Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

§ en z :> w ><: > '" o 5 :z: lL Johnny O'Mara rode to a clean sweep in the Mammoth MX; wins in the 125. 250 and 500Cc classes on his Hondas. O'Mara cleans UPi sweeps Mammoth MX By Kevin Scott MAMMOTH, CA, JUNE 27-29 Team Honda's Johnny O'Mara swept to convincing Pro class wins on all three days at the 19th annual Mammoth Mt. Motocross. Using a pair of pre-production 1987 Hondas (125 and 250) as well as his 1986 500cc National machine, O'Mara jumped to early leads in the 45 minute plus-one-lap finals and proceeded to leave the rest of the field behind. Kawasaki-mounted Ricky Ryan, Honda rider Mike Fisher, and Suzuki's A.J. Whiting followed O'Mara home in the 250, 500, and' 125cc class. "A.J., (Erik) Kehoe, and some of the others were going pretty fast out there," said O'Mara, "but, really, my main competition was the track." The track, which was beautifully prepared to perfection each night, was by midaftemoon, rough and bumpy enough to take its toll on more than one rider. Both Honda's Larry Brooks and Suzuki's Erik Kehoe were carried off the track Sunday afternoon: Brooks with a mild concussion and Kehoe with the more serious injuries of a possible broken jaw and a concussion. Kehoe was knocked unconscious after a nasty fall halfway through the 250cc event on Sunday. Friday (500cc) Friday dawned cool and overcast but by noon the clouds had moved away and the temperature hung in the low 80s. The Pros run two motos in each of the two divisions with the top IO in each moto transferring to the final. The top 10 from the first moto would not ride the second. Honda rider Eric Eaton took the holeshot in the first division one moto with O'Mara in hot pursuit. After two laps, O'Mara had enough and motored around Eaton to build a • 25-secorid lead over Eaton by the finish. The second division was won by Mike Fis'her who took over the lead on thefinallapdroppingearly reader Honda rider Willy Simons to second. Willie Surratt finished ahead of Jim Ellis. , O'Mara raced into the lead up the start hill to the highest point on the track closely pursued by Simons and Scott Manning in the final. With a clear .track ahead of him O'Mara poured it on to hold a commanding lead of 15 seconds by the IO-minute mark. Simons continued to keep his Honda within sight of O'Mara, while fighting off attacks from Tyson Vohland on his Kawasaki. Ellis held down fourth with Eat(;m rounding out the top five_ .Fisher swept up through the pack to join in what was fast becoming a five-rider battle for second place. Jeff Hicks joined Fisher and the two riders steamrolled their way up the standing passing Eaton and Ellis with a swift one-two punch. O'Mara continued his smooth flawless riding out front, while Fisl:ter bounced and braked his way past Voh:land into third. Manning, w,:!o crashed on the bottom of the big downhill on the opening lap, was charging his way up though the pack. Manning would end up ninth. With three laps to go, O'Mara commanded a :J2-second lead over Simons, who in turn, held 12 seconds over Fisher, despite having a flat tire. Fisher, however, closed in at over five seconds a lap. One lap from the end he made his move on the downhill to outbrake Simons. Fisher, riding a pre-production 1987 CR500, finished a smooth second behind O'Mara. Simons was third, Hicks fourth and Vohland crossed the finish line in fifth. Saturday (125cc) O'Mara, looking none the worse for wear after his win on Friday, showed up only in time for the final practice session on Saturday. After making a couple of quick laps on his 1987 pre-production CR125, he had his mechanics make a few adjustments to the rear suspension. The adjustments proved to be the hot ticket as he led from slart to finish to win the division one moto. Brooks and Shawn Kalos followed in second and third. Surratt took the holeshot in division two, closely followed by Whiting, who swept into the lead on lap two and pulled away to win convincingly. Honda"mounted Davis was second, Kehoe was third, and Surratt finished in fourth. Davis raced into the lead on the first lap in the finals, barely keeping Whiting and O'Mara at bay. As the pack swept out of the back section, Whiting had the lead and looked to be smooth and controlled. Davis kept O'Mara behind him, while Kehoe led the rest of the pack. Ryan, who got squeezed out at the start and crashed, circulated in last place straightening out his controls. With most of the pack a third-of-a-Iap ahead, Ryan began an impressive chaIte that would bring him up to ninth !>y the finish. Out from, Whiting stretched oui a five-second lead over the Davis! O'Mara duel. By the third lap, O'Mara was around Davis and charging hard, however, Whiting was having no trouble maintaining llis lead. By the l5-minute mark, Kehoe and Brooks had both found their way past Davis and were disputing third place. Suddenly Whiting was down and O'Mara . whisked by into the lead. "I went into a turn and the berm just gave way," said Wl)iting, "so I just rode over the other side and a stick got caught in my rear wheel. I had to take my time, get the stick out and get turned around." Whiting passed Kehoe but was unable to catch O'Mara. O'Mara tOOk his second win of the weekend with the two Suzuki riders in second and third. Brooks was fourth and Davis had a fine ride to finish fifth. Sunday (250cc) O'Mara continued his £lawless domination of the weekend events by holeshoting the division one moto and winning by 20 seconds over Kalos. In division two, Whiting took an early lead closely pursued by Ryan. Kehoe was beginning to have a bad day, as he found himselfupside down ina cloud of dirt at the bottom of the downhill. His Suzuki ingested great' quantities of dirt which ended his moto. Out front Whiting sailed to the win followed by Ryan and Ty Davis. Division three saw Larry Brooks lead home a talented trio of Vohland, Hicks and Brian Myerscough. Kevin Allman put his privateer Yamaha into the lead at the start of the final - the last race of the weekend. Ryan had a good start and jammed by Allman on lap two. O'Mara followed in hot pursuit. KaIos was in fourth with Davis in fifth. Whiting came around near last; victim of a multi-rider crash at the top of the downhill following the start. By the end of the third lap O'Mara was by Ryan and looking to complete his sweep of the weekend's events. Ryan, suffering from a fading rear brake, rode dramatically to try and stay with O'Mara. O'Mara, however, was riding smoothly and pulled out all the stops to increase his lead to 26 seconds by the halfway point. Ryan had his hands full by this point, as Kalos, having passed Allman, was pushing him hard. Going into the corner before the machanics' area Kalos lost it and went down in a spectacular high side. Brooks inherited third from Kalos only to lose it on the bottom of the downhill in an end-ovt'r-end trip over the bars. Bruised and battered he managed to make it clear of the track before being helped away. Vohland passed Davis for third, while Kehoe held down fifth. Evidence that the track was getting vety rough happened at the :JO-minute mark, as it claimed another victim. Kehoe went down smashing his face hard and knocking himself out. . Meanwhile, O'Mara continued his blistering pace out front, while Ryan maintained his place in second. As the checkered flag £lew for the last race of the day, the order was O'Mara, Ryan, Vohland, and Davis. Myerscough was fifth and Hicks finished sixth. Rumors were flying that the high cost of liability insurance might be: adding Mammoth Mountain to the list of tracks.c1osing down. The promoters assured everyone that all was "go" for at least one more year assuring that there will be a 20th annual Mammoth Mountain Motocross. Results 250: 1. Johnny O'Mara (Han); 2. Rick Ryan lKaw); 3. TYlOn Vohland (Kaw); 4. Ty Davi. (Hon); 5. Brian Myerscough lYam); 6. Jeff Hicks (Hon); 7. Scol1 Manning lYam); B. Mike Beier lYam); 9. Willy Sim· ons(Hon); 10. KevinAllmanlYam); 11. RuuWageman lYam); 12. T. 0_11 (Hon); 13. S. Mepes lKaw); 14. Ron 1lI Poin,. lVam); 15. A.J. WMing (Suz). 125: 1. Johnny O'Mara (Hon); 2..... J. Whiling (Suz); 3. Erik Kehoe (Suz); 4. llIrry Brooks (Hon); 5. Ty DevislHonf; 8. Mike Beier lYam); 7. T'/IOn Vohland (Kew); B. Mike Healy(Suz); 9. Rick Ryan (Kew); 10. Russ Wageman (Vam); 11. J. Metiesavich' (Kew); 12. R. Sommo lYam); 13. J. HopkinslHon); 14. D. Dircb (Hon); 15. T. Robinoon (Vam). 500: 1. Johnny O'Mara (Hon); 2: Mike Fisher (Hon); 3. Willy Simons tHon); 4. Jeff Hicka lHon); 5. T'/IOn Vohland (Kaw); 8. Jim Ellis (Vem); 7. Shawn Kalos (Hon); B. Eric Ealon lYam); 9. SCott Manning lYam); 10. Ruu Wageman lYam); 11. Mike Wataon (Hon); 12. B. McLeod\Hon); 13. D. Wigington (Kew); 14. R. Burgett (Hont. 15. GlIry Semics. Ybema, Powell top Manfiowoc ST ByAJ Sumner MANTIOWOC, WI, JUNE 22 The Soo-theastern Shon Trackers held its second race of the 1986 season at the Mantiowoc County Fairgrounds and had 118 racers despite day-long threats of rain. Once again, the half-mile oval became hard and slippery with a very wide groove in both comers. The wide groove provided side-by-sideracing all day long. . . Defending 125ccchamp Bob Ybema grabbed the holeshot and was n,ever headed to the finish in the 125-2OO<:c combined class. Phil Eppler (20Occ) took second over Dave Gabert and Mike Schave. john Hundertmark made a clean sweep of the 250cc class by winning both heat and final. Mike Schave took a close second over john Dillenburg, Gary Wollin and Greg McDonald. Mark Dolacin niade one of his infrequent visits to the Dirt Track scene and easily won the 400cc class over Andy Routheaux. The 500cc Pro-Am class was dominated by john Powell and Kevin Atherton who finished 1-2. Atherton's poor start gave Powell a big lead from the start. Atherton closed, but Powell's experience as an Expert paid off as he held on to win. Danny Powell (no relation) took third ahead of Tim Pratt and Gerald Thrune. Tom Colson repeated his heat race performance in the 750cc Pro-Am class when Marty Bushman's Harley went sour on the fourth lap. Joe Houpt took third and AI Sumner took fourth. Results 50 STK/MOD: 1. Michael Glboon (Vam); 2. JR • SChnebellYam); 3. Kye Ybema lYam). 66: 1. JalOn Fa"ell (Kaw); 2. Kaner Bu_lYam); 3. Rick Brimman (Hon). 760: 1. Joe Houpt (H-D); 2. Gery Oaklord(H-D); 3. John Oricken (Trit. BO JRISR COMB: 1. Jason Fa"all (Kawl; 2. Brat Beyer lYam); 3. Lee Eppler lYam). 125/200 COMB: 1. Bob Ybema IKaw); 2. Phil Eppler IKaw); 3. Deve Geben IVam). 250: 1. John Hundenma'" (Kew); 2. Mike SCheve IKaw); 3. John Dillenburg (Suz). 400: 1. Mark Dolacin (C·A); 2. Rttidy Routheaux (Hon); 3. AI Sumner (Suzl. 600: 1. AJ Sumner (Suz); 2. Tom Culshew (Honl; 3. Dave Kedinger (Kawl.

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