Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Vamaha-mounted Jeff Stanton won his heat race and wound up taking fifth in the main. Stanton is tied for seventh in the standings. Suzuki's Ronnie Tichenor was leading the 126cc main before falling down. He managed to selvage a fourth at the checkered flag. rider Dennis Hawthorne grabbed the holeshot, but two laps later Hicks was out front, inches ahead of Manley. Hicks and Manley fiercly diced for the lead, while lurking close behind the leaders where Hawthorne, Honda rider Fred Andrews and Suzuki-mounted Alan King. During the fifth lap, Manley stuffed his way by Hicks for the lead, while Andrews motored around Hawthorne before crashing back to fifth. With two laps to go, King overtook Hawthorne for thud. Manley crossed the finish line out front, followed closely by Hicks, King and Hawthorne. Ward breezed to the second semi win after taking the holeshot and immediately pulled away from the pack. But plenty of action was happening over second place between Honda riders Jason Upshaw and Guy Cooper, and Kawasakimounted Mike Fisher. The three diced right down to the finish with Cooper getting the upper hand. Upshaw took third ahead of Fisher. Last Chance Qualifier Stafford and Manley wound up in a heated dogfight for the final transfer position of the night in the last chance qualifier. Andrews was running second during the second lap before getting thrown off his Honda over a double jump. • Up front, Stafford. was leading Manley by inches after taking the white flag, but through a section of whoops, Manley found.the smoother line and inched his way into the lead. A half lap later, Manley flew across the finish line in the lead. Stafford settled for second. Main When the gate dropped for the start of the 21-rider main event, it was Ward getting the jump on the pack as they headed into the first tum. Close behind followed Ryan, Frisz, Warren and Lechien. Johnson' was midpack. "I screwed up bad on the start," said Johnson. "I wasn't precise with my clutch; I double-clutched it because I wasn't leaning far enough forward." After the first lap it was Ward, who had already opened up a respectable lead, followed by Lechien, Leisk, Ryan, Warren, Stanton, Johnson, Frisz and Brooks. With Ward out front and LeChien and Leisk fairly spread out, Johnson had his work CUt out for him. "I was worried," said Johnson, "because I kne~ he (Ward) had pulled out a long ways." By the second lap, Johnson had already picked off Stanton, Warren and Ryan, and was setting his sights on Leisk. A few turns later, the A:u~tralian was Johnson's nextl Vlcttm. Once into third, Johnson found a large gap separating him from Lechien, but that didn't seem to matter. Johnson opened the throttle and dove' underneath Lechien two laps later. "He (Johnson) stood on the gas like I couldn't believe," said Lechien. "Rick was really riding fast, and he took off from me like I wasn't even fhere." Only one rider remained on Johnson's hit list - Ward. Almost five seconds separated Ward from Johnson on the fifth lap, but that margin dwindled after every tum. By the ninth lap, Johnson was glued to Ward's rear fender and was ready to attack. "Once I got him into my· sights," said Johnson, "I just made up a bunch of time. I knew once I caught up to him, I figured I could pass him because I knew I had faster lap times. I just kept pushing away and passed Jeff the first chance I had." Thill first chance came as they rounded a tight left-hand turn heading into the start area where Johnson guided his Honda to the inside of Ward's Kawasaki and outaccelerated him to the next left turn. "Rick was charging hard," said Ward. "Some lappers got in my way and I couldn't do the triples, and he really reeled me in there. After that, he kind of snuck by me." By this time, Lechien and Leisk were in control of third and fourth places, but were a long way behind Johnson and Ward. After Leisk came Ryan, Stanton, Brooks, Holland, Warren and Bowen, who' were involved in an all-out war. Ryan eventually dropped out of the picture when his handlebars collapsed after landing hard off a jump. When it was all over, Johnson had Johnson (left to right), Lechien a~d Ward celebrate after' the main. Johnson and Ward have finished 1-2 three times in a row. martaged to keep a pesky Ward at bay, while Lechien and Leisk easily wrapped up third and fourth. Fifth went to Stanton, followed by Brooks and Pederson. "It feels good to know I can get a bad start; come from behind and catch up," said Johnson. "Because that's what it might take at the end of the season." "I wanted to get rid or" this curse on me," said Lechien, regarding his a long string of crashes. "I tried to stay smooth and not make any mistakes." "I just got into fourth place, and I was by myself the whole race," said Leisk. "I drove away from the guys behind me, but couldn't make an impression on Ron, so it was kind of a lonely race." 125 Main The 125cc main event was a wild affair from start to finish. Manneh jumped out to an early lead and then began feeling pressure from Suzuki's Ronnie Tichenor by the third lap. Close behind Tichenor was Lewis and Craig. Tichenor pushed Manneh hard for the next four laps until the two riders collided in a tight left turn with Manneh crashing and dropping to fourth behind Tichenor, Lewis and Craig. A lap later, Tichenor bailed after landing off the triple jump. "I hit a slick spot and it went right down," said the Suzuki pilot. This gave the lead .to Lewis with Craig and Manneh hot on his tail. Soon after, Manneh shot past Craig and set after leader Lewis. After taking the white flag, Mannah stuffed Lewis in a turn, almost taking out the Honda rider in the process, and retook the lead. As they crossed the checkered flag, it was Manneh out· front followed by Lewis and Craig. . Then confusion set. in. It turned out that Mannah, Lewis and Craig went one lap too many after receiving the white flag when they should've taken the checkered. And since Manneh passed Lewis when the race was officially over, Lewis wound up the class' winner. When the three riders reached the winner's circle, Manneh thought he had won but was given the news he hadn't. 'Lewis' reaction was, "I won?" "I saw the white flag and I knew I had one lap to go," said Manneh. "So I passed Kyle. I thought I had won the race. I got the checkered, came off the track, and then they said they made a mistake. They sent us an extra lap. " So the top five official finishers were Lewis, Manneh, Craig, Tichenor and Robert Naughton. • Results 125: 1. Kyle Lewis (Hon); 2. Bader Manneh (Kaw); 3. Michael Craig (Yam); 4. Ronnie Tichenor (SUl); 5. Robert Naughton (Hon); 6. SCcitt Brown (Yam); 7. Michael Jones (Yam); 8. Willie Surratt (SUl); 9. Dean Matson (Hon); 10. Kenneth BoIImeier (Yam); 11. Ray Sommo (Hon); 12. Jeff Matiasevich (Kaw); 13. Eddie Hicks (Kaw); 14. Carroll Richardson (Kaw); t 5. Paul Winn (SUl); 16. Todd DeHoop (Yam); 17. Barry Carsten (Yam); 18. Rodney Barr (Kaw); 19. Vince DeVane (Suz); 20. Justin Oha (Hon); 21. Brian Turpin (Soz). 250: 1. Rick Johnson (Hon); 2. Jeff Ward (Kaw); 3. Ron Lechien (Kaw); 4. Jeff Leis!< (Yam); 5. Jeff Stanton (Yam); 6. Larry Brooks (Hon); 7. Ross Pederson (Yam); 8. Erik Kehoe (SUl); 9. George Holland (SUl); 10. Alan King (Suz); 11. Eddie Warren (Kaw); 12. Mike Fisher (Kaw); 13. Brian Manley (Yam); 14. Rick Ryan (Hon); 15. Keith' Bowen (Yam); 16. Jason Upshaw (Hon); 17. Jeff Hicks (Hon); 18. Dennis Hawthorne (Kaw); 19. Alley Semar (Hon); 20. Guy Cooper (Hon); 21. Jeff Frisz {Sullo 250 POINT STANDINGS: 1. RickJohnson (1 54); 2. Jeff Ward (151); 3. George Holland (117); 4. Ron Lechien (102); 5. Jeff Leisk (98); 6. Ross Pederson (96); 7. (TIE) Keith Bowen; Jeff Stanton (92); 9. Rick Ryan (Bl); 10. Erik Kehoe (78).

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