Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

~ (l,) ..0 E (l,) ;;> o -z Honda riderTy Dav is went 6-1 in the 125 and 250cc Intermediate classes. and wrapped up Trans-Cal Series Championships in both. CMCjSkoal Bandit Lady Uberty Amateur Trans-Cal Series: Round 7 Davis, Flores clean up series finals By Kit 'Palm er GORMAN, CA. OCT. 26 Honda riders Ralph Davis and Paul Flores swept both 250 and 500cc Beginner class motos at the final round of Continental Motosport Club's, Skoal Bandit/U .5. Suzukisponsored Lady Liberty TransCal Series a t Hungry Valley's SVRA motocross track in Quail Canyon . Davis had to claw and 32 scratch for h is win in the first 250cc mo to, wh ile his seco nd mot o win ca me m uch easier after leading from sta n to fin ish . Flores and h is C R500 R H onda survived stiff cha lle nges by Yamaha rider Ba ron Sumter in both 500cc motos before cla imi ng th e overall. In th e first 250cc Beginner mota, Cra ig Winhs pu t hi s Kawasaki o ut in the front o f th e pack for th e fir st few laps but was closel y chased by Davis a nd Yam aha rid ers Dodd Medhurst a nd Jam ie Well s. Da vis cont in ued 10 dog Winh s in every turn but co u ld n ' t find eno ug h pa ylight 10 mak e the move. It wasn't until h alfw ay throu gh th e race that Davi s fin all y stuffed h is wa y into th e lead , but by th is time, Well s had reeled in th e two lead ers and st art ed threaten ing. Well s mot or ed past Wi nhs a nd set after th e leader Davis. With two la ps rem a in ing, Well s found the h o t lin e a nd darted arou nd Davis, bu t the Yama ha rider co uldn't make his lea d last. After receivin g th e wh ite flag - sig nall in g one lap to go - Davis go t back on th e gas a nd motored by Well s a nd held o n for the remaining few turns to tak e th e win , fo llow ed by Well s, Winhs, La rr y Erisman (Ya m) , Medhurst and Steve Edwards (Suz). Mota two was much simpler for Da vis - the H onda rider blas ted o u t of the ga te a nd into th e lead a nd was never pressur ed th ro ughou t the mo to, Erisman held on 10 the third for the first lap befor e dropping bac k to fifth, gi ving Medhurst , David Rivas (Kaw) and Wi n hs seco nd, third a nd fourth. By the th ird lap. th e dogfi ght over second became very in tense, until Medhurst s ta rted p u lli ng away . Wirt hs~ ve lll ua lly fo u nd his way into thi rd, while Eris man started to clam p dow n on Riv as. With Da vis way o u t in front , Medhurst second and Wirths th ird, Riva s a nd Er isman ballled it a lii over fourt h down to the chec kered flag. Two laps from the fin ish , Wirt hs cra sh ed and dropped to l Oth, a nd Rivas ma naged to keep Erisma n at bay. At the finish it was Davis wa y o u t in front followed by Medhurst , Riv as, Eri sm an , Ed wa rds, Frank Shiroma a nd Well s. Flo res a nd hi s CR j u mped o u t to a q u ick and comma ndi ng lead at the start o f the firs t 500cc Beginner mot a . A ways back foll o wed Honda -mounted Sean Midin a , Chris Wilinski (Han) a nd Sum ter. How ever, by th e th ird la p , Flo res' lead had d windled qu ite not iceabl y as Midina an d Wil in ski moved in . A lap lat er, Wilinski bailed a nd dropped o ut o f contention, leavin g Flores. Midina and Su mt er 10 decide the to p three posit ions between the m sel ves. Flores a n d Mid in a swa pped pl aces a few ti mes durin g the last few laps, while Su m ter waited 10 make his move. With Flores back o u t in fro nt , Sumter moved in for th e kill a nd sai led by Midina for seco nd. At th e chec kered flag, it was Davi s, Sumter a n d Midina. Fourth went to Chr is Fia ck.foll ow ed by Wesl ey Burnell a nd Wili nski . Once again Davis ro cketed into the lead at the start of th e second moto just a head of Fia ck, Sumter and Midina . The top three riders sta yed close for the first few laps before Davis began to pull a wa y . Fiack and Sumter dic ed over second for much of the ra ce, until Sumter shot by Fiack and settled into a safe second. Davis breezed to a n eas y win for the overall, follow ed by Sumter, Fiack , Midina, Wilinski and Cabot Sh elley (Yam) . Yamaha riders Erick Hilton and Pat Weid e were th e main attractions in the 80cc 12-16 Intermedi at e class, but it was Honda rider Brian Roth who stole th e holeshot at th e start of rnoto one. By the seco nd lap, however, Weid e was saili ng out in front, while Hilton slipped into third, then second by the third lap. Shortl y after, Hilton was dogging the leader Weide. and soon aft er, Hilton cha rged 10 the outside and blitzed into the lead. Weide stayed close to Hilton for the next six laps, but dropped off the pace near the end , giving Hilton the win . Third went to Densford, followed by Robert Shipman (Suz), Robbie Perez (Ka w) and Doug Huston (Ya m) . Moto two was almost a replica of the first with Weide taking the early lead. followed by Hilton and Craig Miller (Kaw), Once again, Weide and Hilton en gaged in a duel for ,th e lead while pulling away from Miller and Shipman. Weide defended his lead for th e first lap before Hilton found an opening and jammed into the number one position. H ilton immedi at el y started pulling a way, maki ng th e top three positions very sp read out. H ilton cru ised on 10 cap tu re the wi n for a I-I sweep. Weide finished second a hea d of Mill er , Sh ipman . G u y Deckert (Kaw) a n d Brian Roth (Hon ), The 125cc Interm ediate race had 39 riders on th e gate. an d it was Yam aha rider Michael Craig lea din g th e way at the sta rt o f the first mot a , followed by a no th er Yamah a rider. Chris Young, Mi ke McLain (Ka w), Mike You ng (Ya m), Jeff Reyn olds (H a n) and Mik e McCl en egh an (Suz). Points leader Ty Davis (Ha n) was fou nd near the middl e o f th e pack. Chris Youn g kep t a close eye o n Craig d ur ing the first few laps, but Craig's blistering pace was too m uch fo r him to ha ndle. At the ha lfwa y poi nt, Cra ig enjoyed a sizea ble lead, whil e Reyn olds searched for a clea n line arou nd Mik e Young for fourth. Reyn ol ds fin all y made th e pass two laps fro m th e fin ish . Crai g crossed th e chec kered fla g with a health y lead a head o f Chris Young , Mcl..ain . Reyn ol d s, Mike Young , Rob Gordon (Kaw), Da vis an d Ward Basseu ( Ka w) , The sta rt o f th e seco nd rn oto once again saw Craig a nd h is Yamaha capture the h olesh ot , wh ile Ch ri s Young, McLain, Jim SPOilS (Kaw) an d Davis pursued. During the second lap, McLain slipped by Chris Young for seco nd, but found th at Craig had a lrea dy developed a four-second lead . But the o ne 10 wa tch was Gordon. Afte r a so-so start, G ordon began workin g hi s way up through th e pack a n d had control of fourth by th e sixt h lap, then Iur ked beh in d the McLa in /Chris Young shootou t for seco nd. With two laps remaining, Chris Young drop ped back to seventh , whi le Gordon roos ted past McLain taki ng over th e number two position with two laps to go . Craig took th e wi n a nd overall , wh ile Gordo n 's come-fro m -behi nd ride landed h im seco nd for th ird ove ra ll. Third in th e rn oto went to McLain who used a 3-3 rall v to nail a second overa ll. Fo u rth (n the mot o went to Spotts, followed by Davis, Reynolds, Chris Young, Jimmy Lewis (Kaw ), Troy Welty (Suz),and rounding out the top 10 was Mik e Young. Kawa saki rider J esse James traded 1-3 scores with Jacob Swain in the 60cc 9-11 class, with James taking home th e first-place gold by winning the second-mote tiebreaker. Swain led early in th e first moto, while J ames pressured from behind. Damon Huffman wat ch ed the battle for the lead in a distant third. Swain and J ames fought tooth- ' n- n ail throughout th e moto, but on the last lap, James crashed a nd dropped to third. Swain took th e win, followed by Huffman, J ames, Craig Decker , Jeff Willoh and J ason Carroll. The second moto was another James /Swain showdown. James grabbed th e early lead but was closely followed by Swain , with Huffman third. By the halfway point, James started pulling away after Swain picked upa nat tire. When the checkered flag appeared, J ames captured the win and overall, while Swain limped to a third behind Huffman. Greg Smith proved 10 be one of the fastest riders of the series by dominating the 500cc Intermediate class, race after race. Today was no exception as he rolled to another overall win by topping both motos, His nearest com petition of the day was Honda rider Tim Hanna, w h o placed third in the first moto and seco nd in mota two for seco nd overall. Another Honda rider, Steve Walker.combined a 2-3 tally to claim third overall , while fourth went to Loren Pochirowski (Hon ) with a consistent 4-4 ride. Roundirig out the top five was Yamaha-mounted Jim Owens, 5-6. • , Result s 60 0-8: 1. David Ochoa (Kaw~ 2. Judd Scanlan (Kaw l. 60 9- 11: 1. Jessa James (K8W~ 2. Damon Huffman (Kaw~ 3. Jacob Swa in (Kaw) . 80 8EG: 1. Matt Harr ison (Kaw~ 2. 8 rian Ensay ( Hon~ 3. KaYin Jones (Hon). 80 JR 9-1 1: 1. 8an Phalan (Kaw): 2. Toray Rollard (Kaw~ 3. Christophar McCall ie (Yaml. 80 JR 12·1 6 : 1. Marl< Easlay ( Hon~ 2. 8r ian Walters (Yaml; 3. Grayson Goodman (Kawl. 80 INT: 1. Erick Hilton (Yam): 2. Pal We ide (Yam): 3. Roben Shipman ISuz). 125 8EG: 1. Brad Townsand (Hon): 2. Jim Smilh (Hon~ 3. Reid Ashlon ( Hon~ 125 J R: 1. Kevi n Ma r81(Hon): 2. Rob Sassan ( C8g~ 3. SIeve Paren l (Hon). 125 INT: 1. Michael Craig (Yam): 2. Mike Mclain (Kaw ): 3. Rob Gordon (Kaw ). _ 250 8EG : 1. Ralph Davis ( Hon~ 2. Dodd Madhurst (Yam): 3. Larry Erisman (Yam~ 250 JR: 1. Aaron Ginn (Hont 2. Loren Barrett (Suzt 3. Rob Sassen (Cog). 2501NT: 1. Ty Davis (Hon): 2. JaH Reynolds(Hon): 3. Tim Willock (Hon). 500 BEG: 1. Paul Flores (Hen); 2. Baron Sumte r (yam): 3. Chris Fiack (Hon). 500 INT: t . Grag Sm ith (Hon): 2. Tim Hanna (Hon ~ 3. Sta ve Walker (Hon). VET JR: 1. 80b Hedland (Yaml: 2. Gary Jaehne (Kaw ~ 3. 8ruce RUSI (Yam). VETINT: 1. ViClor Triepke (ATKI; 2. Bret LaH(Hon): 3. Karel Kramer (Han). VET MSTR : 1. Phil Douglas (Hon): 2. Duane Hughes (Hon): 3. Gary Wilson (Hon). ' OT JR : 1. Terry Pratt (Yam); 2. earl Schilling (Hon); 3. Corl Ellen (Kaw l. OT INT: 1. Ronald Cola (M -S): 2. Roland Thompson (Suz). OT MSTR: 1. Jim Holmes (Yam I: 2. Rich Schilling (Kaw~ 3. Bob Tonan ISuz). SIDECAR : i . Pela /Scott Whilnay ( H on~ 2. John Palfreyman/Perry Millilo (Yam); 3. Duane McDowell /Ramsey Harris (yam).

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