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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126975
Just seconds before the start of the first 250cc moto. A faulty gate forced a restart and a 30-minute delay. Denmark's Soren Mortensen piloted his Yamaha to fifth overall via a 6-7 tally. Here he's chased by American Jeff Hicks. Pekka Vehkonen finished second in the first moto; DNF the second. 12 finish. John on ea ily took the win ahead Vehkonen, ilsson, O'Mara, Geboers, Morten en, Fanton and Leo Combee. "I just tried to ride consistently and smooth, but stay aggressive," said Johnson. "I got real1y lucky by them restarting the first mow, because I was one of the guys stuck in the gate." Finishing about I0 seconds behind Johnson, Vehkonen said, "I don't' know if I can beat Johnson. If everything goes perfect, like a good start, maybe, it's po sible." Peter Han on's KTM wa in the pits after the race, and his mechanic Jeff Dawson was replacing the whole motor. "Something happened to the gearbox," aid Hansson. "I could shift up but not down. Maybe a shifting fork or something." Hansson dropped out of the moto after the fifth lap. After finishing fourth in tilt, moto, O'Mara would not speak to reporterS, but his mechanic, Jim Felt, said tbat he wa very upset with himseU for messing up on the start. Felt said, "He didn't quite understand the starting procedure, and when the gate dropped, he was sitting there in neutral." But in the second round, O'Mara was Teady. The start of the cond moto saw John on, once again, blow into the lead ahead of Geboers, O'Mara, ilsson, Mortensen, Suzuki's Michele Rinaldi, Honda-mounted Jeff Hicks and Fisher. Vehkonen crashed two tUIns into the race. "I was about fifth off the start," said Vehkonen "I tried maybe too hard to pass one guy. It was just a little crash, but then [ had some problem with the carburetor." A it turned out, when Vehkonen cra hed, the choke lever wa knocked to th "on" position, making the bike run poorly. Nonethele s, Vehkonen managed to maintain eighth place position until the final tages of th race, when he ran out of gas. "It ran oul of petrol on the second to la t lap," aid Vehkonen. "With the choke lever on the whole moto, it was sucking too much fuel." Herring also had problems during the first go-around after a bad start. "I had a terrible start," aid Herring. "I was one of the la t off the line. That's my weak point - my starts. I'd better work on that." . Herring continued. "Then my leg went through between the rear wheel and the mud guard on the fir t lap," said Herring. "tt happened on top of the hill when I collided with Peter Han son and my foot came off the footpeg. I couldn't get it out so I had to ride to the bottom of the hil1 with my foot in there. He (Hans on) bobbled at the bottom of the hill. and [ had a good drive, and towards the top, I thought I had passed him. But we just connected handlebars. That wa all it took. [t screwed the whole race up for me." By the end of the first lap, Johnson had already extended his lead over Geboers, who had O'Mara breathing down his neck. Nilsson stayed dose to O'Mara, while Mortensen tied a rope around ilsson. Even at such an early stage of the race, it wa obvious Johnson was going to run a",ay with the moto, barring any mLsfortune to the Honda rider, so the main action was for second place between Geboers and O'Mara. Ten minutes into the moto the top order was fairly spread out with Johnson leading handily foJlowed by Geboers, O'Mara, Nilsson, Mortensen, Fisher, Hansson, Dugmore, Hicks and Vehkonen. The only dices in the works were between Geboers and O'Mara, and Mortensen and Fisher for fifth. Fisher eventual1y passed Mortensen, while O'Mara made hi move on Geboers but wasn't as lucky. O'Mara set Geboers up through a tight ess section of turns. Geboers went wide while O'Mara dove to the inside, but the groove each rider was in funneled into one groove and neither rider backed off - O'Mara lost out. "It was neck-and-neck," said Geboers. "We accelerated both together, and hi bike went up, and he came down with his handlebars on my ami. [n that situation, [ wa stronger, so he crashed." O'Mara qui kly remounted his Suzuki and et after Geboers, again. O'Mara 10 t a lot of time to the Belgian, but didn't lose any place, butNil on was hot on O'Mara's rear fender. "When O'Mara cra hed," said ilsson, "I was right behind him. I was thinking maybe I could try and catch him, because [ knew if I could pas him, I would get second overall. But he (O'Mara) was too ·trong. He just pulled away slowly." At the 25-minute mark, Johnson was stil1 way out in front followed by Geboers, then came O'Mara, ilsson and Fisher. Five minutes later, it was very noticable that O'Mara was catching Geboers_. O'Mara was sailing farther off the jumps than anyone and was dosing in on the Honda rider. With six minutes to go, O'Mara was just fOUI econds 0[[ Geboers' pace, then the two lap board came out and the dice was on. ot able to pass with two laps to go, O'Mara had one more lap remaining if he was going to pass Geboers and take second overaU, but a lapped rider hampered hi efforts, and O'Mara had to settle for third and third overall. Johnson ea ily won ahead of Geboers, O'Mara and ilsson. Fisher finished fifth for eighth overall, while sixth went to Hansson. Rounding out the top 10 were Mortensen, Dugmore, Frenchman Yannig KervelLa and Rinaldi. "I just got a good start and just concentrated on what was in front of me - empty ground and ways to go over it faster - rather than worry about who was behind me." "I was watching Geboers and O'Mara," continued Johnson, "because I knew they were going to be strong, since both had faster times than me in practice. 0 I knew they were capable of going those high . speeds. I just didn't know if they would do it or what. I had nothing to lose out there. There's no championship involved. ju t a one-time deal. 0 I just wanted to do the best for me and my sponsors American Honda, Moto-X Fox, Life's a Beach, Too Hip, Oakley, Bell Helmets and Dunlop Tires. 1 also owe a special thanks to Frank Stacy for putting forth such a good effort in new tire developement. " One of the top European riders that didn't fare too wel1 at Hollister was Belguim's Marc Velkeneers, who finished 1.5th overall. "I didn't do so good." said the Yamaha rider. 'The first heat I had a very bad ride [ rode like a Junior. I have this problem, some day I go fast and have no problems keeping up to anybody but other days [ can not ride. " Riding a blue Maico from Sweden, Leif Nicklasson finished out of the top 20. "Five months ago I broke my foot in IJve places, so I have big problem with conditioning - [ get tired after 20 minute. This is my third race this year. [ just wasn't so good today, but I will keep trying." 125cc Support The 125cc 'Support class was mostly dominated by Honda rider Ricky Ryan. Ryan won both motos, but not without heavy competition by another Honna-mounted rider, Ty Davis. Davis went 2-2 for second overal1, while Kawasaki riders Tyson Vohland and Jeff Matiasevich, and Suzuki rider Paul Winn rounded out the top five. In the first moto, Ryan stole the holes hot ahead of Davi , Matiasevich and Vohland. Cagiva's Mike Healey crashed jut after the first turn after getting cro sed up in some ruts and di located his shoulder, putting him out for the day. Both Ryan and Davis pulled away from the pack as they diced for the lead. Near the halfway point of the 20-minute moto, Davis ,started hounding Ryan hard for the lead, forcing Ryan to overshoot a berm at the bottom of a hill. Ryan went over the berm and Davis snuck to the in ide taking over the lead. However, it was a short-lived lead. Near the end of tbe same lap, Davis went a little wide at the bottom of another downhill turn, and Ryan torpedoed him from the side, pushing Davi off the track as they headed up a steep hill. Ryan kept hi momentum and blew up the hil1, while Davi clutched it to the top. From that point on, it was all Ryan. Davis settled for second, while Matiasevich took third. Fourth and fifth went to JeU Mabery and Wlnn. Round two was all Ryan's as he led from start to finish, with Davis keeping him honest. [n a distant third was Vohland, who was chased by Winn every lap. The moto was uneventful with Ryan taking the win ahead of Davis, Vohland, Winn and Matiasevich. • Results OVERALL: 1. Rick Johnson (Han) 1-1; 2. Erik Geboers (Han) 5·2; 3. Johnny O'Mara (Sull 4-3; 4. Jorgen Nilsson (Hon) 3-4; 5. Soren Mortenson (VamI6-7; 6. Pekka Vehkonen (Cag) 2-30; 7. Collin Dugmore (Kaw) 9-8; 8. Mike Fisher (Kaw) 13-5; 9. Michele Fanton (KTM) 7-12; 10. Peter Hansson (KTM) 34·6; 11. VaMig Kervella (Han) 14-9; 12. ' Leo Combee IKaw) 8-35; 13. Michele Rinaldi (SUl) , 15-10; 14. Willie Surratt (Sull 10-28; 15. Marc Velkeneers (Vam)31- I 1; 16. Ray Somma (Han) 1 I 18; I 7. Billy Frank (Vam) 12-25; 18. Jeff Hicks (Han) 16-13; 19. Rob Herring (Vam)29-14; 20. Jim Holley (Vaml 33-15. WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 250cc MX POINT STANDINGS: 1. Erik Geboers (283); 2. Pekka Vehkonen (2541; 3. JOt"gen Nilsson (231); 4. Michele Rinaldi (144); 5. Leo Combee (1341. 12Sec SUPPORT: 1. Riclt Ryan (Han) 1-1; 2. Ty Da.is (Hon) 2-2; 3. Tyson Vohland (Kaw); 4. Jeff Matia....ich IKaw); 5. Paul Winn (SUl); 6. Jeff Mabery (Vam); 7. Mike Young (Cag); 8. Lance Johnson (Yam); 9. Frank ViII (Hon); fo. Tom Holt (Kaw).