Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Suzuki's Willie Surratt stuffs Rob Herring in the first 250cc moto at Glen Helen. Surratt took the ow1'lI1I victory. Mike Fisher won the 500cc Pro class; Fisher finished second in the first moto then won the second when Tommy Watts fell. ClfC/Dodge Trucks Golden State Nationals: Round 4 fisher, Surratt, Healey survive at Glen Helen By Mike Larson Photos by Ron Gee and Nate Rauba SAN BERNARDINO, CA, FEB. I In a day filled with crashes and DNFs, Mike Fisher rode two smart and consistent motos in the 500cc Pro class, took advantage of the mistakes and misfortunes of Brian Myerscough and Tommy Watts and wen t home with both the class . db· .. victory an Igger senes POint lead. After several near mi ses Mike Healey fina~ly gave Cagiva .its first major Amencan motocross victory In the 125cc Pro class. Healey charged through the pack in the second moto and snatcbed the moto vi tory from Ricky Ryan. Healey s ored the over- all with a 4-1 score after first moto. winner Tyson Vohland got a bad stan in moto two and could get no closer to the front than ninth, relegating him to fonh overall. In the 250cc Pro ranks Suzuki's Willie Surratt sliced through the pack in both motos and posted a 1-2 score to beat out Rodney Smith and West German Collin Dugmore for the class victory. The Vet Pro class was a case of the same story, different day, with Rex Staten dominating both motos for the overall. Gary Semics tried to stay with Staten, but had to settle for second. The Mini Expen class was the property of Jimmy Button who took botb moto victories. This was the first race on a new circuit at the Glen Helen facility, utilizing pans of the off-road track and some newly built sections. In the first I25cc Pro moto Healey gassed his Cagiva into first place in turn one and immediately jumped out to a small lead ahead of Mike Kiedrowski, Vobland and Team Honda's Micky Dymond. On lap two Healey got out of shape and Kiedrowski took over the lead with Vohland and Dymond in tow. Dymond turned up the pres ure on Vohland near the end of lap two and continued to challenge into lap three. Dymond and Vohland battled sideby-side with Dymond finally getting by close to the end of lap three. Kiedrowski continued to lead as Dymond and Vohland kept up their battle for second. Vohland forced his way by Dymond early on lap four, but Dymond blasted past Vohland againjustafterthedownhill heading into the main pan of the course and set out after Kiedrowski. On lap five Dymond reeled in Kiedrowski. Dymond tried several times to force his way past, but Kiedrowski hung tough and kept Dymond at bay. Dymond was glued to Kiedrowski's rear fender on lap six and both riders raced down the first downhill section of the track side-by-side. Dymond held it on a little longer as they entered a chopped-up turn at the bottom of the hi II and stole the lead. Vobland also snuck by Kiedrowski shortly after that. Dymond tried to pull away from Vohland and reaUy began to push the pace. Dymond almost went down in a sandy tum right after the big tabletop jump on lap six, and then on lap even he got out of shape in the rockers and immediately dropped off the pace and lowed to a crawl. Vohland picked up the lead and Kyle Lewis, Kiedrowski, Healey and Shaun Kalos followed. Dymond coasted around the track for the rest of the lap, but pulled off and returned to the pits. Vohland led the top four around for the remainder of the race, but had to fight off repeated challenges from Lewi . Vohland couldn't maintain a steady cushion on Lewis and as the leaders battled on the white £lag lap, Lewis was within two bike lengths of the leader. Vohland and Lewis battled side-by-side as they lept off the top of the bigdownhill. Vohland fought off Lewis all the way to the flag and took the first moto victory by fi ve bike lengths. Honda team manager Dave Arnold said that Dymond had dropped outof the race because he had aggravated a back injury suffered a couple weeks earlier. Ryan blasted to the holeshot in the first 250cc Pro moto and wasted no time jetting out to a big lead on lap one. England's Rob Herring held OntO second while trying to keep up with Ryan's rapid early pace. On the second lap Ryan continued to seta blistering pace while Herring maintained a comfortable margin on Surratt, who got a slow stan but was charging towards the front. Ryan had stretched his lead to five seconds on lap three, as Herring staned to feel pressure from a hard-eharging SurratL On lap four Ryan had it on cruise control out front, leaving Herring and Surratt to shoot itoutforsecond. Surratt's pressure on Herring paid off on lap fi ve; both riders entered a turn wheel-to-wheel, Surratt took the better line and moved into second place. Ryan looked to be in complete control out front with a six-second lead on Surratt, but suddenly Ryan slowed dramatically at the end of lap six, pulled off the course on the front straight and DNF. Surratt assumed the lead and cut himself a path through lapped traffic, going on to take the win with no trouble. Herring held on to second umi I lap nine when he pulled off the track at the top of the uphill. Dugmore had quietly made his way into the top three and when Herring dropped out he took over second ahead of Rodney Smith in third. Ryan later said thata broken wheel causedhisD F. "The wheel actuaUy broke on lap twO, but I kept going." Ryan said after making the decision to pull off. Myerscough wa looking to extend his win streak in the 500cc Pro division and he led the pack around turn one with Fisher, taten and Rob Andrews in tow. Myerscough had a small cushion on Fisher at the end of lap one with Staten, Tommy Watts and Willy Simons rounding out the top five. Myerscough rna inta ined a safe cushion on Fisher for the first half of the l2-lap moto. The rest of the top five had Staten still in third, Simons founh and Andrews fifth; Watts had crashed out at the bottom of the downhill and remounted in sixth. Lapped traffic allowed Fisher to close in on Myerscough on lap seven, but lap eight saw Fisher get hung up in traffic, allowing Myerscough to

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