra tt injured hi s thumb , putting an en d 10 hi s da y. C MC president Stu Peter s d isq ua li fied R yan from th e . m ot o , " I disq ua lified R yan for unsafe , riding, " said Peters. "T he re was no

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