Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

~ ~ a: ........ I- ~ 0 -c w z z « 0 z « w " s > t..O 00 O"l '" 0 rJl 0 :I: ~ 0. l!":) ........ >.... ro ::s t:: ro ~ (A bove. left t o right) Gu y Coo pe r. Billy Liles an d Kees va n der Ven cele brate victories. (Bel ow) JoJo Keller chases van der Ven in the 500s. Guy Cooper tallied a 1 -1 score to nail the 125cc Pro win. In the second rncto , he passed leader Keith Turpin on the final lap . norida Winter ANA NX series: Round 1 Cooper, Liles, van derVentake Pro wins By Mike and Ann e Adair G AINESVILLE, FL, DEC. 28-29 Guy Cooper, Billy Liles, an d Kees va n der Ven opened the 16th Annual Florida W inter AMA MX Series a t G atorback Cycle P ark, earning P ro cl ass wi ns in a field o f over 820 Pro a nd amateur riders from 34 states. The Sco tt U SA-spon so red , Worfds por ts-promoted event is the oldest AMA-sanc - 6 tioned MX series in th e nati on a n d historica ll y provides eastern riders with an opportunity to sha pe up th eir bod ies an d sha ke down the ir ma chines for th e u pcom ing season. Former seri es cha m p ions Bo b Han na h, Tony DiStefa no and Ba rry H ig- gins were on hand a t the Gainesvi lle opener, with Hannah competing in th e tough 250cc lin eup o n h is 'new Suzuki, H igg ins cha lle nging in the Senior divisio n, and DiStefa no coac h in g h is bevy o f stu de nts fro m th e sidelin es. Victory a t th e o pen er was th e swee test for G eo rg ia 's Bill y Lil es, who lost h is Ka wasak i fac tory ride for the 1986 seaso n. " I' m m ore or less m y own boss n ow," exp la ined th e sm ilin g 250cc Pro wi n ner. " T ho ug h m y full ride has been ca nce lle d , Kawasaki will honor m y rem aining co n trac t, give me bi kes, and h elp m e ge t to th e ra ces . It wi ll be a lo t d ifferent, b u t I think I will like it. I rea lly wa nted to get pumped for this race:' Liles added, " so some of my buddies suggested I go see Roc ky IV for inspiration." Holla n d 's Kees "an d er Ven, who upset perennial50Ucc series sta ndo uts J o J o Keller, Ma rk Mu rp h y, Dave H ollis, a nd Steve Martin. said , aft er hi s two sen sational motos of ra cing, "I cha nged from the 125cc to the 500cc class th is year, a nd I had hea rd tha t Florida was a good p lace to fami lia rize m yself wi th th e 490 KTM . I have ridde n U nadilla , bu t th is is m y firs t chance to see a nd ride in th e so u the rn part of your co u nt ry. We h ave sand tracks in H olland, a nd I'm lookin g forw ard to ridi ng the famous Winter AMA sand circu its." Oklahoma 's Guy Cooper led Rod ney Barr , Ro nn ie Tichenor, Mark Melt on and T erry Tinney in the o pe n ing 125cc Pro shootout la p , but Barr's Mo ta Fo x/ Barr Competition Team Green Ka wasaki ripped to th e head of th e pack and sett led th e mota ta lly sheet on th e firs t la p. " I go t h eld up in th e sta rt," said Barr, " b u t the bik e was workin g grea t an d I mad e up th e gap befo re th e lap was over." First-year- Pro Tichenor a nd H o nd a 's Keith Tu rpi n kn ocked o ff Coope r for th e seco nd a nd thi rd p lace slots. Mota two was a Honda duel for th e win between Cooper a nd Turpin , with Tichenor a nd Barr ba ttl in g for third o n their Kaw asak is. " Keith pa ssed me on th e third lap an d I had a cha nce to see hi s lines," said Cooper. " With one to go, lapped riders slo wed h im do wn . I p icked m y spot, passed h im , a n d h eld o n for th e win. " After the grue lin g race, Barr sai d " My sh oc k wa s stea mi ng ; th e bike wa s handling badly. I wa s lu cky to h o ld on to th a t seco nd overall." Northgat e Honda 's Tom Carson , wh o is noted for h is 250cc seri es holesho ts, led two stra igh t before cras h ing aw ay hi s lead to th e Suzuki-mounted duo o f Jeff Hicks a nd T odd Harrell. T o m my Martin, Jeff Surwall , Doug Feller. J o j o Kell er a nd Kenn y Keylon go t a way cl ea n with Liles an d H anna h o n the p row l. But H ick 's Suzuki soo n sh ucked itschai n, leaving H a rrell in co ntrol for th ree lap s. Kell er a nd Liles moved tip q uic kly on Ha rrell 's fend er to cha llenge. Kell er's Brockto n Cycle/Savage Racin g/ AXO Yamaha took th e p o in t until Lil e's Chris Brady -prepped Kawasaki iced th e win o n lap n in e. Carso n came off th e g ro u nd an d rode hard to end tip fifth . Hannah struggled midpack with suspe nsion problems for a 17th place finish at mote's end. H is m ech a n ic. J eff Clark, sai d ." Bob j ust go t three new bikes a nd a ll th e test in g we d id wa s o n th e ha rd stu ff a t th e Californ ia tracks. We will mak e so me adj us tmen ts before th e seco nd mot a a nd try to ge t the bi ke d ia led in for th is Florida terrain. " L iles ad ded, " Boba nd I were together for a wh ile, a nd I could tell h e was havi ng sus pe nsion trouble. H e a lmost bailed off once and had to back off, " Mississip p i's Trampas Pa rker a nd Carson rotated th e lead in th e ea rly going of the fina l mot a , until cro wd fa vo rit e H ann a h ree led th em in, opene d a 10-second lead a nd eas ily danced away with th e mot o wi n . Carso n h eld o n to th e seco n d spo t, bag g ing a seco nd ove ra ll, Liles being co nt en t with th ird for th e mo ta and first overa ll for the dav. " We have a long way to go wit h ihe bik e," exp la ined Han nah , " bu t Suzuki wa nts to a nd I want to go." Suzuki 's Pa t Alexander was o n h and to celebrate th e second rno to victory . H annah last raced on a Suzu ki ' I I years ago, o ne year p rior to h is sensa tio na l Winter AMA win for Yamaha in '75. H annah 's teammate Hicks said, " It was a little di sappointin g for me tod ay. I lost fifth p lace to the chai n aga in ." Keylon , who is back raci ng in hi s na tive sta te, home from h is contra ct wit h Shell/Yama ha in Bra zil, exp la ined h is da y's activities, " I bent my ba rs in the first moto a nd was up and down a ll through the second. I ho pe that stu ff is o ut of m y system ." The 500cc class fea tured an intern a tiona l line up, with Du tch Ch am-

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