Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

First- and second-place finishers in the 125cc final Ronnie Tichenor (left) and Keith Turpin congratulate each other's performance. Suzuki-mounted Jeff Frisz smoked into the lead ahead of Kehoe and Schmit at the start of the final semi. But during the first lap, Frisz had a spectacular get-off over a triple jump, taking out both his Suzuki teammates Kehoe and Schmit. "Kehoe swept on the inside of me," said Fritz, "and I was on the outside. I had just enough pace to hit the triples to stay out in front, but it was the outside of the jump and I had never jumped it from there before. As soon as I hit it, everything compressed, and the front end went straight down. I knew I wasn't going to make it, so I jumped off (about 15 feet in the air). It was real scary." After the pileup, Kalos found himself in the lead ahead of Cooper. But late in the race, COOper and Kalo~ swapped positions a few times with Cooper winding up on top at the finish. Schmit worked his way back through the pack to finish third, while Honda-mounted Terry Fowler finished fourth. Last Chance Qualifier Kehoe had no problems whatsoever in the LCQ. He stole the holeshot ahead of Ryan, who crashed in the whoops on the second lap and pulled out of the race. From that point on, Kehoe dominated and won the moto unchallenged over Honda rider Andy Stacey. Main As soon as the gate dropped for the start of the main, Ward had a wheel-length on the field. Rounding the first 'tum, Ward had taken full control of the lead ahead of Johnson and a trio of Suzuki riders, Schmit, O'Mara and Kehoe. Schmit suprised Johnson by passing the facLOry Honda rider during the first lap and talcin~ over the number two position. By this time, Ward had put distance between himself and Schmit, while Lechien began weaving his way up through the pack. After two laps, tt was Ward leading Schmit, Johnson, Lechien, O'Mara, Leisk, Warren, Kehoe, Holland and Stanton. During the third lap, Lechien and Johnson began one of their classic, one-on-one duels. The two £1 Cajon, California, rivals swapped places a number of times, puttmg the crowd on its feet. "I got into it with Rick a little bit," said Lechien. "We never actuall y tangled bars, for once, and I'm kind of proud of that. We were dicing and we didn't get into it real hard, if you know what I mean." The intense, yet clean, dice lasted for about another lap before Lechien put the move on Johnson for good. "I would get by him," said Lechien, "then I would make a mistake and he would come back under me, then I would get him back. Johnson was riding real good, a lot better than I thought he would be. I was having a real good time." "I couldn't change my lines once I was in the turns," said Johnson regarding his broken finger. "I couldn't hit the brake, get on the throttle, hit the brake, get on the throttle like I should, and I wasn't consistent through the whoops, which is one of my strong points." Lechien continued on the warpath and charged after Schmit, passing the Suzuki rider a lap later, as did Johnson. This made the LOp five Ward, Lechien, Johnson, Schmit andO'Mara. For the rest of the race, the leaders remained fairly spread out, except for Johnson, who was just out of striking distance of Lechien. There were heavy battles going on for fifth through ninth places between O'Mara, Leisk, Holland, Warren and Kehoe. These five riders swapped positions a number of times, giving the crowd something exciting LO watch. Leisk dropped out of the picture near the end of the race when he lost control of his Yamaha through a section of whoops and bailed off. When it was all over, Ward was breezing out in front with Lechien finishing second a few bike lengths ahead of Johnson. A little way -behind Johnson was Schmit, then came O'Mara, Kehoe and Holland. Warren, Cooper and Pederson rounded out the top 10. King ended up Hth, while Leisk dropped back to 12th. Cooper's ninth-place finish gave him top privateer honors. "I knew I was going just as fast as anybody," said Ward, "and I planned to get out in front early. Ronnie was riding real well. I knew he'd be there, but I also knew I'd have the strength on him in the end. So once I established my lead, I knew they couldn't come up with a drive to catch me."· "I just tried to stay ahead of Rick," said Lechien. "He was riding good, but basically, I tried to hold him back and get some more points on him." "I got in a couple of situations out there, where my finger hurt so bad LO where I wanted to let go of the handlebars," said Johnson. "I think I could've got Ronnie at the end of the race if I didn't get screwed up with lappers. He was starting to make mIstakes." Regarding the rest of the season, John on said, "I've just got to keep working harder and riding fa ter. I've got a lot to learn. I feel I'm not completely matured as a racer yet, and I think I can go faster and get stronger." Turpin celebrates his 125cc main event win in style over the finish line jump. More than 45,000 spectators watched. Only three heat races were run in Tampa instead of the usual four. Here Jeff Frisz edges ahead of Erik Kehoe and Donny Schmit . 125cc Main The 125cc main event produced some of the night's best racing. Suzuki riders Turpin, Tichenor and DeVane were one, two and three after rounding the first tum with Yamaha rider DeHoop and Kawasakimounted Rodney Barr filling out the LOp five. After the first lap, Turpin had already developed a sizeable lead on Tichenor, who was being hounded hard by DeVane. At one point, DeVane tagged Tichenor's rear wheel in a tight left hand turn, but neither rider fell. ' The dice between the two Floridians became the hit of the night. They bauled handlebar-tohandlebar for the next 10 laps. Always right there in the thick of things was DeHoop, while Turpin maintained control of the lead. With only a few laps remaining, DeVane lost control of his Suzuki landing off a jump when his front wheel washed out on the hardpacked track. DeVane quickly picked it up, but not until DeHoop had motored by. Moto-X Fox/ Arai Helmetssponsored Turpin took the 125cc main event win with a Jew seconds LO spare over his Suzuki teammate, Tichenor. Finishing a close third was DeHoop, followed by DeVane, Yamaha rider Michael Jones, Barr and Barry Carsten. Results 125 MAIN: 1. Keith Turpin (SUl); 2. Ronnie TIchenor (SUl); 3. Todd DeHoop (Yam); 4. Vince DeVane (Suz); 5. Michael Jones (Yam); 6. Rodney Barr (Kaw~ 7. Barry Carsten (Vam); 8. Mark Musselman (Kaw); 9. Chris Coleman (Kaw); 10. Robert Hayes (Suz); 11. Jeff Glass (Han); 12. Mark Crozier (Honl; 13. Billy Whitley (Kaw); 14. Don Hudson (Han); 15. Carroll Richardson (Kaw); 16. Bruce Gates (Honl; 17. Darryl Heisler (Hon); 18. Robert Nebel (Han); 19. Kurt McMillen (Hon); 20. Brett Salander (Kaw); 21. Hugh Newsome (Kaw). 250 MAIN: 1. Jeff Ward (Kaw); 2. Ron Lechien (Kaw); 3. Rick Johnson (Hon); 4. Donny Schmit (Suz); 5. Johnny O'Mara (SUl); 6. Erik Kehoe (SUl); 7. George Holland (SUl); 8. Eddie Werren (Kaw); 9. Guy Cooper (Honl; 10. Ross Pederson (Vam); 11. Alan King (SUl); 12. Jeff Liesk (Vam); 13. Dean Matson (Hon); 14. Jason Upshaw IHon); 15. Fred Andrews (Hon); 16. Willie Surratt ISuz); 17. Terry Fowler (Honl; 18. Sheun Kolos (Vem); 19. Keith Bowen IVam); 20. Larry Brooks (Hon); 21. Jeff Stanton (Vam). 125cc AMA EASTERN REGIONAL SUPER· CROSS CHAMPIONSHIP POINT STANDINGS: 1. Ronnie Tichenor (143): 2. Keith Turpin (139); 3. Todd DeHoop (101); 4. Michael Jones (81 I; 5. Barry Cars'en (79); 6. Vince DeVane 167); 7. Rodney Barr (64); 8. Kenny Bolmeier (60); 9. Carroll Richardson (58); 10. Mark Musselman (521. 250cc AMA COORS SUPERCROSS CHAMPION· SHIP POINT STANDINGS: 1. Jeff Ward (219): 2. Rick Johnson (174); 3. (Tie) George Holland/Ron Lechien (167); 5. Jeff Leisk (140); 6. Ross Pederson (134); 7. Jeff Slanton (117); 8. Keith Bowen (116); 9. Johnny O'Mara (115); 10. Guy Cooper 11091.

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