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
(Above) George Ho lland (6 5) stuffs Jeff Ward (1W) in the f irst 250cc mote . (Below ) RickJohnson (5 ) heads to the 250cc class win. CMCjSkoal Bandit Golden State Nationals: Round 4 Johnson smokes 'em at Carlsbad By Kit Palmer CA R LS BAD, CA. JAN. 24-25 Nobody, n ot even Kawasaki's J eff Ward, Yamaha's Brae Glover or Suzuki's George Holland, co uld au tride T eam Honda 's R ick Johnson today during the fourth round of 10 th e Continental Moto spo rts Club 's (C MC) / Skoa l Bandit Golden State Nat ioria ls a t Carlsbad Raceway. On,~b.e.I~,ng, • <, fast, hard-pack track, J ohnson sim p ly smoked th em a ll in bo th 250cc motos. J ohnson 's mo st impressiv e ride ca me in th e fir st moto. After a midpa ck .sia rt, J ohnson open ed up th e - , . th rottle a nd reele d in every ride r in fro nt o f him including Ward a nd Gl ov er , wh o were wa y o ut in front di cing for th e lead . Johnson made a d ramatic last-lap pass o n Ward to tak e the win. The seco nd rnoto went much more smooth ly fo r J ohnson h e gra bbed o ne o f hi s rar e hol esh ots a n d used it to h is every adva ntage, leadin g fro m start to finish . J ohnson wasn ' t th e onlv big winner today, h owever; H olland pulled o ff extremely hard-fough t wins in th e l25cc bou t, whil e H onda 's Dav id Bai ley went 2-110 ca p tu re the overa ll in th e 500cc cla ss. H olland 's win ca me aft er spe n ding the entire rn oto tra di ng pl aces for th e lead bet ween th ree o ther riders: Larry Brooks (Hon), Doug Dubach (Ya m) a nd Ca rroll Ri ch ardson (Kaw) . The fact ory Suzuki rid er a lso won th e seco nd rn oto after leading from wi re to wi re. Bail ey experience d a number of n agging p roblems ea rly in th e fir st 500cc m oto , but wh en h e fin all y sorted thing s o u t h alfway th rough th e race, it was too lat e as H onda ride r Mike Larson took th e m o to wi n. H o wever, Bail ey ca me back in round two a nd ro de a fla wless race, winning it eas ily . In th e Vet Pro class, Ya ma ha YZ490-mounted Rex St a ten succu m bed to his firs t m oto loss of th e seri es, but he wound up with th e overall victo ry, nonetheless. Stat en used a 3- 1 score for the win, beating Gary Jones, Kenny Zahrt, Paul Thede, Randy Rod rigu ez and 16 o ther riders. H onda rider Kyle Lewis continues 10 dominate the 80cc Expert class. Lewis easily won both rnotos , leaving Dennis Stephenson, J im m y Gaddis and Pa ul Winn to fight over second place. In th e first l25cc m oto , a co m ingo n -stro ng rider from Fort Worth, Texas, R ich ardson. took co m mand ea rly in th e race after passin g last week 's l25ccwin ner,JeffLeisk (Hon ). Ri ch ardson sta rted pulling a way as , Suzu ki's Bobby Moore beg-m' p resU,rJ J \ . , • ' ''' ; '~ t ... 'I - , I ~ I • ing Leisk from behind. During th e third lap, though, Leisk a nd Moore collided halfway up a long uphill , dropping both competitors LO the rear of th e pack. This made th e top five R ich ardso n , Holland, Brooks, Paul Thede Race T ech's Doug Dubach (Yam) and Lan cer Leath ers' Sh aun Kal os ( Hon), Ri chardson held on to hi s lead for a total o f 10 laps before H olland motoredby. Eventuall y, Ri chardson dropped to fourth , letting Holland, Dubach and Brooks go for it. The tight battle lasted for th e rest of the race. With two la p s remaining, Du bach surprised Holland wh en the Yamaha rider snuck by, taking o ver th e lead . H ow ever , o n th e final lap, H olland got revenge when th e Suzu ki pil o t sq ua red o ff a turn a t th e bottom o f a downh ill and dove inside of Dubach, ta king ove r th e lead once a nd for all. " I thought) h ad it made, " sa id Dubach . " I wanted to ride sm oo th on th e la st lap, so I wo u ld n't mess up, but H olland m ad e a good pas s. H e sq uared off the turn rea l ea rly and passed me on the ins ide ." Bro oks fin ish ed in th e thi rd spot, wh ile R ich ardson and Kal os ro u nded ou t the LOp five. T he seco nd moto was a ll Holland's, but o n e mista ke co u ld' ve been fatal , since Brooks trailed Holland a bout three seconds the whole rnoto. " I n th e back of m y head," sa id Bro oks, " I reall y think I co u ld' ve beat him, but) got a flat tire n ear th e en d (of the m ot a )." Dubach work ed hi s wa y up to third a t mot o 's end, despite a six th -p la ce . sta rt. " I crashed real hard during practice just before the first moto," sa id a very battere d-looking Du bach , " bu t I felt rea l good in the first moto. Between motos, though , I began feeling really sor e and started stiffening up. " Honda rid er Willie Surratt, who finished 12th in the fir st outing. finished fourth for six th overall, while Kalas fini shed fifth for eighth. • • •• • ,. • I' I 1 J I , , r I l. . .