Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

(A bo ve) Jo Jo Ke ller holds off Kees van der Ven in the first 500cc Pro moto. (Below) Billy Liles holeshots the 250s. with Bob Hannah (7) second. Ross Pederson took his Marshall Pluinb /Blair Sharpless-prepped YZ125 to t he overall 125cc Pro victory with a 1-1 sweep. Florida Winter-A~A Motocross Series: Round 3 Hannah, Keller, Pederson romp in the Florida sun By Mike and Ann e Adair BR OOKSVI L L E, FL, JAN . 11 -12 Bob H annah, J 0 J 0 Keller, and Ross P ederson romped to Pro class wins in the third round of the 1986 Florida Winter-AMA Motocross Series at Brooksville's Croom Raceway. Han8 nah , who sp lit 250cc Pro moto wins with hometown fa vorite I Kenny Keylon , said, " I di d wh at I had to do to win toda y. I even I tried to bri be th e referee, Freddie Ep h re m , at the rider's m eetin g ." T he SOOcc series dominator, Kees van der Ven . accepted H annah 's cha lle nge for a 250c c "Sa nd Worl d C ha mp io nship," b u t fai led to gel th e starts req ui red o n th is ti ght tr,?ck for a real showdow n between the duo. Ma ssa chu sseus s tr9 n g llla n Kell er , w ho has press un-d va n der Ven in ea c h :, Ollcc moto ill Ih e seri es. fin a ll y bea t lhe Dut chman a t C ro om. H esa id, " Kees is suc h a smoo th ride r and a professiona l tha t lrea l ly enjoy riding w ith h im. U nlo rt u na tcly. I must leav e to n ig ht for th e Anah eim (Ca lifo rn ia ) Superc ros s a nd will miss ra cing w ith him in the fina l ro u nd." Canad ian ;,\ IX C ham p io n Pederson. who to ppled 12Scc cl ass lea d ers Rodney Barr a nd Guy Co o pe r, ex p la ined, " T h e Yamaha is working reall y well for m e. I didn 't get great sta rt s today , bu t th e bike's handling let m e move up throug h th e pack in both moIOS." Ped ers on a nd Kvllcr c'ollcctcd SIOOO each as th eir sh a re o f Yamaha' s generous co n ting ency program . P romoter Randv Yaha was worried a fte r five st rai g h t days o f rain , but su n ny skies welcomed rider s a s th e tw o-day program got underway. T h e sa n d y Fl orida so il so aked up th e moisture. leaving ideal track co nd itions throughout the circ u it. Cro om 's tight co u rse serpenti nes back a nd forth o n a hillsid e and there are few passin g lanes between the de ep, black, sa ndy berms. Ka wasak i/M oro-X Fox-sponsored Ba rr a n d H onda !M a lc ol m S m i th Prod uc ts-sponsored Cooper waged a see-saw battle in th e open ing 125cc show with Terry Ti n n ey , Bill y Whitley, Keith T urpi n, J eff Glass a nd Sha u n Kal a s in support ing ro les . Barr held th e lead fo r two laps, until Cooper to ok a fa ster line down th e fro n t straight fo r th e lead. Ba rr . who regai ne d th e poi n t two laps la ter for th e w in , co mmented, " I a m pl ea sed w ith th e bik e th is week - Kawasaki p u t a differ ent pipe o n a n d it works much bett er. " P ed erson rode through th e pack a nd n ipped Cooper o n lap nine. The Yamaha Motor Canada rider sai d , "There wer e a lo t of pi leu ps and I was lu cky to pi ck th e right lines a n d not ge t ta ng led." Mot o two was a thriller. Cooper led off th e co ncre te sta rt gat e with Whit Icy, Cl ass , Kal o s, T u rp in , Pederso n a n d Barr srramb ling for second, Ka lo s ami Turpin swapped places until Pederson 's Marshall P lu m b! Blair Sh arpl ess-prepped YZI 2S threatened o n la p fou r. " f kn ew that I had to beat Barr, " sa id Ped erso n , " b u t I didn 't kn ow who th e lead er was. " Barr, who strugg led 10 ho ld fourth spot , had a reed crack, a nd lo st power. H e said, " It was hard to keep a rhythm going , th e power keep s yo u o u t o f trouble o n this track ." R oo k ie Vince DeVan e, in his best ride of th e circ u it, sto rmed from m idpack to ca tch Cooper o n the fin a l lap for second. " Ped erso n" was defini tely on th e gas," sa id Cooper. " I le t h im go and tri ed 10 hang on for second-pla ce poi nts, but I ran into a falle n rider and DeVa ne caught me. " The o pe n ing 250cc co n test feat u red Keylon and Todd H arrell ba ttl in g for the lea d in turn th ree. " I was afra id Keylon wo u ld use m e fo r a berm ." Keyl o n roosted away to a good lead w it h Ha nna h , J eff Fris z, Tom Ca rso n , J eff Hick s a n d Kell er at th e front o f th e pack a nd va n d er Ven a nd L il es bogged in traffic. " Keylo n had a good lea d a nd was rid ing be tter th a n m e i n th e first part of th e moto," sai d H annah. " I had ho ped to wear him do wn ." H annah d id close o n Keylon , but fell o ver in a turn a nd ra n o u t o f time. " I

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