Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

·Bob Hannah made his first supercross appearance of the year in Los Angeles, but couldn't qualify for the main. He wasn't too concerned. finish as tbe top four, while Manley and Leisk had to go to the semis. Semis Frisz jumped into the lead at the stan of the first semi ahead of Wageman and Kehoe; Hannah was sixth. Just after going into the lead on the first lap, Wageman missed a shift over the triple jumps and smashed his face into lhe handlebars. With the face piece of his full coverage helmet, . Wageman bent the crossbar on his handlebars to the handlebar clamp and walked away with a possible broken nose. "Man!," said Wageman, "if I wasn't wearing a full face helmet ... Meanwhile, Kehoe had ovenaken the lead, while Frisz dropped back after crashing. With Kehoe way out in front, the hottest battle of the night shaped up over second place between Hannah and Yamaha's Eric Eaton. With second place being the final transfer position in the semis, the battle was fierce witb Hannah holding on to second. Eaton was trying every trick in the book searching for an opening around Hannah, especially over one panicular double jump that Eaton was clearing and Hannah was singling. But Hannah was holding his ground much to thedelightof the crowd. On the final lap, the battle reached its climax when a lapped rider caused Hannah to back orr over the quad jumps, forcing the Suzuki rider to double the jumps. But Eaton went for it and jumped all four jumps in ORe leap gaining a wheelength on Hannah. The two riders then drag raced it through the following section of whoops side-byside, but Hannah began swapping, careened orr the track and crashed out of the race. Kehoe easily took the win, while Eaton labored for second. Hannah salvaged a distant third. The second semi was won by Manley who led from start to finish. Leisk stayed close to Manley at the start, but couldn't quite match Manley's quick pace and finished a few seconds behind. Third fell to Yamaha rider Mike Beier. Last Chance Qualifier Beier and Hicks supplied all the action in the LCQ. Beier took the holeshot and led for three laps before Hicks dove to the inside in a turn and took over the lead. A lap later, Beier II, retaliated through a section of whoops and the two maintained their duel right down to the checkered flag while Hannah, who was running third, dropped off the pace. On the final lap, a slower rider distracted Beier over a double jump, causing him to single jump lhem, but Hicks had the clear line and flew by Beier, taking over the lead and taking lhe final transfer spot of the night. Main When the gate dropped forthe stan of the 20-lap main, Lechien shot into the lead ahead of Ward, Johnson and Burnwonh. Two turns later, Holley suprised Johnson and nipped the Honda rider for third, while Burnworth dropped back. Dymond, O'Mara, Burnwonh, Manley, Warren and Holland rounded out the top 10 after the first lap. During the second lap, Johnson forced his way around Holley then set after Ward. Almost three laps later, Johnson made his move on Ward over a double jump; the two almost collided in midair. Johnson landed a fraction of a second ahead of Ward and powered into second. A few turns later, Johnson quickly took care of Lechien, motoring by the Kawasaki rider through a section of whoops. By the end of the founh lap, Johnson, Lechien,·Ward and O'Mara were inches apan. Shortly after, Ward got a better drive up the parastyle hill and roosted by Lechien for second. On the same lap, a couple of turns later, Lechien bobbled through the whoops and O'Mara made his move for third. By the fifth go around, Johnson had developed a five-second lead over Ward, who began feeling the pressures of, O'Mar,! attacking from behind. Lechien cruised in fourth a long distance ahead of Holley. Afte.r Holley it was Dymond, Burnworth, Manley, Leisk, Warren, Kehoe, HoIland and Myerscough. O'Mara chased Ward for the next five laps before passing him through the whoops. "I was really tense at the start and my arms pumped up," said Ward, "and I couldn't hang on through the bumps. When I wa behind Lechien, he was bobbling everywhere and 1 kept running into him. That made me tense up even Willie Surratt won a close match in the 125ce Pro-Am main over Honda rider Drey Dircks. ~urratt led all but the first two laps. _ more. So when O'Mara pulled up next to me in the whoops, 1 just couldn't hold on, so 1 couldn't go as fast. " When O'Mara took over second, a five 'second gap separated him from Johnson, while both Ward and Lechien dropped orr the pace. All eyes focused on O'Mara who would gain almost one second on Johnson a lap, then lose about a'second on the next. This went on for the remainder of the race. "I was riding pretty consistent," said O'Mara. "I think Johnson makes little mistakes some laps then he'll go real fast on others; that's pretty much the way he rides, I think. But Rick knows what he's doing." With the white flag in sight, Johnson held a six-second lead over O'Mara, who led Ward by 14 seconds. A long ways back in fourth cruised Lechien, then Holley, Burnwonh, Dymond, Ryan, Manley, Warren and Leisk. Johnson crossed the finish line safely ahead of O'Mara and Ward. Lechien, whoat one time led the race, finished fourth, 48 seconds behind Johnson. "Everything went good," said O'Mara, "but 1 didn't get the stan 1 wanted. 1 thought if 1 was right there with Rick, or got the stan, 1 could've won it." 125 Pro-Am main Honda rider David Grarr stole the holeshot at the start of the l25cc ProAm main and held OrT to the LOp spot for a couple of laps before Surratt triple-jumped by Graff. Shortly after, Schmidt LOok over second, while Kawasaki-mounted Brian Bruner slipped into third. During the third lap, Schmidt swapped in lhe whoops and Bruner slipped by, but Schmidt retook second a turn later. Honda rider Drey Dircks was on the move and worked his way into third after diving past Bruner. Dircks _ then set after Schmidt and sturred the Kawasaki rider at the bottom of the parastyle jump two laps later. Once into second, only two seconds separated Surratt from Dircks. Surratt maintained this advantage for the next three laps until the gap tightened up on the final lap. Dircks went all out and charged after Surratt in a thrilling ride. The two riders were only inches apart throughout tpe final lap, but Surratt stayed tough and won the race. Dircks finished a close second, while Schmidt and Yamaha's Eddie Hicks finished third and fourth. Robert Naughton and Jeff Matiasevich rounded out the top six. Despite finishing third, Schmidt wrapped up the 125cc Western Regional Championship, while Surratt collected $340 for his win, which he donated to the Pro Riders Benefit fund to help medical costs for injured motocrosser Danny "Magoo" Chandler. • Results 250 MAIN: 1. Rick Johnson (Hon); 2. Johnny O'Mara (Hon); 3. Jeff Ward (Kaw); 4. Ron Lechien IKaw); 5. Jim Holley (Yam); 6. Scon Burnworth (Yam); 7. Micky'Oymond (Hon); 8. Brian Manley {Hon}; 9. Eddie Warren IKaw); 10. Jeff Leisk (Hon); 11. George Holland (Sull; 12. Erik Kehoe (SUl); 13. Brian Myerscough (Yam); 14. Alan King (Kaw); 15. Jeff Hicks (Hon); 16. Danny Storbeck (Yam); 17. Eric Eaton (Yam); 1B. Rick Ryan (Kaw); 19. Billy Frank '(Yam); 20. Keith Bowen (Yam); 21. Billy Liles (Kaw). 125 PRO-AM: 1. Willie Surratt {Honl; 2. Drey Dircks (Han); 3. Donnie Schmidt (Kaw); 4. Eddie Hicks (Yaml; 5. Roben Naughton (Hon); 6. Jeff Matiasevich (Kaw); 7. Brian Bruner (Kaw); 8. Ray Sommo (Yam I; 9. C,aig Canoy (Hon); 10. Jeff Reynolds (Hon); 11. Keith O'Neal (Hon); 12. Tony Toste (Kaw); 13. Scon Steffy (Yam); 14. David Graff (Hon); 15. Jim Chamberlain (Hon); 16. Jim Palmer (Kaw~; 17. Jon Nelson (Hon); 1B. Ron Meyer (Yam); 19. Jon lahn (Yam); 20. Ooug O'Donnell (Yam). 7

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