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/126940
~ 00 O"l Rob McElnea (Mlleads teammate Kevin Magee in the second race from Oran Park; Magee got by in the fimillaps to take the win. Australian Mike Dowson is riding the Yamaha FZR1000R in its world racing debut; Dowson finished fourth overall on the big Yamaha. McElnea leads Magee in the first heat. The English teammate of Eddie Lawson pulled away to win the first race by 1.6 seconds. Australian Swann Insurance Series: Round two Magee nips McElnea at Oran Park By Bruce Newton Photos by John Lapka NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA, NOV..30 Young Australian Kevin Magee put in the ride of his life to defeat Rob McElnea in the second round of the Swann Insurance International Series at New South Wales' Dran Park today. The 24-year-old Marlboro Y arnah a D ea1 T earn n'der a~d er McElnea shared a heat WIn 10 each on their YZRSOOs on the day, but Magee was awarded the overall victory thanks to his second leg win. In doing so he shattered McElnea's hopes of collecting a $SO,OOO bonus for winning all six series heats. Donnie Osborne claimed a distant third overall on his Nova Honda RS500 with Mike Dawson bringing the FZR IOOOR in fourth overall ahead of Suzuki GSXR980-mounted Wayne Clarke and Ne"Y Zealander Robert Holden on a Ducati 750. Englishman Simon Buckmaster scored two seventh places on his Duckhams/TNT Skypack Honda RSSOO after a couple of heady dices· with Holden. ~he N~w Zealander passed the Enghsh prIvateer on the last corner of the first heat and purposely ran wide forcing Buckmaster to shut off the throttle rather than crash into a concrete wall. McElnea still holds a S7:S1 points lead over Magee going into the final round at Calder. Magee has to win both races to take the title from his / more experienced rival. . The two'Marlboro YZRSOOs lined up on the inside of the front row at Oran Park after dominating practice. Osborne was the only rider who seemed to be able to show any fight against them and he led for a lap at the start of the first heat, but McElnea was soon up front with Magee on his rear wheel. It was obvious that a few more days of practice had helped Magee enormously to adjust to the potent twostroke and he and McElnea slashed around th.-e tight circuit in the I: 12 bracket, consistently breaking Wayne Gardner's lap record with McElnea eventually resetting it at 1:12.4. McElnea took a narrow but comfonable 1.6-second victory over Magee with Osborne a distant third ahead of Dowson, GraigTrinder, Holden and a shocked Buckmaster. / South Australian Hamish McNichol was the victim of a 120 mph crash when the brakes on his eightyear-old TZ7SO failed at the end of the main straight. McNichol suffered a broken collarbone and was severely shaken by the incident. The second heat opened with Osborne once again doing his best to hold out the Yamahas despite a severe tire and horsepower disadvantage. But the two Yamaha riders were, if anything, even more determined after their thrilling first heat duel and were quickly streaking away. McElnea pulled out over a second early on as Magee experimented with different lines and gear change points through the tight bridge section. Behind them Osborne was emerging victorious from an exciting wheelto-wheel dice with Clarke, while Dowson was once again doing a superb job on the FZIOOO in fifth ahead of Buckmaster, who had Holden closing in on him once more. By lap eight Magee was back on McElnea's tail and with Kel Carruthers and Suzuki-san from Yamaha's racing division watching, had a look under the Englishman at a tight right-hander nicknamed Crash Corner. However, it was exiting the appropriately named Yamaha corner that he held a·real advantage over the GP star and he twice poked his nose alongside McElnea before forcing his way through there on the se·cond to last lap. McElnea was forced off line and off the powerband for the next corner and Magee sprinted away for a 1.3second victory. During his chase of McElnea, Magee reset the lap record at I: 12.1. Osborne, Clarke, Dowson, Holden and Buckmaster trailed them in while the rest of the small field was seemingly light years behind. Magee was ecstatic after his popular victory while McElnea was dis- . cansolate, but offered no excuses. It was his best-ever performance at Oran Park, but the Sydney circuit had still found a way to thwart him. "I don't mind this circuit, but I never feel totally relaxed here," McEInea said. "But Kevin rides it like he is on rails. I've got a whole year to do next year and I don't want to be parked in a wall at Oran Park. "Kevin's got a real serious point to prove in this series and I knew he'd be going hard to prove it. I would have liked to have won but he was riding real good, he was flicking it in there,". Results HEAT ONE: 1. Rob MeElnee (Yem); 2. Kevin Magee (Yam); 3. Donnie Osborne (Hon); 4. Michael Dawson (Yam); 5. Craig Trinder (SUl); 6. Robert Holden (Due); 7. Simon Buckmaster (Hon); 8. Steve Watts (SUl); 9. Tony Armstrong (SUl). HEAT TWO: 1. Magee; 2. MeElnaa; 3. Osborne; 4. Wayne Clarke; 5. Dowson; 6. Holden; 7. Buckmas- ter; 8. Watts: 9. Armstrong. POINT STANDINGS: 1. MeElnea (57); 2. Magee (51); 3. Osborne 140); 4. Dowson (30); 5. Buckmaster (20); 6. Clarke (131; 7. Holden (101; B. Trinder (10); 9. Horton (9); 10. Wans (B).