Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126895
(A b ove) Cl ass champi ons: (left to right) G u y C o o per. Bill Liles and Kees van der Ven . (Belo w ) Kenny Key lon (2 6) won the f irst 250 cc m oto. (A b ove) G uy C o o per (25) holeshot t he 1 2 5 c c Pro class . (Be low ) Billy Liles (24) edged Tom C arso n for the 250cc Pro series w in. Florida Winter AMA MX Series: Round 4 Van der Ven, Liles, Cooper wrap series t itles By Mike and Anne A dair GAINESV ILLE. FL. JAK 18-19 KT M 's Kees van der Yen, Ka wasa ki 's Billy L iles a n d H o n da 's Guy Cooper clinched the Sco_ USA series championshi p bo n uses in a tt dra m a ti c fi na l round of the Flo rida Winter A MA Moto cross Series in Ga in esvill e. " I am exhausted," com me nt ed 'ha rd -ridin g 250cc winner 14 L il es a t the awards gathering. " I flew all night 10 ge t here fro m th e Ana heim Su percross. My wife, Dee, and mechani c, Chris Brad y, go t my bike ready to race a nd th en met me at th e airport a bo u t noon . It was preuy tough j u m pi ng o n the bik e co ld after a ll tha t su ti ng. bu t I took it slow in th e ear ly going of the first rnoto a nd gave my bod y a cha nce to warm up. " A h igh ly moti va ted L iles wrested the crown from Norrhgat e H onda 's T om Carson in two mot os of handlebar-t oha ndl ebar racing. '; T houg h van der Ven 's perfect 500cc mot o win record fell in th e final round at Catorback, th e Dutchman easil y ca p tu red th e o ve ra ll seri es cro wn . " 1 wanted to end th e series o n a win: ' explai ned a di sappoin ted van der Van. " bu t we had som e m inor fro nt end prob lem s. I co u ld n' t a ffo rd to ch ance a DN F in thi s race today, so I had 10 ride cau tiously." Ya mah a/ Ma lcolm Sm it h Racin g-sponsored Ma rk Mu rph y to p ped Ya maha of Ca nada 's R o ss P ed erso n for th e Gai nesvi lle 500cc class wi n . Ka wasa ki's Rod ney Barr blew th e I25cc series in th e o pe n ing m ot o , " I was a h ead of Coo per in th e firs t race when my engine m ysteriously slo wed. I looked ba ck am) .s, w. ! h ~ silen cer a had co me loose an d was just han gin g th ere off the en d o f m y pi pe." Before Barr was a ble to free th e inha led fiberg lass packing from h is cha m ber , COOper was half a trac k ahea d. Coope r added , " we had figured it prett y cl ose a nd I know that I needed so me kind o f break. J ust beating Rodney in bot h rnotos wouldn 't have given me eno ug h points to win th e cla ss o vera ll : ' I n th e o pe ni n g l 25c c m o ro , Co o per 's MX Racing/ Sco tt /MRC/ H o nd a set the pa ce with Barr close o n hi s fende r and To m m y ' Wa tts, J eff Gl ass, Keith Turpin a nd Vin ce Deva ne go ing fo r th ird . On la p nine, Barr was co nt ro ll ing a three-bi kelength lead wh en th e silencer let go. Ka wasa ki's Greg Q uado r said , " T h is has never happned befor e. The vibration j ust see med 10 loo sen the riv ets: ' Cooper wo n th e mo ro, wi th Wa tts holding o ff Meh a n a nd Turpin for seco nd. Pederso n , who rode through the pa ck finished fifth behind Deva ne. Cooper broke o u t o f ii first -turn jam in mot o jwo with Barr, Wa tts a nd Turpin o n hi s fender . Ba rr follow ed Cooper's lines for fo ur laps before takin g o ver th e lea d. Turp in p ressured Coope r, rook o ver second, th en Cooper fell i n a tangl e with a lapper . Th e Okl ah om a rid er remounted , ch a rged back , picked off Turpi n o n lap seve n , and th en bega n 10 reel in Barr's green mach ine. O n the; showdow n la p , Cooper made h is mov e. "He set me UI> in the to wer sweeper, " ela borated Ba rr. " I reall y d id n' t thi nk h e co u ld ge t by aft er th e j u m p, bu t he did. It was m y fa u lt for no t blocking the in side line: ' " Barr really rode hard for th e full 30 minu tes. H e tr u lv made me ea rn it. " responded Cooper, " H e set a super-fas t pa ce a nd d idn't give me any slack." T u rp in , wh o held off Pederso n to' earn seco nd o vera ll, sai d " " I'rn] u~t no t riding q uit e good eno ug h 10 win : ' waus got sic k to h is sto mach a nd fell back to eig h th in th e rno to for third o vera ll for th e dav. It was "showrime" in th e 250cc ra n ks. a nd J ef Fr isz, Ca rso n , Kenn y Kylo n , T omm y Mart in , T odd H a rrell a nd J oe Waddingt o n domina ted th e open ing act. Fri sz's W KR Suzuki breezed by Carson to lead lap o ne, but Keylon 's " f-bo ug h t-it-mvself" Yamah a too k over a nd th e Florida rid er wa ltzed away wit h the mot o point. Wa d din g ton en tertai ne d Ca rson , wh ile Li les wor ked hi s wa y through th e pack . Li les passed Wadd in gt on o n lap eight a nd took ai m at Ca rso n . " I was wat chi ng those guys and trying 10 match th eir pace:' said Keylo n . " I kn ew Li les was climbing all o ver Ca rso n:' L iles used h is ea rl y flat trac k experi en ce i n th e fast back swee pe r 10 finall y move inside Ca rso n a nd tak e a two-poi n t lea d in the ser ies overa ll race. Carson said with a sm ile, " I co u ld sure do without a ll thi s dram a ." Carson o wned th e fir st tu rn in m ot a two , but Fri sz wa s pumped and led the field o ff the 90-foot drop -o ff into th e ga to r p it. Coo per, in hi s firs t 250cc ap pea ra nce , scra p ped for third with Wadd inglOn , Liles, Keylo n and J o h n Sh ay foll owing. Ca rso n p us hed Fr isz for two laps a nd th en struggled with a flat fro nt tire, as Li les moved by to cli nch th e series. '" wis h I h ad someo ne to blame," sa id Ca rso n, "b ut I mou nted that o ne myself. I p u mped it u p 10 15 pounds. It sho u ld have been eno ug h : ' Lil es' Barrs Co m pe ti tio n /Gea r/ Dun lop Ka wasak i pi ck ed off Frisz o n lap five, but Keylon was o n th e gas 10 'sa ve th e overa ll. Keylon sai d, " Frisz a nd I cli cked bars wh en I tried to p ass him a nd I went dow n . I ca ug h t Fr isz aga i n a nd tried to ca tch Bill y bu t, unfortunatel y, I needed just one more !ap: ' ,,1 '.J-, .. . .