Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Kenny Bollmeier (469) leads Jeff Surwall (3) and the pack in round t w o of the February warm -up series in Cocoa. Florida, Florida February warm-up series: Round 2 Bollmeier, Harrell and Murphy sfir Cocoa sands By Mike and Anne Adair COCOA, FL, FEB . 2 Kenny Boll m eier, Todd Harrell and Mark Murphy earned $ 1000 each from Yamaha's contingency program for their P ro/ Am class wins in the second round of the Florida February Warm U p Series a t Cocoa 's Diamondback Race- . way . Bollmei er ' s 125cc win ca me a t th e ex pe nse o f hi s 20 trai ni ng partner, Brian McEl ro y. Yam aha/HaIl man Racing spo nsored BoIlmeier exp la ined , with a bro ad smi le, " Bria n , J oh n Sha y and I a lways load up o n P izza H u t spaghe tt i the ni ght before a ra ce. I guess I ate more a t our fea st last night and it worked. " H a llm an /S&S Sp ro c ke rs zSco u USA/ Hi -Po illl-s po nsored H a rr eIl exte nded his series winni ng strea k wi th a narrow victory over Murph y in 250cc ac tion . " Dave H oIl is h el ped me today," sa id th e North Ca rolina speeds ter. " H e watched me i n practice and noticed tha t I was overrevi ng th e Ya ma h a, I sta rte d shi fti ng a lillie sooner a nd it helped im prove my lap times." Yama ha /Ma lcolm Sm ith l Answerl Simons -sponsored Murph y had to ca tch Brooksville's 500cc winner, Dave H oll is, in both mo tos to tak e h is first day 's overaIl victory of th e series. " I felt really good out th ere and wanted to win bo th classes today, but Todd gat good sta rt s and rode we Il," said Mu rph y. " T h is is the fir st tim e that I ha ve ridden the new 250, and I like it . The bike handles m ore like a 125 a nd makes m v 490 feel like a tracto r. Th e sma ller c'lasses are j ust-more fu n to ride." The Beac h Sport Cycle Bu ffal o bro th ers rebuilt much of th e tra ck wh ich had been nea rl y des troyed by th e run ni ng o f a wet Wint er AMA event, as th e bypa ssed m ud h o les were still visi ble a lo ng th e ci rcu i t's perimeter. Wa rm , cl oud y weath er for th e February event wa s a p lea sant co nt rast to th e to rre nt ia l rai ns o f j anuary . In th e open ing 125cc Prol Am mota , H onda-mounted Bruce Buerk led Bollmei er, McE lroy, Ro bert H a yes a n d Steve H en drick s past a sta ck o f fa lle n riders a nd o ver th e roIl in g tunnel j ump . " Kei th Fo x landed o n a g uy in front of h im," sai d McEl roy. " I ran right over Keith and th e o ther g uy 's bi ke flipped pa st my h ead." McElro y passed BoIl m eier and, on lap th ree, ree led in Buer k for th e eventua l win . J eff Surwa Il rode back to a fourth p lace fini sh . McEl ro y sa id lat er , " My YZl 25 is stock n o w , but I hope to ha ve a new engine in it for next wee k's West Pal m Beach round," Bo Ilmeier took th e seco nd mo to sta rt from Surwall w ith McEl ro y a nd Fo x dea d locked for the third p lace spot, " Fox wou ld n ' t let m e by," co m mented McE lrov, a fter th e race. " I wasted two lap s' tr ying to pass him , the n he slo wed down . My sh oc k sta rted to fa de a nd I kn ew it wo u ld be Kenn y's day," Labaus Beer-sponsored Surwa Il rode h is bes t ra ce o f th e yea r to lock up second beh ind Boll meier , ea rn in g a third av era II fo r hi s effo rts . Boll meier sai d , " I w ish I co u ld get m y 250 working lik e th is 125. Ma ybe it's a ll i n m y head, but I prefe r th e sm a ller ma chine." In th e open ing 250cc co n test, J oe Waddi ngton' s Suzuki bu rned of f th e Ken ny Kizzor (212) upset John Kitsch (2 19) to w in the 125cc Brace; Kitsch finished second with Marcus Ped rero taking thi rd , ga te a nd led Surwa ll , H arr ell , J ohn Shay , Chris Col eman an d Murph y th rough th e h igh speed ri ght hander. Ha rrell 's Yam ah a picked o ffSu rwall 's Ka wasak i o n lap o ne an d began closing o n th e lea der. Waddingt on set a fast pac e for six la p s, unt il h is a rms pumped u p an d H a rrell took o ver th e lead. Waddin gton sa id , " I bro ke a knuckle a t th e first Winter AMA race an d still ha ven ' t gotten my rid in g streng th ba ck," Murphy lined u p o n H arrell 's fen der but a p ass was n ot in th e ca rds as Murphy h igh -sided an d remounted , u nable to reduce the ga p hi s gro u nd time had lost him. " I was worn o u t from raci ng Wadding ton," ela bo ra ted H arr eIl . "My mechanic, Mike Ca Ila h an , told me tha t Mark was co m in g o n stro n g . I go t bl ock ed by a lap per a nd Ma rk was right o n m y butt befo re I kn ew it . I wa s just lu ck y M urph fel l. It gave me so me room to breath ." H arreIl, Surwal l, Wad din gt on an d S h ay pa ced th e fina l m oto , b u t Murphy charged back from hi s mi dpack start. Waddin gton a nd H arreIl led for three laps eac h un til Ha rrell opened .the int er val o n th e seventh la p , ta king a strong w in a t the ch eckere d fla g. " I feIl tw ice a nd co u ld n ' t keep up H arr eIl 's p ace, " sa id Co n necticuu rid er Wadding to n . Murphy's mo m entum ca rried him to seco nd place, but a broken Iootpeg so ften ed hi s cha rge an d he h ad to settle for number two overa ll for th e day . O h io 's Sh ay took third overa ll from Waddingt on in a tiebreak er sco re. Th e 500cc series lead er , Dave H o llis , roosted Murphy, H aro ld Neighbors. T ed Van Nest, and Shane Drew a nd led th e fir st lap o f th e o pe n ing mot o, Murphy stalked H oll is for fo ur la p s before puui ng h is Pa ul Murphyp rep pe d YZ into th e lead for good. " I wa s m en ta ll y ex h a us te d to d a y," exp la ined H o llis. " We helped Kenn y Keylon ma rry Ren ee Kn o wl es la st night, d ro ve here after th e wedding, a nd onl y go t about three hours of sleep ." O rla ndo , Florida rider J o hn CoIlins ca me back th rough th e pa ck to n ip Va n Nest for th ir d at the end . " I h ad a decent start but m issed a gear a nd lo st it," sai d Collins. In the m oto two reru n, H oIlis pl a yed ca reta ker a t th e po st for five lap s before Murph y moved by in a n o utside swee pe r, to ma ke it two in a ro w. The bike rea lly handles," sai d Murf. " Sim mo n s has do ne a grea t job o f setting up th e shock fo r me." H oll is kept M urphy hon est in seco nd p lace wit h CoIlin s pla yin g ca tch -up again . " I wa nted to get u p there a nd ra ce with H o Ilis," Coll ins co m me nted. " bu t m y back sta rte d bothering me in th e fir st m oto a nd I never felt right in th e seco n d," j ohn Kitsch a nd Kenny Kizzar resu med th ei r wee kl y duel in th e 125cc B ran ks, each win ni ng a mota, but Ten nessee's Kizzar to pped th e o ne tha t co unted . Ya m a h a / EP /Barrsp o n so red Kizzar sai d, " I think J ohn got tired in th e seco nd mota . It 's th e firs t tim e th at I hav e ever bea ten hi m for th e a vera II on a 125." Bea ch Spor rcycles ' john H arri s m oved u p fro m mid-pack to win th e openi ng 250cc B moto and then d ueled wi th R icha rd Nado and David Brown to th e final checker, ens u ri ng th e overa ll victory . " I ha d to fight for this win , but it was wo rt h it ," sa id H arris. Dav id Indiver i added a nothe r win for th e Beach Spor tcycle Su p port T ea m effo rt in a 50cc B class th rill er. Kei th Yarnell crash ed away a near first m o ta wi n a nd poi nt leader Dan Craw ford ca u g h t Ind iveri o n th e last lap of the final. " I ja mmed m y back an d ba rel y fin ish ed th e mota ," sa id Indiver i , " bu t seco n d was g ood en o ug h fo r m e." Kit sch 's Barr -equ ipped Kaw asak i ro m ped , as usua l, in th e 85cc 12-15 cla ss, wi th the " T a m p a Twi ns" Derek an d Daryl You ngbl ood ridi ng well fo r seco nd a nd th ird in th e day 's tally. In 85cc 7-11 ac tio n , T immy Ferry a n d Brock Bulla rd m ixed it up in bo th mOlOS, bu t Pa lm Bea ch Yama hasp onsored Ferry got even for Bulla rd 's Winter AMA win. Steve EIler to p ped Michael Poo re for th ird. Fred Vertucci used h is 30t h birth da y for a tri um phant ret urn to racing, upsetting th e Woody Strickla ndl Paul Eaton Sen ior class railroad by ta king a do uble m ot o sweep . " I decided that I'd sta rt ra cing just for fu n . These g u ys reaIly have a good time in th is cl a ss," sa id Vertucci , wi th a m usta ch e fuIl of smeared birthday ca ke. Results PRO/ A M 125: 1. Ken ny Boll me ier (Yam); 2 . Bri an McElroy IVam); 3. Je ff Surwall (Kaw ). 250 : 1. Todd Harrell (Vam ); 2. Mark Murphy (Vam ); 3. J ohn Sha y (Vam ). O PEN: 1. Mark Murphy ( Va m ~ 2. Dav e Holl is (Vam ); 3. Jo hn Collins (Yam ). AM 125 B: 1. Kenny Kiss8r (Yam); 2. John Kitsch (Kaw ); 3. Marcu s Pedr ero (Han ). 250 B: 1. Jo hn Harri s (Yam); 2. David Brown (KTM ); 3. Ric hard Nado n (Suz) . OPEN NOV : 1. David Ind iver i (Yam ); 2. Da n Crawford (Yam ); 3. Rick Perry (Vam ). 85 7- 11: 1. Tim Ferry (Yam); 2. Brock Bull ard (Yam); 3 . Steve Ell ar (Yam) . 85 12 -15 : 1. John Kit sch IK aw); 2. Der ek You nq blood (Vam); 3. Dary l Voungblood (Yam) . SR: 1. Fred Vertucci (Ha n); 2. Paul Eaton (Yam); 3 . Woody Strick land (Ka w ). 125 C: 1. M ike J ones (Hon); 2. Ricky Hampsh ir e (Kaw) ; 3. Andrew Fa ust (Suz). 25 0 C: 1. Don Mathieson (Yam); 2. Arlie Cecil (Ka w) ; 3 . Steve Ma rty (Vaml .

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