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/126971
Team Nordica Roberts' John Kocinski dominated the 250cc GP class, beating Kork Ballington and Rich Oliver. Ballington (99) and Oliver (2) used the draft effectively to ree l-in Kocinski late in the race; t hey caught, but couldn't beat the Yamaha pilot. AMAjCastrol 250«:«: Grand Prix Series: Round 5 Kocinski streaks to Road America win By Pau l Carruahers Photos by Werner Fritz and Randy Marrs ELKHA RT LAK E, WI , J U NE 28 T ea m Nordica R oberts' J oh n Kocinski proved' his Lou don victory was no fluke as he stormed to the win in .the 250cc Grand P ri x class, held at Road "A m e r i c a . Kocinski was again th e class f the class after being th e o . f~stest rider th roughout I?ractr ee , heat races and the final , T he 19-year-old rode the wh eels off hi s Yamaha, stretc hing o ut an earl y lead th a t faded whe n hi s bik e started running on o ne cylinder and th en spe wed o il on ~is !eft footpeg a nd shift lever, KOCInskI, however, held · on to rup H onda-mount ed Team MacLean 's Ko rk Ballington and privateer Rich O liver at th e fini sh l in e. In th e process, Ko cin ski in creased h is po int lead over Ballington to 16, 83-67: Fourt h p lace went to th e Shoei/ Ku shi tan il Du nlop /Ca strol /R K Chairi/Kal-Gard-sponsored Honda RS250 of defending 250cc National Ch ampion Don Green e. Fifth went to MacLean Ra cing's Grand Prix import Alan Carter. . Kocinski was immedi ately ru shed to a nearby airpo rt wh ere he a nd T ea m Nordica Rob erts teammate Calvin Rayborn III (sevent h pl ace in th e final ) flew to j apan. The du o will test th e four-stroke 750cc Yam ahas th ey will ri de under Lucky Stri ke colors in the Suzuka 8-Hour in july. Practi ce again featured hot a nd heavy ac tio n in th e 250cc class. It was Kocin ski wi th th e edge, however, as he, despite m issin g th e first practi ce session , quickl y esta blished himself with the fastest laps. The slippe ry track was giving more th an one rid er fit s, but it was Carter wh o was su ffe r ing th e mo st. The Briton cras hed on Friday, a nd was quickly learn ing how to dirt tra ck. " I just can't get my head together," th e hard- charging , late-braking Carter said. "It's so slippery. I lik e to just go in hard and throw it on its side, but yo u hav e to rid e like a pansy here. It's too slippery for my style. I keep losing th e front end." Ano the r having prob lems was Randy Renfrow. The normall y fast a nd cons istent Honda pil ot was a little off all weekend, resulting in hi s distant sixt h pl ace fini sh. Heat race number o ne o n Sa turday saw Kocinski seizing th e lead im mediately a nd leaving th e pack behind. Oli ver, Green e a nd Carter follo wed at th e end of lap o ne. Kocinski turned a 2:28.59 la p on the seco nd goaro und, and Carter had a no the r run in with the Wisconsin grass/ d irt. T he Team MacL ean pil ot tr ied to o utbra ke Green e goi ng into turn five as the two started ga in ing o n Oliver. Carter rammed Green e a nd th ey both left th e tarmac. " He ra n in to me go ing into five, " a calm, considering the rubber marks on h is swingarm, Greene sa id. " I th ought he was cras hing so I straigh tened up and we bo th wen t off. He let me go by, lik e oops, sorry, go ahead. ". Carter , who is quickl y ga in ing a repu tat io n fo r hi s hard-riding tactics among the " gent lema nly" America ns, la ter a po logized to G reene. Kocinski cru ised in wi th a n easy win over O liver, Alan Inglis, Gree ne and Carter. T he second heat was less drama tic , but featured close r raci ng. After th e Da nny Coe-led first lap, Renfrow, Ballington and Rayborn tuss led for the top spot with Renfro w. getting the nod over the South African at th e finish. Coe held on for fourth behind Rayborn with james Stephen s fifth . " I just try as hard as I ca n ," Kocin ski said a fter hi s heat race win. The 250cc crews began the usual scra m ble to co rrect jett in g, wondering if Sunday's weather would be the sa me o r if they would have to start o ver agai n . Kocinski had a sim ple stra tegy prior to th e final. " I' m go ing to try a nd lea ve 'e m beh ind. I've been getting slowed down in th e corn ers when I'm not by myself. " The strategy unv eil ed itself as the Mod esto, California, resident nailed th e start perfectly and opened an immediate lead. By th e second lap, Kocinski led by three seco nds over a battle that included Bal lington, Carter, Oliver and Green e. Renfro w and Rayborn , meanwhile, were the victims of horrib le starts and were r unning sixth and eig h th , respectively. . . " I j ust cou ldn 't seem to get going," Renfro w sa id later. "I got a d isasterous start and from there it didn't get much better. I was too cautious through traffic, I just didn't ride well all week ; I'm real disappointed." Kocinski dipped into the 28s on . laps three and four, and recorded a _ 2:27.80 on lap eigh t, but suddenly Ballington and Oliver were getting close. The two were using the draft effectively to pull th em within striking distance of th e fast-starting Kocinski . Ballington a nd Oliver had pulled away from Green e, as Carter again opted for a n off-trac k excursio n , dropping him to fifth. Renfrow and Rayborn were involved in a tussle o ver six th , a battle that would event ually go to Renfrow. As th e lead ers com pleted lap 1\ , Ballington/Oliver were right on Kocinski . At the end of 12, O liver led with Kocinski a nd Ballington in tow; the three now dipping into the 26s. . On th e last lap, however, it was Kocinski grabbing th e lead and holding it to the finish over Ballington a nd O liver. " We were pointing to each other to make it clear that we wanted to use each o ther's draft to catch john," Oliver said. " He outrode us for awhi le, but we decid ed to go catch th e little bu gger, a nd he mad e a few mistakes in traffi c. I got hung up in th e last turn; I had th e fastest bike on th e track." " When I go t a good lap, I'd ca tch him," Ballington sa id. " I was being real carefu l; I was scared of crash ing again." Carter was relieved to be rid of Road Am eri ca a nd wa s looking forward to La guna Seca. " I went grass tra cking," he said. " I just can' t throw it in th er e lik e I like. I struggled a ll week here. It wasn 't Alan Carter o ut there today." Green e's Honda was misfiring in the later stages of th e race. " I nursed it in , but I still went faster than I ever hav e here," Greene said. " I just w at ch ed th em pull away from me." . Results 250 GRAND PRIX: 1. John Kocin ski (Yam ); 2. " Kc rk Ballington (Han) ; 3 . Richard Oli ver (Han); 4 . Don Greene (Han); 5 . Alan Caner (Hon); 6 . Randy Renfrow (Han); 7. Calvin Rayborn III (Yam); 8 . Jam es Steph ens (Yam); 9 . Dan iel Cae (Rot); 10 . David Curt is (Han); 11. A lan Ing lis (Han); 12 . A ndrew l eisner (Han); 13. Doug Brau neck (Yam); , 4 . Garry Griffith (Yam); 15 . Ma rcello Del Giudice (Yam ). AMA 250cc POINT STAND INGS : 1. John Kocin ski (B3); 2. Kor k Ballington (51); 3 . (TIE) Don Green e/Ca lvin Rayborn III (50 ): 5. Randy Renfrow (4 7); 6. Richard Ol iver (4 6); 7 . James Stephens (39 ); B. David Curtis (26 ); 9 . Danny Cae (24); 10. A lan Carter (23); 11 . (TIE) Garry Griffith/ Doug Brauneck (18); 13 . Andrew Leisn er (15); 14. David Busby (11); 15 . (TIE) Alan Inglis/M iles Baldwin (7).