Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

George Holland ce lebrates his second National win in Florida. (Above) Jeff Ward (1), Broc Glover (4 ), Jeff Hicks (21), David Bailey (6) and Rick Johnson (beh ind Ward) at t he start of the first 250cc moto. Rick Johnson (below) went 1·1 for the 250cc overall. AliA National Champ-ionship- III Series: Round 1 Johnson on the move at Gainesville opener By Tom Mueller GA INESVI L L E. FL. MAR. 2 Honda 's Rick Johnson came on strong at the opening round of the 1986 Na tional MX Series and to pped bo th m o tos at Ga torback Cycle Park for th e overall win. U n der the n ew 8 \. racin g format in 1986, all th e top MX stars compete in th e (I , ' ,11.11 ': io !I V' I II same class, but th e abundance of co m pe titio n didn 't eem to l )l~ ~ t6J (i l \ t" l l .( ,I II .l l ... C ~". · \ ,,,',I faze Johnson. " R igh t n ow I want to win more than an yth ing else." said J ohnson. a n d that certa in lv seem ed to be th e case . J ohnson took ch ances througho u t the da y to put himself into th e lead, whil e Kawasa ki 's Jeff Wa rd took a co nserva tive seco nd with a 2-2 sco re. Yamaha 's Broc Glo ver was third o vera ll wi th a 4-3 ta lly . Th roughout th e fir st h alf o f th e 1986 National s, ride rs will co m pe te o n 250cc machiner y. An AMA " p ro ducti on o n ly" rule is in effec t. and a ll th e factori es were prepared with th eir lat est efforts. Fork ass emblies . a nd shocks wer e modified o r rep laced o n a ll th e Japanese factory bikes. and other items such as brakes and exhaust pipes were also modified. A 125cc Sup port class will be featured at a ll th e ou tdoor Na tiona ls. T h is d i visi on w ill serve as a steppi ng stone fo r yo u ng up-and-co mers who wa nt toa ttai n national M X experience withou t going direct ly into the top P ro ra n ks. Gatorback , a s usual , was fast a nd rough . T h e san d-based co urse offered st eep uphills , dropawa vs, rou g h straights a nd h ig h -bermed turns. The co u rse is built in and around a former granite quarry , which delivers a un ique ra cing en viro n me nt at this north ern Florida course. A su n ny da y with tem pera tu res in th e hi gh 50s made for optimum racing co nd i tio ns . A crowd o f o ver 5000 fans a tte n ded th e Super Sports-promoted event . th e largest crowd a t G a torback in recent yea rs. '2 5 0 c c Johnson showed th e way wh en th e gate dropped for th e firs t 250cc m oto , bu t then ti pped over in the last turn before th e sta rt / fi nish lin e. J ohnson was u p a n d underway in stantl y, bu t n ot before Ward had th e lead. Glover a n d H onda's Joh n ny O 'M ara were running third a nd fourth , fo llo wed by Yamaha 's Dann y Sto rbeck. Fig ht in g for six th was Kaw asa ki' s R o n . Lech ien and Yamaha 's J im H oll ey. Lech ien h ad a few feet o n H oll ev, but H o lley was usin g h is n ew Ya maha ride to fu ll adva ntage, sha do wi ng Lechi en' s even ' mo ve. Wartl a ntl j o h n so n began to p u ll a wa y fro m th e p ack . s ta~i n~ a ba tt le th at sa w j ohnson p ick up th e p ace a nd pass Ward to reta ke th e lead . c t c c..l ' •1 ,) I ~ (: I . ) - -~ t T : e "b 1 , I With in a la p Ward returned th e fa vo r a nd took th e lead back away from J ohnson. j ohnson p u t a nothe r pass o n Ward, and this ti me m ad e it stick. T he front -runners had a lrea d y put 13 seco nds o n th e field d uring th eir di spl a y o f ta lent. T h e ro ugh, sa ndy co urse was sta rt ing to ta ke its toll. Lec hi en crashed in the sa me turn w here J ohnson fell, but fo r Lechi en th e co nseq uen ces wer e wo rse. H e had to drop o ut o f th e moto a nd event ua lly pa cked i t in for the da y with a bruised rig ht shou lder. Ya m a h a -m o u nted Tim Coombs a lso too k a bad fa ll on th e ro ugh circuit. T h e West Vir ginia rider wa s knock ed un conscious on a frontstra igh t double jump. " I go t o u t of shape and fell o n th e fa r side of th e jump," sa id Coombs, "a nd T om Ca rson landed ri ght o n top o f me. I th in k I' m headed for th e hospita l; from m y chest up every thi ng hurts." Beh ind J ohnson and Ward th e story was Ba iley. T h e form er 250 a nd 500cc Nat ional Champio n got p ast Storbeck, who was fad in g , a nd soo n found h im self setting u p O 'M a ra for a pass. Ba iley worked by O 'M a ra o n th e back sectio n of the co urse, and by the white flag lap Bail ey was with in str iking ra nge o f th ird pl ace G lover. Ba iley mad e up time in th e turn s a nd zipped p ast a su rp rised G lover o n ly feet befo re the finish . J oh nso n won th e 30-mi n ut e-p lustwo- laps m o to , followed by Wa rd and Ba il ev, G lover inh erited fourth , O 'M ara wa s fifth , and H o llev wa s sixth. . " La p ped riders were reall y a factor," sai d J o h n so n whi le recuperating in hi s truck a fte r th e race. "Some gu y on a Yamaha was holdin g me up for o ver a lap . I k now Ward had trou bl e with th e traffi c too . It wa s mentally to ugh fo r both o f us. " " I felt li ke Evel Kn ievel o n th at last j u mp, " sa id Ba iley in rega rd to h is pass o n Gl over . " I bet I co u ld h ave cleared 19 ca rs . I j u st have to get m y starts more dia led in . I just ca n 't get rh ythm goi ng qu ick enough . J ohnson was quickl y away wi th th e lead at the start of m o ta two. Pennsylva n ia ri der Ton y Dubosk i was a vic tim o f th e powdery sa n d aro u nd th e fir st turn . A washe d-ou t fro n t end left Du bo ski o n the grou nd , a nd starti ng hi s race from last . . It was H o lley w ho ga ve J o hnson a battle durin g th e first la p o f th e race. H o lley m oved u p to ta ke th e lead, but got si de ways a co u p le of times before fi nall y fall in g off th e pa ce. Glover th en Wa rtl a ntl O 'M a ra passed Holley in p u rsui t of j ohnson. with Ba iley closing fast in si xth . At the h alfwa y po int Ward kn ew his time wa s ru n n ing o ut, sO .her "j' j ;"' . I 1 "\ t' , -!: ~ • 1 s . ti l r • ~ I

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