Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Johnny O'Maralabove) crashed in his heat race; won the second semi and finished fifth in the main. (Below) 125cc winner ~ichenor. inside of Holland in a tum, he dipped Holland's rear wheel to high-side out of contention. Atthat point, Stanton took over second place and reeled in Holland. Two laps from the finish, Stanton motored his Yamaha by Holland in the whoops for the win; Holland took second. O'Mara came out of the starting gate breathing fire in the second semi. There wasn't much doubt about who was going to win as he jetted into a commanding lead. While O'Mara cruised way out in front, Guy Cooper and Suzukimounted Fris2 battled for second place every lap. Many times the two riders were side-by-side and, at one point, they collided, but Cooper held onto his lead and began pulling away late in the race. O'Mara easily won.ahead of Cooper and Fris2. Last chance qualifier The LCQ featured a dogfight between Honda rider Ryan and Manley. It turned out to be one of the most brutal battles of the night because they bounced off each other lap after lap. Things didn't settle down until Manley washed out with two laps to go. Ryan took the win for the final transfer spot of the night. Main Both johnson and Glover got the jump at the start of the main, but johnson had about a wheel length on Glover as they headed into the first turn. Glover lost the from end, however, and the resulting crash created a huge pile up. Crashing riders included Brooks, Pederson, Stanton, Holland, Dymond, Cooper and Keller. Lechien, who managed to avoid the pileup, said, "It looked like Brae came in awfully fast and couldn't stop. It was super slick right there." "I was first going into the first turn," said johnson. "I might've started it, but I don't know for sure." Ward also narrowly missed being taken out. "It was close," said Ward. "I was on the inside because I didn't want that to happen to me. I knew something like that was going to happen in the main." Dymond, however, wasn't as lucky as Ward. "It happened pretty fast," said Dymond. "Brae fell right in front of me. There was nothing I could've done, and I hit him pretty good. I just hope he's okay." Meanwhile, the battle for the lead was on with johnson out in front, closely followed by Lechien. O'Mara was third, inches ahead of Ward, Bowen, Andrews, Warren, Kehoe and Leisk. A lap later, Ward slipped by O'Mara but found himself a long way behind leaders johnson and Lechien. At that point, Ward made a bid for the leaders. "I was trying to catch up for the first seven laps, and I was going pretty good," said Ward. "They were battling and losing a little time, so I caught up. Then I cased it really hard and both my wrists went numb and my anlde started throbbing. I knew Ricky was going fast, and there was no way] was going to catch him, so] stayed where I was." After five laps, both johnson and Lechien were already dealing with lappers, and this is when Lechien made up time on johnson. Two laps la ter, Lechien was looking for a clear line around johnson and saw his chance through a tight right-hand turn. "I got underneath Rick and passed him," said Lechien, "but he squared off the tum and cut back underneath me. "Ronnie's real aggressive," said johnson. "He came in on me and would've stuffed me, so I hit the brakes and squared it off. He was too committed on the outside and I passed him back." . At that point, johnson started to pull away from Lechien. "After that move," said Lechien, "we caught up to some more lapped riders and I missed a couple of jumps that blew the steam out for me. I started missing lines and making mistakes. I figured I'd better just keep my wheels on the ground and settle for the points I need. Basically, I cruised around for the rest of the race. " "He (Lechien) stayed with me for a little while," said johnson, "but I think some lappers might've messed him up." . At this point, johnson developed a cautious lead while Ward followed a long way behind in third. Bowen was a distant fourth with O'Mara keeping close tabs on the Yamaha rider. JI Eddie Warren (17) and Ross Pederson (25) go for the holeshot in the third heat. Warren went on to win the heat and take 13th in the main event. Yamaha:s Keith Bowen (6) leads Team Kawasaki riders Jeff Ward (3) and Ron Lechien (9) in the fourth heat. Bowen's now fourth in points. The remaining eight laps were uneventful. The only action took place back in seventh through 11th positions as Cooper, Frank, Keller, Storbeck and Kehoe, who was running about seventh early in the race before washing out over a tabletop jump, bauled. When it was all over, johnson won with 12 seconds to spare over Lechien, who enjoyed a 20-second advantage over Ward. Way back in fourth was Bowen, followed by O'Mara. "My confidence is really good," said Lechien. "I've finished second three times now, and I'm ready for a win. I think I can catch jeff in points, but I'm a little worried about Rick. He's riding real strong right now." Still bothered by a nagging knee injury, O'Mara said, "I was right in there, running second or third at the start, but I had a couple of guys go by me. There's no excuse." 125 Main After Suzuki riders Tichenor and Turpin won their heat races, the main was serand it was Tichenor and Bollmeier getting the jump on the pack. Cagiva rider Michael jones was third followed by Turpin. As Tichenor and Bollmeier dueled down the first section of whoops, Tichenor got a wheel length on the Yamaha rider and found the hot line around BolLmeier following a tight turn and took the lead. Once into the lead, Tichenor stretched his advantage over Boll- meier, who maintained a small distance on jones, who was being hounded by Turpin in every turn. Although Turpin looked to be riding a little out of control and making mistakes, he was still able to keep jones in sight. As soon as Turpin settled down and into his groove, the Suzuki rider set up jones through a double jump. Turpin flew past jones, taking over the number three position. From that point on, the top four riders remained spread out while jones, Chris Coleman, Todd DeHoop, David Graff and Barry Carsten battled for fourth. At the checkered flag, it was Tichenor taking top honors ahead of Bollmeier, Turpin, jones, Coleman and DeHoop. • Results 125: 1. Ronnie Tichenor (Suz); 2. Kenneth BalImeier (Yam); 3. Keith Turpin (Suz); 4. Michael Jones (Cag); 5. Chris Coleman (Kaw); 6. Todd DeHoop (Yam); 7. David Graff (Han); 8. Barry Carsten (Yam); 9. Brian Elroy(Hon); 10. Mike Morri. (Suz);' 1. Raben McCullugh (Han); 12. Rodney Barr (Kaw); 13. Jeff Gless (Han); 14. Tommy J. Rial (Yam); 15. Brad King (Han); , 6. Don Hudson (Han); , 7. Raben Hayes (Suz); 18. Jim Byrne (Suz); 19. Eric Yarr'!ell (Yam); 20, John Greaves (Suz). 250: ", Rick Johnson (Hon); 2, Ron Lechien (Kaw); 3. Jeff Ward (Kaw); 4, Keith Bowen (Yam); 5. Johnny O'Mara (Suz); 6. Erik Kehoe (Suz); 7. Micky Dymond (Han); 8. Jeff Stanton (Yam); 9. Ross Pederson (Yam); 10. George Holland (Suz); ,1. Guy .cooper (Han); 12. Rick Ryan (Han); 13. Eddie Warren (!

• Cover