Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Combs proved to be more than a match for the Open Pros a t the SMXsanctioned event, as he opened up commandin g leads in both mo tos to bea t a ll challengers to th e ch eckered flag. H usqvama 's Larry Roeseler, who was top Ame rican a t th e recent ISD E in Sp ain , p laced seco nd overall on his four-strok e after dicing with th irdpl ace finis he r Tim Ca u by (Yam) . In the 250cc cla ss, Mapes managed to ro und up the overall despi te intense pressu re from severa l co mpetitors, incl udi ng Yamaha riders Bo b Ashleigh, Mark Decker a nd T om Thom sen . Wh ile Ma pes savored ca ut ious lead s in bo th rno tos, Decker , Ashleigh and Thomsen m ixed it up every lap . Decker wo und up taking seco nd overall ahead o f Ash leigha nd T ho msen . Of the three Pro win nners, Hen ricksen 's win came the easiest. T he Kawasak i rider exp loded o u t of the ga te in bo th m otos and eas ily took the wins over Yamaha rid er Chris Taylor a nd Kawasa ki rider J immy Pa lm er. In the very competi tive 250cc Int ermedia te race, U lf Johan sson and T om Gi lje con tin ued the ir serie s-long duel in bo th motos with Johansson getting the upper hand, whi le G ilje suffered mech anical p robl em s with his Yamaha. Johansson wrapped up th e series class titl e, while G ilje took second. Honda rider Reed Ma yne pl aced th ird for the day. Vet Expert Marino Bast ionell looked to ha ve the class win in th e bag after domina ting th e fir st 10010 on his Suzuki . H owever , a brok en fork spring in the second moto slowed h im do wn enough to let Yamaha rider Robert Dykma ns take the second-m oto wi n, the overa ll, p lus th e series class victory. Mark McAdams took second ahead of Honda-mounted John Whi te. Bastionelllim ped in fo r fo urth. Kawasak i riders Ken ny Sommer a nd Ronnie Mart in traded moto wins in th e 80cc No vice class , bu t it was So mmers picking u p the overa ll by virt ue o f th e bett er seco nd -mote fin ish. Martin earned th e runner-up honors ahead of third-p lace finisher Gary Hedd in g (Kaw) . Results 60 BEG: i , Eric Schne ll (Kaw). 80 BEG: 1. Derek Garc ia (Kaw); 2. Danon Bu rg (Kaw): 3 . Jason M art in (Vam ). 80 NOV: 1. Kenny Sommers (Kaw l: 2. Ronn ie Ma rt in (Kawl; 3 . Gary Hedding (Kaw) . 80 INT: 1. Dust in EVll ns (Kaw ); 2. Ja son Colli er (Kaw). 12 5 BEG: 1. Ryan Flinn (Yam); 2. Rick Step henson (Kaw); 3 . Georg e Neihaus (Han) . 12 5 NOV: 1. Dean Kuhn (Kaw ): 2. M ike Brooks (S uz): 3 . Eric Brow ne (Kaw). 125 INT: 1. David Ch urch (Kaw); 2. Kevin Neal (Kaw ): 3 . Forrast Hayashi (Kaw). 12 5 PRO: 1. Kurt Henricksen (Kaw): 2. Chr is Tay10f'(Yam); 3. Jimmy Palmar (Kaw ). 250 BEG: 1. JoH Ear ey (Yam); 2. Chuck StoHel (Ha n); 3 . M ichael RogoH (Han ). 250 NOV: 1. Ron Mowry (Vam~ 2. David Bagwell (Han ); 3 . Dan Money (Ha n). 2 50 INT: 1. Ulf Johan sson (Han); 2. Tom Gilj e (Yam); 3 . Reid Mayne (Han). 250 PRO: 1. Scott Mapes (Kaw): 2. Ma rk Decker (Ya m ~ 3. Bob Ash leigh (Yam). OPEN BEG: 1. Damo n M ann (Yam): 2. Ma rk Covert (Han); 3 . J ohn Ritch ie (Han). OPEN NOV: 1. Dav id Bugwell (Han); 2. Eric Barr (Han); 3. Tad McAnally (Han). OPEN INT: 1. Ron Lawson (Han): 2. Brent Potter (Han); 3. Patr ick McBr ide (Yam l. OPEN PRO: 1. Tom my Combs (Kaw); 2. Larry Roeseler (Hus); 3 . Tim Couby (Vam ). VET NOV: 1. Steve Cocherell (Yam); 2. Lawis Wright (KTM ); 3 . Tim Furner (KTM). VET INT: 1. Den nis Bou lw are (Han); 2 . Philip Cruz (Suzl: 3. M ike Brooks (Suz). VET EXP: 1. Robert Dykma ns (Vam ); 2 . Mar k McAdams (Vam); 3 . Tom W h ite (Han). Cooper smokes 'em in Oklahoma By Dane Hillery EN ID, OK . O CT. 27 Malcolm Smith-sponsored Guy Coo per put his H onda out in front in bo th 250cc Pro motos at the Enid motocross and easil y claimed Iirst ,overa llrahead - o f Mike H ammer (Hon )and Jim Fletchall (Hon). In th e fi rs t 100 10 , it wa s Do n Edmonds-s ponsored Mike Ha mmer jumping to the ea rly lead, followed by Coope r and Fletch all. Hammer held on to h is lead for two la ps before Cooper sho t by through a set of double jumps. From th a t po int o n, Cooper held co mp lete co mmand all the way to the checkered flat . Ha mmer kept his dista nce o n Fletchall and went on 10 place seco nd, whi le Fletcha ll finished third. Moto two was sim ilar to the first , with Hammer nai ling the holesh o t and Cooper a nd Fletchall in close pursuit. But it didn 't take lo ng before Cooper sho t by H am mer , tak in g over the lead a nd capturing the win a nd overall. Once agai n Ha mmer held on for second, whi le Fletch all took third. T he first moto of the 125cc Novice class saw Honda rider J ack Dela y ca p tu ring the ho lesho t despite ridi ng wit h a broken wr ist. Kawasa ki rider Rand y Wein s foll ow ed closely. T he two riders d ueled for the lead whil e pullin g away from th e rest of th e pack , but Nat e Skin ner was also on th e gas as he wo rked h is way up from a si xth -p lace start to th ird by the end o f th e rnoto. At the fin ish , it was Dela y ho ldin g o n to take th e win , follow ed by Wein s a nd Skin ner. Round two had Dela y once agai n taki ng the ho leshot, wi th Wein s and Ski nner chasi ng. Dela y a nd Weins ba nged hand lebars a few times as th ey fo ugh t over the lead. At o ne point, the two leaders got too close a nd they bo th cras hed , letting Skinner motor by, as well as Iourth-rnoto finisher Kris Tarbet (Ka w). Skinner went on 10 tak e the win a hea d o f T arbet, Weins a nd Dela y. Skinner took th e overall with Wien s a nd Delay rounding o ut the top three. Resu lts TINI M INI: 1. Eli Slat er (Yam ): 2. Steve Cow he rd (Han); 3 . Buck Easterly (Yam). MINI JA : 1. Brandon Lacey (Kawl; 2. Br en t Brown (Kaw); 3 . M att Capsh aw (Yam). 125 BEG: 1. Brad W ilson (Han); 2. M ike Dye (Han); 3 . Tim Simpson (Su z). 125 NOV: 1. Nate Skin ner (Kaw): 2 . Rand y W iens (Kaw): 3. Jack Delay (Han ). 250 NOV : t . Truitt Rogers (Suzl; 2 . Bob by A tki n son (Suz); 3 . Rocky Nickols (Kaw) . OPEN NOV : 1. J im Vaugh n (Kaw); 2. J im Fletch all (Han I; 3 . Todd Wi lson (Han) . PRO: 1. Gu y Cooper (Han); 2. Mi ke Hammer (Han); 3 . Jim Fletchall (Han). Gregson gets Eugene MX win By Clay Light EUGENE, OR, NOV . 3 Sal em , Oregon 's John Gregson (Kaw) took top honors in the I25cc J unior class a t ro u nd one of the American Motorcycl ist Association 's (AMA) Fall SixPack Seri es at Emerald Racing Associa tio n's clubgrounds after a sh ooto ut with Iirst-rnot o winner Chris Ni ch o lls (Kaw). The first 10010 belonged to Nicholls in the 17-rider field. Ni ch olls led Darrell Woulbrandt, Mark Nored and Willy Varboort (all o n Kawasak is) ear ly in th e 10010 as Gregson came from way back 10 pi ck o ff a ll but Ni ch olls, who went 01110 tak e th e win. The second time o ut, Woulbrand t rook the h ol eshot, w hil e N icholls a nd Don Beck (Suz} gave cha se. G regson aga in got a bad start , but was soon in second, chasing N ic ho lls a nd looki ng for a way around. Once pas t th e leader, Gregson wa ltzed away [or the moto win a nd overa ll wi th a 2-1 tally . In Open B class ac tio n, Bob Lea ch (Alban y SX/ Leach Cycle/ Hon) rod e magnificent ly, but in the end, Jeff La nd rum faired th e best. It was Leach ho ldin g o ff La nd rum for th e firstrnoto win , with Mi ke West, Roc ky J awad and . Mik.e ,.Burke1. \eapil]g"a . •. • • • • • • ... •• ~ r ... . Honda rider Guy Cooper rode to victory in the 250cc Pro class at the Enid MX track in Oklahoma. He easily won both motos. H onda sweep of th e top five. Mo to two had Landrum off th e li ne in th e lead ahead o f J a wad an d West. Leach p u t o n an in credi ble charge, movi ng to second with just la ps rem aini ng. At the checkered flag it was Landrum beating Leach by a bikelength, tak ing the wi n and the overall with a 2-1 ta lly. Leach was delegated 10 second overa ll , and West's 3-3 tall y ea rned third overall. . The day 's big winner was Jeff Daily (Tea m Green / PJ l /Eas tsid e Kawasaki ), tak ing both th e Min i Intermediate a nd l25cc Int erm edia te classes. Daily eas ily wo n both Mini outings, taking the ove rall, and hi s tw o seco n d -p lace fin is hes were eno ug h for th e first overall hon ors in th e 125cc Intermed ia tes. In l25cc Inter med iate ac tio n , Den nis Sweeten (Kaw ) rode his Moto-X Fox -sponsored KX to the first -mote win over Daily, Brad Joh nso n (Kaw) a nd Dave L ivingston (Yam ). The seco nd moto belo nged to Ed Port z (Answer/ Maxima/ G&G Cycle Suz), who held off Daily by a whee l a t the checkers . Portz' first-mote fift h -place finish left the overall to Daily, with his strong 2-2 showing. A new class to th e series was a 30-40 Pro money even t, wo n by O 'Neall Seer Honda rider Richard Earl e. Earle, on a H onda 500, caught a nd passed first-moto earlv leader Mike H ol broo k (H on 250) 10 win the first ou ting, with thi rd p lace going 10 Leach , on a Honda 500. Earle pi cked o ff KTM rid er Michael Alf at the sta r t of th e seco nd cont est , with H o lbrook, Rod Nordstrom (H us 510), a nd Leach ro u nd ing out th e top five. Leach ca rved past th e trio 10 sett le into seco nd a nd set up th e battle for first. Earle a nd Leach diced to th e finish, with Leach winning th e m oto, but Earle ge ll ing the o vera ll via a 1-2 score to beat Leach's 3-1 and H olbrook 's 2-3. Results OPEN PRO : 1. Rich ard Earl e (Han ). 250 PRO: 1. Rodney Kelle r (Han); 2. Ricky Ba ult (Han); 3. Lar ry Brum w ell (Suz). 125 PRO: 1. Gary Bault (Kaw ); 2 . Jo hn Woodley IKaw ); 3. Ken ny Ol son (Kaw ). 30·40 PRO: t . Richard Earl e (Han ); 2. Bob Leach (Han); 3. M ike Holbrook (Han ). OPEN B: 1. J eH Landrum (Han) ; 2. Bob Leach (Han); 3. M ika West (Han). 250 B; i . Rob Anne n (Kaw) ; 2. Joe l J am ielson (Kaw); 3. Kelly W helch el (Kaw ). 125 B; 1. J eH Daily (Kawl; 2. Dennis Swee ten (Kaw ); 3. Ed Portz (Suz). M INI B: 1. JeH Daily (Kaw) ; 2 . Mo nty Spauld in g (Yam); 3. Ryan Hu ffm an (Varni. OPEN C: 1. M ich ael A lf (KTM ); 2 . Dana Hansen (Han); 3. Ma r~ ~i~~ffJK~w). •: .:.. J • :1."',:,',." . .., 250 C: 1. Do nnv Herro n (Yam); 2. Dan Mathie (Han); 3. Steve Wi lcox (Hus). 12 5 C: 1. John Gregson (Kaw l; 2. Chr is Nicholls (Kaw ); 3 . Da"ell W ou lbrandt (Kaw ). M INI C: 1. Bobby Eynan (Yam); 2. Glenda l Hansen (Kaw); 3. Scott Nor ed (Kaw). Vowell captures Las Vegas MX victory By Dick Goodwin LAS VEGAS , NV. OCT. 20 A number of National-caliber riders such as Ricky R yan , Scott Nielso n a nd Bo b by W hi te, tu rn ed up for the 7-Up Fall Class ic a t the Las Vegas Motocross Pa rk , bu t it was local hotsh oe Greg Vowell taking th e 250cc P ro win . In th e first mo to , R yan jam med in to the lead a hea d of Ada m Vesely, Scott N ielso n and Pat Shields. Atone point, Ryan almos t ba iled big-time wh en he nea rly endoed over the triple j umps, but he saved it and conti n ued with the lead . N ielson soo n picked up his pace and mov ed in to second a nd starte d to challenge Rya n fo r the lead. While th is was goi ng on, Vowell - ridi ng a borrowed H on da - was making up for a midpack start. As the race progressed, Rya n started p ull in g away fro m Nie lson, who eventually cra shed in the nex t-to-the-Iast tu rn of th e race a nd dropped to fourth . All eyes were focused on th e seco nd-p lace duel betwee n White and Vowell, which lasted right down 10 the finish. At the checkered flag, it was Ryan wa y o u t in front. followed by White a nd Vowell. White blasted into the lead a t th e sta rt o f the second moto inches a head of Nielson , Vow ell , Pa t Shields (Suz) a nd Martin Vesely. Ryan crashed ea rly in th e race, droppi ng 10 th e rear o f the pa ck. Sh ields alm ost bail ed over th e tr ip les a nd lost two positions in the p rocess. White j um ped to a com ma nd ing lead, while Nie lson and Vow ell ba ttled over seco nd for severa l la ps. Vowell eventua lly ma de hi s move th rough th e stu tter bumps a nd took o ver second, but he had a lo t of work to do to ca tch th e leader, White. Rya n , mea n while, was on the gas a nd passing riders left and righ t unt il he cra shed , once again , endi ng hi s hopes for th e victory. Vowell started reehng in White a nd was '-inc hes-beh-ind th .e . .... ... . .. ~9.

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