Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

(Above) Robby Neeley (11) and Rick Lin dell (723) lead Open A winner Jeff Stanton (363). (Below) Kees van der Ven (left) and crew. (Above) Bob Hanna h placed sixt h in t he 2 50s. (Bel ow) To m Carson (45) and Jeff Hicks (2 1) lead the sta rt of t he 2 50cc class. pi on Kees van der Ven, Canadian C ha mp Ross Pedersen an d j a panese Champion Steve Martin all on th e sta rti ng line. Roo kie Pro Tom my Walls wrestled th e first turn from van der Ven a nd Mart in with Dav e H ollis, j ojo Kell er a nd Mark Murph y in pursuit. Kell er mov ed p ast H ollis a nd pi cked o ff Watts o n lap five. Van der Ven stalle d hi s KTM a nd lost several p laces . " II took four kicks to get it sta rted ," he ex p lai ned wtih Ilu strat ed tone. " 1 think van der Ven 's p roblem started w hen h e chose to go th ro ugh th e mud an d we were taking a dr y lin e," exp la ine d Kell er. H oll is, Martin a nd van der Ven tan gl ed for fourth unt il th e fl yin g Dutchman broke aw ay a n d hunted Kell er. " I h ave raced with Kell er in Europe ," van der Ven sa id . " We' ve co m peted in th e stadium events a nd on th e beach es in France." It was van der Vert 's day as h e sco red the m oto victory . " 1 had foo d poiso ni ng d uri n g th e holida ys an d I still a m not up 10 strength, " said Kell er. Pro Shock/ Whee ls of Oxford-sponsored Holl is ri p ped th e seco n d-mote hol esh ot with Wans, Mart in , a nd van der Ven o n th e p ipe. Kell er was cen terp u nc hed in th e sta rt a nd forced to re ti re with a h and injury. Watts had a lap of g lo ry aft er passing H ollis, but th e Dutchman was o n a roll and th e last five laps were his. In th e KTM pit congratulations were flow ing in severa l languages. "Henk Thuis o f White Power is doing th e suspension work and Sief Gossen s is th e eng ine m an, " said a pleased van der Ven . Thuis sai d," We have a good opportu nity 10 do suspensio n a nd tire testing here in Florida. We wa nt Kees 10 be rea lly read y fo r the G rand Pri x ci rcu it. ., A mateu r Michigan 's j ohn Kitsch and Jef Stanton were multipl e winners in ar impressive amateur field . Tea m G reer Kaw asaki -sponsored Kitsch aced the 12-15 85cc Mini , Super Mini, a na 125cc B classes. Yamaha/H i-Pointsponsored Stanton ro m ped to a p air o f victories in th e prestigious 250cc A and 500cc A classes. Illinois' Kenn y Bollmeier ran down Gl en Somerv ill e, Chris Col em an an d Hugh New som e bef ore m ot o rin g away with the first l25cc A mo ro . Fl orida 's Keith Fox a nd Indiana 's Mike Larocca ro de back from di sastrous sta rts to take second a nd third by rn oro 's en d. Boll m eier passed Fox in m o to two a nd th e pair dueled sideby-sid e over G at orback 's cha lle ngi n g jum psand drop-o ffs. Kawasaki vScou/ Ba rr -sp onsored Fox sai d, " My m ot or m ount bolt backed o u t a n d I had trouble sh ifting th e bike. I fin all y so lved the p roblem a n d p assed him o n a ro ugh straig ht. " Stanton showed no mercy to th e 250cc A gu ys, a n d Kenn y Bollrneier, Rick Linde ll , Carl Vill ain court an d j eff Fish er had 10 sq ua bb le for leftovers . T he 500cc A cla ss Winter AMA Cha mpio ns h ips have reg u larly been resol ved between Georgia 's Lindell , South Carolina's Robby Neeley a nd Flo rid a 's Pat Po st. Her e, however. . Neeley was th e onl y one in fron t o f Stanton for long; Stanton added two more rnot o s to his winning tally. Neeley took th e runner -up overall with Lindell and Post still in th e point quest. Tracey Wh al ey a nd j ohn Kitsch sha red l 25cc B qual ifier wins a nd the n sq uared off in th e fin al , Wh al ey leading a lap , befo re Kitsch 's Ka wa sa ki mad e it stic k. KTM 's ISDT rider , Kevin Hines, who started o ff o n a roll with 250cc and 500cc qualifi er wins in th e B division, sa id with modesty, " I'm no t th at good a motocrosser. T he srars were just in th e o ther heats." Romeo , Michi gan 's Dav id Moegl e ro o st ed th e 250cc final a boa rd a Yamaha/Wheels of Oxford-sponsored YZ. Oh io 's Phil Alde rton bumped Hines from the ru n ner-up spo t. In 500cc ac tion , Moegl e's Wh eels o f " 0" teammat e Ro n Fl agg boogied ' by Steve Ezell a n d Kevin Au st in for th e win. " 1 m issed a gear o ff th e line a nd h ad to hustl e 10 ca tch up ," said the winner. In the best Min i race o f th e wee ken d, Brett Melt on, Bro ck Bullard a nd Ezra Lusk swa pped th e lead in bot h 85cc 7-11 rno tos, Lusk taking th e first c h ec ke r a nd Melton th e seco n d for th e o vera ll day's vic tory. " 1 looked th e wrong way in the fi rs t rnoto and Ezra got by me," said H onda/H iPoi nt-sp onsored Melton. In th e first 85cc 12-15 qualifiers H ank Mo ree topped G en e Na umec a n d Robbie Hanson. j ohn Kitsch o u tdueledjay Ma n n in th e seco n d a n d ro lled a ll th e way in th e fin al. The Super Mini class was agai n a n a ll Kitsch show, with o the r class co m pe tito rs hop in g th e sa nds of Cocoa will prove to be a n eq ua lizer in ro u nd two . Twice Na tion al Se nior Champ Robb y Neeley left th e lin e of 36 riders, in cl uding th e legenda ry Bar ry Hi ggins and Husqvarna 's Dick Burl eso n, three lengths behind hi s T eam Green /Gear/S&S /DMC Kawa saki in mot o one . Higgins, Wood y Str ickla n d a nd Paul Eat on co u ld only stay in range an d wa it for a miscu e. " I had to race for 12 yea rs before I real ized th e rea l secret to this sport is gelling into tip-top shape." said the ageless Neel ey. Vic Dyer and David Clemence led th e seco nd m oro until Neeley shoo k o ff H igg in s and took th e win . ''I' m su p posed to race in th e Super Senior class," protested H and H KTM 's Higgins, " but my birthda y j us t fell wron g." Burleson, wh o was on hand to su p po rt Husky's p ro entry, Andy Stacy, sai d, " I was ridi n g a 250 out there tod ay a nd th ose 500s just o ut pulled me on every turn today." Iow a' s Kenn y Hempen , who won th e I25cc C fin al th e hard way a fter co m ing back from a p oor sta rt, said, " 1love this track . I've n ever seen such j u m ps." Robbinsvill e, N.C.'s Rodn ey Orr too k time off fro m h is co nstruc tio n job in Palm H arbor to lead th e 250cc C fin al moto for his first Flori da wi n. • Results 125 PRO: 1. Guy Cooper (H o n~ 2. Rodney Barr (KBW); 3. Keith Turpin (Hon); 4 . Ronnie Tichenor (Kaw); 5. Marl< Melton (Hon); 6. Ross Pederso n (Yam); 7 . Terry TInney (Kaw) ; 8 . Fred Andrews (Yam ); 9 . Robert Hayes (Kaw) ; 10 . J im Veugeler (Kaw ). 250 PRO; 1. Billy Li les (Kaw); 2. Tom Carson (Han); 3 . JoJo Keller (yam); 4 . Todd Harrell (Suz~ 5. Trampas Parker (Kaw); 6 . Bob Hannah (Suz); 7 . Tommy Martin (Han); 8 . Doug Fellers (Kaw); 9 . Steve Burdette (Suz); 10. James M itchell (Suz). 500 PRoO; 1. _K8j!s.van der Ven (KTMt 2. pave Hollis (Yam ); 3. Tommy Watts (Kaw) ; 4 . Steve Mar. t in (Hon ); 5 . John Collins (Yam); 6. Glen Nicholson (Yam ); 7 . Andy Stacy (Hus ); B. Doug Fellers (Kaw); 9. JoJo Keller (Yam ); 10 . Richard Siro is (Han). 125 A : 1. Keith Fox (Kaw ); 2. Kenny 80llmeier (Yam); 3 . Mike laRocco (Yam). ' 250 A : 1. Jeff Stanton (Yam ); 2 . Kennv Bollmeier (Yam); 3 . Rick Lindell (Yam). OPEN A : 1. Jail Stanton (Yam ); 2. Robby Neeley (Kaw) ; 3. Rick Lindell (Yam ). 125 B: 1. John Kitsch (Kaw); 2. Tracey Whaley (Yam); 3. Kenny Kizzar (Yam). 2 50 B: 1. David Moegle (Yam); 2. Kev in Hines (KTM) ; 3 . Phi l Al derton (Hus). OPEN B&C: 1. Ron Flagg (Yam); 2 . Jimmy Sw an son (Kaw) ; 3. Kevin Hines (KTM) . SU PER MI NI: 1. John Kitsch (Kaw) ; 2. Hank Moree (Kaw); 3 . Gen e Naumec (Kaw). 80 7- 11; 1. Brett Melton (Han ); 2 . Ezra Lusk (Kaw) ; 3 . Brock Bullard (Yam). 8012 -1 5 : 1. John Kitsch (Kaw ); 2 . Rob Hanson (Yam); 3 . Ja y Mann (Kaw). SRS: 1. Robby Neeley (Kaw ); 2 . Barry Higg ins (KTMI ; 3. Pau l Eaton (Yam). 1 25 C: 1. Kenneth Hemp en (Yam); 2 . Steve Kie sler (Kaw) ; 3 . Jo ff Fink housen (Yam) . 250 C: 1. Rodne y Orr (Han ); 2. Daniel Isabell e (Su z); 3 . All en Lun sford IHo n). 7

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