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/126954
Kyle Lewi. celebr.te. hi. Sund.y 126ce m.in event win. Erik Kehoe (8) and Jeff Leisk dice. Lei8k took fifth Saturday lind topped that off with a third Sunday. JohMOn (1) and W.rd (3) .re now tied for the ..... points lead. O·M.... (4) went 4-12 in Seattle. 8 advantage. With Larson going wide, Hannah took over the lead, and a lap later Larson fell, giving Hannah plenty of breathing room. Dubach finished second ahead of Larson and Hicks. Suzuki's Ronnie Tichenor and Jeff FriSl dominated the second semi from start to finish. The two riders were 1-2 through the first turn, and that was it. Tichenor went on to win a few feet ahead of Frisz. Honda rider Gary Semics took third. The Last Chance Qualifier saw Manley take the early lead, but he crashed during the first lap, giving Yamaha-mounted Scott Tyler the lead. Tyler held Hicks off for three laps before giving in over a double jump. Hicks went on to take the final transfer spot of the night. The start of the 2I-rider main event saw Tichenor power into the lead ahead of Ward, Lechien and FriSl. Back in fourth was Johnson followed by Holland. Halfway through the first lap, a six-rider pile up happened on a double jump. The six riders involved were Lechien, Hicks, King, Bowen, Stanton and Cooper. "I got a good start," said Lechien, "and 1 just went off the doubles next to somebody, and he landed on my shoulder and my arm, taking me right down. Everybody else landed on top of us. " Lechien recovered only to find that his left footpeg had been sheared off in the incident. After that, Lechien pulled out of the race. Meanwhile, up front, Ward had taken over the lead from Tichenor, 'while Johnson moved into third. Holland was fourth followed by Frisl, Warren, Kehoe, Leisk and O'Mara. Back in the pack, Hannah was involved in a crash with Fisher. "I was inside of Fisher going through a tum," said Hannah, "and he caught my bars or something. He just punched it and dragged me to the ground." Hannah regrouped near the back of the pack. A few turns later, Johnson had slipped by Tichenor and settled into second place a few bike lengths behind Ward. Tichenor found himself with a huge gap between him and fourth place Holland, then followed FriSl, Warren and Kehoe. Warli maintained his slight advan· tage over Johnson for the next five laps, then Johnson decided to tum on the boost and immediately reeledin Ward. ' "I got him (Ward) in sight, then 1 could just sort of gauge off him," said Johnson. "Once 1 see people; once 1 get 'em in sight, 1 usually can catch 'em." Johnson did just that as he pushed Ward in every tum. Johnson eventually dove inside of Ward in a tight, right hand turn and out-powered Ward down the next straightaway. Ward stayed close to Johnson during the next lap until they ran into lapped traffic, then Johnson began pulling away. "We got into lappers," said Johnson, "and 1 thought they were going to work against me, but they worked for me really well." A couple of laps later Ward fell "I just started picking some bad lines and making too many mistakes," said Ward. "Once he (Johnson) got by me, 1 felt a lot better - 1 loosened up. But 1 hit a rock under the bridge that threw my front wheel out, and 1 went over the bars." Ward had plenty of insurance between him and third place Tichenor to hold onto second, while Johnson, all of a sudden, had a 25second lead. Tichenor was closing the gap on Ward after the Kawasaki rider crashed, but Tichenor bailed. "I tried to settle down," said Tichenor. "I guess 1 started getting a little tired, and 1 hit a rut the wrong way, and it shot me off the track." Tichenor dropped back to eighth. By the end of the race, the only battle in the works was between Holland and O'Mara over fourth place. Holland and O'Mara were inches apart for many laps until O'Mara began to drop off the pace a bit. At the finish, it was ,ohnson easily winning ahead 0 Ward, Holland, O'Mara, Leisk, Warren and Tichenor. "I just didn't geta good start," said O'Mara "I passed a few guys right at the beginning, but halfway through, 1 could feel 1 just wasn't as strong as 1 thought 1 was going to be." "I was sixth on the first lap," said Leisk, "but coming around the second lap, 1 fell in a tum and lost about five or six places. 1 managed to pick 'em off. 1 surprised myself. 1 thought 1would finish further back than 1 did." After finishing ninth, Hannah said, "If 1 quit getting taken out, I'd have a little bit better chance. As long as I'm in one piece, I'm. happy, but I'd like to ride a little better tomorrow. 1 feel 1 can do better. " 125cc The 125cc main was dominated by Schmit as soon as the gate dropped. The Suzuki rider grabbed the holeshot ahead of Honda rider Dean