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/126944
Winner of the 250cc class, Honda's Rick Johnson leads Suzuki's Johnny O'Mara in the second moto. Johnson went 1-2. Bader Manneh (6) and Larry Brooks battled closely in both 125cc Pro motos. Brooks wound up the overall winner via a 5-2 tally. CMC/Dodge Truck Golden State Nationals: Round 3 Healey, who in turn held a good-size lead over Dymond. Back in fourth was Craig, but the real battle was shaping up {or fifth place between Manneh and Brooks. Brooks was trying to drive his Honda underneath Manneh in every turn, but Manneh wouldn't give in. On the second-tolast lap, Brooks saw his chance and made his move through a tight right hand turn. Brooks stuffed Manneh on the inside and the two riders collided with Manneh crashing to the ground. Manneh tumbled down a hill with his bike landing on top of him; Brooks stayed upright. "He was blocking me real bad," Brooks said. "We were going back and forth, and 1 think he was getting tired just blocking who was behind him. So I just came in. 1didn't mean to hit him, I thought I was going to barely miss him. But he saw me coming and gassed it, and we just connected. He was kind of mad about it." With the checkered flag waving, Kalos cruised by with the win followed by Healey, Dymond, Craig, Brooks, Davis, Doug Dubach, Vohland and Manneh. The nail-bi ring second moto ended up being a four-rider dogfight right down to the end. Healey started 0[[ with the hoLeshot with Honda rider Ricky Ryan, Manneh, jeff Pestana, Brooks, Craig, Vohland and Mike Kiedrowski in tow .. Healey jumped out to a few bike lengths lead over Ryan, who began pressuring the leader on the fifth lap. Right behind Ryan was Manneh and then Brooks. Back in the pack were both Kalos and Dymond, who were involved in a first-turn tussle. Dymond crashed in the mishap and eventually elected to drop out of the race. Kitlos, meanwhile, got stuck in the back of the pack and couldn't move up much, eventually finishing 14th in the mota. Up front, Ryan was dogging Healey every inch of the way until Ryan suddenly started to slow after clipping a dirt embankment and wrapping his shift lever underneath the frame. He had to stop and rebend the shifter, causing him to drop out of contention for the lead. With Ryan out of t~e hunt, Manneh took over where Ryan left 0[[ but was heavily pursued by Brooks and Vohland. At the halfway point, it was a four-way duel for the lead between Healey, Manneh, Brooks and Vohland. Brooks captures vvin at Carlsbad thriller By Kit Palmer Photos by Nate Rauba CARLSBAD, CA, .TAN. 18 "I finally did it," said Larry Brooks. "I finally won my first Golden State race." And he did it without even winning a moto. Brooks commandeered his Pro Circuit Honda to the 125cc Pro class win today at Carlsbad Raceway via a 5-2 tally, narrowly defeating Cagiva's Mike Hea- 6 ley, Kawasaki rider Bader Manneh, Yamaha pilot Michael Craig and Tyson Vohland. Brooks clinched the class win after making a dramatic late-in-the-race, second-moto pass over Healey for second place. Another dramatic overall win came in the 500cc Pro class when privateer Honda rider Brian Myerscough came from behind in the second moto to wrap up his second Golden State National victory in a row. Myerscough and Kawasaki rider Tommy Watts traded moto wins, but it was Myerscough taking the clinching second-moto victory. In the 250cc Pro class Team Honda's Rick johnson didn't have too much trouble claiming the victory despite losing the second moto to Kawasaki's je[[ Ward. johnson collected a 1-2 score for the overall, beating Suzuki's Erik Kehoe and Yamaha's je[[ Leisk. Honda-mounted jimmy Button made a last-lap, moto-winning pass on Suzuki's jimmy Gaddis to capture the Mini Expert class victory, while Yamaha rider Rex Staten topped Honda-mounted Gary Semics and Kawasaki rider Marty Smith in the Vet Pro division. The most exciting racing of the day, however, took place in the 125cc Pro class, and it all began when the. gate dropped for the stan of the first moto. Blasting into the early Lead was Manneh ahead of Healey, Yamahamounted Shaun Kalos, Honda rider Ty Davis and Craig. Back in eighth and 13th places were Brooks and L986 125cc National Champion, Hondamounted Micky Dymond. Manneh held on to the lead for the first two laps with Kalas breathing heavily down Healey's back. By the third lap, Kalos had slipped by Healey and started pressuring the leader Manneh. That only lasted for a lap before Kalos blasted into the lead with Manneh and Healey second and third. Once into the lead, KaLos began stretching the distance between himseH and Manneh, while Craig found the inside line around Davis. With Kalos pulling away, Healey began searching for a way around Manneh for second and finall y fou nd one heading up the Carlsbad Freeway. At the haI£way point of the 12lap race, it was Kalos out in front followed by Healey, Manneh, Craig, Dymond and Brooks. Shortly after, Dymond slid by Craig and reeled in Manneh. All eyes were focused on Dymond as he worked his way up through the pack and was challenging Manneh for third. Manneh held Dymond back for a few more turns before finally gjving in and letting him by. A lap later, Craig followed in Dymond's tracks and snuck by Manneh. With three laps remaining, Kalos enjoyed a comfortable lead ahead of Manneh eventually snuck by Healey at the bottom of Carlsbad's long downhill and took over the lead With two laps to go, Brooks knew he had to pass Healey for the overall. Brooks made his move over a dropof[ jump, and once again, Brooks tangled bars, but this time it was with Healey. The two riders collided in midair with Healey getting pushed off the track, almost crashing and losing two places in the process. "We jumped of[ the hill, and he saw me on the inside and pulled over," said Brooks. "And I landed on the side of his handlebars, so it kind of shot him up the bank. I was yelling at him in the air, but 1 was already committed and there was nothing I could do." "He just landed on me and pushed me ofEthe track," said Healey. "That's all there was to it. We had a few words afterwards, but that's racing. I'm sure if 1 was in the same position, I would've done the same to him." When it was all over a lap later, it was Manneh narrowly taking the moto win ahead of Brooks, Vohland, Craig and Healey. But Brooks' 5-2 score was enough to capture the overall. "If it wasn't for Mitch Payton of Pro Circuit, I wouLdn't have been able to have done it," he said. "Since Honda dropped me from the team, Mitch bought me a couple of bikes, so I must thank him a bunch." The first 500cc Pro moto saw six laps of racing before the red flag was brought out, waving the riders off the track. It was officially decided at the time that the starting gate had malfunctioned, causing 11 riders to get stuck in the gate. After allowing for about a 10minute break for refueling, the race was restarted with Watts taking the holeshot ahead of Kawasaki rider Mike Fisher, Rob Andrews, Mike Larson. Myerscough and Greg Torgerson. By the third lap, the race had turned into a three rider dogfight between Watts, Fisher and Myerscough. During the fourth lap, Watts went too wide in a turn and allowed Fisher to dive underneath him and into the lead. Fisher, Watts and Myerscough stayed within feet of each other for the next three laps while pulling away from Larson, who was beginning to feel pressure from Andrews.