Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Regional Su pe rcross title by fin ishing seco nd a he ad of th ird place Robert Na ug h ton, who also was in con tentio n for th e cham p io ns hip going into the fin al ro u nd. Surra tt took the title with 142 points over Naugh to n's 135. Mai tiasevich ' passed early-leader Naugh ton o n la p th ree of the 12-la p main event and never look ed back . Surratt too k seco nd - and the cha mp io nship a way from Naugh ton o n lap nine. 250cc Heats Yam aha' s Doug Du bach nabbed the hol esh ot a t the start o f th e first eigh t-lap heat race , but Team Honda 's Micky Dymond, last year's l 25cc Mo to cro ss Na tiona l Champ ion , mad e a mida ir pass to tak e over th e lead coming o ff th e Peristyle j u m p early in lap two. The pass set the fin ish in g o rder for th e to p two spots. Suzuki riders Er ik Keh oe a nd Ron Tich en or argued over third until the white flag lap whe n Keh oe sta lled his bik e in th e whoops. Yamaha mounted j eff Sta n to n in h erited fourth and the last direct transfer to the mai n even t. H eat tw o sa w Ka wa saki rider Eddie Warr en lead fro m start to fin ish wh il e Yamaha 's Keith Bowen took second on lap th ree a nd he ld ' it until th e end. Co oper , J im H olley on 'a Yam aha and Suzuki-mounted Keith T u rpi n argued over third until the end of ' th e race, with Cooper claiming the show spot and H olley taking th e last transfer position. Turpin's fifth sent him to the second semi. George Holland pil oted his Suzuki th ro ugh th e tight, turn-one hairpin in first place at th e start of the third 250cc heat race, an d led th e heat from start to' fin ish. Yamahamounted J eff Leisk ch a llenged Holland on th e final lap but had to settle for second. Andrews won a ra ce-long battle for th ird between himself , Yamaha's Brian Manley and Hondamounted Jeff Hicks. Manley claimed the final transfer; Hicks went to sem i number one. T eammates Lechien a nd Ward banged handlebars in turn one at th e start of the fourth eig ht- la p heat race and it was Lech ien who exited turn on e in first p lace, followed by Ward and J ohnson. The trio pulled a way from th e field with Lechien open ing 'a slig h t cus hion on Ward. J ohnson pressu red Ward for th e entire race but Fo uldn 't get. arou nd. They fin ish ed ~ n that o rder , we ll a hea d o f Kaw asaki-mounted Tyson Vohland, . :who claimed th e final transfer.spo t. '2 50 cc Semis Kehoe won th e first eigh t-la p 250cc semi a hea d of Yamaha rider Shaun Kalo s and Hicks. Keh oe took seco nd -from H icks over a jump on la p three, th en passed Kalos on th e sa me jump two laps later to set the top three spots. Keh oe and Kal os were head ed for th e main; H icks was- on th e 'sta r ti n g grid o f the last ch a nce -q ua lifier, • H onda-m oun ted Vince Warren held on th rough turn-one traffic at [the start o f th e seco nd semi a nd took uhe lead from fell ow H onda pilo t .C ra y Butcher over a ju m p ha lfway -th rough lap one. The du o traded the ·top spo t until lap six then Warren noo k over for good. But ch er fin ished .second to earn a starting berth in the [main event. ·Last Chance Qualifier , Honda-mounted privateer Ri ck -' Ryan blasted in to the lead of th e 2LCQ and held th e point position until th e che ckered flag. Hicks ran second for th e entire race , and put ·intense pressure on the Daytona •Supercross winner in the late going, ~~!,~.o1.!lqt;J'.t.gt.:t. '!~.our.4: ~ . , ~".' Willie Surratt claimed the Western 125cc title with a second place. Team Kawasaki's 1987 Supercross Champion Jeff Ward (3) led Johnson during their heat. Ward finished third in the final after starting 13th. 250cc Main " We bumped pretty good ," Ward said. " I hit th e pillar a nd bounced off i t and he was hanging over th e ba rs. It was nothing intentional. " One circu it la ter , Johnson took th ird a way from Bowen over th e start/finish line jump, then pas sed Andrews in the esses on the same lap to claim second. With eigh t laps to go he began reeling .in th e di stant Cooper. Ward go t stuc k behind Andrews and Bowen for a co u ple of laps a nd by th e time he got by the pa ir, Cooper a nd J ohnson were uncat ch able. With five lap s to go, Andre ws an d Bowen held do wn fourt h a nd fifth, respectively, whil e Dym ond , who had worked hi s way th rough traff ic, was run ning six th. Leisk : was seventh, followed by Manl ey, H olland, Stanton, Warr en , and Keh oe-, Co oper held off J ohnson in th e esses on lap 19 bu t bobbled com ing ou t o f th e whoops a nd J ohnson po unced q uickly to take ove r th e lead . Cooper was co n tent to fin ish a close seco nd, wh ile War d - who rode th e final laps conservatively to p rotect a n a n k le that h ad been shattered earl ier this year a nd has hampered him a ll season - took a lonel y third abou t a straigh taway back. Filling o u t th e top 15 even farther back wer e Leisk, who moved from eigh th o n lap IS to fourth at th e fin ish, An drews, Dym ond, Bowen , Keh oe , Stanton , H olland, Lechien , Warren, Dub ach , Manley a nd T yson Vohland. "Jeff Ward has th e ' plate, but I think for tonight th at I' m number one, " sa id J ohnson to the crowd. T he cheers o f Los An geles fans roared in agreeme nt. Wh en th e AMA ca n ce lled a n advert ised downh ill start from th e top o f the Peri style due to sa fety co ns i de r a tion s, p romoter Mik e Good win moved th e starting ga te to the Coliseum flo or. The 21 riders who started th e main event raced 40 feet from th e gate to a tight, 1800 right hand hai rpin that cou ld accomodate o n ly three riders a t once, leaving many riders trapped in a bottleneck a t th e sta rt. An dr ews exited turn o ne first with Co oper o n h i s ta il. T hey were foll o wed b y Manl ey, Bowe n , Dymond a nd Stanton. Ward was 13th, Joh nson wa s 16th and Lechien , who sai d before th e race, " the sta rt will be every thing," was riding nea r th e end of th e field. An dr ews led in to the Peri st yle uphill a nd the corne r th at followed a t th e start' of lap three, but it was Cooper wh o exi ted the turn first, flyin g 150 feet o n the P erist yl e downhill to the stadi u m floor. Ward had moved quick ly through traffi c to take o ver seventh and J ohnson had raced into 10th. . With Cooper IS seco nds ahead of him, J o h nson began h is cha rge. H e passed Warren over th e sta rt/ fin ish line jum p o n lap three, pow ered pas t Leisk and Stan ton in o ne swoop over a jump o n la p eigh t, a nd was pressuring Ward for fourth a t the halfway point. T he T eam H onda rider was rid ing aggressively a nd o n hi s q ui ckest laps was gaining more th an three seconds a lap on Cooper. With 10 laps down, Cooper held a s trai g h ta way a dva ntage over Andre ws, while Bowen attempted to hold o ff th e factory' mounts of Ward and J ohnson. Manley was running sixth and attempting to hold o ff Lechien. Stanton had dropped to eigh th, ahead of Leisk. On lap II J ohnson passed Ward through th e esses to take over fourth a nd when the du o go t to th e ot her end o f th e stadi u m they tangled in -the Peri styl e corn er. . " We hit p retty hard," J ohnson said. " I was on the ins ide going o u t and he was on the o utside going in. I hit th e brakes to keep from tagging him and the ba ck en d hit a bum p and bounced into his leg. " ~ .\ •• ·t {\ } J _/ ' l11 J J l. J.Jl J ~ ~ l L 1( " . 't 125cc Main . Na ugh to n power ed h is H onda into turn one with Matiasevich and Kawasaki 's Bad er Manneh on his ta il a t th e start of the l2-lap, I 25cc ma in event. H onda -m oun ted Kyle Lewis . moved into third by the end of th e first la p , droppin g Mann eh to four th . T hey wer e follo wed b y Su rratt, Suzuki-mounted Paul Winn a nd Honda rider Dean Mat son. Matiasevich passed Naughton for th e lead over a ju m p at the end o f , l .... th e straig h t go ing into th e esses o n lap three. On th e same lap, Surratt took fourth from Manneh, th en in he rited third moments later wh en .Lewi s fell goi ng over a jump and lost two positions befor e he cou ld restart. While Ma tiasev ich p u lled away, Su rratt reeled in Na ugh to n until he wason Naughto n 's rear fender goi ng th rough th e switchbacks on la p five. At th e midway point Matiasevich led Nau gh ton, Surratt; Manneh , Winn, a nd Lewi s. Knowing he had to pa ss Naughton to take th e l25cc Weste rn Regional Supercross title , Surratt pressu red Nau ghton lap after lap, set him u p coming ou t o f th e whoops on lap nine, a nd passed Na ughton going over the start/ finish line jump to take over second an d set th e top three fin ishing posit io ns. Manneh finished fourth a nd Winn took fifth. T he to p 10 were ro u nded out by Dall en Mc Ken ney, Lewis, La nce J ohnson, Ma tson, a nd Ray Sommo. " It feels reall y good to wi n here," Ma tiasevich said. " At the sta rt I go t reall y scare d," said Su rratt. " T he n he (Na ugh ton) started d ropp in g ba ck, t hen h e messed up. I didn't have to wi n ' to nigh t so I d idn 't ride really hard. I just kind of pl ayed it cool." • Results 250: 1• Rick Johnson (Han); 2. Guy Cooper (Han); 3. J eff Ward (Kaw); 4 . Jeff Leisk (Vam); 5. Fred Andrews (Han); 6. M icky Dymond (Honl; 7. Keith Bow en (Yam); 8. Erik Kehoe (Suz); 9. J eff Stanton (Yam); 10 . George Holland (Suz); 11. Ron Lochien (Kaw); 12. Eddie Warren (Kaw); 13. Doug Dubach . (Vam); 14. Brian Manley (Vam); 15 . Tyson Vohland (Kaw); 16 . Shaun Kalas (Yam); 17. Rick Ryan (Han); 18. Gray Butcher (Honl; 19. Jim Holley (Yam); 20 . Vince Warren (Han); 21 . Ronnie Tichenor (Suz). 125 : 1. Jeff Ma tias8vich (Kawl; 2. W illie Surran (Suz); 3. Robert Naughton (Han); 4. Bader Manneh (Kaw); 5. Paul Winn (Suz); 6. Dallen McKenney (Honl; 7. Kyle Lew is (Han); 8. Lance Johnson (Yam); 9. Dean Matson (Han); 10. Ray Somma (Han); 11. Donny Schm it (Sud; 12. Stacey Cook (Han); 13. David Graff (Han); 14. Steve Furuy a (Han); 15. Scott Brown (Vam); 16. Eddie Hicks (Kawl; 17. Scott Underwood (Suzl; 18. Michael Durbin (Han); 19 . Sean Conley (Kaw); 20 . Chris Heinrich (Kaw ); 21 . David McDermott (Han); 22. Shawn Wynne (Han). FINAL AMA 25Oc1: SUPERCROSS CHAMPION SHIP POINT STANDINGS : 1. J eff Ward (280); 2. Rick Johnson (246); 3. Ron Lechien (219); 4. George Holl and (210); 5. Jeff Leisk (177); 6. (TIEl Eddie Warren /Guy Cooper (151); 8. Keith Bowen (150 ); 9. Ross Pederson (149); 10 . Jeff Stanton (1321 . FINAL AMA 125cc WESTERN REGIONAL SUPERCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP POINT STANDINGS: 1. W illie Surratt (142); 2. Robert Naughton (135); 3. Dean Matson (132 ); 4. Kyle Lew is (t21 1 ; 5. M ichael Craig (100); 6. Ray Somma (91); 7. Paul Winn (88); 8. Eddie Hicks (85); 9. Jeff Matiasevich. (82); 10. Bader Manneh (73). . 7

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