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/126910
(Above) Winner Ricky Johnson styles over the 85-foot set of doubles. (Below ) Jeff Leisk (203) and Jeff Ward battle in the first heat. Mickey' Thomllson Off-Road Gran Prix RJ styles to Rose Bowl win By Paul Carruthers Photos by Mitch Friedman PASADENA, CA, MAY 3 It may h ave been a different p romoter a nd o n a different kind of track, but T ea m Honda 's Ricky Johnson turned i n the same kind of performance that h as made him 1986's win8 ningest motocrosser, J ohnson easily beat Kawasaki 's J eff Ward • to Win th e 250cc P ro motocross . h eld in co n j un ction w i th Mi.ck~y Thom pson 's Off -R oad Gran !'nx In front of nearl y 40,000 peop le In th e Rose Bowl. Some of th e prom ised sta rs weren 't on hand fortheThompson race. h eld Larry Brooks flies his Honda en route to a win in the second heat; Brooks fi nished third in the main for a $1500 pay day. o n an ultra-fast, TT-type track on th e floor of th e famous Rose Bowl. Honda 's J ohnny O 'Mara a nd Yamaha's Brae Glover were a bsent from th e proceedings (G lover has a broken wrist and an exp la na tion of O'Mara's abs ence was never given ), but all that was ne cessary for a good show was J ohnson. The El Cajon , California rider continues 10 amaze as h e entertained the ca r. truck and ATV fans with his one-hand laun chings off the 85-foo t-lo ng set of doubles. Unfortunately th e cro wd onl y got 10 see Johnson in action during the main event. As heat one was brought 10 the line Johnson was not a m on g th e starters. Announcer Larry Huffman said that John son had encountered mechani cal problems prior 10 the heat and would be forced to sit it o ut. Johnson wa s p laced in the mai n event as promoter's choice by Thompson . Heats With Johnson in the pits, it was Ward chargin g into turn one with th e holeshot, but that didn 't last long a s Australian Jeff Leisk exited turn one with th e lead. Greg Zitterkopf had hi s Honda in third with Ross Ped erson a nd Scott Manning in tow. Lei sk , wh o is regaining form after a su ffering a broken jaw in th e San Diego Supercross, held Ward a t ba y for three laps but th e cu rren t number o ne plate holder sho t past off the sta rt / fin ish line jump. Zitterkopf still held third, but wa s feeling pressure from both Pederson and Sh aun Kalos . By lap seven of th e 10-lap heat, Wa rd h eld a three-second advantage over Leisk with Pederson getting by Zitterkopf. The order remained the sa me. but Kalos crashed in the last corner , a right-hander, flat-track type sweeper, while trying to pass Pederson on the inside. Larry Brooks put his Honda into turn one first in heat number two with ' Bill y Frank second and and T odd Peterso n third. Frank, how ever , soon shot by Brooks to take the lead a t th e end of th e first lap. J o n Ortner bailed hard off th e big double jump on th e second lap while Brian Myerscough started pr essuring Brooks for seco nd . The top 'three were n eck-and-neck on th e third lap wh en sudde n ly Frank went down and took Myerscough with him. Brooks took advantage 01 the mis cue and sho t into a lead he wasn 't going to relinqu ish . Meanwhil e, Doug Dubach took over th e second spot whi le Frank and Myerscough remounted in third and fifth with Pederson separating them. Brooks took th e win over Dubach, Frank and Myerscough. " Wild " Willie Surratt lived up to his name by flying lO4feetoff th e double jump on the last lap 10 claim a $500 bonus. Main Much like he has done all season. Johnson grabbed the holeshot in th e main event, but unlike his previous races was passed by Brooks in the first turn . The two were bumping in turn two and Leisk shot by the both of them to take th e ea rly lead. Lei sk opened up a short lead whi le Johnson and Brooks argued over second place. Th e supercross and 250cc outdoor point lead er soon disposed of Brooks and shot out after Leisk. Ward, meanwhile. got off the line in seventh , but by lap two was gaining on Bro ok s. Johnson took the lead from Lei sk in a tight turn on the third lap, but he couldn't shake the determined Au ssie. Lap five saw Ward pass Brooks and gain on Lei sk whil e Johnson started 10 pull a wa y. The cu rta in went upon th e Ri ck J ohnson show as the doubles started bringing out the ham in th e Team Honda sta r. Ward p assed Leisk on lap nine as the young Australian bail ed hard on the start/finish line jump. He appeared 10 be only shaken up and ran to his bike to rejoin th e race. Johnson took the win over a gaining Ward with Brooks finishing third with Surratt fourth, Frank fifth and Leis k regaining his composure for sixth. Johnson continued the show for one more lap as he cruised around on the coo l-off la p. " H e wasn't rea lly, catching me ," Johnson said of Ward. "Because I wa s watching him and I kn ew where he was. " • Results 250 PRO: 1. Rick Joh nson (Han): 2. Jeff Ward (Kaw) ; 3 . Larry Bro oks (Ho n); 4 . Will ie Sur ran (Hon ); 5 . Billy Frank (Yam) ; 6. Jeff Leisk (Ha n); 7. Br ian M an ley (Hon); 8. Ross Pederson (Yam); 9 . Bria n Mverscough (Vam): 10 . Greg Zin er kopf (Han): 11. Jim Tarant i no (Suz) ; 12. Do ug Dubach (Yam); 13 . Shaun Kalas tHan): 14. TV Davis (Han): 15. Scon M anni ng (Yam); 16. Todd Peterson (Hon)