Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

~ a: ;;; 0 « w z z « I 0 z « w >< ~ > (.0 CD 00 m ...... (J) o le :z: c. ~ C'J C'J >- ;.... ~ ~ t:: ~ ~ (A bove) 5 00cc action ' with St eve Martin (1), Kees van der Ven (2) and Mark Murphy (26), (Below) Bob Hannah scored a win on his Suzuki. Bobby Mann (16) lead s the 85cc 12-15 winner, John Kitsch (219), in action fromCocoa 's Diamondback Cycle Park in Ga inesville. 16th Annual FloridaWinterAMA Motocross series: Round 2 Hannah and van der Yen duel in the sand By Mike and Anne Adair GAINESVILLE, FL, JAN. 4-5 KTM Ironman Kees van der Ven rode two classes an d still raced wheel-to-wheel wi th Suzuki's Bob H annah in the second round of the rich Florida Winter AMA Motocross Seri es a t Cocoa's Diamond back Cycl e Park. Hannah literall y edged out van der Ven to win the 250cc overa ll , whi le van der If; Ven co n u n ued hi s 500cc class dorni nati on , Kawa sak i's Rodney Barr ca rried th e Kawasaki T eam Green banner 10 vict ory in a strong l25cc Pro field . At th e tracksid e aw ards show later, H annah sa id, " Va n der Ven is good in thi s sand. I had 10 ride a lot ha rd er than I want ed to. I spe n t New Year 's in bed sick wi th so me kind o f bu g. ,":'h0l:lgh I' m sure he wa s tired from ridin g two classes, Ke wa s fast. I'm es cha lle ngin g him 10 park hi s 500 next week , a nd we 'll race for th e 'Sa nd World Championshi p ' a t Croom." Van der Ven , wh o ha s been ca lled th e best sand rid er in th e wor ld aft er four overall win s o n th e bea ches o f France, responded , " II wo u ld be fun , but I ca rne over here to test th e 500 and I need to keep riding it in pr eparation for th e '86 seaso n." Barr, wh o sp li t mot a win s wi th teammate Ronnie T iche nor sai d, " I h ave been unhappy with my bike. I' ve a lways raced m y dad 's (Barr's Competition ) eq u ip me n t but m y Kawasaki Pro-support contract requ ires m e to rid e with DMC (Dave Mill er Concepts ) tuning . I kn ow that m yoid bike wa s faster and handled better th an this new o ne. I let itget 10 m y h ead in th e first rnoto. But, in th e seco nd, I just concentrated o n th e ridin g a nd it wen t much better.' The weather a t Cocoa wa s a m ajor factor. Sa tu rday 's prel iminary progra m featured idea l warm Florida su n, but by showtirne Su nday, dark clouds ush ered in a near- continual downpour. In th e fir st 125cc Pro moto, Barr battled through Diam ondback 's fast sw e epin g first turn with Guy Cooper, Kei th Turpin , Mike Biaz, Bob Delgado, and Jim Veugeler o n his fender. Barr opened a five-len gth lead only 10 stick hi s fron t wh eel in a rut a nd highs ide, passing th e lead 10 Tichenor's Hi-Point/Seen USA Kawasak i. Barr remoun ted before Cooper a nd Turpin co u ld get by. Tichenor rode th e slop py tra ck well a nd hung on for th e rnoto win. " I was ca u tio us with lap pers," he exp la ined . " I tried to keep m y goggles clean and on ly pulled m y ro ll offs four or five times." Tich en or, wh o qualifi ed for th e program by th e co nsy ro u te, added, " We made su re th at we had plent y of gas in th e tank for bo th m otos, Run n in g short in m y qualifier was not th e hot pl an ." Honda /Malcolm Smith/ Morgan Racing-sponsored Cooper, w ho took th ird, sa id, " I rode as fast as I dared but those g uys sta yed just out o f m y rea ch ." Georgi a jock Turpin said, "T h is trac k is always a rough ride . My back end wa sn 't handling well and it was worse for me here today a t Diamondback. " Canad ian Ross Pederson a nd Florida 's Jeff Fri sz ca rne back fro m poor sta rts for fourth and fifth . Cooper hlitzed th e seco nd-more sta rt with Barr, Fri sz, Turpin, and Tich en or in th e hunt. Cooper lost his adva nta ge o n th e fourth lap as Barr pi cked up th e pa ce a nd walked aw a y from th e field . " I just felt grea t in th e seco nd m oto, " sa id a smili ng Barr, "and so a t th e halfwa y p oint I just turn ed it up." Fri sz mi ssed a jump a nd took a co stly detour, losing hi s third place spot 10 T iche nor, T urp in , and Co oper. After re-entering th e co u rse, Fr isz was a ble to ca tch Cooper by th e rnoto's end , but Turpin laid cla im to tlu'da y's thi rd 0 er.m h onors behind Barr a nd Tichenor, Ohio rider Tom Carson rocketed a way for a nother 250cc Pro class holeshot, Trampas Pa rker, Jeff Hicks, a nd David Moegle got awa y clean but Hannah and van der Ven were on th e gas and pi cking off th e lead ers oneby-on e. Hicks fell in th e black slime by th e scorer 's turn a nd th e flying duo lined up on Carson on lap three. Class leader Bill y Liles found himself left far beh ind in th e turn-one rut. "I was beside J o J o Keller and we both went down, " Lil es exp la ined lat er. " So me g uy hit me a nd broke m y bars in two. I pitted for a new set but I don't think I got sco red on th e lap shee ts." Hannah led it for o ne lap before th e Dutchman took over o n the pit board strai g h t. The Hurricane stayed close as the leaders knifed through the slop a nd tra ffic. "T h ey la p ped m e with two laps to go," sa id fourth -place co n ten d er Hi cks. " Ha n na h 's feet were way off the pegs and they were just flying through tha t mud." H annah clos ed on van der Ven a n d the pair swapped pl aces on th e last exci ting lap. In a dramatic fin al e th e two " rn udders" bisected th e third place rid er, Carson, on th e fla gjump, with Hannah surging ahead for th e win . " I didn't know it wa s the m until I sa w Hannah 's front wh eel besid e m y h ead ," said a bewilde red Carson. " I gave it all I had," sa id Hannah , " I a lmost fell in th ose last few turns. " Van der Ven resp onded, " I had just passed h im , a nd wh en we caught Carson th ere wa s no place 10 go. " Labarr 's Beer-sponsored J ell Surwall paced rnoro two with Hannah, T odd Harrell , Pa rker, Moegle, and Hicks o n th e ga s. Van der Ven was blocked from a clean sta rt a nd str ug gled to seven th by th e end of lap o ne . Hannah set a blistering pace and wh en th e Dutchman passed Harrell o n th e fifth la p , th ere was sti ll a lot of slop p y track between first-place Hanna h a nd second-p lace van der Ven . Kenny Keylon 's Sh ell Yam aha knifed th ro ug h the pa ck and was wit hin stri king range o f van der Ven with 200 ya rds to th e finish . " T he radiat or had been stea m ing for three laps," Keylon ela bora ted a fter war ds. " I g uess mud pa cked up in th e grill , it ove rhea ted, a nd th e . ( Co n t i n ued 10 pu g ,. / 8 )

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