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/126965
and slid past Stanton to claim the third place position. Lechien almost threw away his chance for th e moto win on lap four , wh en he lowsided in a slippery, uphill right-hander. Lechien kept it running and was up and racing again quickl y eno ug h to hold his position. Team Suzuki's Bob Hannah was putting in a no ther of hi s cha rge-tothe-front rides as he work ed his way back from a mid-pack start. Hannah was ch alle nging for sixth pl ace wh en he crashed at th e base of th e last downhill and d ropped four posit ion s. H annah was able to come back to recla im sixth by moto's end. . H annah' s teammate O 'Mara was tryin g to maintain a cush io n .o n Lec hien , but the Kawasaki pilot was again on th e gas and reeling in the Suzuki rider. By lap eigh t Lechi en had na rro wed th e gap from seven to three seconds and had O 'Mara in his sigh ts. J ohnson had cu t his wa y through traffic and was cha llenging Mik e Fish er, who also was charging aft er ' a bad start , for sixth. On lap nine Lech ien had ca ugh t O 'Mara and the lead two some was into a lar ge pack of lappers. Both riders sliced their way past th e slower riders a nd were having a dogfigh t for the lead . Lechi en fou nd hi s wa y p a st O 'Mar a as th ey exited the first of the wooded sections of the track, but O 'Mara didn 't give up; he shad owed Lechi en's every move. At th e end of lap 10, Lechien and O 'Mara collided in th e last tu rn, but both riders continued on, just a few lengths apart for th e entire lap. Lechien was able to put some distance on O 'Mara on lap 12, but O 'Mara was still within striking distance for th e next two laps and the gap remained in th e two -second range. Lechien was trying hard to hold his lead and almost endoed on a front straight jump. H e recovered and O 'Mara was unable to clo se. Lechien had no trouble after th at and O 'Mara had to settle for second, finishing about three seconds back. Ward was one minute behind th e leaders in third, while Johnson was a rapidly-closing fourth , followed by Stanton, Hannah and Willie Surratt. First moto , winner Ward said , "Ronnie (Lech ien) must have really liked the track, because he rode really effortlessly and really good. Ronnie rod e stro ng. I'm impressed. I'm glad to see him win. " The second moto I hit th e gat e and got off to a pretty bad start," Ward said, " so I rod e reall y hard for the first part of the moto to cat ch up. Then I got cra m ps in m y sh oulders. It's unfortunate. I' ve never had anything like th at happen before." 125cc Bader Manneh got a quick start in th e first 125cc moto but officia ls rul ed it was a little too quick . Manneh appar ently rammed th e gate and jumped right over to take the holeshot. He was later penalized o ne lap for h is gate jump. Cagiva factory pilot Mik e H ealey motored into th e lead in the far section of the cour se leading Mann eh, Kawas aki 's Eddie Warren , Dymond, Rick Ryan, Larry Brooks and Guy Cooper. Healey led th e eigh t-rider freight tra in until lap three when he got off th e course a nd tangled with th e banners. H eal ey rejoined th e race in . 10th place. Manneh led after Healey dropped back, but he had hi s hands full with the advances of Dym ond and Ryan , who had slipped by Warren . Jeff Stanton (56) grabbed the holeshot in the first 250cc rnoto, ahead of Jeff Ward (31. Lechien (9) and Rick Johnson (1) . Ward. Lechien and Johnson filled the top three spots at the end of the mota. Dymond tri ed to for ce hi s way by Manneh severa l tim es, but th e Kawasaki rider hung to ugh a nd held Dym ond back. Dymond finally made a pass stick on la p five and left Manneh to fight over second with Ryan. By th e end of th e lap, Ryan and Brooks both had stuffed past Manneh. Lap six saw Dym ond begin to estab lish his lead while Ryan and Brooks dueled for second about three seconds back. At the halfway mark of th e mo to Dym ond had a co m fortab le six seco n d a dvan ta ge , w ith Ryan , . Brooks, Cooper and th e charg ing Suzuki duo of George H oll and and Erik Keh oe in a close battle for second through seven th. Dym ond, who was smoo th and consistent out front, contin ued to build up hi s lead. A good battle was shaping up between Honda pi lo ts ' Brooks and Cooper for third pl ace. Cooper was on the gas and reeled in Brooks in less than two laps. By lap 10 Cooper was right behind Brooks, with less th an a bik e length separating them. Brooks blocked off every advance by ' Cooper in what turned out to be the best battle of the moto. Cooper tried to stuff Brooks in the final turn on the last lap, sending Brooks into the tires on the outside of the turn and lett ing Cooper edge by. Brooks didn 't let him get away , . as he tucked in right behind Cooper. Dymond had an l l-second margin by the time the white flag came ou t and rolled on to th e victory. Ryan came home second with th e fastclosing duo of Cooper and Brooks in third and fourth. Holland, Kehoe, Fred Andrews , Warren , Donn y Schmit and H ealey rounded ou t th e top 10. Dymond didn 't have to come from behind in moto two. He go t th e h oleshot and lead Suzuki 's Sch mi t, H oll and and Kehoe around on lap one. Cooper had hi s front end wash ou t in turn one and cras hed. Cooper go t goi ng again in last place. Dym ond wasted little tim e putting distan ce between himself a n d Schmit. By lap three Dymond was .four seconds ahead and in contro l. Brooks .was flying and blasted pa st both Kehoe and H oll and o n lap three. Dymond progressively bu ilt hi s lead for the next five laps, leaving the four-rider battle for second to Sch mit, Brooks, Kehoe and H olland. Brooks bobbled on lap five, letting Kehoe slip by and th en Bro oks started to fade a little as H olland sn uck past two laps later. Ward and Lechien had a real dogfight for the lead in the first 250cc mota. Ward eventually took the rnoto victory. Kehoe was cutting some very fast tim es as he rapidly caugh t up to teammate Schmit. On lap 10 both riders came ou t of th e back sectio n side-by -side and jetted down th e front straigh t. As th ey reached th e tabl e top, Kehoe carried th e spe ed th at he needed and launched by Schmit to grab th e second place spo t: Schmit dropped back after Kehoe to ok second and Holland , then Br ooks eve n tua lly got past the Su zuki pilot. Dymond cru ised home th e winner by 15 seconds over Kehoe, while H oll and finished th ird; five seconds beh ind Kehoe. Brooks nail ed down th e fourth pl ace position and Schmit ended up fifth. "The bike's running so well I don 't have to push too ·hard and I think that my riding is right there now, " said Dymond, " My condi tioning is improving every week, so I co uld ge t to wh ere I'm not even tire d at all-in th e ra ce." • Results 1Z5: 1: Micky Dymond (Han) 1-1; 2. Erik Kehoe (Suz) 6-2; 3. George Holland (Suz) 5-3; 4. Larry Brooks (Han) 4-4; 5. Rick Ryan (Hon) 2-7; 6. Guy Cooper (Hon) 3-12; 7. Donny Schmit (Suzl 9-5; 8. Fred Andrews (Han) 7·9; 9. Mike Healey (eagll08; 10 . Jeff Leisk (Yam) 13-6: 11. Eddie Warren (KawI8-1D; 12. Tyson Vohland (KawI11 -13 ;13. Miichael Craig (Yam) 12-15 ; 14 . Keith Turpin (Suz] 36-11 ; 15. Shaun Kalos (Yam) 29-14; 16. Dean Matson (HonI15-39 ; 17. Bader Manneh (Kaw) 25 16; 1B. Jeffrey .Glass (Han) 17-22 ; 19, Bren Salander (Kaw); 20 . Barry Carsten (Yam) 1B-23 . 250 : 1. Ron Lechien (Kaw) 2-1; 2. Jeff Ward (Kaw) 1·3; 3. Johnny O'Mara (Suzl 4-2; 4. Rick Johnson (Han): 3-4; 5. Jeff Stanton (Yam) 5-5; 6. Mike Fisher (Kaw) 6-8; 7. Keith Bowen (Yam) 7 9; 8. Willie Surran (Suz) 10 -7; 9. Doug Dubach (YamI8-10; 10 Bob Hannah (Suz) 12-6; 11. Jeff Hicks (Han) 13-12 ; 12. Tom Carson (HonI15-11; 13. Ray Somma (Han) 14-13 ; 14 . Ross Pederson (Yam) 11-16 ; 15. Brian Manley (Yam) 9-DNF; 16. Tommy Wans (Kaw) 17-14 ; 17. Kurt McMillen (Han) 16-18 ; lB. David Hand (Han) 26 -15 ; 19. Andrew Stacy (Hon) 19 -17; 20 . Terry.Fowler (Hon) 26 -15 . AMA 125 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP MX POINT STANDINGS : 1. Micky Dymond (1631; 2. George Holland (152); 3. Rick Ryan (143); 4. Er ic Kehoe (137) ; 5. Jeff Leisk (129); 6. Larry Brooks (126); 7. Guy Cooper (118); B. Edddie Warren (93); 9. Donny Schmit (88); 10. Mike Healey (81). AMA 250 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP MX - POINT STANDINGS : 1. Rick Johnson (182); 2. Jeff Ward (151 ); 3. Ron Lechien (1441; 4. Bob Hannah (11 1); 5. (TIE) Ross Pederson /Keith Bowen (108); 7. Jeff Stanton (B9); 8. M ike Fisher (B81; 9. Johnny O'Mara (78); 10. Jeff Hicks (57).