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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126953
Lance Barnett (74) leads Frank Singer (313) and Mike Durbin in 250cc
Intermediate class action. Barnett won the evening race.
fender. Lewis wasted no time getting
by Surratt and was into the lead
before the end of lap one.
.
Honda-mounted Lewis and Surratt put a little distance on third
place rider Furuya by lap three while
turning consistent laps in the 36second range. Lewis .kept Surratt at
bay through the next three laps,
maintaining a four to six bike length
advantage on the Suzuki rider.
Lap six saw the lead duo catch up
to the backmarkers, allowing Surratt
to reel in Lewis. Both riders had
trouble getting by the lapped traffic
on the narrow track and it was
Surratt who had the most difficulty.
Going towards the finish line on lap
six, Surratt got tangled with a slower
rider and crashed, handing Lewis a
good-sized lead. SurraH was up
quickly and remounted in fourth
place.
Lewis threaded his way through
the lapped traffic and steadily pulled
away from Furuya in second and
Canoy in third. At the hallway point
Lewis had a huge 10-second lead and
was in complete control
Furuya had trouble making his
way around lapped traffic and
couldn't keep Lewis within range,
while Canoy went down on lap 12
and moved Surratt i,lp to third.
Furuya's second place ride ended on
lap 13 when he collided with a lapper
and crashed.
Lewis easily led the remainder of
the race and styled around the track
on the final lap to take the win by
10 seconds over Surratt, who barely
held off a charging Manley for the
second place .spot. Canoy and Matiasevich rounded out the top five.
"Off the stan I knew I had to get
to the inside to get the lead:' Lewis
said. "Once I got past Willie I just
blasted for the first 10 laps and built
up a lead, then cruised home from
there. The' track was real tight and
I had to bump some of the lappers
out of my way, they weren't moving
over for the blue flag."
Surratt had his share of problems
with lapped traffic also. "Some
backmarker took me out and I hurt
my finger:' he said.
250cc Pro
One of the the most exciting races
of the night was the first 250cc Pro
Division One moto. Russ Wageman
grabbed the h61eshot and led the field
through the first few laps. Surratt got
mired in mid-pack off the start and
had to fight his way up into second.
By the last two laps Surratt was right
on the rear fender of Wageman's
Yamaha and was looking for a way
past.
Both riders ran less than a bike-
length apart through most of the last
lap and they came out of the final
turn side-by-side. Surratt won the
drag race up the face of the finish
line jump and lept past Wageman
in mid-air to steal the win by a wheel
length over Wageman. The remaining qansfer spots went to Kiedrowski, Chris Young, Martin
Klossner, Wooten, John Ray and
Travis Robinson.
Thomson put in a good ride in
the 250cc Division Two moLO,
leading Gary Butcher, Manley and
Gary Semics across the line. The rest
of the top eight positions went to
Ray Sommo, Brian Prior, Terry
Fowler and Mike McLain.
Mike Brown iooked like he had the
250cc Last Chance Qualifier in the
bag, but ran into problems on the
last lap and lost the lead to Vince
Warren. Brown managed to hold on
to second, while Matiasevich, who
crashed heavily in the Division One
moto, came back from a last place
start to score third. The last transfer
spot went to Ron Meyers.
Wooten rounded the first turn
with the lead in the final closely
pursued by Surratt, Thomson and
Matiasevich. Wooten continued to
lead Surrall through the first four
laps of the race, but Surratt soon tired
of second place and forced his way
by Honda-mounted Wooten on lap
five.
Surratt led the five-rider frei~ht
train for the next two laps, towmg
Wooten, Thomson, Manley and
Matiasevich as they began to catch
slower riders. Surratt started to get
bogged down in the lapped traffic
on lap eight as Wooten and
Thomson cltased.
Thomson and Matiasevich both
slid past Wooten on lap 10 and
since Surratt wasn't pushing his way
through the lapped traffic, Thomson
and Matiasevich started to reel him
in. On lap 12 Thomson was right
behind Surrau and was looking for
a way around the leader and he
remained there for the next two laps.
Surrau led and Thomson was
second until lap 17 when Matiasevich stole second and zeroed in on
Surrau. Matiasevich turned up the
heat on Surrall on the next lap,
trying to force his way by several
times. Surrau was able to hold off
Matiasevich's charge through the
last two laps of the race and took
the win. Matiasevich nailed down
second, just ahead of a fast-closing
Manley.
"I just got into second on the start,
then I waited and waited for an
opening," Surrau said. "Once I got
into the lead I just rode around. I
Lance Moorewood interviews Willie Surratt after his narrow 250cc
Division One moto victory over Russ Wageman.
stayed behind Terry Fowler for a
long time, I think I only passed about
four guys the whole race. It didn't
even seem like a race, it seemed like
a tr3,il ride, I followed guys around.
"I could just glance out of the
comer of my eye and see him (Matiasevich), and there was only one time
where I thought he had chance to
get by me."
Amateurs
The daytime program at the Silverbowl gave the Amateur riders a
shot at the Silverbowl course and the
NMA gave some of the riders a
chance to race in front of the crowds
extra set of Amateur
by running
class motos with the evening Pro
program.
In the 125cc Modified Novice class
Jeff Korhonen topped the first molO,
but took a back seat to Pat Benneu
in the second moto. Benneu held a
comfortable lead at the finish and
picked up the overall win via a 2I score. Korhonen only managed a
third in this moto and had to settle
for second overall with his 1-3 tally.
In the 250cc Intermediate ranks
Mike Hooker' snapped off a pair of
first place finishes 10 record the top
honors in that division. Lance
Barnett put IOgether a 2-3 score for
second overall. Eric Griffith also
dominated the 125cc Stock Novice
class with two first place rides,
Bennett took second in this class.
In the evening races Kenny Daniels
grabbed the early lead in the first
125cc Novice class molO, but Jeff
Korhonen bauled his way around on
lap three