Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

a: < c ~ « w z z « c e z « w >< :E > c.o !XI Vl 00 ~ 0 :r 11. Cj) ~ sc C\( ..c u ... C'\l ~ (Above) Rob Johnson (12) leads 250cc A runner-up Mario Paquette (9) . (Below) 500cc A winner Jeff Stanton (363) battles Rick Lindell (723). ;;:;:c Tommy Rios of Peru powered his way to victory in the 125cc A division during the Amateur Triple Crown of Motocross at Gatorback Cycle Park. Results Atlanta/Gainesville/Daytona Amateur Triple Crown: Round 2 Rios, Fox, Stanton top Gatorback Atlant a/Gainesville/Daytona Amateur Trip-Ie Crown: Round 1 By Mike and Anne Adair GAIN ESVILLE, FL, MAR . I Tommy Rios, J eff Fox an d Jeff Stanton claimed top Expert trophies over a 500-rider contingency a t the second roun d of the Amateur Triple Crown of Motocross at Gatorback C d e Park in Gain esv ill e. y, . '.. . Peru s R IOS said, EsLOy felice (I am very happy), " after win ning his first Expert overall in 3() th e USA. Barr/Scott USA /Hi-Pointsponsored Fox miscued in th e l25cc A second mota. but rallied to upset Stanton in th e final 250cc g o , takin~ th e. class overall. Yamaha/Barr/HI Point-sponsored Stan IOn, wh o won every 250cc and 500cc even t in th e Wint er AMA series, easil y romped to another 500cc A win. Fox reeled in Jacksonville's Rob Johnson to win th e first 125cc A moto, but it wa s all Rios in the final, after Fox crash ed hard on th e pl ateau section. Rios, who is attending school in th e U.S. during the winter racing season , said, " I am really enjoying the good competi tion up here in th e U .S. and I am learning to go fast er eac h week." Stanton berserked the first 250cc mow, but Fox ~Ol his act back togeth er wh en the ~a t e dropped for th e final, laking a second in th e rnoro and th e cla ss o veru l l, Stan IOn exp la ined hi s dem ise. " I go t a way clea n o n th e • st'\iQlj li W l , but fell ill Ii ]A' first c?r.n~r. Th~t was it for me in th~~ division. Things got worse alter that. Canadian Mario Paquette took the sero nd mota win. . Stan.to;t raved a bo ut Ills Yam aha after Ills :>OOcc class sweep over teammat e ' Ri ck Lindell. Th e Michigan rid er said, " T he hik e was aweso me o u t o f the n at e. a nd now , with the Barr Competit ion cylinder, it has an eve u bet ter midrang e." Da ytona 's Keith Yarnell has had m oments of glory throughout th e winter , but at Gatorback h e climaxed his seaso n with a 500cc B win . " I started in sixth place the first m ow and worked up for the win." ela borated Yarnell. "Th ird in th e fina l race was good en o ug h for th e overall victory." T eam Green Kawa saki riders Ezra Lusk, Gene Naumec and John Kitsc h took th ree of the Mini classes, with Brock Bullard winning for Yama ha in th e 85cc (7-11) division. Kawasaki /Gea r/DM C-sponsored Robby Neeley had hi s hands full before topping Fred Vertucci in exc i ting Se n ior ac t io n . The A;'v[A Nati onal cha m pion sa id, " All I sa w in the first rno to was the hack o f Vi-rVicoi' ! A ' II 12 5 A : 1. Tom mv Rios (Vam); 2 . Br uce Buerk (Hon) 3 . Carl Vaillancourt (Hon). 250A: 1. Jeff Fox(Kaw); 2. M ar io Paquette (Hon); 3. BiIIV Able (Kawl. OPEN A : 1. Jell Stanton (Vam); 2 . Rick Lindell (Yam ); 3. Mario Paquene (Hon). 65 7 -11 : 1. Ezra Lusk (Kawl; 2. Patrick Slate (Varni; Matt Sh ue (Kaw). 85 7 · 11: 1. Brock Bullard (Yam); 2. Brett Melton (Hon); 3 . Rvan Revno lds (Kaw). 8512-13: 1. Gen e Naumec (Kaw) ; 2. Hank Moree (Kaw); 3 . Daryl Voungblood (Yam ). 85 14-15: 1. John Kitsch (Kaw ); 2. Chad Montero (Yam ): 3 . Jared King (Hon) . SR: 1. RobbV Neeley (Kaw); 2. Fred Vertucci (Hon); 3. Barr v Higgins (KTM ). 12 5 B: 1. Bobby Mann (Kawl: 2 . Sean Dukes (Hon); 3 . John Kitsch (Kaw) . 250 B: 1. Ja son Coleman (Kaw) : 2. Jeff Pute r baugh (Yam ); 3 . Chris Shipelark (Yam). OPEN B: 1. Keith Yarn ell (Kaw); 2. Mark William son (Honl: 3. Arthur Swift (Kaw) . 125 C: 1. Todd Nea l (Hon); 2. BobbV Stonwall IKaw); 3. Thomas Evagosh (Kaw). 250 C: 1. Dwavn e Otto (Hon); 2. Gran. Wood (Hon); 3. Harold Davis (Hon ). 125 PROI AM : 1. Carroll Richardson (Kaw ); 2. Ronnie Tic henor (Kaw); 3 . Danny Schmitt (Kaw) . 250PRO/AM: 1. Ted Van Nest (Kaw); 2. Richard Serois (Hon); 3 . Greg Nelson (Suz). n.n • • Jones, Melton top Atlanta SX By Gary Crider ATLANTA, GA, FE B. 23 Mark Melton and Mike Jones battled in 125 and 250cc Pro/Am action in round one of the third annual Triple Crown of Motocross series in Atlanta's Fulton County Stadium. Mellon topped Jones for the 125cc hon ors while Jones took the 250cc win over Melton. In 65 and 85cc (7-11) racing. Ezra Lusk emerged with a perfect score, winning the heat race and final in both classes. Nearly 500 entrants from 22 states, Canada, Peru and Berm uda were on hand for the event. Barr'sz'Spectro/Oear-backed J o nes gassed his Kawasaki into the lead at the start of the l25cc Pro/Am final. Jones soon stalled his engine, however , and Melton took over. Then, " At a bout ha lfway I passed Melton bac k," sai d Jones, " bu t I overs hot the next turn ." Honda/Spectro/ Bell/ H iPo int 's Melton won with a lon g lead over Jones. On th e fourth lap of th e eigh t-lap 250cc Pro/Am final, Jones moved up 10 pressure leader Melt on . Two laps lat er Jones got under Melton in a right-hand sweeper. T h e pair ran side -by-side through th e foll owing ... . ~~ It ' . PI IlllUaru. . , grabbed the lead at the end of the straight in a tight lefthander. Jones held on for the win over Melton and Toby Harris. Bobby Mann and Sean Dukes won th eir respective 125cc B qualifying heats and th en lined up side-by-side for the final. Answer/Simpson/ProCircuit's Dukes got away first and led all the way despite constant pressure from Mann. Jim Chester suffered a poor start but recovered to finis h th ird behind Ma n n. R usty Sayres holeshot the 250cc B fina l bu t soon yielded to the speeding duo of Chester and Tony Bu llar d. With three laps remai ni ng, Cheste r took th e lead away from Bullard and he ld on to win. " Bu ll a rd rea lly charged on the last la p ," said Chester, " I wa s lucky to ho ld h im off in the last turn ." Sayres finished th ird over Todd Adams. Promoters separated the 88 I25cc C entrants into two divisions. Group ; nl1Dli ,mil'odci r · '.. Il~ 1

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