Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

a: w ::!; ..J ;t ..... :;1 o z <{ rn w z a: <{ '" z <{ a: '" '" >rn ~ o :I: a.. Rick Johnson (above) leads Jeff Ward by 20 points. (Below ) Donny Schmit (4 0 1 ) was top 125cc rider Sunday. ~A/~PPODdeDsoSupercross series: Rounds 4 - 5 Ward, Johnson split Seattledoubleheader By K it Palmer SEATTLE, \VA, FE B, 14-15 Kawasaki 's J eff Ward and H o n da 's R ick Johnson each came away with victories at the R a in ier Beer Su p ercross doubleheader inside Seattle's Kingdome. So far this sea- 6 son , both Ward a n d J ohnson h a ve two wi ns to the ir credit, bu t the bi g di fference is Ward 's cos tly DNF in Anaheim four weeks ago. T wenty points now separ- a te series poi nts leader Joh nson a nd Ward, who moved into seco nd p lace in th e sta ndi ngs a fter hi s Saturday night wi n. O ver 25,000 spectators were o n ha nd Saturday night to see Ward co me from beh ind in a n exci ting race . J ohnson led most of th e m oto befor e Ward reeled him in an d p assed lat e in the race. " They say 1 h ave n 't been co m pe ti tion, latel y," said Ward, " So 1 thought I' d show 'em tonight." Ward was by far th e fa stest rider on th e track a t th e fin ish Sa turday, wh ile J ohnson was u pset with himself for blow in g a large lead. " I was so st u p id," said J ohnson. " I ro de h is (Ward's) ra ce; 1 ca tered to h im. 1 was wa tchi ng a n d wo rryi n g a bo ut where he was all the tim e in stead o f worryin g about me going fast a nd getting away . T ha t's wh en 1 sta rte d ma ki ng mi stakes. " T o m orrow I'm go ing to ride m y ow n race a n d not ca ter to him. He's goi ng to h ave a bi gger h andful th an he had tonigh t." Ward's resp onse to this was " no p robl em ," but as it turned o ut, it wa s a bi g problem . On Sunda y. J ohnson lived u p to th e words he sai d Sa turday n ight, ridi ng hi s own race, unto uchable. A 13-second ga p separa ted J ohnson fro m Wa rd at the fin ish whi le nea rly 20,000 fa ns wa tched. H onda rider Willie Surra tt passed Kawasaki rider Donn y Sch m it ea rly in the race a nd went on to win Satur day 's 125cc Pro -Am race ra ther easi ly. However, Surratt cou ld not repeat th a t performance Sunday . It was Sch mit who emerged wi th th e win Sunday af ter tradi ng off the lead a couple of times wi th a nothe r Kaw asaki rider, Carroll Rich ar dso n. T he co urse wa s described by ma ny rid ers as good, bu t tough . T he Seattle Supercross, trad itiona lly known for its deep-grooved tra cks, was consta nt ly groome d by tra ctors, a nd un like previous races, was ru n in the same direction bo th days. Saturday Heats . T he first h ea t race of th e weeke nd sa w Kawasaki rider Rick Ryan edge H onda 's Mick y Dym ond into th e first tu rn , bu t a stra ig htaway la ter , Dymond double-j u m ped by R yan , taking o ver th e lead . After th e first lap it was Dymo n d , R yan , Mike La rso n (Hon), Suzuki 's A.J . Whiti ng and Kaw asaki-m ounted Alan King . Du ring th e seco nd lap, Larson dr opped back to fifth , handing thi rd a nd fourth to Whiting a nd Kin g. For th e rem ain der of th e race , posi tions sta yed th e same as Dymond took th e win a hea d o f Rya n , Whiting a nd King . The seco n d hea t race bel on ged to Ka wasa ki's Ro n Lech ien . After passin g both Suzu ki 's G eorge H o lland and Yamaha 's Dann y Storbeck during th e seco nd la p, Lechien eas ily cruised to victory, while Storbeck h eld on to seco nd. Yama ha' s Jim H oll ey fought hi s wa y through th e pack for a third, while Holland fin ished fourth . Yam a ha 's Broc G lover and Ward battled for th e lead a t th e start of th e th ird hea t, wi th Glover takin g the lead . Yama ha's Keith Bo wen was th ird , foll owed by Brian Man ley (H on) a nd Ross Pederson (Ya m ). Durin g the seco nd lap , Wa rd sl ipped by GloverCor the lead through so me wh oops a nd started pulling a way . At th e sa me tim e, Bowen , who was close behind in th ird, wa shed ou t a nd cras hed . He saved third but was a long ways behind Glover. H ow ever , Bo wen took care o f th at a n d reeled in Gl over a nd passed him two laps fro m th e finish . Ward took the wi n , fo llow ed by Bo wen , G lo ver a n d Pederso n. H onda's Da vid Bailey ca p tu red the holesh ot at th e sta rt of th e fourth heat, but was quickl y p assed by J ohnso n. From the n on, J ohnson took co m ma nd, whi le Johnny O'Mara pressured Ba iley. O 'Mara motored by Bail ey through a jump section, securing second. Back in fourth , a fierce ba ttle was raging betwee n Larry Brooks (Hon), All ey Sem ar (Yam) and Suzuki 's Mike Heal ey. Late in th e race, Brooks began pulling away, but fell down in a rutty turn . Bro o ks kept fourth , but Semar was right on hi s tail. Then a la p ped rider got in Brooks' way, which gave Semar fo urth. Bro o ks quickly retalia ted a turn la ter on the fina l lap. Bu t Sem ar pulled up a lo ng side Bro oks in a straight and stu ffed the Honda rider in th e next turn , ta king the final transfer spot in fourth , w hi le Broo ks went to th e sem is. Semis Suzuki 's Erik Keh oe led fro m start to fin ish in the fir st sem i, while Kawasaki rider Bill y Li les stayed close. Liles pressured early in th e race but faded ba ck by th e end. Kehoe- a nd Liles fin ish ed first a nd seco n d, while Larson fini shed third. The seco nd semi was won by Yam aha 's Scott Burnworth, but th e wi n didn ' t co me eas ily . Burnworth led for th e first four laps before J oJo Kell er (Hon ) snuck by, Kell er led for the n ex t two lap s, but then Burnworth sho t back into th e lead. Ba ck in thi rd, Bro oks a nd H eal ey bat tled for position un til Brooks' H onda tossed a chain. Burnworth wo n the m oto ahead of Kell er and H eal ey. Last Chance Qualifier Suzu ki riders Jeff Fri sz, J eff Hi cks a nd H eal ey led the way a t the start of th e LCQ. Two turns into th e race , H icks slipped by Frisz , as d id H ea ley, ove r a dou ble jump. H ow ever, He aley go t o ut of shape , letti ng both Frisz a nd Lar son by. Heal ey q uickl y go t back on track, repassed both ride rs and set ou t after Hicks. O nce in to seco nd , Hea ley reeled in and passed H icks, th en started p u lling away. Heal ey went on to win th e mot o , tak in g th e fin al tra ns fer spot of th e ni ght, Main Wh en the ga te d ropped fo r th e 20-

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