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/126929
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Bailey (1) leads World Champion David Thorpe (42) and Johnson in the
final moto; Bailey won with Johnson second and Thorpe third.
"Sometimes I wonder how they go
so fast," Bailey said in reference to the
Europeans. "They just don't have the
style we do, but some of them still get
around quick."
After a morning practice session
and opening ceremonies on Sunday,
the first moto was staged to start at
2:30 p.m. A two-row start was used
for each moto and each team had one
rider on the front row and one on the
back. Moto one was a 125/250cc
combination, and America opted to
put O'Mara up front with Johnson
directly behind.
After the first turn the finishing
order was set. Johnson took the holeshot with O'Mara a close second. "I
didn't hear him (Johnson) coming at
first, but then I saw his wheel and
knew it was time to move over,"
O'Mara said about the start.
Former l25cc World Champion
Eric Geboers gated well for the Belgian team, but slid out in an uphill
turn on lap one and lost position.
Italy's Michele Rinaldi brought the
crowd to crescendo with his ride to
third. He displaced France's Christian Vimond for the slot on lap three
and then maintained his pace to the
finish, 26 seconds behind O'Mara.
Vimond, on a 250cc Honda, faded
back and fell off the pace on lap
seven.
Holland's Jon Van den Berk rode
consistently to lock up fourth. Finishing fifth and sixth were Great Britain's Jeremy Whatley and Sweden's
Peter Hansson. The pair diced for
most of the moto and worked past
Finland's Pekka Vehkonen on lap 12.
Vehkonen carded a seventh.
Per FIM rules, riders in each moto
were scored separately according to
their displacement class. The higher
the finish the lower the point score,
so after one moto it was' Team USA
with two points. Johnson scored the
250cc win and O'Mara topped the
125s.
"I was trying to haul butt even faster than I was but I was sliding all
over," Johnson said after his win. "I
started staying more conservative over
the tops of those blind uphills, because
there are shadows on the faces of the
jumps and you can't see how much
shale is sticking out. I'm just glad I
was able to get the job done."
"The track is getting slippery in
SPOlS," O'Mara said alter keeping
Johnson in sight for the entire race.
"You just can't comc in hard and
grab some front brake like in practice. I really had to maneuver to hook
up on a 125. I ride them all the time,
though, and it's not like I've been off
one for a long time. Riding a 125
keeps your Style sharp and tanln'."
A one hour intermission didn't
give O'Mara much time to rest and it
was soon time to stage for moto two.
Tuner Chris Haines dropped a new
set of clutch plates into O'Mara's 125
while Johnson and O'Mara talked
strategy with Bailey. The hilly course,
which started the weekend covered
with fresh sod, was now rough and
rocky.
Bailey gridded his big bore Honda
on the gate with O'Mara behind him
in row two. After turn one it was Bailey all the way. The newly-crowned
500cc National Champion roosted
away from the pack and didn't look
back. O'Mara got off II th and had his
work cut out. It was now that his
extensive training came into play;
O'Mara rode clean lines and kept the
power on lap after lap, picking off
riders one by one.
Denmark's Ole Svendsen and
France's Yves Gervaise dropped their
500s in a tangle at the start. Italian
hopeful Massimo Contini also crashed
on lap one, putting him out of contention.
By lap four O'Mara had moved up
to seventh. Belgium's Georges Jobe
had been holding the pace behind
Bailey for the first two laps, but then
dropped to fourth when Holland's
Jan Van Doom and England's Thorpe
moved by. Two laps later Thorpe
p