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/126840
(Above) Mike Garrison leads Ricky Graham (1), RonnieJones (1 6). Ran dy Goss (6) and Ted Boody (1 2) in turn one of the ma in. (Below) Gra ha m (1) and Goss (6 ); Graham needed a t ire. Goss got t ired . Graham (1 ) fades back while Doug Chandler (1 0) moves up to fourth in the main , (Below) W inkie Fre itas won the Juniors, and closed on A therton. more lap u ntil he also passed H oward . Es tep cruised o n to the wi n, fo llowed by Pearso n , who was runni ng a ll alone in second. Hames and H o ward swapped thi rd with Sweet, but H o wa rd came u p in the spot at the fin ish . Last Chance Qualifier Pearson a nd Chad Felicio ra n 1-2 at the start of the LCQ . but it was H a mes who went on to th e final. H e go t by Felicio at the begin ning of lap two when Feli cio bobbled , then drove u nder Pea rson going into three o n th e same lap. From la p three on, H am es (G a rd n erI G riswo ld/ Board Racin gl Arai ) was in th e lead . Maitla nd finished seco nd . H ames got a third-row sta n in th e main for hi s efforts . Junior National Winki e Freitas ca me to Ascot with two major p roblems, o ne was a so re an kle a nd th e o ther a dimi n ishi ng chance o f a Ju n ior champions hip. Freitas ha d a two-poi nt cus hion goin g into th e ro u nd p rior to Ascot , th e Sa n J ose Mil e, bu t a co llision in the o pe n in g la ps led to a so re a n kle an d a DNF. Ri val Brian Ath erton took the win and ope n ed up a IS-point lead. Freit a s, how ever, cr u ised in for th e win o n Saturday n ight to gain back a slim cha nce o f ca tch in g Atherton in th e po ints race. Fr eitas (Sh oe i/ Kn ig h t Fram esl BlendzaIl /Hi -P oint /So -C al G as l Tsubaki/Super'Trapp /Carlis!e Honda ) starte d th e even ing with a fal se start in h eat one 'a nd wo und up on th e third row . The race, however, wa s ha lted wh en Southgate, California 's James Kesler went down going into turn three. O n the resta rt . Freitas immediate ly sho t to the o u tside in turn one a nd started picking off rid ers. By th e en d of the first la p Freita s had moved into thi rd pl ace and, while stic king to the o u tside line, event ua lly go t by H ill to take the first h eat win. Atherton asserted h im self in hea t two with a ru naway win over J o h n son a nd Craig H o wa rd to set up an expected Freitas.'Atherton duel in th e main event. The riders took a warm up la p a n d then th e flagged dropped for th e 12-lap final. Freitas grabbed the ho lesh ot and, once agai n shot up high. Atherton was in second on the backstra igh t o n th e opening lap wi th Ted Tay lor third a nd H ill fo urth . The showdown wasn ' t to be as Freitas qu ickl y o pe ned u p a lead on Atherton. Meanwhile, H ill started to shake loose fro m the pack and Brya n McDowell w hi le gaining rapid ly on Atherton. Hi ll and Atherton were side-by-side to start lap six whi le McDowell held fo u rth ahead o f Joh nso n an d Tav lor. Th e d uo' of Hill an d Atherton cha nged positions on ever y la p whi le gai ni ng slig h tly on Freit as . As th e race rea ched it s fin al stages, how ever , Hill (Cha m p io n Frames/Shoei /Matco Too ls/ Daeco FuelvCastro lz'Batea/ ND Spa rk P lugs) go t th e best of Athe rton whil e Freit as took th e win. Fou rth pl ace wen t to McDow ell wi th J ohnson fifth a nd Tay lo r sixth. Freitas used the advice of his crew a nd went hi gh to ease th e pai n in his a n kle a nd ge t back to with in eight points of At herton (Ro n Wood/Perry's H -D/H i-PoiOlI Arai/Stump In s.l Ca r Iisle/ Ts u ba k ilN H I I N o r t h er n EII'C. Wood -R o tax ). National Jo nes won th e fastest heat 0 1 th e even ing. a n d chose to start o n th e groove, o ne spot in from th e wa ll. Sh ob ert was on th e ins ide of th e first row , with Bood v, G arrison a nd G ra h am next to him ; G oss wa s o n th e o u tside. Garrison wa s th e quickest to react when th e gree n light lit up, an d led the pack in to turn o ne for the 20-lap main. Jones . Graham, Boody. Poovey an d Shobert filled the top six. Shobert m oved by Poo vey on th e front stra igh t to end the firs t la p ; halfway through lap two. Jones motored into the lead. Gra ham and Road y trade-d third a coup le times, hil t Bood y was .in the spot o n the bark stretr h of lap two . Graham drifted h ig h into rum rhn-e, a n d Shob.. rt jammed into third. Garrison 's bik e sta rted mi ssing on lhe (Below ) Bubbba Shobert, Miss Camel Pro Vivian Chadbourne. and Oklahomans Ronnie Jones and Ted Boody in the w inner's circle. I front straigh t. a nd h e dropped back ra pi d ly, m ak ing th e to p fo ur Jones, Bood y, Shobert and Gra ham on la p four. Poovey ran fifth for a lap, th en passed Gra ham. The fro nt -run ners had pulled away, a nd a war over fourth was a bo u t to begin. The race for fourth didn't include Graham. however, as he ch ose th e wrong tir e - a S IS as opposed to a universa l co mpou nd Car lis le - and slo w ly faded back . Chan dler moved up to cha llenge Poovey; Cornwell, Estep and Morehea d were n't far ou t of th eir sh adow . Cha nd ler was th e fir st to make a move on Poovey, but it lasted o n ly a la p . and Poovey was in fourt h for a few more tours around th e Asco t t Con ti nued 10 page 29) 9